ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION
PO Box 10235
State College, PA 16805-0235
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BRANCH HOME PAGE
ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
This is the website of the English-Speaking Union, Central Pennsylvania Branch. We are centered on State College, and the great majority of our members reside within 10 miles of the Penn State Campus. We will use this site as a mode of communication with our members. The display of such communication will round out the picture of who and what we are. For the convenience of our members (and the webjack) things will be simplified.
The Branch Home Page will be devoted to occasional news items, always added at the top. The Calendar of Events page is the most useful page, and will be kept (fairly) up to date. The remaining pages are of only occasional interest; we'll call them the timeless pages. The membership page will tend to show signs of life when member poems are available after our poetry evenings.
All that stuff about reverse time order and time labeling is consigned to the dust bin; if the webjack's frequent confusion is any indication it must be hell for the readers.
| NEWS; LATEST IS ON TOP, HISTORY ON BOTTOM .
[For scheduled events see Calendar of Events page.]
NEW WEBSITE UPDATE SCHEME -- SEE ABOVE
ESU CENTRAL PA SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION
It makes me feel old. This is the 15th regional Shakespeare Competition that Nadine Kofman has organized and produced.
Our ESU Branch held the Central PA Regional Shakespeare Competition on Saturday, February 18, 2012 at the State Theatre, College Avenue. Six schools participated, each represented by the winner of its own local competition. Each entrant presented a monologue and a sonnet. The level of performance was uniformly high, making hard work for judges Nedra Gallegos, Mary Gage, and John Moore. Ms Gallegos is a 1996 PSU School of Theatre MFA graduate and a working actress, director and theatre teacher in NYC. She kindly stepped in at short notice so that we could have the traditional judging team. Perhaps I should have said hobbled; she arrived on crutches, sporting a very large cast. Mary Gage and John Moore are already well known to our members.
While the judges were deliberating, the audience was entertained by three of the high school alternates, and also heard from Rob Campbell, who represented State College High and won the Central PA Regional in 1997. He shared his experience of going to New York and the ESU National competition, where he was first runner-up in a very large field. He is now Shakespeare Competition Advisor for Mechanicsburg High School.
The judges completed their deliberations and chose Brian Cook of Carlisle as winner and Madeline Lusk of State College as runner-up, choices that appeared to meet with the general approval of the audience. Both were awarded book prizes, and all contestants received certificates and sheets of Shakespeare rude-sayings stickers.
Later, in the lobby, it was a treat to hear one person (not Brian) joyfully shout "We're going to New York" into a cell phone.
Bonnie Resinski was the very able master of ceremonies who kept things running smoothly. She has retired from Northern Cambria High School, where she was Shakespeare Competition Advisor. The good news is that she is planning to help Nadine in the behind-the-scenes work of organizing the next Regional and after that she may even grasp the baton that Nadine is ready to pass after a successful run of so many years.
Finally, contestants, family, advisors, judges and ESU members went upstairs to share sandwiches, cookies, and their impressions of the morning's events.
Helen Manfull's Jan. 20th talk about British WWII evacuee children
If you missed Helen's very moving talk about the British children who came to her home town of Canton, Ohio to escape the Blitz, you should read her August 29 and 30, 2011 newspaper articles on the Canton Repository website. It's a strange newspaper name, but here is how to do it.
1. Go to the website. The easy way is to type CantonRep.com into Google and click. That brings up a lot of websites and the one you want should be at the top of the list. Click on it and you are there.
2. At the top of the page on the right are two boxes. Click on the black triangle in the "Site" box. Then click on Print Archives.
3. In the empty box type Hoover Evacuees and immediately hit the Enter key. That brings up a new page.
4. On the new page you will see two things with free labels: "Part 1: A haven for children during WWII" and "Part 2: Parents, children cope with life apart during WWII."
5. Clicking on a free label brings up the entire article, which you can read from the screen with a bit of scrolling down.
6. You can print out the articles using the "Printer Friendly" option, but I found it just as easy to highlight the article and copy and paste to a WORD file. To highlight just the text and not the extraneous stuff place your cursor just below the approximate center of the last line and, while holding the left ear of your mouse down, move up to highlight as much as you want. Using Times New Roman size 12 type and six inch width I found that Part 1 took 6 pages and Part 2 took 4.
PSST! SLOW PRESS! ESU TEAM SHOWS AT XIII MSLC SPELLING BEE
The thirteenth annual Mid-State Literacy Council spelling bee was held on April 13, 2011. Our team, "ESU Spell Binders," consisted of captain Helen Warren and troops Donald Jackman and George Lang. Our sponsors this year were Nittany Bank and Walker Land Development, Inc.
A record fifteen teams were in competition this year and, again, the general level of performance was very good as the words progressed from easy to impossible. It was, as usual, two strikes and you’re out. The “Voices of Central PA,” captained by John Dickison and usually our strongest competitor, seemed to be out in round six, on a word I can’t find in my 4-inch thick Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. It sounded like KIBIET and my (poor) notes suggest it is QUIBIUT. Meanwhile the "ESU Spell Binders," mostly Helen with a little timely help from her troops, had dealt with DECIDUOUS, CHAOTIC, VENGEANCE, CENTENNIAL, KALEIDOSCOPE, DICOTYLEDONS, and MEERSCHAUM. The meanings are left as an exercise for the reader.
