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CONTENTS Page layout for magazine . . . page 4 Mountain Home
Have You Heard You Heard JANA’s songs? S
Small-town PA Girl Gets Big TV Break
Used InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
hesatatthecafétable,acollageof ageof color:bright-purplehoodie,boldlypatternedbluescarf,and thepinkcheeks thatthe TwinTiers’chillyspringair requireseveryoneto wearin lateMarch.The warm expressionin herkindbrowneyes beliedthecold and welcomedme toher table.Singer/songwriterJana Loseyprovedtobe asengagingface-to-faceas sheis inher soulfulmusic,asshe shedlighton herupcoming projects,includinga newalbum,her ownreality/variety show,and anew performanceseriesheld byherrecord company,PoseyTunes. Havinggrownup inLawrenceville,Pennsylvania, Loseyunderstandswhatit isto bea small-townperson withbigdreams. Shestartedexploringhermusical talentswhenshewas eightyearsold andcontinuedto studyseriouslyatIthaca College.Leavingcollegeearlyto joinSquokOpera,an avant-gardetroupe,Loseyspent
Product pages . . . page 23 Electrical Contractor
By Dara Riegel
JANA LOSEY BigFOXTV: Checklocallistingsfor TheSong YouHeard ClemensCenterperformances: 7 an d9 P.M.
veyearstouringand ultimatelywenttoBroadway.
Burnedoutand needingtimeforherself,she tooka sabbaticalfrommusicand movedtoCaliforniato work inwardrobeat theLa JollaPlayhouseandlater became alicensedmasseusewith herownpractice.Duringthis time,Loseyrecoveredsomeof herdriveto createand “musicstartedcreepback in.” Shejoineda coverband andstarted writingagainwith bandmate,MelaniePeters.Nowher businesssand and lifepartner,Petersplayedan integralrolein helpingLoseyrediscoverher voice. “Thatreallyrestartedmy joyin music,”says ”says Losey. “SlowlyMelanieandI startedsavingsomeof thesongs wewrotefor ourselveswith theidea thatwe mightsell themto otherartists.”Fatehad otherplans,however, andsoonher rstalbum, Bittersweet ,was givenlife.Peters usedsomeforty hoursof studiotimedowed toher to recordtheirsongs.“Soonwe werewritinga songa week andthengoingintorecordit,”say n gintorecordit,”saysLoseywith haa hintof awein hervoice.“Westill thinkof Bittersweet aass ab i to f amiracle;a kindof reallywonderfulmistake.” lywonderfulmistake.” Fromthere,Loseydecidedto becomeafull-time musician,touringthecountryand gettingairtimefor someof her songs,including“LondonHoliday,”which wasa localfavoriteonradio stationsacrosstheTwin Tiersin2006. Theymovedto Losey’schildhoodhome,
Used QuarkEXpress and Photoshop Newspaper layout . . . page 25 The Lynchburg Va., News & Advance
aLawrencevillefarm,and startedtouring,rst witha
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bandandthenasa duo.“Rigghtnow htnow,it’sbasiccall allymeand y meand Melanietouringina littlehybridcarand doingacoustic sets,”explainedLosey. Thisisone of themany thingsLoseyspeaksonwhen shevisitsarea highschoolinhopesof raisingawareness of herupcomingalbum, Blocks ,her reality/varieetyshow, tyshow, TheSongYouHeard ,andherdesiretogetkidsinvolved
E-book . . . page 27
area,Ithinksomeof thekidsherehaveagenerallac e haveagenerallack
andcondentabout theirtalents.“Beingfroma small of condencethat theycando whatevertheywantin
life,”saidLosey.“Citykids mighthavemoreexposureto theaterandmusic butit’sso importantforkidshere to Page 16
April4;tickets$20 (half pricewithstudent ID;must callahead) Information: www.j www.janalosey analosey.comor(570 ) 504-5589.SearchMTV’sWeb sitetovote for Losey’smusicvideo smusicvideo showwillincludepart of theconcert,backstageshots, andsomeof themusicfrom ournewCD, Blocks. Morestructuredand thought-outthan Bittersweet , Blocks wasa Blocks wasa “veryfulllingalbumto make,”withLosey
knowthatthere’sno reasonwhytheycan’tdo itjust becausethey’refromhere.I wantto doeverythingI can tohelpthem understandthat.” Onewayshehopestogetthatthroughtokidsis through TheSongYouHeard ,whichrstairedinMarch onBig FoxstationsfromWellsborotoRochester.Each monthlyepisodefeaturesLosey’sstravelsand travelsand theartists shemeetsalongthewayincitiesbigorsmall.Theepi e sbigorsmall.Theepisodeswillthen runweeklyuntila newoneairs. “It’scoolfor peopletoseefamiliar placesandpeople onTV,”saidLosey.“It mightmakeperformingseem moreaccessibletokids if theyseetheir hometownor someonefromiton areal TVshow.”Shealsosees this opportunityasa waytobringmoreattentiontosomeof thelesser-knownartistsshe encounteersalongthe rsalongthe way. Eachshowwillshow thehighsand lowsof touring,but willalsoshowcaseinterviewsof and performancesby differentartists,aswell aslivemusic byLosey. Partof oneof theupcomingepisodeswillbeshot atLosey’sApril4 concerts/album-releasepartiesat
andPeterstakingthe opportunittyto yto setout tomake a wholealbum,whilepayingattentionto “themoodsof eachsong”as theypertainedto thewhole.“Tome, the wholealbumis muchmoreimportantthan makinga fewhitsingles,”explainedLosey.“Ifeel likepeopleare gettingtiredof thewhole‘hitsculture’and areready,as asociety,togobacktomoreof agrassrootsapproach andreallylisten toeachsong.” Inthat samevein,Loseyhopesto invigoratethe region’ssinterestin interestin newtalentsthrougha concertseries shewillhost atCorning’sRadissonHotel.FromMay throughOctober,2008,LoseyandPeter’srecordcompany,PoseyTunes,,will will bringa newact tothe Radisson eachmonth,featuringartistsfrom alloverthe country,
Elmira’sClemensCenter.At theschoolsshehas visited, Loseymadesure toofferall studentshalf-pricetickets tothe shows,acknowledgingtheimportanceof gettingteensinvolvedwithmusic,as wellasher show.“It shouldbea nicetie-in,”saidLosey.“Thisepisodeof
formand visittheschoolswithher tofurtherreinforce herpointthat“youdon n tthat“youdon’thavetobefromabigcityto bea greatartist.”
includingthosefromNewYork,Buffaloand California.
“Wewantto bringinartistswhoareonthecusp of greatsuccess,and introducethemtothe region, inhopesof gainingthemattentionand bringingnew soundstothe region,”said ”said Losey.She isalso hopingto bringa fewteenageartists fromotherareas tobothper-
DaraRiegel is afrequent contributorto MountainHome magazine.
