The Pajama Factory is Hosting a Day of FREE Live Music, Vendors and Open Studios including Food Trucks, Raffles and even a local Brewery-all to Celebrate Spring! The Pajama Factory is thrilled to be hosting a full day of festivities throughout our building complex on Saturday, April 27th. The event itself will be scheduled 12-4
READ MOREIf you heard someone described as “a man who could take almost any amount of pain,” you might assume it was an athlete, a first responder, a Navy SEAL — or maybe a Hollywood stuntman. But while the last phrase is technically accurate here, that “indestructible man” was in fact Buster Keaton — a silent-film
READ MORESix Williamsport Area High School students have reached the highest level a high school musician can achieve by earning a place in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Festival music ensembles. The students below earned the following respective spots: – Olivia Ciabattari, Alto 1, PMEA All-State Choir – William Ciabattari, Bass 1, PMEA All-State
READ MOREWhen I taught English at Loyalsock High School, I sometimes took a single class-session and introduced my students to silent-film genius Buster Keaton. It was a bit of a stretch connecting this to my curriculum — though Keaton worked with Samuel Beckett and was also a master of the nonverbal cues covered in my speech
READ MOREIs it 37° and threatening to snow while I write this? Yes. Does that mean I’m not making plans for spring? Absolutely not. My plan for spring? More walks. As most of you know, I have two dogs. One very large rottweiler, Bulleit, and one little-legged basset hound, Booker. This spring, Booker and I will
READ MORE“Phantom of the Opera.” “West Side Story.” “Annie.” “Avenue Q.” “The Lion King.” “Man of La Mancha.” “Fiddler on the Roof.” “Wicked.” “Jesus Christ Superstar.” These are just some of the 16 musicals on the program at the Repasz Band’s spring concert — slated for 7:30 p.m. on April 16 at Williamsport’s Community Arts Center.
READ MOREWilliamsport Area School District has once again been recognized as one of the Best Communities for Music Education from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. This is the 22nd year that WASD has received the designation, which is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access
READ MOREMore than $5,000 in prize money will be at stake when the Journey Bank sponsors its 14th Annual Teen Star Musical Competition to be held on the campus of Bloomsburg University on May 19. The first-place prize is $2,000. The second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers win $1,000, $750, and $350, respectively. The remaining eight finalists
READ MOREDevices that allow you to stay connected to your home from virtually anywhere are all the rage. If you’re looking to seamlessly integrate innovative solutions into your home for added convenience, security and peace of mind, you’ll need smart tech with the right features. The experts at Masonite, a global industry leader in interior and
READ MOREI’ve mentioned before that I am not Irish. I am a whole lotta Italian, with a little German sprinkled in for funsies. But alas wee lads and lassies, I don’t see any harm in finding the Irish spirit and having some St. Patrick’s Day fun! But before you don your green clothes and wish on
READ MOREAs we proceed through “March Madness” toward a strange Sunday-Monday conjunction of Easter and April Fools’, your Weird Words writer is compiling a suitable pair of vocabulary lists: one on fools & madness — and then, more positively, on the death and resurrection of Christ. In the meantime, here are 10 more oddball terms to
READ MOREThe Williamsport Area High School music department is preparing for its annual musical production. “Pippin” is set to hit the stage beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, March 15, with a matinee performance scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, March 16. The musical follows the journey of a young prince named Pippin as he searches for meaning
READ MOREOn March 16th at 7:30 p.m., the Uptown Music Collective will bring a one-night-only musical experience, “Rattle and Hum: A Celebration of U2 and Irish Rock,” to the Community Arts Center in Williamsport, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. This event, presented in partnership with UPMC North Central Pa and UPMC Health Plan, celebrates
READ MOREThe circle of life is hard. The older we get. The more frequently it happens. This week, I received the news. Another loved one gone too soon. It leaves us with so many questions. I was born in Pipestone, MN — a small town in the prairie near the border of South Dakota. My grandparents,
READ MOREHappy Valentine’s Day to lovers — especially word-lovers! I’m sure that doesn’t sound too romantic; but you might be surprised at the many love-related terms that permeate our language. In part, this is because so much English derives from Greek and Latin, with both languages offering several base-words for love. Perhaps the best-known of these
