After Hockenheim and the Lausitzring, Brands Hatch is another race track on the calendar with very special characteristics. The so-called Indy Circuit is merely 1.929 kilometers long and has clearly more right-hand than left-hand turns. 98 laps have to be completed in the race, challenging the teams to make all the right strategic decisions. At no other circuit proper timing of the two mandatory pit stops is as important as it is at Brands Hatch.
Audi won the British DTM round in 2006, 2008 and 2011, and even took the entire podium last year. All eight Audi drivers have fond memories of the track and are looking forward to the race – spearheaded by Mattias Ekström, who won the DTM’s debut race at Brands Hatch in 2006 and shielded Martin Tomczyk to the rear on Tomczyk’s important victory on the way toward the champion’s title.
Timo Scheider’s personal Brands Hatch track record reflects a victory (2008) and a second place as well. Mike Rockenfeller clinched his first pole position in the DTM at Brands Hatch last year, and Edoardo Mortara his first podium. In 2010, Miguel Molina achieved the best result in his DTM debut season at Brands Hatch. And Filipe Albuquerque, Rahel Frey and Adrien Tambay like the circuit in the English county of Kent too.
Mattias Ekström is traveling to the United Kingdom as the Audi driver with the highest points score. The Swede was also responsible for the first pole position and first podium of the Audi A5 DTM on its debut at Hockenheim in late April. At the Lausitzring he finished in fifth place after having started from position eight on the grid.
As early as on Saturday the event at Brands Hatch will be a special thriller, as merely two hours separate free practice and qualifying this time. Plus the time gaps on track should be minimal. Experts even expect to see the tightest field in DTM history.
ARD will broadcast the qualifying session on Saturday (May 19) live starting at 13:35 on Das Erste and the race on Sunday (May 20) as usual at 13:45. Due to the live TV broadcast to Germany the race start has been moved forward to 13:00, local time (14:00 CEST). 1.28 million ARD viewers watched the Hockenheim season opener live and 1.66 million the race at the Lausitzring.
Quotes by the officials
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): Our aim is to get back – preferably as early as at Brands Hatch – to where we were in all the years, which is being in contention for victory. That’s why between the Lausitzring and Brands Hatch we’ve got two intensive weeks of hard work that we’re making optimum use of. Clearly, at Brands Hatch, due to the short track, the field will be even closer together than at the first two races.
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): After three consecutive weekends we finally had the chance to go home and to carefully analyze the whole situation. We made a step in the race at the Lausitzring – and we want to continue this way at Brands Hatch. Team performance was very good at the first two races, the squad made no mistakes. That’s a basis to build on. We continue to be motivated and will try everything we can to take Audi back to the very front again.
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): Last year we won as a team at Brands Hatch and ‘Rocky’ clinched pole. We’ve definitely got the clear aim of continuing where we left off in in 2011. Brands Hatch is a special track. 98 laps – that means our task will be to never hit traffic in the race. But before anything else we’ve got to try to be at the very front of the grid.
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): I’ve got fond memories of last year when Edo (Mortara) was on podium. And that’s exactly where we want to be again. We’re working hard to achieve this. We’ve now had the chance to practice pit stops. Before the season we couldn’t do that because we had neither the material nor the time for practicing. We’ll try and make further improvements and are looking ahead.
Facts and quotes by the Audi drivers
Filipe Albuquerque (26/P), TV Movie Audi A5 DTM #22 (Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
o Has scored points in both 2012 DTM races
o Barely missed the top ten at Brands Hatch last year
Brands Hatch is a very small track, so that’ll definitely be interesting this year. Everyone will probably be within two tenths of a second. Especially in qualifying you’ll probably need a bit of luck too. Also, finding a free lap will be anything but easy with 22 cars on a little less than two kilometers. In any event, it’ll be interesting for the spectators to watch. And I’m hoping that the short break will help us get a better understanding of the car and the tires.
Mattias Ekström (33/S), Red Bull Audi A5 DTM #3 (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
o Won the DTM race at Brands Hatch in 2006
o Was on podium last year as the runner-up
We analyzed the first two races and now we’ve got to try and find the thread again that we lost somewhere along the way. You can find something again as quickly as you can lose it. So finding is the task now. In general, Brands Hatch is a fun track that I’m looking forward to.