MOUNTAIN HOME
APRIL 2008
Buffalo Niagara: Where Industry Creates Energy
Used InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
Story and Photographs By CINDY DAVIS MEIXEL
UNREAL David
ESTATE
Davies Built His Dream House in Miniature
ORIGINALLYFROMCONNECTICUT,DAVID DAVIES AND HIS WIFE, BARBARA,BECAME ENAMORED WITH WELLSBORO THIRTEEN YEARS AGO. THAT LOVE AFFAIRLED THEM TOBUY A HOME HERE, AFTER RETIRING A YEAR AGO. THEY PLANNED TO REMODEL THEIR HOMEON WALN STREET ANDDID SO AFTER DAVIDBUILT AMODEL OF THE PROJECT (SEE OPPOSITE PAGE). THE FINISHED PROJECT IS AT LEFT.
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MOUNTAIN HOME
MARCH 2008
. . .Then Made This Dream Come True
T
wenty minutes after arriving in Wellsboro for the rst time, ime, David Davies phoned his wife back home in Connecticut. “Do you remember Bedford Falls in It’s A Wonderful Life ?,” ?,” he asked. “Well, I’m standing in the middle of it.” An avid admirer of all things Americana, Davies could attribute his discovery of Wellsboro’s enchanting small-town charm to “divine diner destiny.” A few days before his initial trek to Wellsboro, Davies had watched a PBS special on diners that
MARCH 2008
featured The Wellsboro Diner. He was intrigued. (“a Coincidentally, a day later, his copy of Roadside (“a journal dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of a truly unique American institution—the diner”) arrived in the mail. The issue featured “A Walk Through Wellsboro” on its cover. Davies was enthralled. “I took off for Wellsboro that next weekend,” he recalls. “I came here and fell in love with the place.” In addition to The Wellsboro Diner, the town’s gaslit boulevard, the Penn Wells Hotel, Arcadia Theatre, Victorian homes, and townsfolk captivatedDavies.
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“All the people I met were friendly and open. People would actually sto op p and say ‘H Hello!,’” ello!,’” Davies relates. “I went into a barber shop and sat and talked for two hours.” He soon returned with wife Barbara, who became equally enchanted with Wellsboro, and the couple began a twelve-year love affair with the community, culminating in a move to town one year ago, after retiring from their jobs in Connecticut. During their many trips to town, the couple toured several homes for sale and eventually purchased an inconspicuous, all-white home on Waln Street. But,
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John Fulmer WORK HISTORY East Mill Street Studio, Belcamp, Maryland Freelance writing, editing and design. Specializing in trade magazines, business writing and production-oriented graphic design with expertise in InDesign, Illustrator, Illustrator, Photoshop, FrameMaker and QuarkXPress. September 2005 to present.
Mountain Home, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania Managing editor for regional magazine. As freelance contract employee, managed freelance staff, planned editorial content, wrote everything from 5,000-word cover stories to 300-word blurbs, took photographs, and copyedited and laid out 48-page book with InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. March 2007 to April 2008.
Electrical Contractor, Security + Life Safety Systems, Bethesda, Maryland Editor of trade magazines from July 2004 to September 2005. Supervised four-person staff, developed editorial calendar and writers’ budget, and gave 20-plus freelancers assignments and story direction. Contributing writer from February 2003 to July 2004. Associate editor and Products editor from June 2002 to February 2003. Did layout with QuarkXPress and Photoshop.
The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia Newspaper copy editor from January 2000 to August 2001. Edited copy and designed pages with Quark and Photoshop.
The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Mississippi
Entertainment coordinator coordinator for daily newspaper from December 1997 to May 1999. General assignment reporter from March 1988 to July 1989. Freelance writer from 1995 to 1997.
University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi Graduate assistant and adjunct faculty member. Taught Taught composition, technical writing, creative writing and literature. January 1994 to October 1998.
Georgetown Review Editor of nationally distributed literary magazine. Coordinated promotions, subscriptions and business operations, and did layout with PageMaker. August 1996 to December 1997.
The Mississippi Press, Pascagoula, Mississippi General assignment reporter for daily newspaper. newspaper. May 1987 to March 1988.
EDUCATION University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi Master’s degree in English. Creative writing emphasis. Transatlantic Prize winner for ction.
Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. English minor.
1220 Independen Indep endence ce Square S quare Belc Be lcam amp p Md. 21 21017 017 410.272.2352/814.512.1482 cell 814.975.1144 fax [email protected]
N O I T A D N U O F
does the cougar still live here? By John John Fulmer
R A G U O C N R E T S A E F O Y S E T R U O C S O T O H P
BIG cat mystery
orris,, Morris Pennsylvania, a blip on the map in southern Tioga County, is well k nown nown regionally for its rattlesnake roundup. What What most people don’t know is that Morris has its own CSI unit. As in, Cougar Sighting Investigation. Page 8
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The Foundation
R E M L U F N H
NOVEMBER 2007
Morris resident Kerry Geykis, a forester and former Tioga County planner, is part of the Eastern Cougar Foundation, a nonprot based in Harman, West Virginia. Geykis donates a great deal of his time sleuthing into the hun hun--
O J Y B O T O H P
dreds of reported cougar sighting sightingss east of the Mississippi River River.. He is especially interested in Pennsylvania sightings, and though his true believers insist the cougar lives in the commonwealth’s mountains and forests, Geykis and the ECF have yet to verify the big cat’ cat’ss existence h here. ere. His interest was piqued after spending ye years ars working in the woods and as as a hunter and trapper. He’d He’d never seen a mountain lion but kept hearing reports all of the time time.. “People were adamant and they weren’t lying to me,” Geykis said. “I mean, most most of them weren’tt lying—we’ weren’ lying—we’ve ve caugh caughtt a couple liars— liars—but, but, in the East, most of them really thought the theyy had seen a cougar. And I thought, ‘Well, they can’t all be wrong.’ In fact, I gured quite a few of them had to b bee right. “So, for a period of time in my life, I was really looking for cougars, cougars,”” Geykis said. “I would sit in a tree somewhere and try to lure them in. And I got deer, deer, weasels weasels,, dogs, coyotes coyotes.. Never a cougar. But all those years, I kept looking until I nally said, ‘Hey, I need some help here. There’s something wrong here. I’m in the woods more than all of these other people put together and I haven’t seen a cougar.’”
Eastward Ho? Like most of those who claim to have seen a cougar, Geykis fervently wants to believe this “indicator species” and “apex predator” has returned to the win win iers. Te few cougars found recently in the Eastern woods have either been released or have escaped from private zoos, which are legal in some states if the animals have proper permits.
