Part of the Elm Street project’s rejuvenation of neighborhoods is the Bank Street Community Garden. Take one dilapidated property that isn’t on the tax roles anyhow, add volunteers, creativity, and dedication, and what can be accomplished?

Thanks to Elm Street Project Manager Lisa Campogiani, Interns Kara & Rachel, and the volunteers who are donating labor and materials, the gardening project is coming together in one neighborhood. Hopefully it is just the first.

Rachel attends Penn State, and Kara attends Cornell. The are both Landscape Architecture majors contributing their skills (and labor) to the garden. Both chose to come to Bradford because of our location in the Allegany National Forest. They have created the Bank Street Community Garden Blog.

Bradford Texas Hots
Dine In or Take Out
1020 East Main Street
814-362-0393

Bradford Landmark Society
Books by Sally Costik

Nick’s Red Hots

Prokopis Pete Semoudarias, also known as “Nick” was well known for over 40 years for his famous Nick’s Red Hots. Born in Greece, he came to Bradford in the 1950′s and ran his hot dog shop at various locations, including South Avenue, MainStreet, the corner of St. James and Mechanic Streets, and finally on Veterans Square. In addition to his business in Bradford, Nick also ran a second hot dog shop in Clean, NY in the 1970′s. Nick passed away at the age of 73 in May of 1999.

The Washington Restaurant

Fotene Doudoulakis Nianiatus, also known as Ma Pete, was born in Siastia, Greece in 1905. She immigrated here and married Peter George Nianiatus in 1927 at the age of 22. Together they ran The Washington Restaurant until Pete’s death in 1946. Most people remember the restaurant as Ma Pete’s, in tribute to her late husband. Fotene (Ma Pete) ran the restaurant until her death in May of 1984.

The Texas Hot

Another well known hot dog place was The Texas Hot on the corner of Mechanic and East Washington Streets owned byGus Bechakus. Gus was born in 1892, and like Ma Pete, he was also from Siastia, Greece. Gus came to the United States in 1908 and ran The Texas Hot from 1928 until he retired in 1963. Gus Bechakus passed away in November of 1977 at the age of 85. The Langner’s were the next owner’s of The Texas Hot.

Johnny’s Restaurant

Johnny Plumpis owned and operated Johnnys Restaurant on West Washington Street for many years and he too was famous for his hot dogs. Johnny was born in Greece and was a decorated veteran of World War I. Johnny Plumpis passed away in March of 1978 at the age of 85*

The Famous Lunch

James Danias, founder of The Famous Lunch, served more than just hot dogs though he was well known for his hot dog sauce. James was born in Nafphalious, Greece in 1895 and came to this country in 1913. He opened The Famous Lunch on Mechanic Street in the 1950′s.

Bradford has a long history of Texas Hot Restaurants spanning nearly nine decades. There had not been a hot dog restaurant in Bradford since the closing of Nick’s Red Hots nearly 8 years ago. Bradford Texas Hot opened in August of 2006 to fulfill the long standing local need for the much sought after “Texas Hots”.

A special thanks to the Bradford Landmark Society and Sally Costik for all the info!

Do you have Texas Hots stories, memories, or photos? We’d like to hear from you!

Two Bradford Churches are working together to launch a new kind of church service in town. Grace Lutheran and Open Arms Community Churches are teaming up to start “The Remix” on Thursday nights at the Grace Lutheran Community Life Center.

“Hip Hop is at this point, a large part of our culture. There are a lot of people in our community who live the hip hop culture, and the church is not connecting with them,” says Josh Hatcher, Outreach Coordinator at Open Arms.

“The Remix” service will be rap worship music with local Christian Hip Hop Group Panic Attack, which is made up of Justin Willoughby, and Larry Petry, and then a “remixed” video version of the weekly church service from Open Arms.

“Rap music often gets a bad reputation,” says Hatcher, referring to the sex, violence, and drug use often portrayed in rap music, “but our goal here is not to revel in some of the things that the general hip hop market embraces, but rather to help people connect to God in their own language, from within their own culture.”

The Remix is something of a missionary endeavor, according to Hatcher. “When Hudson Taylor went to China in the 19th century, he went in as an Englishman with his top hat and hymnal.”

Hatcher says that Taylor found that the Chinese culture largely rejected him as an imperialist, which was not his goal at all. So he shaved his head, grew a traditional queue hairstyle, and changed the way he dressed, so that he could share the message of the gospel.