Rahel Frey (26/CH), E-POSTBRIEF Audi A5 DTM #17 (Audi Sport Team Abt)
o Set the third-fastest lap of all Audi drivers at the Lausitzring
o Retired after an excursion at Brands Hatch last year
The race at the Lausitzring went well for me and we want to continue this way at Brands Hatch. Together with the team I analyzed what it is that we can work on in order to further improve. I’m going to try and put this on track at Brands Hatch where I drove good lap times last year – even though the race ended in the gravel for me.
Miguel Molina (23/E), Red Bull Audi A5 DTM #10 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
o Clinched fourth place at Brands Hatch in 2010 in his first DTM season
o Is one of five Audi drivers who have scored points so far in 2012
I always feel very comfortable at Brands Hatch. That’s where, in fourth place, I achieved my best result in my first DTM season. I always travel to this track with a good feeling. After the race at the Lausitzring we had almost two weeks to analyze everything and to prepare for the next race. I’m confident that we’ll be able to finish with a good result.
Edoardo Mortara (25/I/F), Playboy Audi A5 DTM #21 (Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
o Achieved his first podium finish at Brands Hatch last year
o Has always started from the top three rows in 2012 so far
I’m happy to be returning to Brands Hatch where I clinched my first podium result in the DTM last year. Even though the past race was a difficult one for us I’ve been pretty happy with my personal performance so far this year. I’m hoping that at Brands Hatch we can make another step forward and will look better in the race than we did at the Lausitzring.
Mike Rockenfeller (28/D), Schaeffler Audi A5 DTM #9 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
o Clinched the pole position at Brands Hatch last year
o Was the quickest Audi driver in qualifying at the Lausitzring
I’m really excited about going to Brands Hatch – especially following such a poor ending of the race at the Lausitzring after we’d actually had a good weekend until the race. At Brands Hatch, I was on P1 last year. I’d like to manage this again and would obviously love to win the first race for Audi this year.
Timo Scheider (33/D), AUTO TEST Audi A5 DTM #4 (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
o Won at Brands Hatch in 2008 and took second place in 2009
o Shone at the Lausitzring with a recovery from twelfth to sixth place
We’re going to put our heads together even more intensively. At the Lausitzring we had a positive trend in the race. We tried out some things there which gave us a bit of performance. But naturally that’s not enough yet by a long shot. We’ve got to work hard in order to manage another step.
Adrien Tambay (F/21), Audi ultra A5 DTM #18 (Audi Sport Team Abt)
o Has been leaving a strong impression so far in his debut year
o Most recently achieved grid position ten at the Lausitzring
I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch. I know the circuit from Formula 3. It has a very special atmosphere. Qualifying at the Lausitzring went well for me, but the race didn’t. We analyzed why that was the case and now I’m really eager to contest my third DTM race.
The Audi drivers in the 2012 DTM
Filipe Albuquerque (P): * Jun 13, 1985 in Coimbra (P); residence: Coimbra (P); single; height: 1.74 m; weight: 64 kg; Audi driver since 2011; DTM races: 12; pole positions: 0; victories: 0 (best result: 2nd place); fastest laps: 0; points: 12; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 11
Mattias Ekström (S): * Jul 14, 1978 in Falun (S); residence: Salenstein (CH); single (partner Heidi), one son (Mats); height: 1.83 m; weight: 77 kg; Audi driver since 1999; DTM races: 116; pole positions: 19; victories: 17; fastest laps: 12; points: 559; DTM titles: 2 (2004, 2007); best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 1
Rahel Frey (CH): * Feb 23, 1986 in Niederbipp (CH); residence: Aedermannsdorf (CH); single; height: 1.63 m; weight: 50 kg; Audi driver since 2011; DTM races: 12; pole positions: 0; victories: 0 (best result: 12th place); fastest laps: 0; points: 0; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 17
Miguel Molina (E): * Feb 17, 1989 in Girona (E); residence: Lloret de Mar (E); single; height: 1.75 m; weight: 62 kg; Audi driver since 2010; DTM races: 23; pole positions: 2; victories: 0 (best result: 3rd place); fastest laps: 1; points: 28; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 4