Kerry Geykis, above, poses with his dog, Turq. Geykis, of Morris, Pennsylvania, volunteers with the Eastern Cougar Foundation, a network of mountain-lion researchers. Right: “KY Kitten” was killed by a truck in Kentucky near the border of Virginia and West Virginia, and it provides some of the best evidence that cougars may be reproducing in the wild in the eastern United States.
sibling, because the kitten was too young to be alone. Te driver took the body to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, where it was frozen and later analyzed analyzed.. Te kitten lacked most captive-cat signifiers. She had not been declawed nor had she been tattooed, which is often the case for pet cougars. She was not wearing a tag or collar. However However,, the site says, “DNA analysis indicated that the kitten’s maternal ancestry included genes from South America, pointing to the pet trade trade . . . but pater-
John C. Gallant Gallant shot shot a w wild ild cou cougar gar in 1967 w while hile
nal ancestry was shown to be North American.
squirrel in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, but hunting its characteristics matched those of Costa Rican cougars. South American cats have come to be an important source of “pets” for folks with private menageries. Tere is some evidence, however however,, that wild cougars may be reproducing in the East. On the ECF Web site under the heading “KY Kitten,” it says in June 1997 a pickup truck hit an eightpound female cougar kitten on Highway 850
“Tis kitteny isfatal important for several reasons: was a highwa highway fatality ity,, and biologists biologist s claim thatshe if cougars were present in any numbers some would get hit by cars; she indicates that reproduction is going on in the wild; and she exemplifies the mixing of cougars from various origins that is probably occurring in the Eastern woods.”
in western Floyd County, Kentucky, whichand is in Appalachia near the borders of Virginia West Virginia. Te d driver river also noticed a la larger rger and a smaller shape, probably the mother and a
An indicator species helps define an an environment’ss characteristics; its presence means a more ment’ natural ecosystem is in place. An apex predator predator,,
Cougar History
NOVEMBER 2007
Cougar continued from page 9
only in the New W World. orld. Nonetheless, cougars were quickly viewed with the ancient ancient prejudice that Europeans had against all predators. At first, settlers thought cougars were African lions or leopards (the black phase of which is called panther).” Tus the cougar’s decline was caused in large part by man’s man’s natural fear of large predators, justifiable since he can become their prey but overblown given the rarity of attacks. Second, ungulates are the cougar’s main food source, but if deer, elk, and moose aren’t handy, mountain lions quickly turn to livestock and can just as quickly run afoul of farmers armed with rifles. Tird, only nobles were allowed to hunt in Europe and, stalking deer in Penn’s Woods was liberating for the common man. Attendant to that is the simple fact that venison and other game were vital to the settlers’ survival as they pushed westward. Cougars were were seen as competitors.
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as name indicates, a hunter at the t hes head of thethe food chain, and theiseastern cougar’ cougar’s extirpation (a fancy word for “wiped out”) was the result of several factors related to its high ranking. It is the largest cat in North America (fourthlargest in the world) and had the greatest distribution of any mammal in the continent until man usurped its top spot. But when the t he Colonists arrived in the New World, World, the cougar was a mystery. mystery. According to the ECF W Web eb site, the Colonists “were familiar with wolves but had no knowledge of cougars, because cougars live Please See Cougar on on page 10
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eastern demisemore was speeded up byTe habitat loss.cougar’s More people, farms, more lumbering meant less cover for an animal that needs to carve out a good deal of territory to hunt. And it is a solitary hunter that won’t share its property. It’s It’s conditional, of course, and estimates vary, but a cougar’s range could be more than 500 square miles, a boundary the male cougar marks by scraping together piles of leaves and grasses and urinating on them. As coloniza-
Geykis started volunteering for the Eastern presentation. In other words, just because some Cougar Foundation about eight years ago. Te ECF’s mission statement, in part, advocates “res- experts believe cougars aren’t in the win iers, it doesn’t mean they aren’t. He graduated from toration of viable cougar populations in suitable West Virginia Univ University ersity in 1965 with a degree areas of the eastern and central United States
tion spread and timber harvesting and commercial deer hunting increased, man and mountain lion competed for land and food. Cougars were pests, a nuisance and they were hunted aggressively.. Tough secretive and crepuscular animals sively who are rarely seen in the wild, they are easily tracked down and treed by dogs, an irony since tree-climbing is a natural defense against their main predator, predator, the wolf. Once up a tree, a big cat is target practice, and by 1950, the eastern
through natural recolonization.” Te foundation in imber and Wildlife Management. Four years also educates the public on “basic cougar biology later, he got a job as a federal forester on Colville Indian Reservation in eastern Washington State. and how to coexist with our magnificent native His big-cat fascination began there. big cat.” “On the reservation, I had my first experience Geykis does his part by giving an approxi with a cougar,” cougar,” Geykis said. “We w were ere doing a mately one-hour PowerPoint presentation to timber sale and we were having coffee with this interested groups that range from five to 200 old Basque sheepherder every morning. One people. He is sixty-five years old—but looks morning when we arrived, he was on his horse twenty years younger—and resembles a lessand he was very angry. A cougar had killed about burly version of Ernest Hemingway Hemingway.. He has the
cougar was presumed extinct. But not in the imagination. In our current culture, the mountain lion is used to name sports teams and brand athletic shoes, but it’s it’s also steeped in ancient mythology and lore. It’ It’ss an animal known by an uncommon variety of names: cougar, puma, mountain lion, l ion, panther, painter, and catamount. Te Nittany Lion. Its agility and grace, its sleek, powerful body body,, its regal carriage and intense, burning eyes that, at the same time, seem to be coolly assessing its surroundings—all these things make it one of God’ss most splendid creations. God’ No wonder people want to believe it still roams the Pennsylvania mountains, and that dozens of believers send photos, video stills and other “evidence” that Kerry Geykis carefully sifts through, only to tell them, no, that’s not a cougar. It’s a bobcat. Or a coyote. It’s a dog. Or just a house cat.
energy level of a washing machine on spin cycle. In addition to his timber-consulting business, he is a world traveler, an avid outdoorsman and kayaker,, and a nature photographer. He and kayaker Janet, his wife of almost forty years, live on land he cleared in house his family built from the timber and stones on their property. If that’s not enough, he’s also novelist whose book Territories was published in 2002. For his presentation, Geykis starts with a brief bio, feathering in some of the aforementioned information, outlining his Peace Corps duty as an eco-forester in Malaysia, and explaining that he grew up near Pittsburgh. He hunted and trapped extensively in that area as a young man and mentions running into coyote when everybody said they should not have been in western Pennsylvania Pennsylva nia in the 1950s and early 1960s. Tis is perhaps an unintentional subtext to the
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Joining the Team
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Cougar by the corneld? The feline gure circled above was turned in as a possible cougar sighting. Researchers determined it was a smaller cat, probably a bobcat.
