Doug Wilhelm at the University of Rochester’s Horizons Program

The first Horizons Program launched 50 years ago in New Canaan, CT, and has grown to 40+ programs throughout the country. Surprisingly (or not?), 5 of them are right here in Rochester (with Harley being the oldest, Allendale Columbia the newest, and the University of Rochester, Monroe Community College, and Nazareth College rounding out the group). The goal of Horizons is to be “a transformative, educational summer enrichment program serving low-income public school students with a broad range of academic abilities.” (for more information, visit http://www.horizonsnational.org/approach)

Charlie and I have recently become involved in The Horizons Program at the U of R’s Warner School. We are sponsoring a child for a few years, and I had volunteered to the director, Lynn Gatto, that I could facilitate a visit by my Vermont friend Doug Wilhelm (and the husband of a college friend), who is an author of young-adult fiction. Lynn promptly ordered four of his books for the middle-school kids to read in small groups, including The Revealers and Prince of Denial. Doug’s visit was scheduled near the end of the session, so the kids would have time to read the books and get excited about meeting the author.

that's Lynn in the hat for 'wacky hat day'

About 25 middle schoolers, along with their teachers, Lynn, Charlie and I gathered with Doug in a conference room, and he gave a brief introduction before inviting questions. At 6’ 10” he is almost always the tallest person in the room, and growing up, he was the “weird, skinny, annoying kid” who was taunted by his peers. An early turning point was in ninth grade, when an English teacher prohibited the kids from making fun of each other in class. He finally started standing up for himself, and gained the self-confidence to start writing. His first book, an attempt to understand the Muslim world, remains unpublished, after ten years of writing and 75 rejections. However, he found his voice, and his audience, in the world of young adult fiction. His one proviso in answering questions was that the students first had to share one thing about themselves. This turned out not to be a gimmick – Doug was really listening, and often asked the students questions himself, and referred back to their interests later in the discussion (he also occasionally took notes – who knows what might find its way into a future book?). Doug's books deal with issues like bullying and substance abuse, and it was heartbreaking to hear some of the students mention their own experience of family substance abuse so casually and matter-of-factly.

Q: Is writing his passion?

A: Yes. He has all these stories swirling in his brain and “the only way to get it out of your head is to write it down.” He likes to write as a “clue for the reader’s imagination,” and to be able to “connect with the reader, and make it real for the kids.” His hope is that young adult readers, with their individual lives and experiences, will identify with at least some part of the characters and situations, and feel like they are part of the story.

one of the smaller book groups

Q: Is writing hard?

A: He likened it to being an athlete or a musician; to be good enough to perform in front of people, one needs much practice. “The secret to writing is never to expect the first draft to be any good.  Rewriting is a natural part of the process.” He also reflected that writers, unlike athletes and stage performers, rarely get applause, and that he wished kids with other interests would get more applause (it was great that the Horizons day begins with “high 5s” from the teachers for the handful of students who have done something noteworthy the prior day – who doesn’t want to feel special, even for just a minute?).

Q: Where did the idea for the intervention in one of the books come from?

A: From a real-life intervention for his mother, when he was in his 40s (Doug writes from experience – both of his parents had issues with alcohol abuse).

and another

Q: Why did he choose a Filipino for one of his characters, who becomes the subject of nasty rumors?

A: Doug wanted the girl to be from a foreign culture, since “if you have ignorance about someone’s culture, it’s easier to believe bad things about them.” He asked the questioner whether she and her classmates could relate to this, and she innocently answered, “since it’s 6^th grade, you don’t get a lot of prejudice.” (It made me think of the South Pacific song whose last verse is: “You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught!”)

Q: What was the inspiration for Falling?

A: Sadly, it is Rutland, where Doug previously lived, and which has lately been in the news for its widespread heroin problem. He described the availability of drugs in schools as a dangerous obstacle course for kids growing up.

Q: What was the inspiration for True Shoes?

A: Doug had gotten a lot of questions from students about what happened to the characters is The Revealers “after” so he decided to write a sequel to resolve some of the unanswered issues (and pose some new ones, of course!)