Edoardo Mortara (I/F): * Jan 12, 1987 in Geneva (CH); residence: Geneva (CH); single; height: 1.82 m; weight: 75 kg; Audi driver since 2011; DTM races: 12; pole positions: 0; victories: 0 (best result: 3rd place); fastest laps: 0; points: 25; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 3
Mike Rockenfeller (D): * Oct 31, 1983 in Neuwied (D); residence: Altnau (CH); single (partner Susanne); height: 1.75 m; weight: 67 kg; Audi driver since 2007; DTM races: 53; pole positions: 1; victories: 1; fastest laps: 2; points: 84; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 6
Timo Scheider (D): * Nov 10, 1978 in Lahnstein (D); residence: Lochau (A); single (partner Jessica), one son (Loris); height: 1.78 m; weight: 74 kg; Audi driver since 2006; DTM races: 121; pole positions: 9; victories: 6; fastest laps: 8; points: 362; DTM titles: 2 (2008, 2009); best result, DTM Brands Hatch: 1
Adrien Tambay (F): * Feb 25, 1991 in Paris (F); residence: Aix-en-Provence (F); single; height: 1.81 m; weight: 69 kg; Audi driver since 2012; DTM races: 2; pole positions: 0; victories: 0; fastest laps: 0; points: 0; DTM titles: 0; best result, DTM Brands Hatch: -
DTM drivers’ standings after 2 of 10 rounds
1 Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) 43 points
2 Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) 30 points
3 Bruno Spengler (BMW) 25 points
4 Mattias Ekström (Audi) 25 points
5 August Farfus (BMW) 15 points
6 Christian Vietoris (Mercedes-Benz) 12 points
7 Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) 10 points
8 Andy Priaulx (BMW) 8 points
9 Timo Scheider (Audi) 8 points
10 Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) 7 points
11 Martin Tomczyk (BMW) 6 points
12 Edoardo Mortara (Audi) 4 points
13 David Coulthard (Mercedes-Benz) 4 points
14 Filipe Albuquerque (Audi) 3 points
15 Miguel Molina (Audi) 2 points
DTM manufacturers’ standings
1 Mercedes-Benz 96 points
2 BMW 54 points
3 Audi 52 points
DTM team standings
1 THOMAS SABO/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG 55 points
2 Mercedes AMG 37 points
3 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 33 points
4 BMW Team Schnitzer 25 points
5 BMW Team RBM 23 points
6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 12 points
7 Audi Sport Team Rosberg 7 points
8 BMW Team RMG 6 points
9 DHL Paket/stern Mercedes AMG 4 points
Audi DTM statistics
Champion’s titles: 8 (in 15 years)
Victories: 61 (in 196 races)
Pole positions: 65 (in 161 qualifying sessions)
Fastest laps: 53 (in 196 races)
All Brands Hatch winners since 2006
2006 Mattias Ekström (Audi)
2007 Bernd Schneider (Mercedes-Benz)
2008 Timo Scheider (Audi)
2009 Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz)
2010 Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz)
2011 Martin Tomczyk (Audi)
2011 flashback: one-two-three victory for Audi
By taking his third victory of the season Martin Tomczyk re-captured the lead of the standings for Audi in a wet race at Brands Hatch last year. Mattias Ekström and Edoardo Mortara completed an Audi one-two-three triumph in difficult conditions. This marked the first time for racers from all three Audi teams to mount the podium together.
Track info
Track length: 1.929 km
Race distance: 98 laps = 189.042 km
DTM track record in qualifying: Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz), 41.278s = 168.235 km/h (Sep 04, 2010)
DTM track record in the race: Miguel Molina (Audi), 41.896s = 165.753 km/h (Sep 05, 2010)
Pole position 2011: Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), 42.090s = 164,989 km/h
Fastest lap 2011: Martin Tomczyk (Audi), 49.805s = 139,432 km/h
Turnout 2011: 21,000
TV live rating 2011: 1.24 million/9.8 % market share (source: ARD)
Mattias Ekström about Brands Hatch: A classic English race track. It’s narrow and bumpy in some places. You can’t afford to make any mistakes because there are hardly any run-off areas. Personally, I’ve had good and bad experiences there. Like the Norisring, Brands Hatch has only a few turns. But they are very special, particularly turn one. The circuit – which, by the way, is the shortest one on the DTM calendar – offers only few opportunities for overtaking. Although there’s a lot of talk about the typical English weather we’ve only had rain there once with the DTM. Brands Hatch normally has good grip but the organizers always made a few minor modifications in recent years so that we often encountered some small surprises in the first practice session.
