Lehigh Valley Source

Bethlehem Man Embraces Heritage at Musikfest

Lehigh Valley, News, Musikfest, Native Americans

Rob Davis, now known as Te-Han, performs one
of his fist ever dances at Musikfest, 2009.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

By H. L. STONE
Of Lehigh Valley Source

Bethlehem, Pa.--When he walked down to Muskifest that day, Rob Davis never imagined he’d embarked upon his dream to learn about his Native American heritage…that he’d be performing his first traditional dances in full regalia and going on a national tour with Runa Pacha Wind Rhythms and Terrell Anquoe, six time world champion Native American dancer.

No, he just moseyed on down to check out the festival, one local among many.

“I expected to come to Musikfest like a regular person, but I never expected this”, said Te-Han, as he’s now known. Te-Han means ‘Texas’ in the Kiowa language.

Originally from Texas, now a resident of Bethlehem, Te-Han, a Kiowa/Apache, had found it difficult on the East coast to learn much about his culture.

“It made me feel very proud”, Te-Han said, when asked how he felt about dancing for the first time.

Terrell Anquoe, champion dancer and a Commanche/Kiowa, now Te-Han’s mentor, guides him through interpreting music in dance and shares knowledge about their common Native American background.

Terrell Anquoe, six time World Champion Native American
dancer at Musikfest 2009.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

Anquoe, is partnered with Runa Pacha Wind Rhythms, a South American Native music group featured regularly at Musikfest, and has been touring with them for 4 years, appearing with them at Musikfest for the last 2. Runa Pacha has played at Musikfest for 12 years.

“We met 4 years ago…we just sat down and talked and it was like we knew each other all our lives” said Anquoe.

Anquoe, from Oklahoma, was reluctant at first to dance to Runa Pacha’s Incan/Mayan sound, not knowing if there would be a style clash. But then he heard the stories behind the music.

“Music and dance go hand in hand. I have to put my heart and soul into the dancing, and knowing the stories behind the music is what gets me involved”, said Anquoe. “To us it’s like bringing together family. It’s a matter of finding that spirit in the song…every song tells a story and I feel I can interpret their meanings in my dance”.

 

 

 

Terrell Anquoe dancing the 'Eagle Dance'to Runa Pacha Wind Rhythm's original composition 'Native America'.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob Davis a.k.a. Te-Han, performs one of his first Native American dances at Musikfest, 2009.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

 

 

 

World Champion dancer Terrell Anquoe.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

Job Skills Program Puts Students on Assignment at Muskifest

Photo taken at Musikfest by Traver Tilley, a student
in the Photo Documentary Project

Bethlehem, Pa.--A dozen area residents are working toward a brighter future as they learn the art of photography at Musikfest 2009 as part of a new, high-tech job skills program. The Musikfest Photo Documentary Project is made possible through a partnership between ArtsQuest, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board Inc. and PA CareerLink, and Olympus America Inc.

The Photo Documentary Project is a five-week job skills program that is teaching unemployed and economically disadvantaged adults ages 18-24 digital imaging, desktop publishing and photojournalism. The participants spent last week in ArtsQuest’s Olympus Digital Imaging Center at the Banana Factory learning how to operate Olympus E410 Digital SLR cameras and high-quality lenses donated by Olympus Imaging America Inc. This week, through Aug. 9, they are attending Musikfest, where they will discover how to cover the festival as if they were photojournalists on assignment.

"This project offers instruction to young adults in the high-tech skills that they may not have received in school," says ArtsQuest director of visual arts and education Janice Lipzin. "Instruction in digital photography, desktop publishing and handling oneself on assignment all translate in viable job skills that will serve them well for their future endeavors."

"The mission of the Olympus Digital Imaging Center at the Banana Factory is to make digital photography accessible to everyone," Lipzin added. "By training disadvantaged young adults we are achieving that mission. Olympus’ generous donation of cameras to the participants gives them the tools to continue their knowledge and experience in the field."

Ryan Hulvat, artist-instructor for the project, says the students have embraced the opportunity to learn photography and other high-tech skills.

"They are amazing students. They’ve learned very quickly and they’re very enthusiastic about getting going," says Hulvat, who is assisted by Adam Atkinson and Lenora Dannelke. "I’m teaching them solid photography skills, as well as introducing them to historical photographers who we still gain inspiration from and critical thinking skills. We want them to not just photograph Musikfest, but to discover what Musikfest means to the community, to the artists, to the volunteers, to Bethlehem as a whole, and how they can express that visually."

The Photo Documentary Project is made possible through a grant from Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board Inc. and PA CareerLink’s Career FORCE youth initiative. The project, the only arts program to receive funding this summer through the Career FORCE youth initiative, will culminate with an exhibition at the Banana Factory in October. An exhibit reception, during which the public can meet the project’s participants, will take place Friday, Oct. 2, from 6-9 p.m. In addition to the exhibit, the students in the project will compile their images and essays into a hardbound book that documents their experiences during the five-week program.