twenty of his sheep. I got ahold of the game warden, an Indian guy who became a good friend. And I helped him in an attempt to capture the cat. We saw it but were not able to get it in a trap. We got cougar belly fur only only.. But then I got really interested in that particular p articular species.” Te sheepherder’s story, however, brings us to the other side of the coin. Species reintroduction is a touchy issue. Tere are many groups who feel that predators such as cougars are not some of God’s most splendid creatures. Many hunters don’t feel that way and game commissions often support their point of view. view. Most farmers with livestock won’t won’t feel that way way,, no matter how many reparation programs are introduced. Hikers who think they love cougars may change their tune when confronted by a six-foot-long, 150-pound, growling, hissing cat that thinks it has the right of way on the trail. NOVEMBER 2007
Te cougar is also native to much of Central and South America, and though eradicated in most of the eastern United States, a small pocket of Florida panthers live in and around the Everglades, all of which once again points to the lion’s adaptability. “Tat population in Florida, they say say,, is between eighty and 100,” Geykis said. “I suspect it’s it’s probably more. It was down to in the thirties maybe fifteen or twenty years ago; it was going in the tubes. Tey were becoming inbred, smaller, kinky animals.” Ten females from Western states, which have thriving populations, were brought in under the guidance of David Maehr, a biologist on ECF’s ECF’s board of directors. Tey now have a regenerating
Above: Eastern Cougar Foundation researcher Kerry Geykis uses a map from another organization, the Cougar Network, to show how mountain lions from western states
populationGeykis in Florida. it’s always difficult maintain, said, But because of roadkill andto habitat loss. Also, adult male cougars will kill immature cougars without compunction, seeing them as a threat to their dominance and access to females. “Nobody can be in their territory except the female,” he said. “And if there’s a fight over food, they may kill the female.” Which brings Geykis’s pr present esentation ation to a map
new habitat. Conservationists were pleased but
of current cougar habitat from organization, Cougar Network, whichanother describes itself as nonpartisan: Tey don’ don’tt advocate recolonization in the East but also don’t oppose it. Geykis also described Cougar Network as more “conservative.” For them, ““confirmed” confirmed” cats in the East need pure North American cougar DNA. Cougar Network’s Network’s map shows a bright g reen area that begins at the far edge of the high
opposition groups, such as the Idaho Anti-W Anti-Wolf olf Coalition, pushed “for a voter initiative that would mandate the removal removal of more than 500 wolves in the state’s state’s backcountry ‘by whatever means necessary.’” A joint state and federal plan was drawn up as
plains from exas exas north to Montana and goes all the way to the Pacific O cean. wo wo smaller green patches cover South Dakota’s Badlands and Florida’s Florida’s Everglades. A c oncentration of blue and pink dots covers much of the Great Plains. Tere’s a smattering of dots in the East.
may be moving east. The green areas indicate the cougar’s current habitat, including a small section of Florida that is home to the Florida panther. panther. The blue dots represent what Cougar Network defnes as Class 1 Confrmations: a dead or captured cougar; photographs and video; and DNA evidence such as hair or scat. The pink dots are Class 2 Confrmations: tracks or other tangible, physical evidence. Right: The Eastern Cougar : Historic Accounts; Scientifc Investigations; New Evidence is just part of the extensive literature about the eastern cat.
a compromise. In it, “the state proposed killing as many as 51 wolves in north-central Idaho in order to increase the elk herds favored by hunters,” the newspaper reported. Coalition head Ron Gillett of Stanley, Stanley, Idaho, Humans are often curious animals. Tey move to the woods or camp in the wild to be closer was not impressed. He told the Monitor reporter: reporter: to nature but many are then disconcerted when “Tere’s only one way to manage Canadian nature—in the form of foraging bears, deer that wolves in Idaho. Get rid of them.” them.” chew up gardens and flowers, or timber rattlers that cross their path—intrude on their islands of civilization. Tey often say they want “nature” “nature” but it often means a Disneyfied world where animals are anthropomorphic, where wolves are Geykis figures he’s spent more than twenty mean and Bambi is cute. years looking into cougar sightings and his Speaking of wolves, in June 2006, Te ChrisPowerPoint Pow erPoint show is a smorgasbord of ludicrously tian Science Monitor reported reported on the ramificapoor documentation, outright fraud, photos that tions of their successful reintroduction into took a good while to disprove, and a lot of stuff Idaho. Successful in the sense that the wolves, in the middle. But before he gets to the sightbrought in from Canada, blossomed in their ings, he lays the groundwork.
The Cat Map
NOVEMBER 2007
Te blues represent what Cougar Network defines as Class 1 Confirmations: a dead or captured cougar; photographs and video; and DNA evidence such as hair or scat. Te pinks are Class 2 Confirmations: tracks or other tangible, physical evidence, such as prey carcasses, microscopic hair recognition and thin-layer chromatography of scat, verified by a qualified professional. Geykis, pointing to the map, drew attention to “one big scraggly line going out of Lake Superior and all of the way down to Louisiana.” Tat’ss the Mississippi River Tat’ River,, he explained, the biggest obstacle to the Western cougar’s move eastward. “If you look at that really closely closely,” ,” he said, “it shows one blue on Michigan’s upper peninsula Please See Cougar on on page 12
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Cougar continued from page 11
coming from South Dakota. One of theirs, with
Tracks, Scat, and
that was hit years ago, but all we have is hair there. Cougar Net only takes evidence that they can substantiate through game commissions. And most of them don’t don’t w want ant it; they don’t don’t want to deal with it. “If you look at Illinois, there are two on the east side of the Mississippi. Tose are the only two we’re we’re aware of that have been killed on the east side of the Mississippi. Tere are probably
a GPS collar on it made it to Oklahoma, about 700 miles away and was killed there. One of them went into Manitoba, Canada, and they lost the circuit.” Te Mississippi River has slowed down east ward migration, Geykis said, but that that’s ’s not not the sole factor. Most of the animals killed are young, sexually immature males that females won’t come near. “Tey’re “Tey’ re hungry; they’ they’re re stupid with testos-
Te presentation shifts to hard evidence and how to document a sighting. Geykis can tell pretty quickly whether a track belongs to a cougar and scat can be processed for DNA, especially if the sample is preserved carefully carefully.. But much of the cougar-sighting evidence comes to Geykis
more but not a hell of a lot.” As the cougar population grows grows in the W West, est, young cougars will naturally look for land in which to hunt. Tat’s Tat’s pushin pushingg the big cats east ward and into into Canada. A South Sout h Dako Dakota ta co cougar ugar p popul opulation ation has gown so large, Geykis said, that hunting cats
terone,” Geykis said, adding that looking at terone,” the reports of their roadkill is “like looking at a police report of a DUI.” “It hasn’t happened in the East, but they’re already in the Midwest. You can’t really say there is a population, but they are definitely there. Tey’re Tey’ re in the cornfields in Iowa and those
and ECF volunteers as photographs. And the eye can play tricks. Not to mention a trickster armed with Photoshop or another type of photo-manipulation software. Distance is one of the problems cougar identification and bobcats play a big part in that problem. Pennsylvania’s Pennsylvania’s bobcat population is
Photographs
is now legal there. “Tey’re “Tey’ re too numerous. And a lot of tthe he ones coming east through the North Country are
people haven’t had them for 100 years. So they are really there. Tey’ve got roadkill, and that is probably your best indicator.”