Doug was really great with the kids, never talking down to them – but still relating to them on their level. He could have stayed with these kids all day, but their lunch beckoned, and Doug had a commitment in Buffalo. Before he left, he shared his e-mail address with the group and sincerely encouraged them all to correspond with him (one aspiring writer seemed certain to follow through!). I hope he'll return in a few years when the current third-fifth graders are old enough for these books…

One...singular sensation - RAPA's "A Chorus Line"

I’m a sucker for A Chorus Line (the stage version, not the movie), and I’ve seen the movie Every Little Step twice. One of the things that fascinates me is how talented all of the actors must be, since they must all act, sing, and dance, and sometimes all at the same time! So when my friend Jan suggested a girls’ night out, to see RAPA’s production at the East End Theatre, I was the first (of a dozen of us) to accept the invitation. We dined at Pomodoro’s beforehand, and carpooled to the theatre, because parking there can be an issue.

First, the bad. I can understand why RAPA might be eager to move from this performance space to the Kodak Theater. The seating configuration, on a few risers that barely rise, means that almost everyone has an obstructed view – there was much leaning back and forth to try to find small windows between the people in ‘lower’ rows. We were only halfway back, but it was virtually impossible to see the dancing, except in the mirrors (which had a slight curvature, so there was occasionally some carnival-like distortion). The seats themselves have seen better days, and because each row of seats is connected and wobbly, every move anyone makes ripples (our row included a high-energy high school boy, who constantly jiggled his leg and consequently the rest of us). The band is sequestered in a large closet to one side of the stage, and the theatre was warm, as if it is perhaps not air-conditioned. And the boys’ costumes for the final number might have been designed to allow them to move, but they were so ill-fitting and baggy that the boys looked like clowns.

But, the good was very good – enough so that one of the women in our party immediately went to the box office afterward to purchase tickets for her to return with her husband the following night. We couldn’t stop remarking on the talent of these performers (mostly in college, but some in high school, and some recent college grads). While the acting was uneven, there was no question that they could dance and sing. Each lead had a distinctive voice, particularly suited to his or her role, and yet when they sang the chorus numbers, the blend was incredible. I wasn’t paying attention when the husband of Judith Ranaletta, Artistic Director, announced a role substitution, but perhaps it was for “Sheila,” because Judith explained to Jan post-performance that the girl playing Morales had just stepped in to sing “What I Did for Love.” And she was terrific. And we learned, from the young woman in our row on crutches who was supposed to have played “Connie,” why the role had been changed slightly (from a short Asian woman to a short Irish one – not quite the same impact, unfortunately).

I was in awe not just of the musical ability of these young adults, but their poise and seeming self-esteem. Many of them are studying performance, and probably have professional aspirations. Whether or not they are realized, RAPA will have provided them an excellent foundation.

Sally, Jan, Holly, Mary Ann, Dinny
Ann, Sue, Betsy

It was such a fun evening that several of us are considering making this a habit (sort of like a book club, but for theatre, so no homework required!). With all of the great theatrical organizations in Rochester, we will have no shortage of options from which to choose. If we ever return to this theatre, though, we’ll have to make sure to get there early enough to secure the seats with a view…

Let the Tornado Come, A Memoir, by Rita Zoey Chin

No, this is not a book review! I haven’t even read Let the Tornado Come yet, but I was invited by my friend Daren to attend a reading and signing by the author at the Honeoye Public Library, hosted by the Honeoye Booktalkers Club. Daren and Rita are long-time friends, and both Daren and her husband raved about the book, so I was naturally curious.

Rita described her memoir as three journeys (as a runaway, through panic attacks, and finally in horseback riding), through which she learned how remarkably stubborn and strong-willed she is. A book is not always best read by the author, but Rita’s voice is far from a monotone, and it was wonderful to hear her inflections and pauses matching the visual descriptions of the almost poetic prose (and she is also a poet). She apologized up front for being fidgety, which she definitely was, as she squirmed in the chair and played with her hair (a bit like a spooked horse, with which she clearly identifies). That just added to her charm.

