Waterfire Sharon PA July 2016

WATERFIRE   JULY 16, 2016  THEME-THROUGH THE DECADES.

Waterfire is a festival that was started in Providence, RI and is only held in Columbus, Kansas City, Singapore, Rome and Sharon PA. This year was extra special for me because my neighbors Kathy, Jacque, and Kevin came to town to celebrate it with me.

They arrived later than expected on Friday. So we got right down to letting the good times roll. Everyone was hungry so we went to La Isla, a great locally owned Mexican restaurant.  We arrived at 7 o'clock and to my surprise there was music out on the patio. They had Yeunlings for a dollar and margaritas for $2.99. When all was said and done we had five beers, five margaritas, two appetizers and two main courses and the bill came to $60. My friends from Jersey were amazed. 

We then went up the street to another local bar and grill called “The Keg” which is owned and operated by George "Jigs" Warren. Jigs is one of the original founders of the now successful franchise Quaker Steak and Lube, which was just purchased by Travel America for $25 million. Once again my friends from New Jersey were amazed...four drinks $11.20. I think they were starting to get the picture why I like to go home to Pennsylvania to hang out with old friends to drink and have a good time. 

Next stop was the Apollo MaennerchorClub. This is a German home that's been around for over 100 years. In the last six years it's been taken over by the young people. The young people would be people in their early sixties.  Previous to that it was being run by guys in their eighties.  The exquisite architecture of the club is being refurbished by its members. This year an outside patio was added.  There is open mic night one Thursday, and bands on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Yes, we each had a couple of more drinks.  The comment made by Jacque at the end of the evening was…we still had not spent $100 for the four of us to have had dinner and to drink all night long. It was late we got back to my brother’s house.  Beds were inflated and we called it a night.

It's Saturday morning and the festivities do not start until 1 o'clock. We had two things to accomplish. One, breakfast…the other to go to Palumbo's Meat Market so Jacque and Kathy could buy their garlic pepper bacon, slice just the way they like it. I usually bring bacon back for them whenever I visit.

The question was...are you interested in French toast stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries. If so we were going Donna’s Diner in Sharon, Pa.  Kevin's answer was NO. They were looking for a Pats diner.  We have our own version of Pats diner.  It is a little more rural. We weren't disappointed. We pulled into a packed parking lot and 80% of the vehicles were pickup trucks.  This diner is about 2 miles out of town. What a difference two miles can make in our valley. Our waitress was a caricature from the movie Misery. Lol Breakfast was finally served.

The last time Jacque was in town, every time we talked about of place of interest, Jacque would ask how far away it was. The answer was always two miles.

Off we went to Palumbo's Meat Market. There is a guy who works there from Philadelphia. He now has Palumbo's Meat Market making pork roll.

Jacque wanted to go to Ohio. That's not a big deal. You guessed it… It is two miles away. We went up the West State Street hill. Kathy was getting a little sick because the hill is so steep. Ground finally leveled off on Stateline Road with the welcome to Ohio sign perched at the top. Everyone jumped out of the car to take pictures. Really?  It is a beautiful site looking down over the Shenango Valley. We went for a little ride looking for beer. As it turns out the cheapest and the best variety of beer was at the Milk Barn which is right there at the top of the west hill in Ohio.

It was 1 o'clock and the festivities were starting for Waterfire.  Music was playing continuously in three points in town. The artisans were setting up their booths, and Michael Long started his chainsaw carving. We had lunch at the Sharon Hotdog Shop which is famous for its chili dogs and gyros. The place is been around for over 50 years.

We continued through town and visited all the unique shops, and galleries. I pretty much know all the owners through my brother, who is considered one of the major art and theater aficionados in town.

It was 6 o'clock and we decided to head back to the house to shower, rest, and drink a few beers from the Milk Barn. At 8 o'clock we were refreshed and renewed and headed back downtown Sharon for the lighting ceremony at dusk. The one thing I miss about western Pennsylvania is an extra half hour of daylight in the evening.