"We were pleased to provide funding for ArtsQuest’s Photo Documentary Project with our Career FORCE youth initiative made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board Inc. and PA CareerLink," says Nancy Dischinat, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board Inc. "The innovative program reinforces the importance of introducing young adults to the arts and training them with the skills they will need to succeed in future careers."

Musikfest Anyone?...Cool Beans!

Steve Pullara and His Cool Beans Band performs Saturday,
Aug. 1 at Banana Island stage, Musikfest, Bethlehem, Pa.
Photo by Shawn Hessinger

By H.L. Stone
Of Lehigh Valley Source

Bethlehem, Pa.--Steve Pullara and His Cool Beans Band, 14 year veterans of Musikfest, Bethlehem, Pa., wowed the kiddies at the Banana Island stage Saturday.

Accompanied by Stinky the Clown, Pullara and Cool Beans opened with a stirring rendition of ‘Howdy Do’ by Woody Guthrie and serenaded the audience with themed songs about summer, zoo animals, and more, influenced by styles of music from bluegrass and big band to boogie-woogie and rock-a-billy.

The Bucks County band has been together 13 ½ years in its current form, with Don McCormick on drums, Gary Baumeister on bass, and Don Fink as ‘Stinky’. “We outlasted the Beatles”, Pullara, quips laughingly.

As a young person Pullara was influenced by performers of the post Big Band era as well as the folk music era like Pete Seeger. Pullara remembers when he was growing up his aunt and uncle were always playing Louis Prima. “My taste is definitely 50’s influenced”, he said.

He began singing and writing songs for personal entertainment, but a friend told him they seemed like great kid’s songs. Pullara had often tried writing songs with more adult centered themes, but says his personality definitely gives his music a whimsical quality.

It’s this whimsical quality that draws in not only the little ones but the parents as well.
“We have a good real interaction with the family. We don’t sing at the kids…we like to get the kids involved”.

Steve Pullara’s new CD entitled Zooboogie won a 2008 Parents’ Choice Award, and his previous CD entitled A Big Bowl of Musicroni received a Parent’s Choice Award as well as NAPPA (National Parenting Publications Award) Honors in the Children's Audio category.

Currently Pullara and His Cool Beans Band are starring in various public access T.V. shows and have made 19 public service announcements for kids, fulfilling the first step towards a goal of getting their own show on PBS.

Something for Everyone...Yes, Honey, Even the Kids, at Musikfest

Thaddeus Rex and his friend, a dinosaur named Rock,
performed for young fans at the Banana Island Stage
August 1 as part of Bethelehem, PA's Musikfest.
Photo by Shawn A. Hessinger

By H.L. STONE
Of Lehigh Valley Source

Bethlehem, Pa.--The dinosaur took the stage at Banana Island.

Sporting a blue and black Mohawk and wearing a bright orange work shirt, Dickies style, Rock, an “evolved form of  T-Rex dinosaur”, played drums and danced to tunes from nationally known family music performer Thaddeus Rex, on first Saturday at Musikfest, Bethlehem, Pa.

Stepping down into the audience, Thaddeus, guitar in hand, plays, sings, talks to the kids, and engages even reserved parents who are hard-pressed not to respond to his compelling music, message of literacy, and the infectious fun of the moment.

Tomorrow’s leaders danced and twirled in front of the stage, mesmerized by their “Idol of the Imagination”, their “Emperor of Education”, Thaddeus Rex. And, for a moment I thought about getting out my lighter to flick “RESPECT”.

“I started doing concerts to get the kids excited about reading” said Thaddeus, who tours as a literacy promoter Monday through Friday in schools K-6 nationally.

Another thing that really grabs the kids’ attention is Rock, Thaddeus’s seven foot tall dinosaur, who he fondly claims “has a brain about the size of a peach”, but is still learning and evolving, and who obviously is an important part of the show.

Thaddeus, who has been performing since May, 2004, with his first ever performance at the Cincinnati Zoo, starred in an Emmy Award winning PBS show called “The Friday Zone” when he was still in college. This is his third year at Musikfest.

Thaddeus says that a degree in philosophy, a black belt in martial arts, and an interest in theater and music have given him focus and the ability to work hard to create an act that embodies his mission of reading advocacy and fulfills a life long ambition of becoming a musician.

Winner of the Parents’ Choice Award and the John Lennon Song Writing contest among others, Thaddeus’s musical style combines high energy pop/rock with lyrics inspired from children’s books and from the children themselves. At his website, www.thaddeusrex.com, he encourages kids to submit their lyrics and poetry to compete in his “Write Like A Rock Star, the Thaddeus Rex Writing Contest”, where the grand prize winner, chosen by public voting on the website, gets to have their work made into a song by Thaddeus. The winner becomes “co-writer” of the song and gets royalties from the song’s releases.