Then, suddenly we were in the sudden death round of three, with a clean slate behind us. Surprise! Our old friends, the “Voices of Central PA,” were back in with just one mistake, on the strength of a successful appeal in their early rendition of PROSCIUTTO, a dried out Italian ham. Coming out of the pack, “The Killer Bees,” consisting of Elaine Weirich; Elaine McDonnell; and Susan DeMetrick completed the trio. The first word for the finalists was TMESIS, a nasty spelling that denotes a figure of speech in which a word or set phrase is separated into two parts, with another word or words occurring between them; thus “whatsoever person” is transformed to “what person soever.” An odd scheme or, as we more commonly say, a whole nother absolutely crazy scheme. When the boards were turned over, three wrong spellings were revealed. The final word of the Bee was UROPYGIUM, the fleshy and bony prominence at the posterior extremity of a bird's body that supports the tail feathers. We came close, but unfortunately put in a leading E; “The Killer Bees” took first place. They were sponsored by Driscoll Automotive Group. A new winner is probably good for the Bee, but we feel three wins in a row would have been more fun.
. HAVE A ROMP AT THE PLAYHOUSE
Many ESU members missed the January 13 talk, “Being a Director,” by Di Trevis. You still have a chance to see “The Beaux Stratagem,” product of her directing efforts at Penn State. It really is a romp; witness the following synopsis, provided by someone who has been Di’s right hand Manfull during the process. George Farquahar’s early 18th century play is just what we need in these dark, cold, and troubled times.
. Two gentlemen have run out of money. So they are hitting the country towns, one posing as servant to the other. Their strategy, or stratagem, if you will, is to find a rich woman for one of them to marry and hence bail themselves out of their financial difficulties. Otherwise it’s off to military service. But when they arrive in Lichfield, they get more than they bargain for: a band of highway men, a saucy and alluring bar maid, an ingratiating innkeeper, an Irish priest and some foxy servants. The Inn is a great place to get all the local gossip, and the two gents pursue a risky but adventuresome course of action.
Venue: The Playhouse, on campus.
Opening Night at 7:30 p.m.: Thursday, February 24
Evenings at 7:30 p.m.: February 25, 26, 28, March 1, 2
Matinee at 2 p.m.: February 26
Opening Night: $25 • Evening: $22. •
Tickets: By Phone- 863-0255; Eisenhower box office, 8am to 5pm; PSU Tickets Downtown, 146 S. Allen st. 10am to 6 pm
Parking: Nittany Lion Inn Parking Deck, $1.00/hour
. CENTRAL PA SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION
. (Taken from Nadine's message to teachers)
Amid ice and freezing rain, we held our annual competition at The Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg on Saturday with the few who were able to come. Even so, a great winner, our Central PA representative in the National Competition was picked: Mary Heisey of Carlisle High School. Selected as the alternate was Cleo Kesidis of State College Area High School, who will ably represent us, should the need arise.
On May 2 at Lincoln Center, Mary will present her selected sonnet and, in these gender-neutral times, Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" monologue.
Kudos to her and to Cleo, as well as to all those who attended! Lisa Chorle of Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School, our host teacher, made us welcome and triumphed under less than wonderful conditions.
Next year, we will hold our Regional Competition at The State Theatre in State College. Hopefully, the weather will be dry and sunny!
Thank-you to all of you for being a Shakespeare Competition supporter.
. SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION ADDENDA
. (Taken from Nadine’s report to ESU Branch Board)
Winner Mary Heisey of Carlisle High School was able to compete because she and her adviser drove to a State College motel the night before the competition.
Rob Campbell, who won the State College event in 1997 and went on to become first runner-up nationally, is now Shakespeare Competition advisor for Mechanicsburg Senior High School.
[[4/16/10]]
FLASH! STOP PRESS! ESU SPELLING TEAM WINS XII MSLC SPELLING BEE
The twelfth annual Mid-State Literacy Council spelling bee was held on April 14, 2010. Our branch team consisted of Helen Warren, Donald Jackman, and George Lang. It's called "ESU Spell Binders" and was again sponsored by the Hamilton Square Shopping Center. Twelve teams were in competition and, as in the past, the general level of performance was very good as the words progressed from almost easy to darn near impossible. The "Stellar Spellers," captained by John Dickison, were again our strongest competition. Helen and Don got us through some tough ones as George stood nearby trying to look wise, having never heard of many of the words. One memorable mystery word was "lagniappe." Fortunately it was in Helen's mental lexicon and we survived. For the curious reader:
lagniappe (say lan-yap) - a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure.