The music can be heard throughout the city.  You hear the deep bass of the drumbeat as the procession of torchbearers arrives on the bridge. On the boats in the river below is a performer twirling fire at the end of two chains. There are 50 braziers anchored in the river loaded with wood. The lighting ceremony begins. There was an estimated 20,000 people lined along the river and across three different bridge spans. It is definitely a very cool site to behold.

Around 11 o'clock we realized we were hungry and thirsty. We went to Brewtus Brewing Company, which is a new brewery that opened last year.  We closed place, and when we walked outside all the vendors were gone, the fires were out on the river. I looked at everybody and said I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.

… And a good time was had by all!

Mary Linda Perry aka MLP enjoys good times, good people and good conversations.

A few highlights from Jacque Pierre Howard

This was my second visit to Sharon PA for Waterfire and I had just as much if not more fun than my first visit.  Although we didn't get on the road as early as I would have liked, the ride was a pleasant one with Kathy and Kevin providing some quality entertainment along with the great views traveling West on I-80.

We arrived at our home for the next few days "owned and operated" by Sam Perry.  It was nice to connect with Sam in person again and to hear about the happenings about town.  Sam who is retired does plenty to keep himself busy; performing in theatre in the region, making multimedia art and sharing his expertise with others.

After a bit of discussion we settled on Mexican at La Isla for dinner.  The prices were amazing and the food very good.  Coming from a big family I am totally into sharing and most of my traveling partners are as well.  The Carñitas Kevin ordered were amazing, tender, moist, flavorful and a perfect complement to the "build your own" 3 Burritos myself, MLP and Kathy shared and washed down with Margaritas.  The band whose name I didn't get were very good playing covers of Earth Wind & Fire and a mix of 70's through today's current hits.

The stop at The Keg gave me a chance to reconnect with "Jigs" he's a seasoned pro in the Food and Beverage industry.  He's made some upgrade since my last visit and that's a good sign.

The night's final stop at the Apollo Maennerchor Club was also inspiring, seeing the additions of a deck and patio.  The one man band was entertaining it would have been nice to see him with packed house.

Saturday mornings breakfast was very entertaining.  The one floor, low ceiling (I would assume no basement) diner was just what we were looking for.  Locals, great prices, strong coffee and the kind of breakfast that sticks to your ribs. The coffee was not very good but the place was packed with locals, the prices GREAT - 2 eggs, 2 meats, short stack, potatoes juice ~$4.  Three out of 4 ain't bad!  Our server was indeed a caricature, 50's + woman standing well over 6 feet with very large hands and a soft tender voice.  She entertained us between her other tables with jokes about her abilities with deadly weapons.

When we arrived in Downtown Sharon Kevin and I decided to have a look around and stumbled into a small low ceiling smoke-filled bar near the train tracks.  Upon entering I was greeted by a very intoxicated man who appeared to be in his 60's who aggressively mumbled something and screamed "Lynyard Skynyrd!"  I have no idea what he meant but I don't think he was happy to see me in the establishment.  Anyway that will be story I will tell for a long time!

After walking around town for a bit capturing some images we made it to the Community Library of Shenango Valley to see the latest installation by Random Acts of Artists a "Literary Garden,"  I connected with Linda Brink and Terry Polonsky on my previous visit.  

Sam introduced me to Developer/Entrepreneur Jim Landino of Recon LLC who is rehabbing two historic buildings in Downtown Sharon.

I grabbed some audio with Constance of Urban Barn Sharon a Authorized Annie Sloan Stockist of Chalk Paint, Martha Bastecy of MJ's Woodworking, Michael Forney of Michael Anthony's and Karen Anderson Land Operations Manager of Waterfire.

My 2nd visit to Sharon was a good one and I expect to return and to tell more people about my wonderful times and people I met.

Have a listen to several tracks from my visits to Sharon PA

https://soundcloud.com/trenton365/sets/waterfire-sharon-pa

These images captured by Kevin Duddy