huge, said Geykis, but most people have never seen one. Tey are much smaller—a typical male bobcat is three feet long and weighs about
COUGARS . . . Were native throughout most of North and South America when Europeans arrived. Except for tundra, which offers no cover from which to ambush prey, cougars lived in every type of habitat from coastal swamps to high mountains. Have a range that depends on abundance of prey and type of ambush cover. Can be thirty square miles in parts of Nevada or 400 in Florida where swamps don’t support many deer. Male’s larger range may overlap the smaller ranges of several females. As adults weigh 140 pounds on average and are seven feet from nose to tip of a tail that’s almost as long as the body. Brown to gray in color above and whitish below. Black cougars have been reported in South America. Cubs’ spots fade during rst year. Have binocular vision for excellent depth perception and judging distances. Vision enables night hunting. Can detect ultrasonic frequencies and cupshaped, rounded ears move together or independently in direction of sound. Communicate through scent in urine and feces deposited in scratched-up areas called c alled “scrap “scrapes” es” that help maintain a social network based on mutual avoidance. Can’t roar but make a variety of sounds: chirps, peeps, purrs, growls, moans, whistles, and bloodcurbloodc urdling screams.
Female cougars have litters of two to four cubs. Other specialized teeth slice and shear esh. Are solitary hunters that ambush rather than pursue. Keep low to the ground and use available cover. When close enough to prey, they explode in a sprint of up to thirty-ve miles an hour.
Prefer deer and other ungulates but will eat birds, reptiles and amphibians, and occasionally insects. Drag prey out of sight and cover it with leaves, grass, or twigs. Don’t like carrion, which saved them from Western poisoned-bait campaigns that killed other predators such as bears and eagles. Have thirty teeth. They include large canines that
Mate at two years and remain together only for a few days to a week.Three-month gestation after which mother raises litter of two to four cubs alone. Young stay with their mother until they are seventeen to twenty-three months old. Females often stay close to their mother’ mot her’ss home range, but males usually travel farther away, sometimes hundreds of miles. Young males are at serious risk of fatal attack from all adult
deliver a lethal bite, preferably at the back of the neck.
males, including their father.
Live up to twelve years and up to twenty in captivity. Can jump fteen feet high and forty feet wide, climb trees and swim rivers. Four toes on the hind foot. Fifth toe on larger front foot is a dewclaw or “thumb” that doesn’t touch ground but can grasp prey.Three lobes on heel pad. Claws are kept retracted, which helps keep the points sharp, enables quiet stalking, and prevents them from registering on tracks.
From the Eastern Cougar Foundation Photo courtesy Washington Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
York ork near Alletwenty-five pounds while male cou- bumps up into New Y gars are twice that length and weigh gany State Park north of Bradford, about 140 pounds on average—but Pennsylvania. Another spot in New York York is in the Adirondacks with the they look similar to cougars and Lake Placid-Saranac Lake area as its distance increases the margin of center. error for the inexperienced cougar Geykis said he’s hopeful that spotter. recolonization will take place here Geykis flipped the switch and but he’s aware of the obstacles and showed a large cat prowling in the opposition that will crop up if woods at at twilight twilight or dawn. dawn. “Tat “Tat cougars appear in the area. Cougar just came in in several days ago,” ago,” he he said. “Came in as a picture of a cou- attacks are infrequent and deaths from attacks rarer still. But statistics gar. It’ It’ss pretty obviously a bobcat. Tere’s no question in my mind.But, point to an increase of attacks and fatalities as suburbs and exurbs enagain, people say, ‘I’ve seen bobcats all my life.’ Chances are they haven’t. croach on the cougar’s habitat. And because of conservation measures— Tey haven’t seen a lot of them. it’ it’ss illegal, for instance, to hunt Tat’s pretty darn obvious.” cougars now in California—their He hit the switch again and the population has grown. Coexistence screen showed another large cat will be a delicate dance. Wikipe with its back to the camera sitting dia tells us there “have been 108 in the woods on a bright, sunny confirmed attacks on humans with day day.. Te on-screen captions read: twenty fatalities in North America “Tere are many hundreds, even thousands of sightingsWhat in PA,is the East” and “Sightings. Real?” “Tat came from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Now we’re getting local. I heard about it and I went went to see it. Quite a cougar.” Geykis smiled. “But that’s a good shot of a bobcat. It’ It’ss definitely not a cougar cougar.. Tat one’s a fairly tough one. You can’t see the tail. You can’t really see body.. You have to look really closely body
since fifty of the1991. incidents having1890, occurred since California has seen a dozen attacks since 1986 (after just three from 1890 to 1985), including three fatalities.” Geykis can tell horror stories. Such as a young man killed by a cougar in Colorado as he ran in the woods behind a school. When they found him, the cougar was still guarding the kill. Humans, used to cuddly cuddly,, domes-
People were adamant and they weren’t lying to me. I mean, most of them weren’t lying—we’ve lying—we’ve caught a couple liars—but, in the East, most of them really thought they had seen a cougar. —Kerry Geykis Eastern Cougar Foundation
to see the points on the ears. “It’s interesting but it’s a PA bobcat. And a lot of people tell me that’ss a cougar even though I can that’ see spots from here. here. I can tell by the configuration of musculature; it’s it’s not just ju st about the tail. People
ticated house cats, might shudder at that horror, but the cougar’s behavior is dictated by nature, which is not cruel but concerned strictly with survival. It normally sees us as something to avoid. It would rather avoid us than attack us because we
send in photos of house cats and it’s it’s hard for me to believe that they mistake it for a cougar. But they do.”
are pretty big as mammals go and not its natural prey. As Geykis said, a cougar is not really built to kill humans, though obviously it can. It does not see us as benefactors and can’t show appreciation, which is something humans desire as benefactors. “But this is the story, story,”” Geykis
Twin Tiers Potential Geykis begins winding down the presentation by showing a map of possible cougar habitat in the East. Pennsylvania is represented by two large swaths, one of which roughly follows the Appalachian rail; rail; the t he other is more or less “Te Pennsylvania Wilds” area designated by the commonwealth. Part of that
said. “Te in to Colorado wanted thepeople cougars come in.really And they still do. But they’ve they’ve wised up a little bit about inviting them in your yard. It’ It’ss like a bear. When you feed it, you’ve created a situation where you’re you’re going to kill the bear when you feed it. And they loved to see the cougars coming in. But then the cougars started hunting them.”
