New Voice Play Festival: 2010

The Old Opera House Theatre Company, in historic Charles Town, WV presents: The 10th Annual New Voice Play Festival.The premier of four one-act plays:Friday & Saturday, June 25 & 26 at 8pm Sunday, June 27 at 2:30pm$12 Adults$8 Students

Golden Curtain Winner Shooting Pool With a Ropeby Lynn-Steven Johanson (Macomb, IL)

Featuring: Rob Madden as Stacey MillerSteve Brewer as Al CrawfordDirected by: James P. Whipple. Stacey's mother is in the hospital fighting a losing battle, causing Stacey to be overwhelmed with anger. He retreats to a local park, adjacent to the hospital, and meets Al who is sitting quietly on a park bench. The conversation that ensues from this chance meeting is both humorous and enlightening, as both Al and Stacey have some demons to address and their lives are entwined in ways that is a surprise to them both.

Silver Stage WinnerDicky's Last Standby Dennis Jones (Powhatan, VA)

Featuring:Troy Crossley as DickyKatie Lese as TammyBetsy Crutcher as AshleyNorm Snyder as ManKaitlyn Dykes as BonnieBeth Hood as WomanGlenn Frail as BuckDan Rice as BobRichard Hamstead as Officer WardDirected by: Will HeyserDicky
the weather clown is holding the Channel 9 Newsroom hostage at gunpoint. Management is preparing to replace their long-standing Weather Clown with a new weather reporter to boost ratings, Skippy the chimpanzee; and Dicky is not going to accept this change quietly. This fast paced farce includes a redneck couple watching the newsroom drama unfold on their TV, and more quirky, slightly twisted, and definitely off-center characters than one television studio can possibly handle.

Spotlight Winner:Treeby Jeff Carter (San Fransisco, CA)

Featuring:Lorraine Bouchard as JoJim Beck as DonnieWalter Tomlin as Rollie Richard Hamstead as Garvy.Directed by: Meaghan BarryIn.
northern Maine, Jo is about to receive a great honor. One of the large fir trees on her farm, a tree that she can see each morning from her kitchen window, is about to be taken to Washington DC to serve as this year's (1959) White House Christmas tree. After accepting the honor, Jo begins to have second thoughts about losing the tree and all it represents. Is change inevitable? This is a richly woven drama about what is means to hold on tightly to one's heritage in light of change and the pressures of society.

Spotlight Winner In the Begging by Joan Broadman (Champaigne, IL)

Featuring:Christine Brewer as RoseSondra DeRocha as LilyJohn-Michael Rolnick as Adam Directed by: Winky Francis.
A honey of a comedy set in a garden in ancient Israel, in 1000 B.C.E. Rose and Lily, two honeybees, discuss the beginning of life on Earth and begin writing a document that will capture all the elements of creation for posterity. The story that we know as Genesis is told from the unique perspective of two creatures that inhabited the earth before humans.

Honorable Mentions are:The Skylab is Falling by Ty DeMartino, Frostburg, MD Labor Day by Brent Englar, Baltimore, MD The Day That Brando Died by Lawrence Dukore, New York, NY Relatively Normal by Carl L. Williams, Houston, TX Strangers by Eileen Siedman, Mill Valley, CA
Call the Old Opera House Box-Office at 304.725.4420 for reservations.

Hilltop House, proposal for resort stirs debate

The historic Hilltop House Hotel in Harpers Ferry is Crumbling from neglect. What a sad thought it would be if the old hotel disappeared from the skyline.
Jefferson County is a deeply layered, hub of activity, and it is largely the money-players in the growth business or the protagonists in one of the resulting conflicts that master the art of staying informed amid the swirl of events. For many residents, it is overwhelming and may seem distant from their daily lives. Still, citizen awareness of issues is essential and remains a powerful force in determining the outcome.
So, FYI, county residents might want to take note of the proposed $75 million resort in the quiet, historic town of Harpers Ferry - population 324. The now-collapsing, famous Hilltop House Hotel is certainly a candidate for a renovation to something worthy of its magnificent setting above the confluence of two mighty rivers and three states.
It's a lovely vision to contemplate. The nightmare comes if a good idea is so enthralling that common sense limits and context are not respected. For example, the reflexive thinking that big commercialism brings big bucks and therefore trumps all other concerns - from traffic and quality-of-life to environment and heritage - is just so 20th century. A little nuanced thinking is in order.
The current hotel footprint is 17,850-square-feet. SWaN Investors, the present owner, proposes 58,650-square-feet. It wants many variances not available to citizens. And you don't have to be an architect to wince a bit at the current design for a "first-class resort destination," especially since the millions of visitors to the national park and Harpers Ferry are largely middle class folks, students and families.
Many citizens already are working with the mayor and town council to review the SWaN Investors proposal. Public meetings have been held. SWaN has provided a liaison and received public comments. Good, because this equity outfit now owns not only the Hilltop itself but also eight acres around it, on a residential street. Already the historic artifacts contained in the old hotel have been removed, thus foregoing the real character they might add to a new structure.
Hilltop House for more than a century attracted tourists, presidents, newlyweds and county citizens to its lofty, panoramic view, its folksy or grand events and its front porch rocking chairs.
It possesses a rich history, reflecting the cultural changes of our nation through the years, and ours is a history filled with the visible bustle of everyday people, not just the privileged, enjoying a unique and authentic American setting. That is pretty "first-class," and priceless.
By Carol Gallant, Harpers Ferry

