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“You’re not real, you know...” A Mount Savage woman teaches
with puppets and the puppets teach back
By ELLEN MCDANIEL WEISSLERCORRESPONDENT Photo Credits/Shane Riggs
Did you play with sock puppets when you were a kid? Do
you have a favorite Sesame Street character? Was your favorite scene
from “The Sound of Music” the marionette show to the song “The Lonely
Goatherd?” Did you tune in faithfully to Kukla, Fran and Ollie, or
watch Lambchop? You did? Really? In that case, meet Wilma Ford of Mount
Savage. Wilma is, and has been for over 40 years, a devoted puppeteer.
Wilma Ford became involved in puppet shows in the 1960s when her mother
was suddenly inspired to create some handmade puppets just for her
family’s enjoyment. She asked her daughter to record the voices ahead
of time for the different characters. Gradually Wilma began to write
the shows herself, to help stage them, to build and work the puppets,
and to move away from simple family entertainment to the wider world of
puppeteering for schools, fairs and churches. She soon became renowned
in her home town of West Chester, Pennsylvania for her work in the
community, and over time she created her trademark characters, Mother
Mouse and Sigfried Greytale, with whom she was able to illustrate
stories for children which taught lessons or dealt with childhood
issues. “In my experience, children are intrigued by many things and not
particularly by puppets,” muses Wilma. “However, children like stories
and accept the reality of puppets well. It is fun for them. I'm not
convinced they are more intrigued by puppets than they are by...”
To open the curtain on this full story,click here...
Razorewire Realities
By MARK A. VERNARELLICORRESPONDENT
From bustling shopping centers to office towers and
low-slung suburban corporate office parks, the 56-year old construction
veteran’s fingerprints are on everything. Or so it seems. But nowhere
does Bezanson feel more proud -- or more at home -- than in his “adopted
hometown” of Cresaptown. That’s because for virtually every month of
his 18-year career with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services, Bezanson has been a de facto Allegany Countian,
overseeing the planning and construction---and, this year, the
completion at last--- of the massive two-prison complex on U.S. 220. As
Assistant Secretary for capital construction and facilities for the
state’s biggest government agency, Bezanson has overseen a lot of
changes. In fact, he’s managed close to a billion dollars worth of
correctional projects for the State of Maryland. But nowhere has the
change been greater, the personal reward sweeter, or the economic impact
for the community more beneficial, than on the road between I-68 and
Keyser, where thanks largely to his vision and persistence, a scrapheap
of land has been transformed into a penal colony so advanced, it’s been
on international television, hailed as a “megastructure” and
technological wonder. “We rode up the sides of mountains, and scouted
all over the place,” Bezanson recalled, thinking back to those early
days working with county commissioners and the legislative delegation to
find the best spot for what would become two prisons. “The Celanese site
was ideal: a flat, secure site with public sewer and water, the most
cost-effective site.” “It’s not just the beauty of the mountains,” that
bring Bezanson pleasure, he cautions. “It’s the honest and hard-working
people of Allegany County and the surrounding area. The construction was
done with a lot of pride. From the first time I went out there,
Cumberland has always been a refreshing place to visit. But I also knew
that what we were doing was good for the town and the area. I became an
adopted son.” Looking back on the project, Dave Bezanson is still
amazed. Never did he dream he’d be building prisons, much less spend 17
years planning and building one project. But for Bezanson, the benefits
are even greater than the view of the sprawling prisons from halfway up
the mountain on the West Virginia side of the Potomac. “It’s
satisfying,” he said “that so many dedicated people are working, and
that we’re not looking at a broken-down factory anymore.”
To read more about the face behind the construction
of our area's “mega structure,”click here...
Dancing with the Seniors...