Timetable (local times, CEST +1 hour)
Friday, May 18
09:35-10:05 Roll-out
10:05-10:10 Starting practice
13:30-15:10 Free practice 1
Saturday, May 19
09:00-10:40 Free practice 2
12:40-13:50 Qualifying
Sunday, May 20
10:00-10:30 Warm-up
13:00 Race
TV schedule (Das Erste live) (CEST)
Saturday, May 19
13:35-15:00 Qualifying
Sunday, May 20
13:45-15:30 Race
PaddockTalk Perspective
05.16.12JAMESCITY– Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War, a national traveling exhibition at the James City County Library from May 17 through July 13, focuses on Abraham Lincolns struggle to meet the constitutional challenges of the Civil War.
The exhibit opens with a free reception at 7 pm followed by a 7:30 pm program Thursday, May 17 at the James City County Library on Croaker Road. The program, Abraham Lincoln: A House Divided and Forever Free, a panel of four Hampton University faculty, discusses the major themes of the exhibit. Robert Watson, assistant professor of history at Hampton University, moderates the panel.
Dr. Eugenie Blang, Dr. Patrick Lewis, Dr. Natalie Robertson and Dr. William Young will discuss Lincolns struggle to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the nations history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states? How could a country founded on the belief that all men are created equal tolerate slavery? In a national crisis, would civil liberties be secure?
Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War is organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the help of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.
05.14.12Digital / Home Delivery
An ambassador wolf, stilt-dancers, fire jugglers, gargantuan puppets, and the chance to become a circus star are some of the highlights at Animals amp; Acrobats at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson.
A Memorial Day weekend tradition led by Ringmaster Jonathan Kruk, the event evokes an early-American traveling circus and will take over Van Cortlandt Manor, a historic site owned by Historic Hudson Valley, May 26-28, 10-5pm each day.
We put so much into this weekend that Im sure we rival the best traveling circuses from years gone by, said Althea Corey, site director of Van Cortlandt Manor.
In Americas early days, fire jugglers, tumbling acrobats, rope walkers, magicians indeed, clever characters of all sorts used to travel the countryside as a ragged band of entertainers, setting up shop at various locales.
Animals amp; Acrobats features continuous performances. Acts include:
* Boston Circus Guild This professional troupe offers a wide range of circus magic including high-flying acrobatics, stilt-dancing (not walking, dancing!), and gargantuan puppets who roam the crowd. Contortionists who squeeze themselves into the tightest of spaces round out the groups roster.
* Circus Arts Camp Kids can learn to walk on a low-wire, ride a unicycle, juggle, spin plates and walk on stilts!
* Museum of Curiosities Visitors can be awed by a giant mastodon, an Invisible Lady, and a Cabinet of Natural History featuring taxidermy specimens on loan from Teatown Lake Reservation.
* A Different Spin Formed at Vassar College, this group melds juggling, daring acrobatics, and comedy.
* Two by Two Zoo and the Wolf Conservation Center These groups teach conservation lessons with fascinating wildlife. Ambassador wolf Atka, hopping kangaroos, flying lemurs, hilarious monkeys, pythons, parrots, and goats are some of their traveling stars.
Other performers include Jennifer Penas birds-of-prey demonstration Flight of the Raptor, The Acrobrats, slack rope walker Dikki Ellis, Chris Yerlig as Hoopoe the Mime, fire juggler Will Shaw, Fred Greenspans Punch amp; Judy puppet show, magician Bob Olson, and musician Jim Keyes.
Visitors who purchase tickets in advance online can get free popcorn for everyone under 18 in their party. Geordanes of Irvington will provide picnic food and beverages. Visitors may also order an entire picnic in advance online, complete with tablecloth! Blue Pig of Croton provides homemade ice cream featuring ingredients from Hudson Valley sources.
Tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for children 3-17, free for children under three and HHV members.
Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue (off Route 9) in Croton-on-Hudson, NY Take the Croton Point Avenue exit from Route 9 and follow the signs. For information: 914-631-8200, www.hudsonvalley.org.
