Warren has seen some incredible talent during the past week, with Warren County Summer Music School's thank you to the community Wednesday, i.e. "Foothills Brass" from Canada, and the Warren Concert Association's equally incredible "Hot 8 Brass Band" Friday evening.
Talent like we've seen this week is normal for more urban areas, and we are fortunate that local lovers of the arts work hard to provide residents with such a wonderful and wide array of musical offerings (not to mention the wonderful art opportunities Warren County has experienced during the past month).
The musical talent continues in the coming weeks, with an Erie Philharmonic concert at the Library Theatre Sunday at 2 p.m. (call 723-7231 for ticket information), the Nov. 16 Classic Jazz program with Chase Putnam at the Warren Public Library, the young and talented Allegheny Regional Theatre (ARTE) "Spotlight Cafe" on Nov. 19 at the Library Theatre, and a Yankee Bush Productions offering on Nov. 20 of our own "Temple Grey" with a tribute to the music of the 60s and 70s, also at the beautiful Library Theatre (call 489-3110 for ticket information).
We urge you to take advantage of these myriad musical opportunities.
Pits to the people attending local concerts who neglect to keep their cell phones properly stowed. Obviously ringers and buzzers should be silenced during shows, but even the light of an open cell phone, being checked briefly by an anxious show-goer, is distracting to others. Remember, cell phones don't disrupt concerts, people who don't turn them off disrupt concerts.
Peaches go to everyone who voted in last Tuesday's election. You are the engine that drives democracy. For those who didn't vote because they feel disenfranchised or just don't care, you get the hard ugly center.
A whole peach goes to Karen Davis. The succulent part is for her willingness to provide a choice in an election in which there was only one name on the ballot. We'll include the pit, however, for her 11th hour entry as a write-in candidate.
Call us pollyanish, but we believe choosing people to represent us in government is only one benefit of free and open elections. The other half is the lively discussion of issues leading up to that event. She would have been much more effective in driving the debate had she entered the race when the runners were called to the starting line last spring.
There is something missing downtown, so we are offering a pit in its place, in the hope that someone will water and fertilize it to fill the gap.
You might call the intersection of Liberty Street and Second Avenue Warren's financial district, a place frequented by many in our community for whom walking is difficult. And yet, there are no handicapped spaces in the vicinity of that intersection. A trip to the bank hardly ever takes more than a few minutes; a handicapped space would help.
Here's a pit that was offered up by the community and we present it to stimulate discussion. Odd/Even parking in the city is a fact of life in these climes, but how about adjusting the hours from 8-8 a.m. to 5-5 p.m. to accomodate those of us who work second or third shift? Also, is it really necessary to write tickets when there is no snow on the ground and none in the forecast. Sure, beat them up when you have to plow around them, but perhaps a warning when Indian Summer embraces us.