Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

  Originally published in Lowell's First Look Cindy wowed the crowd with her Sax-A-Kzoo There is (almost) nothing as fun as a Sax-a-kazoo solo for simplicity and musical fun. No one can pull off a Sax-a-kazoo solo like Cindy Knopf. At the other end of the musical spectrum how about the unbeatable sound and energy of a blistering guitar solo by Ryder Jones or the public debut of a new piano piece by Roger MacNaughton. What do these musical events have in common? The full house crowd at Sound Check got to hear all of these musical treats and a whole lot more last Friday at the Dave Jones Scholarship Fundraiser. Unlike most Sound Check events, tickets for this evening of musical fun were not available for purchase before the event, so organizers had no indication of a potential audience. People of all ages filled the room and were rewarded with an evening of Lowell based musical talent who gathered to honor one of their own, Dave Jones. As many of you know, Dave passed away last Oct...

Originally published in Lowell's First Look.   Ryne Clarke Releases a CD, “Cheers” at Sound Check. Disclaimer #1: Yours truly has been a fan of Ryne Clarke and all of his musical permutations for many years. Lowell faculty member Lindsay Bredin gave me a copy of one of the CDs he recorded with his first band, The Preservers to prime the pump. My musical mind was blown when I first heard them perform on the Riverwalk – three juniors (Clarke-vocals and guitar, Jeremy Kargl-lead guitar, Corinna Wenger-bass) with a freshman (Patrick Kargl) on the drums. Just when I was considering hanging up my jewelry hat and becoming a full time manager of the band to take the world by storm, college broke them up. Ryne Clarke onstage with Jeremy Kargl, bass; Clarke; Cole Smith, drums; Kristine Clarke, Flute; Joe Schimmelmann, keyboards. The Preservers are no longer an item, but Clarke has not slowed down a bit in his pursuit of indie rock star status (inside joke referencing one of his songs). Th...

Originally published in the Lowell Ledger:  Thursday May 23 rd was a banner day for Rhonda and David Delnick. The long time Lowell residents have been married to each other for forty years and they decided to have some fun and retire from their respective vocations on the same day. (FWIW, the solar system tossed in a little bonus with a full moon that day as well.) The Delnicks at the start of it all. Rhonda is known as “Miss Rhonda” to the hundreds of preschoolers she has prepped for their education over the years. Her career started with the Sparta Head Start preschool and then in 1999 she was hired to help Kathy Cole grow what was called Tots on Track for the Lowell Area Schools. That morphed into a preschool program for four year old at Curiosity Corner (CCPS) where she began with her first class of 12 students. She stayed at Curiosity Corner, managing classes with 48 students every year, until 2016 when she started a preschool of her own: Farmtime Preschool. “ For 10 years ...

In Support of Increasing Water and Sewer Rates There has been quite a bit of buzz surrounding the looming increases in our water and sewer rates. As someone who lives in Lowell and owns a business on Main Street and thereby has three water and sewer bills every month, I can understand why people bristle at the thought of paying more for these services. As someone who just finished five years on the City Council, I can understand the need to raise the rates in order to help fund some very long overdue renovation to our infrastructure.   Julie and I made it through the total renovation on Monroe Street last year. The street was completely dug up between Main Street and the cemetery so that water and sewer pipes could be replaced in addition to repaving the road. It is important to remember that the reason Monroe was done before Washington had to do with a massive amount of rainwater/groundwater coming into the system via cracked and broken pipes which resulted in our water trea...

  It should come as no surprise to anyone who watched and listened to Anna Doyle sing and act during her four years at LHS to learn that she is continuing her education in the Big Apple. Anna is the daughter of Stephen and Michelle Doyle and she graduated in 2022. What might be a surprise for those who enjoyed her singing and acting in Freaky Friday, Sister Act, and finally as Dorothy in Mary Poppins is that Anna is a student at the Fashion Institute of America (FIT). She is spending her time preparing for a career in fashion as a Technical Designer. Anna must be on the proper track because she just received a Critic Award and one of her creations was featured front and center in a recent show at FIT. The project was mandatory for all 300 students in Anna’s class. “In our fourth semester at FIT, the Fashion Design students are all given a theme and parameters with which we must design our capstone garment; this year it was Denim Divine,” Doyle stated. “This task is huge considerin...

  Grocery Store Prices – Who is Responsible Lots of people have been talking about the cost of groceries and the impact it has had on the household budgets for most of us regular folks. It has been popular to place the blame on one or more politicians. I am going to join that chorus and in my humble opinion the blame lies squarely on the members of both major political parties. Especially those serving in the houses of Congress that take Corporate money in large amounts. I am not alone in this belief. I have the indirect support of the Federal Trade Commission to back me up. The FTC was founded in 1914 with this as its mission: “ The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. “The FTC does on a national basis what the Attorneys General do on a state by state basis in that they watch out for companies who seek to take unfair advantage ...

 Originally Published in the Lowell Ledger 10.4.23 HR. 4756 - A Bill To Provide Tax Incentives That Support Local Media In July of this year Republican Representative Claudia Tenney (NY 22) introduced a bill to provide tax incentives that will support local newspapers with a great one-two punch. The bill was co-sponsored by Democrat Suzan DelBene (WA 1). HR 4756 goes by the name Community News and Small Business Support Act. Since that time the bill is gaining some traction with support from eight more Representatives, four from each party. The bill is designed to support all kinds of local media including local papers, digital media outlets, radio stations and even TV stations. For the purpose of this article, we will only be considering the importance and impact of small town newspapers. HR 4756 would be a great help to small media outlets and small business at the same time. Before we look into the great possibilities of HR 4756, it is imperative to examine the current situati...

Originally published in the Lowell Ledger 10.4.23  Loretta Visser is a MYTHical Hiker and a True Adventurer With Lowell having the National Headquarters of the North Country Trail ensconced on Main Street, one almost feels guilty writing about the Appalachian Trail (AT). Our focus today is not to compare and contrast these two trails, but to celebrate the fact that Loretta Visser has recently completed hiking the entire length of the AT. Loretta Visser celebrates on a mountain top in Maine. We should start off with some fun facts about the AT. The most current listing of the mileage from the genesis of the trail at Springer Mountain in Georgia to the end of the trail at Mount Katahdin in Maine is 2,1987.4 miles according to Appalachian Trail Conservancy website. The AT winds its way through fourteen states and has a low point of just 124 feet above sea level to an impressive elevation of 6,643 feet at its highest point. Thankfully encounters with bears are very uncommon, but you ne...