After she read a passage from each journey, she opened the floor to questions, and the audience – mostly book club members – were not shy (Rita loved that, unlike a bookstore promotion, this was the first time the audience had actually already read the book). There were more compliments than questions, as people quoted passages from the book to praise the different voices in which she wrote, the poetic metaphors, and her image-focused writing style that makes the reader feel very present. She admitted that the book had not been a healing process, although it had been a vehicle to “give voice to her runaway self,” and had been the opportunity finally to share this side of her with her husband, who had until then wanted to be spared those chapters of her life.  And although she tried to reunite with her mother, that effort failed, and she has let go her “child’s hope for a mother.”

Rita, Daren, and my sister-in-law Kathryn

One reader applauded the short chapter format, because it allowed her a break from some of the more tortured passages. Apparently, as Rita, commented, her readers often feel that “I couldn’t put the book down…I had to put the book down.” She also acknowledged the “generosity of the reader to go along on the author’s journey.”

I bought three books for her to sign (one for me, another for a book fiend, and the third for a horse lover/owner). I look forward to reading it, with some obvious trepidation…

Geva/Dutton Merkel Donohue Press Conference

Sometimes when a door closes, a window opens. In this case, it’s Nikko, the only restaurant close to Geva, which closed. But a whole building is going to open up nearby next spring/summer, when the 45-year home to Merkel Donohue is repurposed as “Woodbury Place,” a mix of residential and retail spaces. The first phase will include 17 loft-style apartments, 11 of which have been leased to Geva to house their non-resident actors. Three of the remaining six have already been rented, lack of detailed plans notwithstanding! 

At the press conference Tuesday morning, Mayor Lovely Warren kicked things off, remarking enthusiastically about this project being evidence of a “city that’s coming back.” She introduced County Supervisor Maggie Brooks, from “across the aisle,” who thanked Geva and Dutton & Company for their visionary re-imagining of the building, and Geva for being “a treasure in the community.” Apparently, Geva is the most attended professional theatre in the northeast outside of New York City, having served over 4 million residents and tourists and generated over $200 million in economic benefits. Brooks applauded the relocation of the actors from their current apartments in Gates to this “gateway neighborhood to the city,” a move that will allow them to “become a part of our community” as well as be a draw for future talent.

State Senators Ted O’Brien and Joseph Robach took their turns at the podium before Tom Parrish, Geva’s Executive Director, stepped up to formally announce the 10-year lease. Actors in Geva’s shows are typically here for 9 weeks, between rehearsals and performances, and since rehearsals for one show overlap performances of another, the apartments will be booked solid. After alluding to a gift registry and housewarming that will be announced later to furnish the apartments, he introduced Patrick Noonan, one of the equity actors who has performed at Geva over the years and who had input into the apartments' design. He joked that although he recently relocated to Rochester, he might move away for a bit, just to get to stay in the new apartments. He added that “actors will now have no reason to be late to rehearsals.”

So the “downtown renaissance” continues. Maybe Charlie Fitzsimmons (Black & Blue, TRATA, JoJo’s, etc.) would consider expanding into this neighborhood?!

Geneseo Warplane Museum

My husband rarely actively expresses an interest in a tourist activity when friends visit, so when my college friend Parker and her family were here this weekend, and Charlie volunteered that he’d always wanted to visit the Geneseo Warplane Museum, who was I to deny him? Especially since it would be close to Letchworth Park, which was on our agenda for the afternoon. I would take one for the team…

Parker and Connor and the 1942 searchlight

Ours were the only cars in the parking lot, and there was only one other couple of visitors when we arrived on Sunday. Our guide explained that they were still recovering from last weekend’s air show, which had suffered one day of bad weather, as he took us through the restoration hangar, where a 1942 searchlight was in the process of being restored (by him – he actually is working on many of the planes/cars/engines in the museum).