“The English mission boards were ready to stone him. They all pulled funding, because they thought what Taylor was doing was crazy and shameful. In reality, China Inland Missions helped to launch probably the largest and strongest group of believers in the world. It has survived communism, and there are currently millions of Chinese Christians,” says Hatcher, “I think that’s what we need to do to reach people in America, too. We need to enter their world.”

Grace Lutheran and Open Arms hope that “The Remix” can be an indigenous form of worship for a group of people that otherwise might never go to church.

“To be honest, a lot of these people wouldn’t understand out churches, and I’m not sure that our churches would understand them. We live in a community where people are separated into tribes- some like country music and hunting and fishing, some are pierced and tattooed and wear black, and others speak the language of hip hop,” says Hatcher. “I want to see all people be able to worship and experience God in their own language and style.”

“The Remix: Hip Hop Worship” will start April 3rd at 8 PM at the Community Life Center. More information is available at myspace.com/openarmsremix.

For More Information or for soundbytes, contact:
Josh Hatcher 814-362-2813 Mike McAvoy 814-331-1287 Justin Willoughby 814-331-2651

For music soundbytes, check out the Panic Attack Website at www.myspace.com/attackmypanic

The public forum with the planning team will be held in the meeting room at Fretz Middle School on the evening of March 5th from 7-9pm. All are welcome – please mark your calendars!

This is your chance to make your opinion heard on Bradford’s future!

Additional information:

Bradford Regional Strategy Web Site
Bradford Regional Strategy – The Master Plan
TalkAboutBradford.com Discussion

Dan Peters

Dan Peters has been named “Chicago’s Hottest Guitarist”. He will be teaching the Workshop’s Master Class, “Swingin’ Surfabilly Guitar Playin’: Know Your Roots!!” Dan will take students into a detailed analysis of several original compositions and how he developed his own unique musical voice through an appreciation of many different genres. Rockabilly, surf, blues, jazz, country and heavy metal all figure prominently in Dan’s self-proclaimed “Surfabilly” sound and he encourages all students to do their homework and “know your roots!!” Some of the influences Dan names are Brian Setzer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Wes Montgomery, Joe Satriani, Dick Dale, Johnny Cash, Steve Vai, Jimmy Bryant and, of course, William Shatner.

All Workshop participants will be enrolled in the master class, but have the choice of participating in Morning I, Morning II, and Afternoon clinics that will explore different techniques and styles. The core group of guitarists organizing the event include Jazzabilly members Jim Ronan, and Grant Orris, as wells as Joel Anderson and Kira Leck.

In an e-mail interview, Jim Ronan had this to say:

In my opinion, Generations Guitar Workshop is a means for guitar players to come together and share their knowledge of the guitar. My hope is that there are some really good players that can bring their knowledge and experiences to the table and share them with others. I feel that we are more facilitators than anything. We’ll start out sharing our knowledge and hope that there is some interaction with the group. This is the first workshop of its nature in the Bradford/McKean County area, so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

Other local musicians conducting the clinics include: David Myslewski and Marg Terry, Allen Klein, Jack Krone, Philip Burlingame, Don Vought, Joel Golden, and Bob Hartle.

After expenses, all money raised will go to the Alzheimer’s Association. The local clinicians are all volunteer, donating their time and talent to share their craft with others and foster interest in the guitar, as well as benefiting Alzheimer’s research. Gathering the talent and bringing everything together for an event like this has been a lot of up front work for the organizers. The initial fundraising has been creative, including their Avon Fundraiser.

A pre-workshop event that promises to be a lot of fun is the (Almost) St. Patrick’s Day Jam at the Emery Expresso Bar (30 Boylston St., Bradford) on March 15, 2008.

Generations Guitar Workshop (along with some help from the East Bradford Businessmen’s Association) is sponsoring an (Almost) St. Patrick’s Day Jam. There will be some pretty darn good food, a 50/50 raffle, bucket auction, music and other exciting events. The event starts @ 4:00pm. Tickets cost $4.00 for admission only and $10 for food & admission.

Tickets for the (Almost) St. Patrick’s Day Jam can be purchased on-line, at Orris Jewelers or the Emery Espresso Bar.

A unique feature of the Workshop will be the Instrument Exchange. Local musicians will be able to get some deals on some very nice instruments, or perhaps see their old favorites go to a good home. The instruments will be on display in a secure area during the workshop. If you’d like a sneak peek of some of the instrument, or would like to participate as a vendor, visit the Instrument Exchange page. If you plan to attend and would like to list your instrument you can email Jim Ronan at jronan@generationsguitarworkshop.org.