READ MOREToday is Peter Gabriel’s 74th birthday, so Webb celebrates that with a rave review of his latest album, simply titled I/O. For readers who were living under a rock in the eighties, Gabriel is the legendary singer, songwriter and musician whose 1986 album So went platinum five times. Propelling him promptly from cult-fave figure to
READ MOREMy heart was racing a mile a minute. My palms were getting sweaty. “Why? Why is he opening this darn card now? This wasn’t the plan!” I thought to myself. As Chris opened the card, I don’t think he truly knew what he was going to read. Could I run to my cousin’s Hyundai Sonata
READ MOREIf you’re feeling pressure to plan the perfect Valentine’s Day date, it may be time to veer away from tradition. While flowers, chocolates and dinner for two is a classic, thinking outside the box can make for just as romantic of an experience. Consider these simple date ideas to reduce stress and make your day
READ MOREThis week, Webb’s “Weird Words” attempts to set its own record by offering no less than 34 oddball vocabulary terms — thereby matching the number of columns we’ve reached so far in this pawky series. Here goes: Acus (AY-kuss, noun) – A needle used in surgery. Relatedly, it’s a shortened synonym for aculeus, which dictionary.com
READ MOREThe Williamsport Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gerardo Edelstein is thrilled to share its upcoming concert, “The King of Instruments: The Organ,” scheduled for February 13, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Arts Center (@caclive). Join Maestro Edelstein and the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra for an enchanting evening featuring the mesmerizing sounds of the
READ MOREThat one Prom Song always does it for you. Just a few notes and you’re reminded of sweaty hands and wilted corsages, awkward poses for parents with cameras, arms around your date, and tiny steps while swaying in a circle. A song sure can be a memory-tickler. In the new memoir, “Soundtrack of Silence” by
READ MOREI taught an elective course on Future Studies at a business college in Europe. The students were quite interested in knowing what skills and possibilities in employment would be out there when they entered the working world. It is obviously a shaky science as we have no way of knowing the future and, at best,
READ MOREThe Uptown Music Collective has been a musical laboratory and teaching entity that has mentored, taught, and developed the talent of numerous young people in various aspects of popular music genres for more than 20 years. During this time, they have presented many excellent musical concerts demonstrating their talents. They have saluted various popular musical
READ MOREThe Book of Clarence is a movie that can’t seem to figure out what it wants to be. The story of a young black man in the time of Christ, it initially comes across as an old-time Bible epic. But then, most of the non-Roman characters (including Jesus and his followers) are black; so naturally
READ MOREDo you miss coaching? This is a question that I often entertain. Whether I am at work or Wegmans, the answer is very clear. No. But there are certain aspects that I will always crave. Not being able to interact with my guys remains a major void. Building relationships with my players was what it
READ MOREEvery so often to lighten the late-night mood, I find myself tuning in to WNEP-2 to catch reruns of the old Johnny Carson late-night show. While Carson’s monologue and guests are not timely, they remain funny and entertaining. Unlike the current late-night lineup of Carson wannabes whose mission seems to be hurling unfunny insulting jabs
READ MOREIt’s official. We are at a pretty dreary time of year. The weather ain’t great. I’m fairly sure it rained for 27 hours straight last week. It’s cold, it’s dark, the post-holiday blues are rearing their ugly heads. I know the last thing you probably want to do is go outside. But the best way
READ MOREIt wasn’t sweet music to the ears of many of the 72,220 fans filling Houston’s NRG Stadium for college football’s national championship game, but it was a tune frequently played to the delight of all those wearing maze & blue. “Hail to the victors valiant. Hail to the conqu’ring heroes. Hail, hail to Michigan, the
READ MOREEver notice the way Christmas stories often have some grouchy crab who hates all goodness and badly needs redemption? I suppose Ebenezer Scrooge would be the founding chairman of this group — though we might also go back to the murderous King Herod in the Bible’s original nativity tale. And of course, there’s Dr. Seuss’s
READ MOREHappy New Year! Three easy words to say — let’s hope and pray they ring true for 2024. I wish everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. The year 2024. I have trouble wrapping my thoughts around that, even though I’ve been blessed to live my way there for over half a century. It
READ MOREThe Genetti Hotel will be rocking with the sounds of the Blues when the Cadillac Cats, a noted area Blues band in their own right, presents the Winter Blues Bash from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, January 12. The Cadillac Cats hope to make this an annual event each year in January to help
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