Kitchen in the "America at Home" Exhibit

He was turning on the lights for us as we went, as if we were the first to arrive, something I had also suspected from the excitement our arrival caused. Charlie was very engaged, asking questions, and seeming to understand when the guide showed us a C-this or B-that. I had to smile when the guide said, “Let’s go to the main hangar – this is where all the magic happens.” He definitely loves his job! 

Martha Wadsworth's plane

The main hangar displayed about a dozen planes, including some built from kits, a small plane that had just been donated at this year’s air show, another from the show that was for sale, and several privately owned planes in various states of disrepair, only temporarily in residence. There was even one owned by Charlie’s cousin, Martha Wadsworth.

The tour continued outside, where we were able to enter one of the larger planes, a troop and cargo carrier, parked on the grounds, which sit in a valley just below SUNY Geneseo. We were informed that had we visited the prior day, we would have seen the grass runway, which mimics a European WWII airfield, in active use. I was struck by how much creativity and effort and money goes into designing instruments of war.  If only peace were something that could be waged…  

Canandaigua Lake Music Festival

There is so much going on this summer that I completely forgot I had accepted my friend Mary Ann’s invitation to accompany her to a concert at the Canandaigua Lake Music Festival! Canandaigua seemed a long way to go for a concert, especially when there’s so much great music right here in our backyard, but it’s actually not that far, and the drive is pretty easy, even though we left at rush hour so we could grab a quick bite beforehand (I finally got to the Rheinblick German Restaurant, which had been on my ‘to do list’ since I moved here – the Schweinshaxe was good, but didn’t measure up to my memory of the crispy, fatty hock I had years ago at Kloster Andechs).

The program was “Chopin meets Hedgehog,” and I was particularly excited to attend in the company of Mary Ann, herself a musician and pianist.  We arrived just in time, and found seats in the front row, with a nice view of the piano keys. Howie Jacobson introduced the talented pianist, Audrey Andrist, reminding the audience that music brings people together – families, friends – independent of age (I felt like anecdotal evidence, on my ‘girls night out’), and urging us to continue to bring more people together in the future (the small auditorium of the Finger Lakes Community College wasn’t nearly half full). 

I didn’t recognize anything on the program, but Mary Ann did, and we both agreed Audrey played beautifully and gracefully. Her short educational introductions to each piece, including a few bars to illustrate a point, gave the audience mileposts to listen for, which made the music more enjoyable and relatable. She had been playing one of the Chopin pieces since she was 17 – she said she still uses the score with all of her teacher’s markings – and we could both hear and see her emotional connection to it. 

After the intermission, before Elisa and Amy Sue Barston joined Audrey on the stage, Kevin Kumar (co-artistic director) and Adam Silverman (composer, and husband of co-artistic director and cellist Amy Sue Barston – this was truly a family affair!) had a brief chat about the final ‘world premiere’ piece on the program: The Hedgehog’s Dilemma, for piano, violin, and cello. His advice to the audience was that to “just relax and enjoy is always an option” or we could pay attention to the “leadership of the performance” as it passes back and forth, to the overlapping of melodies, and to the relationship between the music and the title (he had wanted to write something evocative of the way that the closer two hedgehogs get to each other, the more difficult it gets because of their spines, and we would hear this in the “discomfort of the violin and cello being close together”). He also said that the piece would be “familiar ground to those who enjoy classical romantic music.” Mary Ann and I again agreed, this time that Silverman had achieved his objective – the music was indeed prickly, and more contemporary than he had admitted (there seemed to be a lot of dissonance for dissonance’s sake…).

On our drive home, Mary Ann and I plotted to get together for the upcoming “Eastman Presents” series, and I reflected that I am glad to have access to such a rich offering of performing arts here in the Rochester area, and to have made so many wonderful friends here to experience them with!