Thaddeus Rex, a singer/songwriter from Chicago, promotes
the importance of reading to his young audience at the
Banana Island Stage at Musikfest, Bethlehem, PA.
Photo by Shawn A. Hessinger

Paying it Forward with BEST

Billy Staples, BEST Inc. co-director, shares an
inspirational story with 2009 BEST scholarship
recipients.
Photo by Diana Morse

By Alice More
Special to Lehigh Valley Source

Bethlehem, Pa.--It means simply: helping students in need of financial assistance fulfill their goal of a college education.

BEST Inc., a nonprofit founded in 2008 by Staples and organization co-director Judy Tierney, gave its first scholarship awards to 28 Lehigh Valley area high school graduates recently. The presentation at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem was attended by recipients’ families and friends as well as scholarship benefactors and board members. The message to the recipients emphasized the program’s keystone of working hard toward achievement and giving back to the community.

Indeed, each scholarship recipient—most of whom will receive anywhere from $200 to $400 annually—accepts the money with accountability. Each is required to select a volunteer mentor who reports on his or her performance to the scholarship board; thus the payment for A and B grades. And each, upon completion of his or her studies, must return and work in their community for two years.

Giving back. That is what it is all about, said Staples, an educator, author, baseball aficionado, and self-described raconteur. “You have to pay things forward.,” he asserted. A Phillipsburg, N.J., native who taught school in Bethlehem for 13 years, Staples wrote “Before the Glory,” a book of inspirational stories of youth told by 20 of baseball’s compelling figures.

Co-founder Tierney reiterated the program guidelines. She said the scholarship funds go directly to the college, and recipients must maintain a 2.8 average. Criteria for eligibility include letters of recommendation, proof of need, an application, and a 250-word essay about personal goals. She noted that if a student does not fulfill the award contract, the money becomes a loan.

“We are trying to get the word out about the scholarships,” Tierney said, noting that they decided to start small and then broaden the reach through fund raising and grants.

Staples introduced program benefactors, Marlene (“Linny”) Fowler of Bethlehem and Bob and Lynn Johnson of Palmer Township. Staples said he met Fowler when he and his students were raising money for a student’s funeral and she offered financial assistance.

In congratulating the students and urging them to work hard, Fowler said there is a need in the community for more minority role models. “Everybody should be given a chance” for a college education, she said.

Johnson, who owns and operates Auto Sound Plus in Palmer Township, and was one of the first donors, lauded the program and plans for its expansion. He is among the planners of a fund-raising BEST College Scholarship Baseball Hall of Fame Golf Classic Aug. 23 and 24 at Water Gap Country Club in Delaware Water Gap, Pa.

Staples’ friend and program supporter Carlos Ojeda, an educator and  motivational speaker, urged the graduates to “make their place in history.”

Recounting his own turbulent path to a college education and his father’s unwavering belief in his potential for success, Ojeda spoke emotionally of the impact of his father’s embrace on his college graduation day in 1993. It was a memory “that came rushing back,” when his father died, he said, and he searched frantically for a photo from the occasion. Last Father’s Day, his mother gave him a copy of the picture.

“It was a singular moment; I live it every step of the way,” he said. “This is that moment for you.” 

Alice More is a freelance writer in Bethlehem.

 
Keynote speaker Carlos Ojeida Jr., MBA, director of
the Kutztown University Latino Business Resource Center
and motivational speaker, presented an amusing and
informative address to scholarship recipients.
Photo by Diana Morse

 
BEST Inc. supporter Marlene (“Linny”) Fowler of
Bethlehem welcomes students, scholarship recipients,
and guests to the organization’s first formal “meet
and greet” at Bethlehem's Banana Factory.
Photo by Diana Morse 

 
Seated, from left, are 2009 BEST Inc. scholarship
recipients Alayna Sulick, Katelyn Marinelli, Stephanie
Heater, Kathy Dutan, Kiesha Custis-Adams, BEST
co-director Judy Tierney; BEST supporter Marlene
(“Linny”) Fowler; Ernestine Hunter, Samantha Diaz,
Kirsten Gehm, Maridarlyn Gonzalez, and Naomy Rosario.
Standing, from left, are scholarship recipients Kayla
Toncik, Cameron Weikel, Angela Perez, Steven
Paliswiat, Albie Moran, Braxton Bupivi, Jarrett
Johnson, Michelle McGeary, Brittney Oleniacz, and
Lincoln Powell. Photo by Diana Morse

Students from Nine Lehigh Valley Area High Schools Receive BEST Scholarships

Students from nine high schools in the Lehigh Valley region were recently presented scholarships at the first awards ceremony of Building Education Support Teams (BEST Inc.), a new, nonprofit scholarship program based in the Lehigh Valley.

