presents May 13 – 21, 2021 Dates, Locations, and Line-up sugbject to change. featuring GOV. TOM RIDGE, SYNTHIA SAINT JAMES, DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, JEFFREY ROSEN CLAYOLA BROWN, ROBERT PAPE, BARBARA PERRY, STACY CORDERY, ANITA MCBRIDE STEVE SCULLY, ANDREW CARD, DENIS MCDONOUGH, MACK MCLARTY AND A VERY SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER ON MAY 17! JES Memberships Available Now: Renew. Join. Get Your Tickets Now! For more information, call 814.459.8000 or visit www.JESErie.org CONTENTS From the Editors The only local voice for news, arts, and culture. NOVEMBER 18, 2020 The gift of gratitude Editors-in-Chief ll around the world, shopping small is going to Brian Graham & Adam Welsh look a little different this year. Managing Editor Nick Warren Your 2020 Elections Recap – 5 A Traditional European Christmas markets such presents as Nüremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (set in a quaint Copy Editor Examining results of local races and Matt Swanseger German village square), Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens Contributing Editors Erie County’s impact in the presidential Christmas Market (Danish amusement park rides fes- Ben Speggen election tively aglow), and Barcelona’s Fira de Santa Llucia (the Jim Wertz Spanish capital’s beautiful cathedral looming overhead) Contributors International Recycling Group Finds Home are all hallmarks of the holiday shopping season abroad Liz Allen in Erie – 8 — and likely several Hallmark movies. Tivoli and Fira John Bavaro will cautiously continue spreading yuletide cheer this Mary Birdsong Startup aims for plastic recycling rates of 90 Ally Kutz year, but with COVID-19 spreading rapidly in Germany, Christopher Lantinen percent at $100 million facility Christkindlesmarkt has been canceled for the first time Tommy Link in 73 years. Aaron Mook 2020 Made in Erie Gift Guide – 14 North American reproductions of these cherished rites Brad Pattullo May 13 – 21, 2021 are also falling by the wayside, with the Toronto Christ- Erin Phillips Having yourself an Erie little Christmas Dates, Locations, and Line-up sugbject to change. Claudia Rose mas Market, Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, and Philadel- Melissa Sullivan Shimek Handmade Tales – 16 phia’s Christmas Village being some of the more prom- Jen Sorenson inent examples. Although the Gem City has noelthing Rebecca Styn Three local creators share their paths to full- Cara Suppa on the same scale as those major metropolises, our cal- Forest Taylor time success endar section (still on print hiatus) is typically stuffed Bryan Toy like a Thanksgiving turkey with events such as WQLN’s Larry Wheaton Rivers and Roads: Discovering the Covered Holiday Craft Show, Asbury Woods’ Schoolhouse Craft Photographer Bridges of Ashtabula County – 20 Festival, the Erie Handmade Fair, and the Made in Erie Jessica Hunter Cross the Ohio border into the charming, Marketplace. With dozens of pop-up stations featuring Intern artists, artisans, and craftspeople of every persuasion, Simonique Dietz rustic past they are perfect occasions to pick up one-of-a-kind gifts. Cover Design This year, however, they’re all off the menu. Nick Warren Learning and Living on the Airwaves – 23 But just like Santa, just because you can’t see a store- 1001 State St. Suite 1315 WQLN steps up to the plate for Erie front doesn’t mean they don’t exist. E-commerce and Erie, Pa., 16501 social media marketing have provided a Rudolph-es- [email protected] 10 Local Books to Add to Your Christmas que beacon of hope amidst a blizzard of uncertainty for List – 24 independent sellers such as Katie LeVan, Kaitlyn Page, The Erie Reader is published every and Heather Cash. From Facebook to Etsy to Pinterest other week and distributed at over Dog ear these works by Erie-area authors to Instagram, these talented local artists know firsthand 350 high foot-traffic locations in about the cornucopia of creativity awaiting you behind Pennsylvania from North East to TV Reviews – 25 featuring your computer, tablet, and/or smartphone screens. If Girard to Edinboro. In addition to you can’t buy, like, share, subscribe, or bookmark a web- appearing in print, Erie Reader Early holiday cheer and an entrancing new adds new content daily at miniseries site. And if you have a talent of your own worth sharing, GOV. TOM RIDGE, SYNTHIA SAINT JAMES, ErieReader.com as well as social the women say, please do not hide. media sites. All rights reserved. All Our Hand-picked Podcast Favorites This Erie’s independently owned brick-and-mortar stores content © Flagship Multimedia, Month – 27 won’t be, as their proprietors encourage safely support- DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, JEFFREY ROSEN Inc, 1001 State St., Suite 1315, ing local on Shop Small Saturday (Nov. 28) and beyond. Erie, Pa, 16501. No part of this Enthralling audio for the streaming Wear a mask, wash and sanitize your hands, and get out publication may be reproduced and explore before the