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Erie PA News and Events for Tuesday February 6, 2007

The Willow’s Tavern in Erie and Corner Tavern and Grille in Corry have filed a lawsuit against Erie County to halt the smoking ban that is scheduled to take effect February 17. They are also seeking an injunction as the case winds it’s way through the court system. It seems that the ban is indeed illegal as it goes against state law. Erie County Council jumped the gun and is going to cost Erie County taxpayers thousands is attorney fees when they should have just let the state legislature work on a state-wide ban. It’s coming. Senate Bill 246, which would mandate a smoking ban in workplaces and public places, gain approval last Wednesday from the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

Officials with Presque Isle Downs will announce this week that the opening of the slots casino will be delayed well beyond the announced opening date of February 15, possibly until April 1. A group of nuts called Citizens Against Gambling Subsidies filed a lawsuit protesting the facility’s license. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board can’t certify the facility if there is a pending court case. MTR Gaming, which owns PID, has requested an expedited decision by the Supreme Court. Plus, it could still be a few weeks until the vacancy on the Gaming Control Board is filled. State police are currently doing a background check on Gary Sojka who was named to fill the opening but that could take up to a month. Presque Isle Downs is located in Summit Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania at Exit 27 (Route 97) of Interstate 90. The racetrack and slots parlor is constructed on a 272 acre site. The facility will contain a thoroughbred racetrack, a grandstand and clubhouse consisting of approximately 140,000 square feet, barns, a paddock, and related facilities for the horses, jockeys, and trainers, and approximately 1200 parking spaces.

The Edinboro University Rolling Scots men’s wheelchair basketball team is ranked 3rd in the nation. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is Number 1 followed by Illinois, who Edinboro lost to last week 60-56.

The 20-member Gem City Jazz Ensemble will present their winter concert this evening from 7:30 pm - 9 pm at St John Parish Center, adjacent to St John Lutheran’s Church, 2216 Peach Street. Under the direction of Tim McKinney, the jazz ensemble will perform many great jazz standards and big band favorites, including My Funny Valentine, Moten Swing, In the Stone, and Girl Talk. Plenty of off-street parking is available. The concert is free and open to the public; free-will offerings will be accepted.

A Peace Corps recruiter will be in Erie today, Tuesday, February 6 from 6-7 pm at the Blasco Memorial Library Admiral Meeting Room. The recruiter only comes to Northwestern PA once a year, so now’s your chance to get your questions answered. This event is open to all members of the general public.

The 13th annual Sarah Backstrom Memorial Girl’s Hockey Tournament will be held in Erie February 8-11, 2007. About 1,000 young ladies plus family and friends will be in town for the weekend. Hotel rooms will be hard to come by and expect delays at restaurants. Who was Sarah Backstrom? She was a fiesty red headed defensewoman who gave all off her love of the game and passion to play it to the Erie Lady Lions. Sarah fought every battle to the end, with passion and determination. The Erie Lady Lions lost Sarah to Leukemia but have never lost her spirit.

Mercyhurst College piano faculty member Nathan Hess has asked two of his former colleagues at SUNY Fredonia to be his guests in the fourth faculty recital of the year, titled “Nathan Hess and Friends.” The recital is Thursday, Feb 8, at 8 pm in Walker Recital Hall; it’s free and open to the public. Father Sean Duggan, a concert pianist and a monk in the Order of St. Benedict, and cellist Natasha Farny will perform two works by Beethoven for cello and piano: the set of Variations on a Theme from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and the Sonata in D Major, Op 102, No 2. Farny and Duggan are performing Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano throughout the region, and are excited to share their insights into his music with the Mercyhurst and Erie communities.