05.11.12ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — In these days of shrinking defense budgets, the US is looking to its southern neighbors to help monitor and protect the Asia Pacific region in the years ahead. Traveling to Colombia, Brazil and Chile this week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta underscored the importance of those nations as military partners in a region where the US influence in a number of countries is being challenged by China. And as the military relationships grow, defense officials say it can only help US economic and political ties across the continent. Panettas talks with senior defense leaders from the three nations also focused on how the United States can support their military efforts, including those directed at the expanding threat of cyberattacks, according to several senior defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings were private. US officials left the region thinking that at some point there may be opportunities to talk with South American nations about helping to train Afghan forces after NATO combat troops leave at the end of 2014. Officials would provide no details on which nations might eventually be willing to take on some of the training mission, which will be in need of advisers as other NATO nations pull their troops out. With the US shifting its focus away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagons new military strategy puts more importance on the Asia Pacific region, where North Korea is a growing threat and China is rapidly building its military and its political and economic influence. The Pentagon is poised to move more forces to the Pacific region, including plans to rotate units in and out of Australia. The US has long provided training, equipment, assistance and a security umbrella for many of the Asia Pacific nations. With budget cuts looming that will reduce the size of the military, the US is looking to South American countries to be more active global partners. The United States, just like other countries, are facing budget constrictions — which are going to affect the future, Panetta told reporters at a news conference in Brazil. And what we believe is that the best way to approach the future is to develop partnerships, alliances, to develop relationships with other countries, share information, share assistance, share capabilities, and in that way we can provide greater security for the future. Panetta would also like to see the South American countries use their greater military capability to train some of the Central American countries that are not as advanced. All three defense chiefs — Juan Carlos Pinzon of Colombia, Celso Amorim of Brazil and Andres Allamand of Chile — brought up cyber threats as a major concern for their countries, including incidents of hacker attacks and data thefts, the US defense officials said as they flew home from Chile, the last stop on the trip. The three countries, said one of the officials, want help from the US in hardening their computer networks against breaches and increasing their technological skills. The official said there is a recognition of how vulnerable they are, and they want to learn more about the nature of the threat and how to combat it. That threat, however, is also likely to involve China, which is steadily gaining as a top trading partner and economic developer in South America. Its surpassing the US in trade with Brazil, Chile and Peru, and is a close second in Argentina and Colombia. For the first time, US intelligence officials publicly called out China late last year as a significant cyber threat. While they did not directly tie attacks to the Beijing government, they said the Chinese are systematically stealing American high-tech data for their own economic gain. The unusually forceful public report seemed to signal a new, more vocal US government campaign against the cyberattacks, which could also involve helping other nations combat similar threats. The Pentagons clandestine National Security Agency is an acknowledged world leader in cyber technologies. And US officials have been struggling to work out ways for the government to help other nations as well as the private sector in the United States shore up critical networks. To date, however, countries around the world have not been able to come up with any detailed agreements on how best to work together. Cyber issues are fraught with legal and political challenges, including conflicting laws and the lack of broadly accepted international guidelines for Internet oversight. Panetta made it clear as he traveled across the continent that cybersecurity was a whole new arena that all the nations are concerned about. He also encouraged the South American nations to expand their security efforts to other regions, including Africa. The United States must remain a global power, Panetta said during a speech in Brazil. But … more and more nations are making and must make an important contribution to global security. We welcome and encourage this new reality because frankly it makes the world safer and all of our nations stronger.
From left, Cushing Academy teachers Gisele Zangari and Peter Clarke and students Shaylah OConnor, Jordan Comeau, Carl Jost and Taylor Greene at their school after returning from their trip to Bhutan. (TG Staff/RICK CINCLAIR)
05.5.12For many travelers, just seeing the world is not enough: Its the extraordinary experiences and people that you meet along the way that take a trip from being purely a vacation and turning it into a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Festivals offer a unique way to immerse yourself in a countrys time-honored traditions, art, culture and cuisine and most importantly help you make friends with the locals!
From the wildest street parties to time-honored cultural traditions, take a look at this collection of fantastic festival photos from around the globe selected by Kensington Tours and let them inspire your next adventure.
05.4.12
Sister Jordan Haddad was fierce in her fight to garner love and respect for the poor.