John Gallant has the last ofcial recorded mountain lion killing in Pennsylvania. That mountain-lion whichsince occurred in Crawford County in a1967, doesn’t cat was nativekilling, to the East it could have escaped from private zoo. prove whether the
ED CLUTE PLAYS A TUNE ON HIS MASON-HAMLIN GRAND PIANO AT HIS WATKINS GLENS HOME. CLUTE WILL HEADLINE THE MOUNTAIN HOME WINTER JAZZ FEST ON ON MARCH 1 AT AT THE PENN WELLSHOTEL.
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before his Edison Machine, a chest-high cabinet of burnished oak, Ed Clute wound its hand crank and gingerly set the stylus down on a record spinning on the turntable. The record, like the machine, is vintage, from the 1920s, when Edison’s Diamond Disc
Phonographs were all the rage, a must-have for apper-era audiophiles, equivalent perhaps to today’s top-of-line iPod or, better yet, a home-theater sound system. Page 2
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wide records used on the machines T heareten-inch one-quarter-inch thick. The eighty-rpm discs, a transitional technology from the earlier cylinderrecording method and the thirty-three-rpm vinyl lp, are heavy as serving platters and made of an ungodly chemical mixture of pheno l, formaldehyde, woodour and solvent. As the needle slips into the record’s groove, a slightly scratchy ragtime stomp bleats out from the “horn,” or speaker, hidden behind a grille. Except for record collectors and amateur archivists like Clute, the song, which regales the listener to the joys and wonders of Wisconsin, has been long forgotten. Clute himself can’t think of its title or the name of the band off the top of his head. But that’s understandable. Clute, who, along with his Dixie Five Plus One, will headline the rst Mounta Mountain in Winter Jazz Fest on March 1, is a professional muHome Winter sician, a classically trained pianist, and a lover of ragtime and early jazz. His studio, in which the Edison machine sits, is a minor museum, stuffed with sound stuff. There are three pianos in the center of the room: two MasonHamlin grands, one of which is also a player piano, and a Foster upright foot-pump player. It would take an assistant or two to catalog the records, tapes, CDs, and piano rolls stacked in the shelves that cover the studio’s walls. walls. And since Clute is blind, they all had to be coded with a braille writer and elaborately organized. But instead of worr ying too much about whether he can identify a band or its nearly 100-year-old ditty, Clute sways in front of his prize machine with a
ED CLUTE SLIPSTOAN EDISON DIAMOND DISC ON HIS A PRECURSOR THE MODERN PHONOGRAPH, IT ISEDISON ONE OFMACHINE. HIS PRIZE POSSESSIONS. THE FIRST EDISONS WENT ON SALE IN 1912.
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childlike look of delight on his face, blissed out by a song to which Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald might have danced The Charleston. Obedience to minutia, the curse of too many collectors, doesn’t seem to be his problem. Clute also keeps an archive in his head. Ask him to play a ragtime-era song or one of the standards from the Great American Songbook, and he doesn’t hesitate. Nor does he say much, except perhaps, “Oh, that’s a great song.” He just plays it. And awlessly awlessly.. But this talent took years of pract ice. who is sixty-four, was born and, for the C lute, rst six years of his life, lived in in the house next to the studio. High on a hill in Watkins Glen, New York, it offers a stunning view of Seneca Lake. Clute said his mother encouraged his interest in music. “My mother says I was playing the piano at the age of three” Clute said. “I went to the Batavia School for the Blind when I was seven and studied all the subjects—math, English, history—but with a big emphasis on music.” After graduating from Batavia in 1964, he headed to the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he spent four “wonderful years.” During the summer, he attended the Amherst Summer Music Center in Maine, which is no longer in existence, but Clute described it as “a very good music school.” After graduating from the conser vatory, he met up with Jean Casadesus, a French classic pianist and the son of Robert and Gaby Casadesus. Jean CasaPlease See Home on page 10
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UNREAL David Davies Built His Dream House in Miniature
ORIGINALLY FROM CONNECTICUT, DAVID DAVIES AND HIS WIFE, BARBARA, BECAME ENAMORED WITH WELLSBORO THIRTEEN
YEARS AGO. THAT THAT LOVE AFFAIR AFFAIR LED THEM TO BUY A HOME HERE HERE,, AFTER RETIRING A YEAR AGO. THEY PLANNED TO REMODEL REMODEL THEIR HOME HOME ON WAL WALN N STREET A AND ND DID SO AFTER DAVID BUILT A MODEL OF THE PROJECT (SEE OPPOSITE PAGE). THE FINISHED PROJECT IS AT LEFT.
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Story and Photographs By CINDY DAVIS MEIXEL
ESTATE
. . . Th Then en Ma Made de Th This is Dre Dream am Co Come me Tru rue e wenty minutes minutes after arriving in Wellsboro Wells boro for the rst time, David Davies phoned his wife back home in Connecticut. “Do you remember Bedford Falls in ?,” he asked. “Well, I’m standing in It’s A Wonderful Life ?,” the middle of it.” An avid admirer of all things Americana, Davies could attribute his discovery of Wel Wellsboro’s lsboro’s enchanting small-town charm to “divine diner destiny.” A few days before his initial trek to Wellsboro, Wellsboro, Davies had watched a PBS special on diners that
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featured The Wellsboro Diner. He was intrigued. Coincidentally, a day day later, his copy of Roadside (“a (“a journal dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of a truly unique American institution—the di diner”) ner”) arrived in the mail. The issue featured “A Walk Through Wellsboro” on its cover. cover. Davies was enthralled. “I took off for Wells Wellsboro boro that next weekend,” he recalls. “I came here and fell in love with the place.” In addition t o The Wellsboro Diner, the town’s gaslit boulevard, the Penn Wells Hotel, Arcadia Theatre, Victorian homes, and townsfolk captivated Davies.
“All the people I met were friendly and open. People would actually stop and say ‘Hello!,’” Davies relates. relates. “I went into a barber shop and sat and talked for two hours.” He soon returned with wife Barbara, who became equally enchanted with Wellsboro, and the couple began a twelve-year love affair with the community, culminating in a move to town one year ago, after retiring from their jobs in Connecticut. During their many trips to town, the couple toured several homes for sale and eventually purchased an inconspicuous, all-white home on Waln Street. But,
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Dream continued
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LEFT: THE DAVIES HOME ON WALN STREET AS IT APPEAREDBEFORE D Y RENOVATIO RENOVATION N WHICH THE D
before even buying the house, David,
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created a miniature model of the home so he could conceive a redesign of th e
building’s rooine. He devised a variety of options to settling add some a ir addition to the house, nally on air the
OWNERS HAVE DESCRIBED AS A WORK IN PROGRESS. BELow: dAVIES’ workSHop IS FILLED WITH MODEL HOMES,DIORAMAS, AND DOLLHOUSES. DOLLHO USES. THE YELLOW HOUSE BELOW STUDY OF HILLFOREST HILLFO RESTIS INHIS AURORA, INDIANA.. WORKING ON INDIANA MODELS SUCH AS THIS HELPED HIM DEVISE THE CUPOLA FOR THE RENOVATED RENOVATED HOUSE IN WELLSBORO.
of a cupola —the idea that sold him on
attaining the property. David also used the model home to play around with various exterior colors,
only to nd out later, during renovation renovation of the actual house, house, that all of the colors he chose were once used on the
home’s exterior. With the exterior renovation complete, he has turned his talents on
the interior.
