Erie’s only free, independent source for news, culture, and entertainment Sept 4 - 17 / Vol. 3, No. 18 / ErieReader.com E I R RE EADER The Perry 200 Commemoration Concludes with Tall Ships Erie 2013, Marking the Celebration of Erie's Proud FOLLOWING UP ON THE WEIGHT OF WAR Past and Bright Future THE REPUBLICAN GAME OVER SYRIA THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON 50 YEARS LATER NO FRACKING WAY ERIE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA KICKS OFF NEW SEASON PREVIEWS OF THE ERIE PLAYHOUSE AND MIAC UPCOMING SEASONS ARTS ‘N DRAFTS MUSIC, FASHION, TECH FREE 2 | Erie Reader | eriereader.com September 4, 2013 CONTENT September9 4, 2013 FEATURE CULTURE 9 tall ships 12 COMMUnitY editors-in-chief: No Fracking Way Brian Graham & Adam Welsh anchor in erie Managing editor: The Perry 200 Commemoration Ben Speggen 14 iF We Were YoU... Concludes with Tall Ships Erie 2013 contributing editors: Here’s what we would do Cory Vaillancourt Jay Stevens NEWS AND NOTES 15 TO-Do list copy editor: Alex Bieler 4 UpFRONT Erie Chamber Orchestra Opening contributors: Deny, Deride, Dismiss Night Celebration, Arts 'N Drafts Alex Bieler Pen Ealain 5 street CORNER SOAPBoX 16 alBUM reVieWs Matthew Flowers The Impending War in Syria Dakota Hoffman 17 street FASHIONISTA Leslie McAllister 6 the WaY i see it Garrett Skindell Rich McCarty The March on Washington 50 Years Later Ryan Smith Jay Stevens 6 tech WATCH 18 season preVeiWs Rebecca Styn Mercyhurst Institute for Arts and Google Chromecast Bryan Toy Culture, The Erie Playhouse Designers: Mark Kosobucki Burim Loshaj photographer: Ryan Smith Brad Triana of Lake Erie, which propelled The years from now celebrate? Jessica Yochim Flagship City to the forefront of We then must ask ourselves: interns: From the Editors the nation’s mind and to the fore- What will we have done in the next Adam Kelly front of the future of America. fifty years to cause a stir amongst Ryan Maloney ver two years ago on a glory seamlessly shifted a meeting In this issue, Jay Stevens offers a future generations? What will we Tom Shannon bright, warm June morning, of the minds from that of bemoan- comprehensive feature of the battle, accomplish to warrant such exalta- Adam Unger two of our editors — Adam ing to that of jubilance. the ship, and what both mean to tion five decades from now? Welsh and Ben Speggen — joined The Niagara, the ship that Oliver Erie and how they’ve shaped both There’s a Native American prov- 32 W. Eighth St. #500 O Erie PA, 16501 a hundred and fifty or so people Hazard Perry climbed aboard after our past and our present and how erb that goes something like this: [email protected] piled into a conference room at the abandoning the Lawrence, wields our appreciation and recognition We will be known forever by the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel. At that power over us, as our history of such will carry us through the tracks we leave. that time, the Reader was still in its often has the means to freeze us in future. So let us enjoy this last celebra- The Erie Reader is Erie’s only free, independent infancy with just three months of a moment of time, because for if But what does lie ahead? tion, this last moment before our source for news, culture, and entertainment. The Erie Reader is a forum for ideas and publishing under its belt, and at that only a moment, we can reflect back Dr. William Garvey, president time to revel in the past draws to discussion, and seeks to drive two-way time, Adam and Ben were there to to when the word “Erie” was on the of the Jefferson Educational Soci- a close. But let us not forget about communication with its readers. At the Erie both hear about the storied history tip of the nation’s tongue. ety and chairman of the Perry 200 our city’s bright future, the future Reader, we endeavor to highlight the best of Erie and to see how the future Fast forward over two years from Commemoration often labels this we must chart and leave for the of Erie by providing in-depth, magazine-style would be shaped in the next two that meeting. The pageants and experience as Erie’s “Brigadoon” next generation to commemorate journalism that cuts to the heart of the coming years. fireworks and parade have all come moment — that moment when the in fifty years. issues that matter to Erie. The Erie Reader They were there for the first pub- and gone, and the sun is setting people of our city emerge from the That future will be determined is published every other week at The Corry lic meeting of the Perry 200 Com- on our two-year celebration. And mist, join in grand celebration, and by the path we take from here, the Journal, 28 W. South St., Corry, Pa. 16407. The