I remember one time, when someone brought a piece of clothing to donate to the poor and it was dirty, said Sr. Mary Ann WiesemannMills, a Dominican Sister of Peace. Sister Jordan looked her in the eye and said, lsquo;You take that back home and wash it. She insisted that you give the poor the same love and respect as anyone else. She woke us up to a lot of things and reminded us that everyone deserves dignity and respect.
Haddad, a Dominican Sister of Peace who died in 2006, is among the women whose work is highlighted in a traveling exhibit that chronicles the contributions of the areas Catholic nuns. Haddad started the Good Samaritan Hunger Center in Kent to meet the needs of the poor. She also organized the first Salvation Army Christian Kettle in Portage County and the Center of Hope in Ravenna to provide hot meals and food for the needy.
The exhibit Progress amp; Promise: Sisters Serving Northeast Ohio is on display through May 16 in the Upper Chapel Room at the St. Bernard-St. Mary Parish church, 44 University Ave., in downtown Akron. The exhibit is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, Notre Dame College and the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland.
The exhibit was created as part of the national exhibit, Women amp; Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America. The national three-year touring exhibit, sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, was hosted from May to August 2010 at the Maltz Jewish Heritage Museum in Beachwood.
When the national exhibit moved to Ellis Island, the local committee that designed Progress amp; Promise and representatives from the congregations of women religious decided to convert it into a traveling display and make it available to churches, universities, hospitals and other facilities. It is scheduled to appear in more than a dozen venues in Summit, Stark, Mahoning, Geauga and Cuyahoga counties.
The Rev. Dan Reed, pastor at St. Bernard-St. Mary, said it is a privilege for his parish to host the exhibit. Having been taught, as a child, by Sisters of St. Joseph, Reed said he has been personally impacted by Progress amp; Promise.
Going through the exhibit brought back [fond] memories of the sisters who helped develop me, and those who have helped me along the way, Reed said. This is a blessing to the diocese to have all of this information that helps us relive the rich history of women religious.
Sister Diana Culbertson, a Dominican nun, said her hope is that the exhibit will help people pay tribute to the past and help them understand that members of the religious orders are still very actively serving others.
This is not just about the past but the present and the future. We are alive and well, said Culbertson, a retired Kent State University professor. Were much more invisible than we used to be because we dont staff large institutions, but I dont believe there is a religious woman in the world who wouldnt die for the Gospel.
Donna Nickel, exhibit writer, echoed Culbertsons sentiments, saying the goal of the exhibit is to be historical and informational.
I dont think people realize the back story and how many millions of people these sisters have helped, Nickel said. Because they have such a rich history and profound presence, we couldnt include everything, so the exhibit focuses on the areas of healthcare, education and social service.
Nickel said two nuns who might be missed in the local exhibit are Sister Mary Ignatia Gavin, a Sister of Charity of St. Augustine, and Sister Dorothy Kazel, an Ursuline. Kazel was one of three nuns and a lay missionary murdered in 1980 in El Salvador, where she lived among the people, teaching them to read, write and nourish their children. Gavin partnered with the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous to open the first ward for alcoholics in the country at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.
The two women are not part of the local exhibit because they are part of the national exhibit. But their stories are included in a 60-page book (Progress amp; Promise: Sisters Serving Northeast Ohio) that accompanies the local exhibit. The publication, which is available for a donation of $10, is a project of the Collaboration for Ministry Initiative of the Sisters of Charity Foundation.
The exhibit consists of panels that tell the story of the nuns who began arriving in Northeast Ohio in the mid-1800s and built schools, hospitals, orphanages and homes for seniors. The story unfolds to tell how the institutions continue to thrive and how the sisters have evolved to serve current needs.
The main eight-foot historical panels include images, quotes and descriptive text. A congregational timeline outlines the arrival of the religious congregations in Northeast Ohio. Individual brochures that detail each congregation are available for visitors. Index cards are also available for visitors to share their experiences about sisters who inspired them.
Photographs of 20 historic artifacts are displayed on panels. Those include an irrigation syringe used in the 1940s at Mercy Hospital (established by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine) in Canton and a replica of a St. Peters Fishing Lure, which was packaged with a prayer and sold by Mother Angelica and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Canton to establish Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama.
A variety of images highlight the current ministries of the religious orders, including the Catholic Worker of Akron, which was co-founded by Sister Catherine Walsh, a Sister of Charity of St. Augustine. Walsh lives with Latino families at a restored house of hospitality where she serves to help the families work toward self-sufficiency.