First Class, an exhibit featuring exemplary works by Erie Art Museum instructors and students, will open at the Erie Art Museum’s Annex Gallery, 423 State Street, on Friday, Feb 9 and run through Feb 13. A free public reception for this exhibit will be held on Friday, Feb 9 from 7-9 pm. Art is a participatory activity. Through classes at the Museum, ordinary folks try their hand at artmaking, with the help of some of Erie’s most distinguished artists. Included are works in watercolor, jewelry, acrylic, photography and ceramics by Museum instructors Deborah Sementelli-Hoenes, Fran Schanz, Wilda Sundberg, Christine French, Kathy Umlauf, Aaron Young, Jan and Dan Neibauer, Art Becker, Esther Hong and their students. Opening night includes a two-hour delight of demonstrations and hands-on opportunities guaranteed to stimulate the inner-artist. Visitors can throw-clay on a wheel, watch a weaving or watercolor demonstration, see a bellydancer in action and much more. The Erie Art Museum is located a 411 State Street in downtown Erie, Pa. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am-5 pm and Sunday, 1-5 pm. Admission is free for members, free on Wednesdays, $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and students and $2 for children under 12. One year memberships to the Erie Art Museum are $15 for students and senior citizens, $35 for individuals, and $65 for families. Guided group tours for adults or students are available for all major exhibitions.

Kids as Curators, an exhibit celebrating the stuff of youth will open at the Erie Art Museum Annex Gallery, 423 State Street, on Friday, Feb 9 and run through March 24. A free public reception for this exhibit will be held on Friday, Feb 9 from 7-9 pm. Musical instruments constructed of found objects, a sunset collaged with collected paraphernalia, brain maps and related silhouettes - these are the divergent paths taken by local middle school students from Wayne, St Boniface and Walnut Creek Middle Schools, while curating and designing a showcase featuring their personal predilections. “Since September, these students have worked with art, social studies, science and language art teachers learning how to apply the museum process to the basic concepts of their curriculum,” said Erie Art Museum Education and Folk Art Director Kelly Armor. “Their distinctive youthful playfulness spills out in their selection, evaluation, interpretation, and presentation of their objects of interest.”

Mezzo soprano Savanity Davis, a senior music education major at Mercyhurst College, will bring the sweet sounds of diversity to Black History Month with a concert of her own making on Friday, Feb 9, at 8 pm, in Walker Recital Hall. Since her freshman year, Savanity has embraced a personal mission: to learn as much as possible about the contributions of African Americans to the world of classical and operatic music. Now, just three months away from graduating, she hopes to share her discoveries with fellow students. Most of the songs Savanity will perform are either by black composers or are based on poems by black authors; for example, “Song to a Dark Virgin,” based on a Langston Hughes poem. Other concert highlights include poetry readings by friends and family, a slide show presentation, and commentary by Savanity’s grandmother, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in St. Augustine, Fla, in 1960. Mercyhurst assistant professor of music Louisa Jonason is advising Savanity on producing her event and will assist her in making commemorative CDs. Proceeds from the sale of the CDs will benefit Mercyhurst’s Diversity 101 organization.

Works by seven talented young choreographers will be featured when The Mercyhurst College Dance Department presents “Raw Edges IX” on Saturday, Feb 10, at 2 and 7 pm and Sunday, Feb 11, at 2 pm in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center on the Mercyhurst campus. Tickets are $10 general admission and can be purchased at the door or by calling 824-3000. Each performance will include an intermission chat during which some of the young choreographers will speak about their new works and answer questions from the audience.

The Family Fun Movies in February at the Big Green Screen Theater in the Tom Ridge Environmental Center are Finding Nemo on Sunday Feb 11 and Monsters Inc on Sunday Feb 18. Showtimes are at 1:30 pm. Tickets $4 each.

Twelve years ago as the country of Rwanda descended into a 100-day orgy of human slaughter, one man found the courage to save more than 1,200 people. Paul Rusesabagina, dubbed by some as the “Oskar Schindler of Africa,” quietly sheltered them in the luxury hotel he managed in the central African nation. He will tell his amazing story, the basis of the Oscar-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda,” on Monday, Feb 12, at 8:30 pm in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Mercyhurst College. Rusesabagina’s visit, sponsored by Mercyhurst Student Government, is free and open to the public. Tickets are now available to the college community, with students afforded one free ticket, and faculty and administrators, two tickets. The general public may pick up tickets - three per person - beginning Tuesday, Feb 6, at the PAC box office. For ticket information, call 824-3000.

90.5 WERG and the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity of Gannon University invite you to Rock and Roll-up Your Sleeve by donating blood to the American Red Cross on February 14, 2007 from 10 am to 4 pm in Room 219 of the Waldron Campus Center. “Put your bleeding heart to good use” this Valentines Day by donating blood. The Waldron Campus Center is located on West 7th street on the campus of Gannon University. For more information contact Deb Carlson at carlson011@gannon.edu .