rush if you can. Whether you without permission. The opinions generation choose to do your shopping in-person (we might suggest CLAYOLA BROWN, ROBERT PAPE, BARBARA PERRY, of our columnists and contributors the Shops at the Colony Plaza, which hosts 20 unique lo- are their own and do not always Movie Reviews – 28 reflect that of the editorial board Rebooted Witches and Uninspired cally owned businesses) or online, Liz Allen and our an- STACY CORDERY, ANITA MCBRIDE or organization. Direct sales nual Made in Erie Gift Guide (compiled by Nick Warren) inquiries to 814.314.9364. For Protesters should provide ample inspiration. If you’ve ever unen- editorial inquiries, email contact@ thusiastically unwrapped a box of whitey-tighties and Cartoons – 29 STEVE SCULLY, ANDREW CARD, ErieReader.com. tube socks on Christmas morning (or an embarrassing Hand-wringing, time travel, celebration, and pink bunny costume), you’re aware of the alternative. DENIS MCDONOUGH, MACK MCLARTY confusion Truly, gift-giving is an art. Like art, the “best” gifts are motivated by creativity, imagination, thought, and Music Reviews – 30 emotion. They are a reflection of both the giver and the AND A VERY SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER ON MAY 17! recipient. They’re memorable because their exchange Mr. Bungle, Nothing, Oneohtrix Point Never, uniquely frames some aspect of a relationship or con- and Katy J Pearson nection. As we tear away their wrapping paper, we’re JES Memberships Available Now: Renew. Join. Get Your Tickets Now! inspired to laugh, cry, blush, jump up and down, roll our Crossword Puzzle – 31 eyes, or just express our genuine gratitude. The latest stumper from David Levinson Wilk In an especially miserly 2020, getting that kind of reac- For more information, call 814.459.8000 or visit www.JESErie.org tion is no small feat. November 18, 2020 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 Get the healthy, beautiful smile you’ve always wanted! “YOU DESERVE THE VERY BEST!” SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH INVISALIGN TODAY! CLEAR ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS • Severe spacing • Posterior crossbites • Underbites • Severe crowding • Overbites • Open bites • Anterior crossbites ERIE LOCATION 2570 W. 26th St. Erie, PA 16506 - 814-835-4351 ERIE LOCATION - 3230 W. 38th St., Erie, PA 16506 • 814-835-3888 LAWRENCE PARK LOCATION - 4201 Main St., Erie, PA 16511 • 814-898-0023 FAIRVIEW LOCATION CORRY LOCATION - 200 Maple Ave., Corry, PA 16407 • 814-664-4434 814-474-5277 4230 Franklin Rd. Fairview, PA 16415 - doleskiwolfordortho.com 4 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com November 18, 2020 NEWS & VIEWS Your 2020 Elections Recap Examining results of local races and Erie County’s impact in the presidential election According to the Washington Post, more “I Voted” stickers were distributed in the general giving directions to backdate 2020 general election than any U.S. election ballots received after the state-im- since 1900. About two-thirds of the voting- posed deadline. Just days later, after eligible population turned out, with higher an investigation was launched, Rich- percentages found in key battleground states like Pennsylvania (70.3 percent) — a ard Hopkins told USPS investigators trend that held true for Erie County. he had fabricated the account and re- canted. But before that, newly re-elect- publican incumbent Mike Kelly’s ed Republican Senator in South Caro- 65,640, putting the Erie County native lina Lindsey Graham gave the story and political newcomer up by 2,823 oxygen in the mainstream media. So votes in her backyard. But Erie alone did others elsewhere, including the does not make up PA-16; it includes 45th President of the United States on Crawford, Mercer, and Lawrence Twitter. counties, and a portion of the incum- So, all the aforementioned rac- bent’s home county: Butler. Kelly won es could also be filed under: Things each of those other counties, totaling stayed the same. But the one that can- 207,472 votes to Gnibus’ 142,232. not be is the race between Republican It’s not the first time an Erieite chal- incumbents President Donald Trump lenged Kelly. Just two years ago, Erie and Vice President Mike Pence and County’s Ron DiNicola took a run at their Democratic challengers, former PA-16 but fell short by 11,239 (124,109 to Vice President Joe Biden at the top of Kelly’s 135,348) in 2018’s midterm elec- the card and California Senator Ka- tions. mala Harris as his Vice President. So while Gnibus fell to Kelly by a After flipping red for the first time SIMONIQUE DIETZ larger margin, she did notch more since 1984 during President Ronald overall votes than DiNicola did. Like Reagan’s re-election bid, Erie County Pa. announced Bizzarro would serve Gnibus, DiNicola was unable to win — a reliable, traditionally blue coun- By: Ben Speggen in the leadership capacity of Demo- any other county aside from Erie, ty — went to Trump. Many might n more ways than not, Erie Coun- cratic Policy Chair.