Historic Tall Ship Due To Dock in Erie on September 9th

HMS Bounty, Pride of Baltimore II and USS Niagara among ships attending

The Flagship Niagara League, in cooperation with the American Sail Training Association, is proud to bring eight magnificent sailing vessels to Erie in celebration of our rich maritime heritage. Ships from Germany, Canada, and the United States will arrive for a Parade of Sail into Erie's Presque Isle Bay at five pm Thursday, September 9th. From 9am Friday morning to 2:00pm school children from the Erie area will be welcomed aboard the ships. The ships will open to the public from 2-6pm that day. Public tour hours on Saturday and Sunday are 10am to 6pm.
 

In addition to Erie’s Flagship Niagara, seven unique ships will join the festival, and all offer the opportunity for visitors to board the ships, learn about them, and gain a greater understanding of their roles in history.

The U.S. Brig Niagara, built in 1988 and sponsored by Logistics Plus, is a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry’s warship that won the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Niagara’s mission is to interpret War of 1812 history, promote Pennsylvania and Erie, and to preserve the skills of square-rig seafaring.

Built for MGM’s 1962 movie, “Mutiny on the Bounty,” HMS Bounty will also visit Erie. Presented by Eriez Magnetics, she has had numerous movie roles, including appearances in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” (2004), “Treasure Island” (1990), and, perhaps most well-known, “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” (2006).

Hailing from Eckernforde, Germany, tall ship Roald Amundsen also joins the festival. Originally built as a deep-sea fish lugger, she was equipped to service the former East Germany Navy. Sailing year-round, Roald Amundsen can be found in the waters of  the Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea and is presented by Erie Water Works.

Pride of Baltimore II, presented by Lincoln Metal Processing, was built to the lines of an 1812-era Baltimore schooner. With a three-fold mission of promoting historical education regarding the War of 1812, serving as a unique learning platform, and serving as a visual representative of American History, she offers many learning opportunities for visitors and sailors. Additionally, she won first place in her class in a 2000 Transatlantic Tall Ship race.

The youngest ship participating in the festival is Lynx, a nine-year-old topsail schooner from Newport Beach, California. Lynx was designed and built to interpret the general configuration and operation of a privateer schooner from the War of 1812. A privateer is a government-licensed pirate ship. The crew of Lynx dress in period uniform and the ship is sponsored by Highmark.

Sailed by the only all-women professional crew in the world, Unicorn, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, will also participate in the festival. Sponsored by Hamot Women’s Hospital, she was built from the metal of old German U-boats. She provides on-board leadership and development programs to teenage girls, executive women and management teams.

Twin ships, Pathfinder and Playfair, join in the festival as well, sponsored by Custom Group Industries. These two brigantines, hailing from Toronto have been sailing the Great Lakes since 1964. The crew is made up entirely of youth sail students, and the captain is the only adult on board.

Tickets can be purchased at Country Fair, the Erie Maritime Museum gift shop and at www.tallshipserie.com where you should also check for more information.

Scheduled events include visits to the ships, day sails aboard Lynx, admission to the Erie Maritime Museum, private receptions, craft and food vendors, and musical entertainment.

M-I-C-K-E-Y Mouse Coming To Warner

by Rob Taylor

In addition to all the Disney characters there will be real magicians doing real magic to entertain young and not so young. Tricks will include Cinderella’s tattered rags being magically transformed into a beautiful ball gown in less than a second, levitation of Aladdin’s love Princess Jasmine and the dancing brooms from the mystical – magical film Fantasia but that isn’t all. The magic will continue throughout the show.

Disney has been putting out the best family entertainment ever since he created a character for the film Boxcar Willy and, even after 80+ years, the level of fun has not decreased and everyone who attends Disney show leaves satisfied.

For more info check out www.erieevents.com.

Tickets are $43, $27, $19 and $13 and are available at the Erie Civic Center Box Office and at all Ticketmaster locations as well as www.ticketmaster.com.

Mercyhurst recognized as leader in sustainability by PennFuture

Once again, Mercyhurst College has been recognized for “putting on the green” as a leader in sustainability among Pennsylvania organizations.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) has chosen Mercyhurst to receive a “Green Power: Turn it On!” award for its “continued dedication to clean energy, including a three-year commitment to purchase 100 percent of your electricity needs from wind power.”

Mercyhurst is the only institution of higher learning in Erie County to receive this recognition of its commitment to sustainability and, according to the EPA Green Power Partnership Program, one of just three colleges and universities in the state to be 100 percent wind-powered.

Since 2000, when the Mercyhurst Green Team was co-founded by Sister Maura Smith RSM and Mercyhurst History Department Chair Dr. Chris Magoc, a green consciousness has grown in viral dimensions from one end of campus to another. The college has emerged as a leader in sustainability on a number of fronts, including renewable energy investment, waste reduction, landscaping and curriculum development. In 2009, the Young Erie Professionals (yep!) bestowed its inaugural Green Business Award on Mercyhurst.

Sustainable practices that began slowly in the early days of Mercyhurst’s green movement have grown significantly in recent months. Last spring’s wind power commitment was quickly followed by the installation of a green roof this summer on the ceramics lab of Zurn Hall. The $40,000 cost of converting the conventional $80,000 roof to a “green” roof is being funded through the 2010 Senior Class Gift and the Student Green Energy Fund.

In addition, the college will soon purchase a composter that will accept leaves, grass, and kitchen food waste and process it into fertile compost to be used on the grounds of the college. Also, the Mercyhurst College Farm and Experimental Agriculture Station in Girard has expanded five-fold in size and is now supplying fresh, organically grown vegetables to the campus cafeteria and to two farmers markets. Finally, the college has hired a full-time sustainability officer – Brittany Prischak – to help advance sustainability projects and coordinate activities of the college Green Team.

Magoc, who chairs Mercyhurst’s Green Team, said that the award serves as “clear recognition that Mercyhurst has arrived as a statewide environmental sustainability leader. Al of us on the Green Team—students, physical plant staff, administration, and faculty—share a great deal of pride in accepting this award from PennFuture, which ought to spur us on toward bolder and more exciting initiatives.”

Recipients of the Green Power award will be recognized Oct. 5 during a luncheon at the Fairmont Pittsburgh. Besides Mercyhurst College, other Pennsylvania organizations honored by PennFuture include Carnegie Mellon University, Imbutech, Inc., The Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College, Pittsburgh Opera Green Initiative, NWPAGE of Meadville and PNC Financial Services of Pittsburgh.

14th Annual German Heritage Festival

September 4th-5th, 2010 (Labor Day Weekend)
11am - 8pm (Sat), 11am-6:30pm (Sun)
St. Nick's Grove, 5131 Old French Rd, Erie, PA, 16509


Gemutlichkeit starts with the 'Mad Bavarian', authentic German cuisine, dancing, crafts, activities and historical research tools. Featuring live German music and dancers, plenty of delicious food and drink, authentic German vendors and a kinderplatz for the children.

Tickets are still $5 each with a $1 discount given when you bring a food donation for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Children under 12 free.

Be sure to visit the Viennese Cafe!

For more information visit their website.