Greece Town Meeting Atheist Invocation

Dan Courtney

I met Dan Courtney recently at a board meeting of the Rochester chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and was excited to learn that he was the atheist who had applied to deliver the first non-religious invocation at a Greece town meeting since the Supreme Court decision, in which the conservative court members reasoned that continuing the mostly Christian prayer was ok because it was part of a tradition – these guys would have fit right in with the majority in Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v. Ferguson...  He seemed very intelligent and reasonable, and all of the recent press led me to believe he would give a concise and dispassionate non-prayer (which he did).

According to 13 WHAM News, “Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich said the town is trying to be more inclusive…than the Supreme Court offered,” yet he has “turned away others because they wanted to make a mockery of this.  One said he told the town he worshipped spaghetti.”  Yes, satire is lost on the town of Greece, which apparently has never heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!  Still, it seems a slippery slope for the town supervisor to be in the business of deciding which religions and mythical deities are “genuine” and which are not…
 

Linda Stephens

I got to the town hall early, in anticipation of a large crowd.  Many secular humanists had turned out for the event, including Linda Stephens, the atheist plaintiff in the case (whom I’d also met and been impressed with at the AU meeting), and a large contingent from the Center for Inquiry. We only had to pass one Jesus nut on our way in, and he later made his point by loudly repeating the “under God” phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance.  Almost all of the 110 seats in the meeting room were filled, and people stood along the walls, as well.  The podium was cluttered with TV microphones, and camera crews, which I suspect were unusual for a routine town meeting, located themselves strategically to film Dan as he spoke.  There were probably very few in the audience who were actually Greece residents there to hear the mundane business on the agenda (like authorizing bid dates for the purchase of police vehicles and authorizing a contract for data center services).

 







It was quickly apparent that most of us were there in support of the “atheist invocation,” which Justice Scalia couldn’t imagine in his narrow-mindedness.  The board filed in a few minutes before 6pm, and a hush descended on the room.  After the Pledge, Dan was invited to give the invocation.  He thanked the board for letting him speak, on behalf of freethinkers, atheists, and non-believers, and referenced the Declaration of Independence in his two-minute delivery, reminding the officials that their duty is to “heed the counsel of the governed, to seek the wisdom of all citizens.”  The board members were mostly respectful, either watching Dan or bowing their heads (although one or two looked a bit impatient to have this done with…).  There was no “amen,” just an eruption of applause after Dan thanked the board.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF

The room emptied and most of us reassembled on the lawn for some short speeches given by Ron Lindsay (president of the Center for Inquiry), David Niose (past president of the American Humanist Association), Greg Lipper (Senior Litigation Counsel for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State), and Annie Laurie Gaylor (Co-Founder and Co-President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation).  Someone passed out “One in Five” signs (signifying the percentage of non-religious Americans) which we proudly held for the cameras.  The speakers focused on the message of inclusion, and encouraged the non-believers to stand up for their non-beliefs. Ms. Gaylor exhorted those in government to “get off (their) knees and get to work.”  Before the crowd dispersed, I took the opportunity to pass out some cards for Rochester’s Sunday Assembly, which is looking to start up in September.  As I departed, inspired, I couldn’t help but wonder – have I found my tribe?

Eastman Master Class

Not being a real musician myself, the closest I’ve ever been to a Master Class is the Terrence McNally play about Maria Callas.  I would never have thought to attend one if my musician niece, Alison, weren’t visiting, and as luck would have it, the Eastman Master Class on offer was in her instrument – viola – voila!  It was held in the Ciminelli Formal Lounge in the Eastman dorm building.  Like most Rochesterians, I suspect, I had never had occasion to be inside of this building (security is pretty tight), and it’s larger than I assumed, with a lovely courtyard, which on this evening was hosting an impromptu soccer game.

The lounge was the perfect intimate setting for a master class, and Alison and I comprised almost half of the “audience” for the 11 students!  My expectations were set by the play – would there be crying?  Histrionics? Would the students be “victims”?  They seemed to be mostly high school age, and their abilities varied.  George Taylor, Associate Professor of Viola at Eastman, ran the class, and was joined by Kathryn Dey, on the faculty of South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, who mostly took notes and kept time.