By PHYLLIS BROTEMARKLECORRESPONDENT Photo Credits/GINGER SQUIRES
Decades before Cloris Leachman took to the dance floor
and proved a person doesn’t have to be 22 to chachacha with the best of
them, a group of senior women were already doing the ramba and
jitterbug. In the early 1980s, at a performance of the September
Singers, singer and dancer Cleo Knippenberg entertained with dance solos
while the other singers -- a group of senior vocalists from the Tri
State areas who perform in concert each spring and fall -- rested
between sets. September Singers Founder and Director Al Homberg liked
the idea and announced at the very next rehearsal that Rohman had agreed
to teach anyone wanting to learn to dance to prepare to entertain at
later shows. Five women stepped forward. Cora Harden, Margaret Winner,
Margaret Hamilton, Nellie Hotchkiss and Marian Siebert-- the only
original member still living. While creating the program for the first
show to include the dancers, the group realized it needed a name. Harden
had earlier remarked “maybe it’s too late to learn” and Hamilton replied
“it’s never too late.” That comment stuck and the group became known as
the “Never Too Late Girls.” The girls no longer performed just tap
dances. They also dance jazz, ballet, polka, hula, wing, folk, clogging
and even belly dance. All in costumes. In addition to the group’s
varied repertoire of dance numbers, most of the ladies can perform solo
in some capacity, such as singing, playing musical instruments,
twirling, pantomime or doing comedy sketches. Several small groups
within the group have also been known to perform. One of those
invitations was to perform on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The group
chartered a bus and made the trip to the nation’s capital. The ladies
danced at the White House but there were no dressing room facilities
available to them. The group was led to a spot where two fences
converged and they draped blankets on the fence or privacy. Though the
wind was blowing, the entertainers were so busy getting in and out of
costumes that they ignored ...
For more “exposure” on the Never Too Late
Dancers,click here...
The Healing Aspect of Art How the new hospital put the call
out for local artists and why it worked!
by JOANN CIRCOSTACORRESPONDENT Photo Credits/Shane Riggs
Perched on the side of a hill at the second roundabout
on Meadowbrook Road, the new Western Maryland Health Systems hospital
announces its presence in the clean, uncomplicated lines of Modernist
architecture. The sleek exterior serves as a declaration that, for this
hospital, art will be, not an afterthought as in many hospitals, but
rather an integral part of its overall mission. Last November, the
275-bed facility replaced both Sacred Heart and Memorial hospitals and
includes an extremely ambitious plan for the use of art. A cooperative
effort of the hospital board, its executives, medical professionals,
employees, and an ad hoc art board, the art project is meant to benefit
patients, employees, caregivers, and especially the local community.
Numerous studies show the range of physiological and psychological
benefits of art for people stressed by events like illness, childbirth,
and divorce and while many caregiving facilities and abroad have made
similar commitments to its use, the new WHMS hospital is unique to the
area. Artistic consultant and sculptor Lin Swensson of Swensson and
Asscociates provided overall guidance for the highly complex,
hospital-wide art acquisition and installation consisting of 500 works
of all media types as well as quilts. Swensson, who prefers the title
“coach,” emphasizes that the effort was a collaboration all along,
especially with Kathy Rogers, the hospital’s Director of Community
Relations. From the beginning, Swensson and Rogers pursued a broad
vision of a fully harmonious and integrated healing space. In the
over-year-long process, the two had to consider a wide range of factors:
local geography and architecture, color and its effects, the
psychological and physical effects of various ailments and their
treatment, the physical location of art, way-finding for visitors and
patients, and even the effects of framing. “Kathy [Rogers] was adamant
that the hospital’s commitment was to local artists and the community
the hospital serves,” said Swensson. Rogers worked diligently with
Swensson to assure that the art project was a sustained effort to give
back to the community as much as possible. With that goal in mind, the
hospital’s call went out to artists here and in surrounding areas of
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, garnering more than 200 responses. The
selection process was guided by several factors, particularly the
appropriateness of the art’s tone and subject matter for the hospital
setting. In all, 21 artists are represented and those whose work was
not chosen initially can offer items to the hospital’s in-house gallery
which will be overseen by Rogers and feature exhibits that change
several times a year.
To learn more about the artwork chosen and the local
artists represented,click
here...
Click here for a look back
at some of our previous feature articles!
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