The work of Crown Point Ecology Center in Bath Township and Humility of Mary Housing Inc. in Akron is also highlighted.
Started in 1987 by Sister Loretta Raff, a sister of the Humility of Mary, the housing corporation has grown to include 10 sites in five counties. The sites provide housing for low-income seniors, single parents in transition and young men with disabilities who have aged out of foster care.
Crown Point Ecology Center, a ministry envisioned by Sister Patricia Marie Sigler, a Dominican Sister of Peace, is located on 130 acres in the Cuyahoga Valley. It supports the regions oldest community-supported agriculture program, provides hands-on education programs and hosts organic plant sales. Since 1997, it has donated more than 265,000 pounds of produce to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
Research compiled by Sister Mary Ann Murphy (an Ursuline) and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity Foundation shows that 99 percent of Catholic sisters in the local area are involved in more than one ministry; 80 percent have earned a graduate degree and 71 percent are involved in collaborative ministries.
One of those collaborative ministries is Regina Health Center in Richfield. The center, which is the former motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, opened in 1993. The first facility of its kind in the United States, Regina provides medical and pastoral care to women and men religious, diocesan priests and lay people.
A recent collaborative initiative between women from several religious communities and professional women is a campaign to end human trafficking. The initiative promotes awareness and supports policies that aim to prevent the illegal trade of human beings.
Progress amp; Promise is open seven days a week, during the hours that the St. Bernard-St. Mary Parish church is open. It can be seen 9:30 am to 2:30 pm Monday through Friday, 11 am to 5:30 pm on Saturdays, and 9 am to 9 pm on Sundays.
Free parking is available on Saturdays and Sundays in the church lot and at the University of Akron parking deck across the street from the church.
For more information, call St. Bernard-St. Mary Parish, 330-253-5161.
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com
05.3.12An exhibit dedicated to the fallen soldiers of Arizona will be rolling into the East Valley this week in time for a ceremony that includes Tempe’s American Legion Post 138 in honor of a fallen Valley servicemen.
On Oct. 26, 2005, Army Reserve Sgt. James Witkowski, 32, was just one month from coming home after serving his third tour in Iraq, when he died instantly after an improvised explosive device exploded on his crew’s Humvee. They were traveling with about 100 soldiers in a 23-vehicle convoy transporting supplies from Camp Anaconda near Balad, Iraq, to Forward Operating Base Suse, northeast of Kirkuk. Witkowski was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 729th Transportation Company based in Fresno, Calif.
Witkowski, who placed his body over the IED to save his fellow soldiers, is among 140 Arizona service men and women featured in the “Remembering Our Fallen” exhibit who died in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, 17 are from the East Valley.
The exhibit will open at VFW Post 138, 107 E. Broadway Road in Tempe near Mill Avenue, on Wednesday and will be there through May 11.
In a day-long celebration beginning at noon on Saturday, May 5, American Legion Post 138 will be renamed the James Witkowski Post 138, accompanied by a barbecue, raffles and door prizes and a live band in the evening.
Witkowski’s parents, James and Barbara Witkowski, will be present.
In a statement issued by American Legion Post 138, Barbara Witkowski said of her son, “He always looked after other people. He was a defender of everyone. It was just such a selfless act that took his life a month before he was scheduled to come home from Iraq.” Witkowski received the Silver Star posthumously for bravery in action.
The exhibit was organized by Remembering Our Fallen, a Nebraska-based nonprofit organization that has researched those who have died while defending the nation since 9/11. The group is completing such traveling exhibits on a state-by-state basis to put on display at service-related organizations.
Remembering Our Fallen exhibits also have been done for Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa and Missouri, and an exhibit for North Dakota will be unveiled in Fargo on Saturday. Exhibits for Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin are in the works and plans are under way to place the exhibit in high schools, said Bill Williams, president of Remembering Our Fallen.
Although Witkowski’s residence is listed as Surprise on the Remembering Our Fallen exhibit, he was a graduate of Arcadia High School in east Phoenix close to where the American Legion Post 138 initially had planned to move. However, the post changed its plans and decided to move into Tempe but is following through on its plans to rename the post for Witkowski.