In a later round the Spell Binders took a hit on the word "kieselguhr." Don and Helen had settled on kieselgur, while George had written kieselgurh on his pad but had no confidence in it and didn't think it would be productive to add it to the collective pot. That may have been a mistake because Don is fluent in German and probably would have put the h in the right place. But there is very little time allowed for consultation. For the curious reader:
kieselguhr (say key-soul-grr) - a fine siliceous earth composed chiefly of the cell walls of diatoms: used in filtration, as an abrasive, etc.
Fortunately, a team stays in the running until knocked out by a second error. Our team survived until only three teams were still standing and we went to the sudden death mode. Each team was given a white board and they all dealt with each word, displaying their answers when time was called. All teams got the first few words, but the word "ytterbium" was our salvation. George wrote yterbium on his pad and was wondering if it was short one t. Helen only needed to see the initial y to cue her axons and dendrites, and we were home free as the other teams missed out. For the curious reader:
ytterbium (say uh-tirr(as in stirr)-bee-um) - a rare metallic element found in gadolinite and forming compounds resembling those of yttrium. Symbol: Yb; atomic weight: 173.04; atomic number: 70; specific gravity: 6.96.
Again, the Spell Binders were lucky, having made it to the s, d, mode with one error, while the Stellar Spellers had an unblemished record at that point. But it wouldn't do to say they are supported by feet of clay. Having won three of their four outings (-07, -09, -10) through some close calls, our team can claim at least feet of rabbits.
-George Lang, webjack
[[4/16/10]]
[[11/18/08]]-
NOVEMBER 2008 POETRY EVENING EQUALLY SUCCESSFUL
At our recent poetry evening we were favored by the presence of guests who have been studying poetry under Helen Manfull's guidance. We all enjoyed
having a number of found and original poems recited for us. Members Gloria Thompson and William Toombs brought impressive original works, as did guest Margaret O'Brien. We aim to post all these on the membership page. The poem by Bill Toombs is there now; it was written when he was Dean of Men at Drexel and is a good lyric for a drinking (but not on campus) song. We await the contributions from Gloria and Margaret. The poetry evening wound up on another high note, the delicious refreshments. For these we thank Christine Bailey and Linda Gardner.
-[[11/18/08]]
[[6/4/08]]-
POETRY EVENING A BIG SUCCESS; YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE MISSED IT
Although attendance was a bit light, all present at the May 14 branch poetry evening clearly enjoyed it and several members thought it the best meeting of the year. Original poems were presented by Wes Glebe, Christine Bailey, E-Tu Zen Sun, Bob Brand, Karen Blair, and Jean Brown Forster. Lisa Herzog presented a poem written by her granddaughter at age 12; it seems that poetry runs in the family. Quite a few found poems were also presented; all were well-chosen and well received. We thank Jean Bemis and Barbara Lee for the delicious refreshments. These combined with a lot of lively discussion to make for a socializing time longer than at most of our regular meetings. The original poems are posted on the Membership Page. When I asked Jean Forster to submit her poem she said that it should be heard, not read. Since our branch webjack doesn't know how to put sound bytes up on the site and doesn't want to learn, I persuaded her to submit in writing. A note arrived today (5/20), with a beautifully written poem, and in only about two hours I was able to type a copy that came close to imitating it. The poem describes her struggle to write something fitting for the May 14 event. I noticed she didn't get round to writing a title for it, so have contributed a title without her permission. This is no problem since she won't be aware -- computers are her bugbear. Mum's the word.
-[[6/4/08]]
[[5/9/08]]-
SHAKESPEARE CONTEST NEWS - NATIONAL
The final of the 2008 English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition was held on April 28th, 2008 in the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, New York City. The winners were
Bronwyn Reed, first-place winner from Los Angeles, California;
Deon Pressley, second-place winner from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Christian Pineda, third-place winner from San Diego, California.
The full story of the competition will be posted soon on the national
site www.esuus.org .
SHAKESPEARE CONTEST NEWS - LOCAL
Central Pennsylvania will be represented at the English-Speaking Union's National Shakespeare Competition in New York on April 28 by Tara Shilling, a senior at Northern Cambria High School. Tara will recite a monologue by Constance from "King John" (3.4.23-36) and Sonnet 17.
The second-place winner, our alternate for the National event at Lincoln Center, was Amanda Sapio, a junior at Carlisle High School. Her monologue character was Phoebe in "As You Like It" (3.5.109-117, 119-129); her Sonnet, 29.
We had a wonderful competition March 8, orchestrated by host teacher Marilyn Knoffsinger at Bellefonte Area High School in Centre County. This was our 21st. Central Pennsylvania has participated ever since the New York ESU competition went nationwide.
The ESU doesn't have a monopoly on 21-year-old Shakespeare opportunities. Another will be held in two months! This one -- the 21st Annual Central Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival for Secondary Schools -- is scheduled for Big Spring High School, Newville, Thursday, May 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Each school group will present a 30-minute scene. For information, contact Bob Hankes or Sue Biondo-Hench
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Thank you to all who held preliminary school contests and sent winners and runners-up to the March 8 competition program. If you couldn't join us this year, think about next year!
-Nadine Kofman
-[[5/9/08]]
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