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Erie PA News and Events for Friday February 9, 2007

Posted by Dennis on February 9, 2007
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A McGinty toured the site where Lake Erie Biofuels is constructing a state-of-the-art facility that will produce 45 million gallons of biodiesel each year, and spoke with company and local officials about the economic opportunities created by the governor’s Energy Independence Strategy. Biodiesel is becoming an increasingly important piece of the home heating oil market in Pennsylvania because it can be used in a blend with petroleum diesel fuel and home heating oil. Lake Erie Biofuels received $625,000 from Pennsylvania’s Alternative Fuels Incentives Grant program (AFIG) last December to help the company produce 12.5 million gallons of biodiesel by this summer. The AFIG program offers incentives of 5-cents-per-gallon to Pennsylvania producers of biodiesel and ethanol. The grants, awarded in December, leveraged more than $40 million in private funds for the production of almost 64 million gallons of clean-burning biodiesel annually, as well as for the installation of storage tanks that are needed to distribute and sell biofuels.

The Greater Erie Board of Realtors released the January property transfer figures for Erie County PA. The report shows that 280 properties were sold for $44,849,368. This compares to 2006 when 254 changed hands for $26,951,813. It’s about time the number of transactions increased year over year. Erie County went through 7 straight months of declines. The figures include residential, commercial, investment properties as well as land in which a transfer tax was paid. The are currently 1249 residential properties listed for sale in Erie County. Click here to view the property transfers for January. If you’d like info on Erie area real estate, look through my site or contact me - Dennis Weed, Realtor, CENTURY 21 Stover Real Estate, 3409 W 26th Street, Erie PA 16506, Cell (814) 440-0636, Ofc (814) 838-2121, email dweed@century21.com.


Garry Robertson of Erie performs in International Freestyle Motocross Association shows. He’ll be at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus OH on Saturday. Robinson owns a ramp-building business and does freestyle events nearly every weekend.

Linda Bebko-Jones of Erie who decided not to run for re-election as a state representative took a lump sum payment of $65,000 and receives a month pension of $2,581.

National City recently announced that it will donate $30,000 to Mercyhurst College to support the college’s newest campus, Mercyhurst West, in Girard. Funds are earmarked for ongoing academic programming at Mercyhurst West’s temporary site and in support of plans to develop a permanent campus on 405 acres along the north site of Route 20 straddling the Girard Township-Girard Borough line, which Mercyhurst purchased in 2005.

Staff Sgt Michael Kiehl will take over command of Marine Recruiting Sub-Station Mansfield in Mansfield, Ohio. Kiehl is a native of Erie, PA. Previous to accepting orders to recruiting, he was an artilleryman for the 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division of Camp Lejeune, NC. He recently completed a tour of duty in Iraq.

The Gannon University men’s basketball team rallied from 13 points down in first half and five down with 5:41 to play to post a 69-59 victory over visiting Hillsdale at the Hammermill Center. Tyler Stoczynski posted his second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds while Pat Washington added 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Six players scored between eight and 11 points as the Mercyhurst men’s basketball team used a balanced offense to down Wayne State, 67-57 at the MAC.

The Gannon women’s basketball team continued to inch closer to its first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) South Division title since 2001-02 with a 92-72 rout of visiting Hillsdale Thursday evening at the Hammermill Center. Ashley Lowdermilk led all scorers with a season-high 23 points, reaching double digits for the fifth consecutive game. Christina Jackson recorded her ninth double-double of the season and 43rd of her career with 17 points and 14 rebounds.

The Mercyhurst women’s basketball team scored the first nine points of Thursday’s GLIAC game against Wayne State but an 11 minute second half scoring drought was too much to overcome as the Lakers lost 57-51.

Joining the Jacksonville Suns staff as the new Director of Community Relations is Stefanie Brown. Stefanie was originally a game day employee and Community Relations Intern for the Suns in 2004 while finishing her degree at Flagler College in St Augustine. Upon her graduation, she worked a season for the Erie SeaWolves in Erie, PA before taking a full-time position as Community Relations Manager for the State College Spikes during their inaugural season on the campus of Penn State University.

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League open a three-game weekend of action Friday evening in Kitchener when they wrap up a four-game road trip against the Rangers. The Otters return home to the Tullio Arena Saturday and Sunday as they face the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds and the London Knights, respectively. The puck will drop at 7:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday’s game will have a special start time of 6 pm.

YES (Young Erie Singles) is a platform for Young Erieites meet other Young Erieites. YES will be hosting a get together tonight from 10 pm to 2 am at the Boardwalk, 28 North Park Row in Erie.

“The Piano Lesson” will be performed at the Erie Playhouse February 8-11and 14-18. For tickets call (814) 454-2852 ext 0.

The Roadhouse Theatre production of “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers” will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm through February 10. Admission: Regular seating $12, Riser seating $15, VIP table seating $20. Reservations can be made by phone at 814.456.5656. The Roadhouse Theatre 145 West 11th Street, Box Office hours: 2-6 pm Tuesday - Saturday. The Theater accepts cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. It has been twenty years since Scott McClelland toured the country in Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues. After 625 performances of that Tony award winning play, Mr. Simon’s timing and comedic style had become part of McClelland’s acting arsenal. Now for the first time since Biloxi Blues the actor returns to a play by the greatest comic writer of the American Stage. The show is being directed by his wife Kim McClelland who acted in this same play on the stage at 1505 State Street several years before the McClelland’s met.

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 this evening, 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.

Erie Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Bruce Morton Wright and in residence at Gannon University will present their annual “Guess the Composer Concert” this evening at 7:30 pm at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel, 512 Peach Street in Erie. You are cordially invited to attend this concert, which is free of admission charge. However, please be advised that seating is limited and on a first come, first service basis.


Sarah Backstrom
The 13th annual Sarah Backstrom Memorial Girl’s Hockey Tournament will be held in Erie today through February 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.

Penn State Behrend will host its sixth annual Spirit Against Cancer dance and cheerleading competition Saturday, February 10 from 10 am to 2 pm in the Junker Center. The event is expected to draw 800 participants from 50 teams from Pennsylvania and New York. Thanks to Spirit Against Cancer, the college has donated $26,500 to the American Cancer Society since the event began in 2001. Spirit Against Cancer was created in memory of Becky Hubler Decker, a former dance coach at Penn State Behrend. She also served as a cheerleading coach at Edinboro University, was captain of the Invaderettes, the dance team for the National Indoor Football League’s former Erie Invaders, and was a member of the Buffalo Bills’ Jills dance team.

The 2006-2007 Centerstage Series at Allegheny College will continue on Saturday, Feb 10 at 7:30 pm in Shafer Auditorium with an evening of comedy. Three comics will combine their talents and humor in a show recommended for adult audiences. Tammy Pescatelli, who emerged from NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” as one of the top five comedians, performs across the country at comedy and improv clubs. She has been featured on television shows such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Carson Daly” and has even had her own half hour special on Comedy Central. Pescatelli will be joined by humorist and storyteller Phyllis Colpitts, also known as Mama Krank, and rock comedian Mark Eddie, who remakes popular songs in an act that Robby Kreiger of The Doors has called “a rock concert with non-stop laughter.” For more information or to purchase tickets, call Conference and Event Services at (814) 332-3101.

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.

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.


Erie PA Engineering Expo
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

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Posted by Dennis at February 9, 2007 7:09 AM

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