“He always had his arms around the people he cared for,” said Joni Baginski, the president of the Ladies Auxiliary at American Legion Post 138. “He was an incredible human being. One of the things we keep hearing from those who knew him and the soldiers who served with him was that he had an incredible sense of humor. We couldn’t think of a better person to rename our post after.”
05.1.12
Tom Gates wanted to work in the music industry long before he started managing musicians and working for record labels. I used to spend every penny I had on records and read liner notes, and I had a subscription to Billboard magazine when I was 12, Gates says. It was when I went to college and I went to my college radio station and I realized, is this a f****** job?! It turned into one for Gates, who has been working with a number of industry companies since graduating from Central Connecticut State University in 1992. Hes worked as a promoter for Roadrunner Records and Arista Records, and in 2000 he began managing bands as part of Nettwerk Music Group.
But towards the end of the last decade Gates began to feel anxious living in New York City, and a lifelong dream of traveling began to command his attention. Towards the end of 2008, a couple bands Gates managed experienced some major changes: The Format, a pop-punk group from Arizona with a flair for orchestral harmonies, broke up earlier that year, and Brand New, an emo act from Long Island, had been working on the follow-up to 2006s The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Gates found the window of opportunity to pack up his bags and take off.
On January 1, 2009, Gates went to say goodbye to the guys in Brand New. I went to their studio while they were making their record Daisy, and sat down and told them I had to do this, he says. They were upset, but they understood its what Gates had to do: That day he left for a year-long trip around the world. This week marks the official release of Gates book chronicling his traveling experience, Wayward: Fetching Tales from a Year on the Road. Gates released it as an eBook last month without much fanfare, and it quickly became the top seller on the iTunes bookstore.
Wayward isnt strictly a travelogue or a guide by any means. The book reads like a diary, with chapters dedicated to everything from watching Obamas inauguration in an Argentinian bar, to viewing a dubbed version of the newest Star Trek film in France and trying to understand the plot despite not speaking French, to remembering the ecstasy and pain of his first love just before breaking up with his then-boyfriend in Berlin, to eating dog in Vietnam, to his experience working with Patti Smith in New York. Its a little scatterbrained, but Gates lively, conversational writing style bring all the disparate pieces together for an engaging, enjoyable read.
Gates wrote for Matador, an independent travel site, while trekking across the globe, and some of his work for that outlet appear in Wayward along with some pieces he wrote on his personal blog. One of the books most moving chapters was originally a blog post called On Drowning, which popular alternative music news site AbsolutePunk wrote about shortly after Gates published it back in February 2009: Written on the anniversary of The Formats break-up, Gates described his strange experience one year earlier while on vacation in Bali, when he found a boy drowned in the pool of the hotel he was staying in, and then returning to his room to discover that The Format, the band he managed and championed, had decided to call it quits. Its a thoughtful, moving story about loss thats not only well written, but handled with a certain amount of grace. Its quite personal as well, and the best moments of Wayward are when Gates lets his personality run wild, be it in a description of some shoddy living conditions on a Fijian island or a heartbreaking tale of finding love online while struggling to remain in the closet.
As Gates bounced around the globe the bands he had been working with were moving forward with their respective careers. Brand New released their fourth album, Daisy, in September 2009, and it charted at number six on the Billboard 200. The Formats Nate Ruess started a new group called fun., and that group released their debut album, Aim and Ignite, in August 2009: Now, nearly two years later, fun. have become one of the most popular bands of the year thanks to their hit single We Are Young. The Formats other main songwriter, Sam Means, has been working on some solo music and is a graphic designerin fact, Gates hired Means to make the cover for Wayward.
Upon returning to the US, Gates moved out to LA and returned to managing musicianshes currently working with Christina Perri and Good Old War at Bill Silva Entertainment. Its the gig hes always wanted, and it lets him travel too. Im going to Myanmar over Christmas, Gates says. The great thing about managing bands is that you can go to these places while managing that band. As much as his music industry gig gives Gates the ability to travel more often than another type of job, that year of traveling has given Gates some perspective he needs to get his job done. Before I went on the trip, I could end up letting the music business completely and totally overwhelm me some days, and now it doesnt, he says. When the water runs out in the well in Laos and youre on an island, its a problem When an artists misses a flight its a different kind of problem.
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