“Every room is a work in progress,”
he declares delightedly. Two rooms that are c omple te ar e his studio—a workshop brimming with his miniature creations, dollhouses,
and dioramas—and his ofce—a library lled with architecture books, vint age r adios, black -and-w hite photographs of his favorite favorite actors from classic media (radio, television,
and lm), and national awards for old-time radio programs preservation. The issue of Roadside magazine magazine that led him to Wellsboro is placed
prominently on a table. In addition to being a passionate preservationist, Davies is also a dreamer
and a doer. One of his favorite pastimes is driving around the countryside, photographing old homes and unique
structures. “I love to go off for a day on
photographic expeditions,” he says. Photographs of his nds overow overow albums and boxes in his studio. Many of these serve as inspirations for new
model designs. Some of his creations are pure fantasy pieces, combining elements from various structures, while others are replications of actual existing
buildings. Victorian-era architecture buildings. holds a particular appeal. “It’s hard to nd the perfect Victorian with all of the exact parts that you want, so this way I can build them to my liking, in miniatures, since I can’t afford
The Allure of the Diner & U.S. 6
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ay back when, Bobby Troup wrote an ode to the “highway that’s the best,” and told everybody they
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could get their “kicks on Route 66.” But folks in the Southern Tier, such as model-home builder
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David Davies, can be excused for thinking their own Route 6
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is Number One and that a trip on this venerable U.S. Highway can be a major gas. You can get your kicks there, too, especially if they include a lov lovee of old diners— diners—of of which Davi Davies es has in
spades. Now retired in Wellsboro, he was drawn here by its diner, which sits at the corner of Main Street (U.S (U.S.. 6) and East Av Avenue, enue, a 1938 Sterlin Sterlingg Number Number 388 m model odel tthat’ hat’s as warm warm and comfy as a annel bathrobe on a cold morning. The Wellsboro Diner, and others like her, her, is a peculiar slice of A Americana mericana pie,
the pre-Micky D’s/W D’s/Wendy’s/T endy’s/Taco aco Bell pit stop for a people who have always been in motion, on the move, in a just-gotta-get-
there mode, and want a good meal lickety-split. In it’s heyday, U.S. 6 had more than its fair sha share re of diners, hundreds of them, since it is a cross-country cross-country highway that
THE RED ROSE DINER WAS BUILT IN NEW ROCHELLE , NEW YORK, BY PATRICK. J . TIERNEY SONS IN 1927 AND MOVED TO TOWANDA , PENNSYLVANIA IN 2003. ITS COMPLEX LEGACY IS EXPLAINED IN DETAIL ON THE RED ROSE WEB SITE AT : WWW .REDROSEDINER.COM.
begins on Cape Cod’s ngertip and ends in California. It crosses the Hudson River at Bear Mountain, and, in On the Road , Kerouac’s alter ego, Sal Paradise, thumb out, is caught in a rainstorm there and can’t can’t catch a ride. His hopes dashed, he Please See Diner on on page 15
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to buy all of them in real life,” he offers offers.. Among the true-to-life treasures in his workshop are models of houses, hotels, diners, and train and gas stations from a variety of states including Connecticut, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Vermont, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Other plans are to recreate Spokane, Washington’s legendary Davenport Hotel, the historic Rosson House, in Phoenix, and the gardens at the Vanderb Vanderbilt ilt Mansion, near Hyde Park, New York. For the latter, Davies already has pieces of foam board
stacked in his studio. Like a sculptor who envisions the nished work inside a hunk of stone, Davies jokes, jokes, “This isn’t foam board—it’s the gardens at Vanderbilt!” He adds, “I never look at anything as it is; I look at what it can be.” One work-in-progress that offers a study of his detailoriented sensibilities sensibilities is his replication of the historic
Hillforest, an Italian Renaissance museum house in Aurora, Indiana. In additi on to making an exact replic a of the building, Davies is recreating the facility’s site, including landscaping and stone stairs, precisely to the
number of steps. steps. A domina nt str ucture in the stud io is a circ a-1930s
fantasy city. One of its whimsical featur features es pays homage to Davies’ love of classic detectives and one of his favorite
actors, Humphrey Bogart. In a San Francisco-style Francisco-style ofce
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building, he recreated an ofce for Spade and Archer—the private eyes from The Maltese Falcon —and even placed a tiny
copy of the Dashiell Hammett book on the ofce desk. Davies’ humor can also be seen in another odd and
whimsical piece—a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s lm Psycho. Featuring the Bates Motel and a tattered mansion, Davies created the small set in black, white and gray and
nished it off with clear, high gloss spray paint to give an eerie, wet appearance appearance.. Another imaginative imaginative piece on his work workshop shop shelves shelves is “David’s Corner Diner,” a model kit named after him,
courtesy of friends who own a model-kit company. Davies Davies had given his friends the design for the diner free of charge. A reality-based project closer to home that has caught
Davies’ eye is a Victorian home in Wyalusing, which he has photographed twice. “I never saw a house with that much detail,” he says. “It has the most beautiful gingerbread features that were just rotting away.” On his last trip to visit the house, he was greeted with a wonderful surprise. “I wanted to go back again to get more photos before it started falling apart too much and I
discovered the house is being restored. What a joy!” His travels have also taken him to Seneca Falls, New York, the town considered to be the i nspiration for the holiday classic, It’s A Wonderful Life . Still, he and Barbara
What a Doll (House)! I magine putting into place 1,550 miniature walnut and
pine hardwood pieces to create inlaid ooring, laying
over 2,000 tiny asphalt roof shingles shingles,, and constructing
replaces with more than 4,500 miniature bricks. For Leonard and Joan Kulish, who spent nine months building a dollhouse, the project was certainly a labor of love. The Kulishes Kulishes,, of Hills Creek Lake on on W Wellsbo ellsboro’ ro’ss outskirts,, created the six-foot-l outskirts six-foot-long ong house thirty years ago
with another another coupl couplee when they llived ived iin n Buc Bucks ks Coun County ty.. (Years (Yea rs of family camping trips to the lake led the Kulishes to retire there twelve years ago.) They poured poured mor moree than $4,000 iin n mat materials erials into the the house, which earned appraisals of upwards of $20,000 $20,000.. This well-rese well-researche arched, d, fte fteen-roo en-room m Southern-sty Southern-style le Colonial Colonial has double-hung windows, clapboard siding, and sliding
pocket doors. The foyer’s grand staircase has more than 120 spindles. A ve-transformer power supply, in the attic, supports the electrical system. The Kulishes are considering selling the dollhouse due
to health issues and a desire to downsize. The house is taking up space needed for other pursuits. Joa Joan, n, a for mer licensed baker, is busy baking for loved ones. Leonard has traded in his woodworking tools for knitting needles,
eagerly knitting “chemo caps” for fellow cancer patients patients.. — by Cindy Davis Meixel Meixel
believe Wellsboro Wellsboro is the embodiment of a “wonderful
Top: Built by Leonard and Joan Kulish thirty years ago, this fteen-m llhuse featues ve iceing elaces an ve elegant chanelies, an examle f hich ae shn in the libay. Abve: Tue t
life” setting. Since settling in town, they have immersed themselves in all things Wellsboro, including the community’s culture,
history, and architecture. David is also serving on the town’s Historic Architectural Review Board. Barbara has enjoyed tracing history of their house. Theirthe home’ s foyer features an empty ornate oval pic picture ture
its Suthen-sty Suthen-style le Clnial ts, the mel has “mais’ stes” Left: The dollhouse tue caft shs f many yeas an as exhibite at a Ytn Heights, Ne Y, museum. It as usely neve funishe s viees cul see the meticulus interior details better.