OPED

Hey, GOP, Hate the President, but Don’t Hate America

Apparently, President Obama’s address to the nation about the “Gusher in the Gulf” satisfied no one. Pundits and bloggers, from the left to the right, scrambled for either Head & Shoulders (scratching their heads) or Claritin (to combat the allergy to anything the president says).
Yet the president’s address to the nation did exactly what it needed to do. It began the process of reframing the debate on our addiction to oil.
We can no longer talk about energy without talking about the 20/2. (We use 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves, even though we only make up 2 percent of it.) We can no longer talk about technology without talking about a new “cold war” — against a “green” China. We can no longer talk about economics without talking about way-of-life values (this time, those of the Louisiana wetlands and the Gulf Coast). We can no longer talk about our nation — our resources and our pride — without talking about being God’s trustees. And we can no longer talk about the American dream and the “good life” without talking about the challenges and obstacles we must embrace together to make the dream and the goodness real.
Obama’s first Oval Office address reminded me more of Reagan’s words after the Challenger disaster than Kennedy’s “we will go to the moon” speech, though Obama alluded to JFK as well. As space was the challenge of their times, energy is the challenge of ours. And so President Obama echoed his predecessors: We, the people of the United States, working together, can and will shape our destiny, forging a future through the hazards and dangers ahead.
I wonder how many others also heard the subtext in Obama’s words: even as we dare the future, we must look heavenward, and be humbled; humbled, because some things really are beyond even the presidency; humbled, because we can’t fix everything, and what we can usually requires more than a ‘quick fix’; humbled, because disagreement does not require dissension, and because, ultimately, “we must all hang together.”
Some mocked Obama’s reference to “The Blessing of the Fleet.” But that symbolic celebration of the Gulf Coast fisherman speaks to us all. Clergy of different religions pray for the safety and success of men and women who will head out to sea. “The blessing is that God is always with us” — Republican, Democrat, Tea, Green or any party — we are all, together, dependent on Him — something our forefathers acknowledged.
Give the president credit: He did not dwell on the source of this spill, the hands-off big business advocates. In a 2,700-word speech, he allowed only 71 to recount the results of a misplaced philosophy and the incestuous oil-and-inspector relationship at the Minerals Mismanagement Service.
I am so with the president on this. Feel-good blaming won’t benefit the fishermen or fisheries of the Gulf Coast. It will not bring back those cancelled vacations to Gulf coast beaches. Obama said, “I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party — as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.” Given his willingness to engage those who disagree with him, even more, it seems, than with those who like his policies, he obviously meant it.
So why does the Republican leadership continue to mutter like drones, encouraging opportunism instead of seizing opportunity? When the president declared war on the spill, Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, rushed to the cameras to declare, “we’re losing the war.” Well, yes, those who ignore their defenses and safety precautions start off losing a war; but those who work together with determination may yet win it.
Eventually, the artificial daily outrage of the Republican leadership, manufactured cookie-cutter fashion since Obama raised his right hand, begins to sound like the vuvuzelas heard at the World Cup — the plastic horns which, as Madison Park, CNN’s health writer and producer writes, “sound like trumpeting elephants or even extended flatulence.” Does this not describe the monotone of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, etc. — a wail and buzz that almost obscenely grates the nerves.
I wish some of my fellow talking heads would say to these Republican nay-sayers: “You don’t have to love Obama. You honestly do not. But, let me ask you, do you love America?
“At long last, are you so intent on vuvuzeling Obama’s presidency into failure that you don’t care if you drag all of us, and our beloved country, down with you?”
Snipe and blame will not bring the blessing that’s granted “even in the midst of the storm.”
Only if we share the costs together, politically as well as economically, can we be sure of “what sees us through — what has always seen us through — our strength, our resilience and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it.
By Donna Brazile