memoration. throughout that time, the Reader then slip back into time’s fog, only steps we embark on after the sails Erie Reader is distributed at over 250 high foot- Back then, pageants and fireworks has continued to champion Erie’s to wait to surface again years later; are lowered this September and af- traffic locations in Pennsylvania from North were just a thing of talk. The Grand success stories while also remaining in our case, another fifty. ter the city returns to a forty-nine- East to Girard to Edinboro. The Erie Reader Patriotic Parade was just an idea, critical of certain missteps taken So now that we’ve emerged from year life without such deliberate is also available by mail subscription; one year and Erie’s docks sat unoccupied by along the way to moving our city the haze of time and paid reverence purpose to celebrate. In these years, (26 issues) for $49.99. Send check or money order payable to Flagship Multimedia, Inc., to any Tall Ships save for one — the forward. to our past, it seems right that we’ll we will leave tracks, divots in the the address below. In addition to appearing Niagara. So it’s fitting and appropriate that slide back through the ether of the Earth that will undoubtedly be ex- in print, Erie Reader adds new content daily We tell so much of our story we conclude our commemoration present and await the future. But amined by those commemorating at www.ErieReader.com as well social media around that ship. And much of our of Perry’s victory over the Brit- we cannot recede into the plumes in 2063. We must now decide what sites. All rights reserved. All content © Flagship story draws inspiration from it. In ish with a festival centered around of the past and ignore the future, type of tracks we wish to leave: one Multimedia, Inc, 32 W. Eighth St., Suite 500, Erie, that room, more than two years ago, the ship herself — a bold emblem a destiny we are tasked with shap- worthy of celebration or one our Pa, 16501. No part of this publication may be County Executive Barry Grossman and icon of our city’s success. And ing. Our attention should now be children might wish to erase, or reproduced without permission. Direct inquiries shared an account of how just wit- it’s fitting and appropriate to tell focused on the remaining question: perhaps worse yet, ones our chil- to 814.314.9364 or [email protected]. nessing the Niagara sail by in all her the story of that battle, the Battle What will those who return fifty dren can’t see at all. September 4, 2013 eriereader.com | Erie Reader | 3 UPFRONT NEwS Deny, Deride, Dismiss of the By: Cory Vaillancourt WeiRd By: Chuck Shepherd PTSD continues nearly unabated. What is being done, and who is doing it? Queen of the Night lmost exactly one year ago – Wednes- day, Sept. 19, 2012, to be exact – I in- he conflicted double life of Israeli Orthodox troduced you to Phillip Azevedo, an Jew Shadar Hadar, 34, might be as formi- Erie, Pa. native, combat veteran, and dableT to manage as that of an international spy. Bronze Star recipient who struggled to bear the Though deeply and defiantly religious, he typi- weightA of war. cally around midnight "trades his knitted white Phillip suffered from post-traumatic stress yarmulke" for a "wavy blond wig and pink velvet disorder, which subjected him to nightmarish dress" and takes the stage as a nascent drag queen, visions, a general edginess, and disturbingly de- according to an August Associated Press dispatch pressive feelings. Wounded in ways unseen and from Jerusalem. His gayness has alienated his ex- afraid to seek treatment because he feared his wife (who bars him from seeing their daughter, career as a Navy officer would be in jeopardy, he now 11) and is only grudgingly accepted by his agonized in silence until one day, not long after parents. As a bridge of sorts in his life, he has re- a session of heavy drinking and run-in with the jected the usual raunchy drag queen personas and police, Phillip lost his battle with PTSD and adopted instead that of a female rabbinic adviser, took his own life. Accebar Avrenem musing from the stage on optimistic teachings of He had a bright future ahead of him after be- Breslov Hasidic ultra-Orthodox Judaism. ing recognized by the Navy for his maturity, his competency, and his bravery. He had a close-knit Veterans are killing themselves at a rate of roughly one per hour. Government in Action family, a young son, a beautiful fiancé, scores of friends, and admiring classmates – all of whom various agencies of the federal government – that that the study was conducted by an agency with hiladelphia's Veterans Stadium, whose con- missed his subtle, almost imperceptible cries for spurred her into action.