The workshop is also a great opportunity for aspiring teen guitarists. The exposure to the techniques and tips from a variety of accomplished musicians is hard to come by in this area. Attending the master class with Dan Peters is sure to be an experience they won’t forget. According to Ronan, arrangements can also be made for children 12 and under to attend with a parent.

Please note the registration deadline for the Workshop is March 15th, 2008, and participation is limited to 130 participants, including the evening performance. Workshop participants will be guaranteed admission to the evening performance with remaining tickets available to the public.

Reservations/tickets to all events, including the (Almost) St. Patrick’s Day Jam, are available on the Generations Guitar Workshop web site.

Questions or comments can be posted on TalkAboutBradford.com. You may also contact Jim Ronan directly. Email: jronan@generationsguitarworkshop.org, or phone (814) 362-3277.

The City Of Bradford Police Department has unveiled their new web site, CityOfBradfordPolice.com. The web site is part of the department’s effort to interact with the community and allow residents to give information to help local police do their job better.

One feature of the site is a form for people to give the police tips and information anonymously. This feature is in response to the many people who already want to help law enforcement. The anonymous form will send information to a secure email address that is monitored by the police department.

The web site will also carry the latest department news, links to law enforcement, resources for crime victims, and information about laws and safety.

The 7th Annual Kinzua Outdoor And Travel Show

February 22nd and 23rd, 2008

Friday – 4pm – 9pm
Saturday – 10am – 6pm

Bradford Mall
1001 East Main Street
Bradford, PA

Details
Event Activities
Speaker Schedules
Vendors & Exhibitors

Initially we’ll be using syndicated feeds for the local radio station, WESB, and local newspaper, the Bradford Era.

The news department for WESB/WBRR, headed by news director Anne Holliday, updates their news articles throughout the day with items of interest to the local area. Hence their motto, “You hear it here first”. The only way to get local news quicker is to tune into the the radio station.

The Bradford Era is the city’s only daily newspaper. Generally updated each morning, their articles tend to be more in-depth. Their “‘Round The Square” feature has been a printed-edition favorite for decades. The on-line edition also features the work of Francie Long, probably Bradford’s best known photographer.

You’ll also find local sports information from both feeds.

Now you can make Bradford-Online.com your first stop for local news. We’ll be adding more syndicated feeds as we discover sources worth adding. If you have a suggestion, please contact us.

Of course our discussion forum, TalkAboutBradford.com, is also a great source of news, although not guaranteed as reliable as the previously mentioned news outlets. Think of it more as a stop to the local general store to discuss the local “news”.

First Night is a community celebration of the New Year through the arts.

It is an alcohol-free, public festival with both local and regional talent.

There are events and fun filled entertainment for all ages. Best of all, it is accessible and affordable for everyone.

Check the First Night Bradford web site for complete details and this year’s schedule.

There will be events at locations all over Bradford the entire evening. There is so much going on, it’s difficult to take in everything. Fortunately, for $5.00 you can get a First Night Bradford button that gives you admission to everything. This helps defray the cost of the celebration including several professional entertainers. The celebration culminates at midnight on the Town Square with the 10th annual ball-drop and fireworks grande finale.

Here are some of this year’s featured entertainers:


Scanlan Irish Dance
If you enjoyed Riverdance, don’t miss the Scanlan Family Stepdancers. Katelyn and Andrew dance reels, jigs, and hornpipes set to the sound of traditional Irish folk tunes.

Champagne Sunday
Sensitive enough for folk crowds, but loud enough for rockers, Champagne Sunday has the rare ability to transcend genres while maintaining their own solid identity. Heartfelt harmonies along with a never-ending supply of stage craziness make this up-and-coming band’s shows a hit with all ages, featuring Bradford native Jared Fredeen

Local Band, Dank

For a complete list of First Night Entertainment visit their web site.

We recently received a message from John Siepierski, a guitarist and the fiddler for a new local band called ‘DANK’. DANK plays several different genres of music including alternative rock, indie, and New England traditional dance music.

DANK has been scheduled to play First Night Bradford. As a late addition to the First Night line-up, they won’t appear on the printed schedule. They’re scheduled to perform at Emery Towers at 10:30 pm. DANK will be playing traditional Irish and French-Canadian music on fiddle, guitar, electric bass, and various percussion. The band brings modern and main stream influences into a traditional performances.

DANK’s members are all local to Bradford. They include John Siepierski on fiddle, Brian Thompson on guitar and vocals, and Jay Ervin on percussion.

You can find more information at the band’s web site: http://www.dank-music.com