College career choices of the winners range from business, architecture, and marine biology to criminal justice, health, and education.

Their schools of choice include East Stroudsburg University, Chestnut Hill College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, Berkeley College, Moravian College, Rider University, Centenary College, and Northampton Community College (NCC).

Graduates received scholarships ranging from $200 to $400 annually based upon maintaining a 2.8 grade average. Each has a volunteer mentor. And each recipient must return to his or her community to work for two years—something  that recipient Melonie DeJesus said she wants to do even if not required. An education major, DeJesus said her goal is to “change at least one child’s life.”

Recipients are as follows: Erica Bissonnette, Alanna Brink, Braxton Bupivi, Lisa Fania, Kirsten Gehm, Jessica Harvatin, Stephanie Heater, Jarrett Johnson, Katelyn Marinelli, Lauren Martin, Michelle McGeary, Albert Moran, Brittney Oleniacz, Lincoln Powell, Alyana Sulick, and Coriane Wilson, all from Phillipsburg High School; Angela Achey, Cameron Weikel, and Ernestine Hunter;  all from East Stroudsburg South High School; Keisha Custis-Adams from Dieruff High School; Samantha Diaz and Kathy Duton, both from William Allen High School; Victoria Gunther from Stroudsburg High School; Steven Paliswiat from Freedom High School; Angela Perez from Easton Stroudsburg North High School; Naomy Rosario from Liberty High School; and Kayla Toncik, from Nazareth High School.

The only non-Lehigh Valley recipient is Maridarlyn Gonzalez, who had graduated from Kensington Public High School in Philadelphia and was class valedictorian.

Those attending college are Melonie DeJesus, Edwin Leon, Katie Rivera, and Chris Vega, all NCC; Juan Hernandez, Maria Lopez, Jonathan Nivar, and Adam Hussein, all Kutztown University; and Rick Nuno, University of Pittsburgh.

— Alice More

BEST Scholarship Golf Classic Slated for Aug. 23 and 24

Lehigh Valley area golfers will have a unique opportunity in August to pit their skills against those of Baseball Hall of Fame Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins and dozens of former All-Star players with the Phillies, Mets, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Cardinals, Orioles, Padres, and Red Sox.

The benefit event for college scholarship funding will be held Aug. 23 and 24 at the Water Gap Country Club in Delaware Water Gap, Pa.

The BEST College Scholarship Baseball Hall of Fame Golf Classic also offers baseball enthusiasts and collectors the opportunity for hole sponsorship. A $300 hole sponsorship includes tee sign with sponsor’s name and signed by all the players, and two tickets to the Celebrity Meet and Greet Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 23 at the country club.

BEST, a nonprofit Lehigh Valley-based program, was founded in 2008 to aid students in need of financial assistance to obtain a college education. Scholarship recipients are mentored throughout their education and required to return to the community to seek and accept employment for two years.

Golfers will tee off with some of baseball’s former top-notch players on the Pocono Mountains course Aug. 24. Opportunities for a single golfer at $150 and a foursome at $600 include a buffet breakfast, shotgun start/four-person scramble, open bar and dinner, sports memorabilia auction, and prizes and awards.

Among the sports greats donating their time for the event are Tony Balsamo, 1960s Cubs pitcher; Shawn Barton, 1990s Mariners/Giants pitcher; Joel Bennett, 1990s Orioles/Phillies pitcher; Steve Braun, 1980s Twins/Cardinals outfielder; Fred Cambria, 1970s Pirates pitcher; Al Chambers, 1980s Mariners outfielder; Doug Clemens, 1960s Cardinals/Phillies outfielder; Paul Fletcher, 1990s Phillies pitcher; Dick Gernet, 1950s Red Sox first baseman; Chuck Hinton, 1960s Washington/Indians outfielder; Fergie Jenkins, 1970s Cubs pitcher; Dennis Kinney, 1980s Padres pitcher; Steve Kraly,1950s Yankees pitcher; Joe Lahoud, 1970s Red Sox outfielder; Bob Lipski, 1960s Indians catcher; Ron Nischwitz, 1960s Tigers pitcher; Dickie Noles, 1990s Phillies pitcher; Bo Orlando, 1990s Steelers defensive back; Steve Rogers, 1980s Expos pitcher; Wil Royster, 1980s Orioles catcher; Fred Valentine, 1960s Orioles/Washington outfielder; Jon Warden, 1960s Tigers pitcher; Don Wert, 1960s Tigers third baseman; and George Yankowski,1940s Philadelphia/White Sox catcher.

For additional information, contact Judy Tierney, BEST Inc. co-director, at 610-504-4239 or e-mail juti43@rcn.com. Checks should be made payable to BEST Inc. and mailed to BEST Inc., P.O. Box 54, Phillipsburg, N.J., 08865.

— Alice More