The Rodger Montgomery Blues Band will be performing Thursday, February 15 from 7-9pm at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center as part of the Hot Winter Blues and Jazz Series. Blues and Jazz music lovers will enjoy great music along with an assortment of light hors ‘d’oeuvres. BYOB - Bring Your Own Bottle of wine or beer to top off the evening.Tickets can be purchased in advance for $10 at the Nature Shop and Gallery or at the door for $12.50 each. Call (814) 833-6050 for more details.

The Erie Engineering Societies Council EXPO Erie will be held Feb 20-22, 2007 at the Erie Civic Center Tullio Arena.

Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s Washington-based economics editor, will speak at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Thursday, February 22. Minton Beddoes’ address, “Fragile Prosperity: The Outlook for the US and World Economy,” is part of the college’s annual Speaker Series. It will be held at 7:30 pm in the Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons and is free and open to the public.

Roger Knacke, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the School of Science at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will discuss “Astronomy of the Maya” at the college’s next Open House Night in Astronomy. Knacke will speak at 7:30 pm on Thursday, February 22, in 101 Otto Behrend Science Building. Admission to the open house is free and his non-technical lecture is suitable for ages 8 and older.

On February 24-25, the Tom Ridge Environmental Center will be the location of the 2007 Erie Winter Carnival, a fun-filled event weekend for all ages. Highlights include professional ice carvings, carved by some of the greatest ice carvers in the world! Watch the Speed Carving Competitions or check out delicate ice-art carvings created with chain saws and fine carving tools. Amazing pieces of art right created before your eyes! Take in one of the great featured films that weekend including Everest, Lewis and Clark, or the special weekend featured film, March of the Penguins. All on the BIG Green Screen. Children can also enjoy special activities including face painting, winter craft, storytelling and a magic show. Walk through the local artist Art Show and stop into the Nature Shop and Gallery for unique shopping options and great winter gifts. Check out all the great exhibits highlighting Presque Isle State Park. And remember to grab a bite to eat with specialty carnival-type foods and other great items from the Sunset Cafe.

The 9th Annual MECA United Cerebral Palsy Barstool Open is set to take place on Saturday, February 24, 2007. Last years event had 1200 participants and raised $30000. Yes, 1200 people out drinking in downtown Erie on a cold February afternoon. Teams of 4 will compete in golf at 9 bars in downtown Erie PA. The putting exhibition contest takes place on holes with wacky designs. This year there are 14 bars participating. Click here for a registration form. Mail the registration form and enclose your check for $100, $25 per person, made payable to: MECA United Cerebral Palsy, 3745 West 12th St, Erie, PA 16505.

On Feb 25, the Brewerie at Union Station in Erie hosts the Erie Illusion women’s football team Beer Fest.

The 25th annual Erie Sport and Travel Expo will be held at Family First Sports Park in Erie, Pa March 2-4. The show features fishing and hunting lodges, guides, outfitters, fishing charters and sporting goods vendors and boat and recreational vehicle dealers. General Admission $6 with children under 10 free.

The Erie Micro Brew Festival presented by WQLN will be held April 21 at Union Station at 14th and French Streets. There will be 2 sampling sessions 1-4 pm and 5-8 pm. All proceeds support public broadcasting and all PLCB laws apply. Attendees must be 21. Tickets will be available soon at many Erie area locations. Scheduled to attend are:
The BrewErie at Union Station, The Erie Brewing Company, Southern Tier Brewing, Pennsylvania Brewery, Voodoo Brewery, The Flying Bison, Ellicottville Brewing Company, North Country Brewing Company, Hereford and Hops, Sprague Farm and Brew Works, The Buffalo Brew Pub, Magic Hat Brewing and the East End Brewing Company.

Dennis Weed

Posted by Dennis at February 6, 2007 6:59 AM

Comments

Posted by: Greg at February 6, 2007 10:05 AM

Posted by: Deb Carlson at February 6, 2007 1:03 PM

Posted by: Peter Goesinya at February 6, 2007 4:26 PM

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