Harpers Ferry Center Staff Honored

Washington, DC –The National Park Service’s Harpers Ferry Center took home six
National Association of Government Communicators awards for superior media products. The awards were presented last week at the NAGC awards banquet in Orlando, Florida.
“These awards are extremely meaningful to us and rather prestigious because they are determined by our peers in the communications field,” stated Don Kodak, director for the NPS Harpers Ferry Center. “I’m proud of the stafff or their accomplishments and the demonstrated success of HFC in contributing to the parks’ excellence in interpretive media. Our work is about providing parks with the tools they need to communicate with visitors about the value of the resource, the need for stewardship and the opportunity for discovery.”
HFC Visual Information Specialist Angie Faulkner was honored with a first place Blue Pencil/Gold Screen Award in the graphic design portfolio category. Judges commented on Falkner’s high quality work in enhancing the message and stated, “It is understandable why tourists collect these brochures because they are informational, fun and beautiful.”
HFC Visual Information Specialist Betsy Erhlich and Zion National Park Assistant Chief Naturalist Tom Haradan received a first place BluePencil/Gold Screen Award for an exhibit display requesting visitors use Zion Spring water instead of bringing plastic bottles into the park.
Second place awards were presented to Ehrlich, NPS Historian Duncan Hay, HFC Curator Sarah Heald and HFC Project Manager Winne Frost for their work with Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in creating the Falls View Park wayside exhibits and to HFC Producer/Director Chuck Dunkerly for his work with Homestead National Monument of America to produce the film Land of Dreams: Homesteading America. Dunkerly’s film was praised by judges for its visual style and incredible cinematography.
Awards of Excellence were received by HFC Cartographer Lori Simmons, C&O Canal National Historical Park Chief of Interpretation Bill Justice, HFC Writer/Editor Ed Zahniser and HFC Printing Specialist Linda Meyers for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP large print brochure and by HFC Visual Information Specialist Susan Barkus, HFC Writer/Editor Bill Gordon, HFC Cartographer Nancy Haack and George Washington Memorial Parkway Site Manager Kendell Thompson for the Arlington House unigrid brochure.
The 2009 competition included 579 entries from federal, state, and local government in the United States and Canada that merited a total of 169 awards.
Contributed By: National Park Service

NEWS OF HEALTH

Physical Activity Benefits Brain Function

(NAPSI)-Cognitive health--or brain health--is on everyone's mind. According to a recent national survey by Research! America, adults worry more about losing their mental capacity than their physical ability.
Conventional wisdom says that mind-engaging activities, such as working through crossword puzzles, may decrease the risk of brain disease and dementia, but researchers are still working to find the full evidence.
"We want to target the activities that people identify as appealing, such as playing games and staying involved, and then find out what works for brain health and what doesn't," said Susan Ivey, M.D., of the University of California at Berkeley Prevention Research Center (PRC).
The PRC Program, a network of 37 academic centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), supports a Healthy Aging Research Network (HAN) consisting of researchers at seven PRCs across the country. The HAN focuses on the health needs of older adults, including factors that promote brain health.
In one project, HAN members asked more than 600 people in nine states what they believed about brain health and how they thought it could be maintained. Now, researchers are using this information to craft clear messages about maintaining a healthy mind.
"People hear about brain health but they find the information confusing or conflicting," says Daniela Friedman, Ph.D., of the University of South Carolina PRC. "We need to discover the best ways to talk about it in different communities."
So while research continues, people of all ages are encouraged to eat healthy, be physically active and engage in social activities. Researchers emphasize that physical activity benefits both body and brain.
"The best single thing anyone can do for his or her brain is to be as active as possible," says William Satariano, Ph.D., who leads a study at the Berkeley PRC on how walking contributes to health. "You don't have to run a marathon. Whatever you can do is good."
"Exercise also lowers your risk for heart disease and other illnesses," adds Amy Fiske, Ph.D., of the West Virginia University PRC, where researchers are providing physical activity programs for seniors in rural areas. "The kinds of things that promote brain health are beneficial for everybody."
For more information on the PRC Program, visit www.cdc.gov/prc.

County Government Notices

Agenda
Impact Fees: Evaluation of current program and
Discussion of possible changes for the future
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
5:00 pm
Charles Town Library Meeting Room
Background: County Commission policy is to review and update the Jefferson County Impact Fee Program every 3 years. The 3 year cycle occurs this year (2010). This is an opportunity to review the impact fee structure and make changes if needed. The downturn in the economy is another reason to revisit impact fees. The focus of the Council of Governments roundtable will be to discuss different aspects of impact fees over several meetings.
The agenda for the first meeting includes an overview of the program and a more detailed discussion of impact fees for parks and recreation. The next meeting will look more closely at impact fees as they relate to law enforcement, emergency services and schools.
I. Overview of the current impact fee program and how impact fees are calculated
II. Concerns about current impact fees
A. Detriment to economic development?
B. Discourages affordable housing
1. Potential solution: calculate impact fees on square footage rather than housing type
2. Potential solution: special consideration of manufactured housing
III. Impact fees for parks and recreation
A. Clarification that municipalities may retain share for local parks
B. Consideration of forming municipal/
　
NOTICE OF MEETING
Jefferson County Commission
Council of Governments Roundtable
The County Commission of Jefferson County will hold a Council of
Governments Roundtable on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 5:00
p.m. at the Old Charles Town Library Meeting Room, 200 E.
Washington Street (Samuel Street Entrance), Charles Town, West
Virginia 25414.
The following topic will be discussed:
- Impact Fees for Parks and Recreation
The public is invited to attend. No decisions will be made at this
meeting.