Mr. Taylor explained that this class was the culmination of a viola skills workshop that brought together students at different levels, and what we would be hearing was not a performance, as such, but rather works in progress.  He humorously called for his “first victim,” Angela, and Alison immediately identified the unnamed piece for me.  Mr. Taylor politely asked the slightly stiff Angela how she felt about her performance, and had her repeat a section, thinking about balance, imagining she was on a bosu ball.  In another section, he asked her to reconsider her hand placement.  Alison nodded enthusiastically throughout, and indeed Angela’s performance improved with Mr. Taylor’s insights.

The second student, Tim, seemed more at ease.  Mr. Taylor was very complimentary on Tim’s progress, and his suggestions were less about technique than about performance.  He explained that “music lives in the realm of exaggeration… the audience doesn’t hear what you feel, we hear what you play.”  He urged Tim to forge an interpretation, and to smile during a particular passage to get a looser sound.  His second playing displayed a marked improvement, and I was impressed by the ability of these young musicians to incorporate the comments so quickly into their playing, and not be intimidated by public criticism. 

Mr. Taylor was gentle with the third student, who seemed younger and more fragile, and his input for the fourth student, who would be entering Eastman in the fall, was that “practice has to be informed by the performance desired,” and this seemed like good advice for any endeavor!  He was harsher with the fifth student, perhaps because she was more advanced, as he admonished her with a “no, no! too slow – no niceness!  Get the notes out there!”  He acknowledged that she had lots of good ideas, but cautioned her to “pick a few and stick with them, don’t make it up as you go along.”  Again, advice that could be applied more widely, whether in music or politics or sports…

A break to change the CD for recording was our cue to duck out for a late dinner, but not before Mr. Taylor and Ms. Dey expressed their disappointment at our departure.  Alison, who lives and teaches music in South Caroliona, took this opportunity to introduce herself to Ms. Dey and discuss the possibility of a field trip to the Governor’s School.  I am still hoping that she'll keep Eastman on her radar when thinking about graduate school.  I think it could be good for both of us!

Ring of Fire

The first time I witnessed the Conesus Lake July 3^rd Ring of Fire, I was overwhelmed by the magic created by the simple act of an entire community lighting flares at 10pm.  16 years later, I still look forward to the event and am amazed at the cooperation of strangers in keeping this tradition alive.  I have enjoyed introducing my family to this special treat over the years – first, my older brother, then my sister and her son, and this year, her daughter.  They have all been as impressed as I was my first time, and it’s something I don’t think they will ever forget.

Even though the ring doesn’t get lit until 10, the parties start early, and so do the fireworks.  It’s incredible to me the investment of time (since people must drive to Pennsylvania, where they are legal to purchase – but not to use, without a license), and money (because the elaborate displays are not cheap).  It would be fun to try to do the math sometime, and figure out how many tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of dollars literally go up in smoke that evening.  The Chinese aren’t dummies.  And the local police and fire department all seem to ignore this illegal annual ritual.

Thankfully, my husband’s family is content to be the beneficiaries of our neighbors’ excess, and we watch (some with hands over ears at the deafening noise) from the dock, where I also wonder if we mightn’t be at risk of being hit by a wayward firecracker or whatever detritus falls.  But it's the best vantage point, clear of the trees that block some of the displays, and perfect for seeing the reflection of the firework colors in the lake.  Last year, we noticed a new addition to the night – floating Chinese lanterns that at first looked like an invasion of UFOs.  This year, we actually added our own to the sky, and although the packaging claims they are 100% biodegradable, the rim sure felt like some sort of metal!

Yair lighting our lanterns

Charlie always has to leave early, because the fireworks reduce our 90-pound lab to a whimpering baby.  One year, when we put him in our bedroom for safekeeping, he carefully removed the sheets and then proceeded to shred the mattress cover.  Charlie doesn’t mind, because he then misses the traffic jam when the fireworks and parties are over, and hundreds of cars leave at the same time to head back to Rochester.  I try to stay just long enough to see the ring in its glory, but leave just before the roads become their own ring of red lights…

Happy Birthday, America!