frame awaiting a photograph of the property’s orig original inal
owner, Major George Washington Merrick, who bought the site in 1869 for $200. For David and his beloved Barbara, life is a satisfying balance of honoring the past, participating passionately in the present, and planning future projects with purpose
—the dynamic design for their own “w “wonderful onderful life. life.”” Cindy Davis Meixel is a frequent contributor to Mountain Home magazine.
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he beat was slow, slow, quick, quick. Or probably better described as slush, slush, slop, slop. The time was four beats to the measure. The song was ‘The Lady is a Tramp,’ a fox-trot standard.
Fox-trot
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of L DI F E By KERRY GYEKIS AND TERRY V. BABB It was also the rst morning of antlered deer season in a very lowgrade, basically dark environment: a swamp, in a misty rain. I was sneaking to a spot on a hillside with a view and it was a long hike. My oldest son Keto was in front and completely unaware of my antics. That was probably probably a good thing. Times like this are kind of
dangerous for me as I tend to think about a lot lot of things and I also know I’ve got to remain focused on one thing. So I try to do both, a Gyekis tradition. Whether hunting or working as a forester on someone’s land, I’ve always hummed songs—and written stories—as I go. Now, Now, after this past year of ballroom dancing, I had found myself guring the beat and sneak/walking to that darn beat. In fact, I couldn’t forget it. Aarg! Okay. That part was ne, but I had to nd a way not to click my heels at the end of the quick, quick part. Not good in deer country. country. I switched to the song “Caminito,” a tango. The change was immediate. First a left step and then a right, each taking two beats, then the left again and a hold on that and point the left foot a bit as I stepped to the right with my right, another two beats. Finally I slid the left foot over to the right on seven and held on eight. I repeated it again and again and then the crossover with the right foot and a promenade to the left at a log and nally a corte to prevent a limb from severing my head from my body. body. I was now more alert. Interest Interesting. ing. Quite frankly, the whole ballroom thing has been a new world for me. It is something I never thought I would be doing even though I grew up near Pittsburgh and had a father who played drums Page 8
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professionally in a big band. I carried his drums into hotels as a kid but never danced. It was just about the farthest thing from my mind. Look, I’m a guy who has spent most of his juvenile and adult adult life in forests, rst as a kid trapping and hunting, then as a Peace Corps forester in the Asian jungles, jungles, and nally as as a private private,, consultant forester. forester. I even live in one. If that is not enough, add ab about out thirty years of karate and working working with delinquent kids. Ballroom dance? Hah! Not me. At least, that is what I thought.
Ballroom Beginners On the other hand, my wife Janet and I ended up at a Hamilton-Gibson dinner dance in Wellsboro several years
Terry and Maureen Babb cut a rug during a local ballroom dancing session. The Babbs are part of The Endless Mountain Dance Club, which meets to dance and improve its members health, both physical and mental. At top: an ill ustration of dance steps from How from How to Improve Your Social Dancing, which was published in 1956. Other illustrations from the book are in the article.
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ago and enjoyed the dancing very much. Many times that evening we watched a
Members of The Endless Mountain Dance Club practice in Wellsboro.
couple owed across the oor. made anthat impression. We both agreedIt that we would love to do that. What? Wa Wass I crazy? What was I getting myself into? Well, guess what? Things had changed. I was losing my inhibitions, it seems. That was a biggie. My other half loves to dance. Even after a hard day, she comes alive on the dance oor. That is good. So I would would do it for tha thatt reason alone. Also, there would be no
several singles were there also. A middle-aged, handsome handsome gent from Williamsport, self-named self-named “Good ol’ Tony” Ton y” swaggered out onto th thee oor and introduced himself as the lead instructor. He then asked asked for a show of hands from the men concerning how many had been threatened threatened with death if they did not come that evening. At rst there was dead silence. Then the hands
weddings. A few even took pri private vate classes during that time period and came back later to demonstrate to all of us what they had learned. I saw more than a few tears shed among other dancers during those demos. There were single men and women, young married couples, and then there was the large group of of forty-to-sixtysomething couples. That I expected.
more ghting in karate. All those years of violent punching and kicking had taken their toll. What was I going to do to maintain mental and physical focus? Karate had supplied that for many years. Lose focus and get a broken nose very quickly . . . a good reason reason to stay focused. What now? In the late summer of 2006 we saw an article in the Wellsboro Gazette about about a ballroom class beginning in a few
began to go up as the laughter began. It did not stop until the end of the class fteen weeks later. I’m still chuckling chuckling.. During that rst evening evening of instruction I did a lot of looking around. At rst I was struck by the age diversity of the group. There were kids in their late teens and early twenties whom I knew from a forestry forestry 4-H class I had taught for years. I learned that some of these young people were were
Probably the most amazing group
weeks. We We showed up. up. So did about sixty others. Most were couples but
getting married in the near future and wanted to dance dance well at their own own
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were those couples couples in their 70s and even 80s. As I came to know some of these people, I found they had just come out of hospitals with organ transplants, bypass operations, ongoing chemo,, and just about everything else chemo imaginable. One was a World War II Vet!! There they were dancing Vet dancing and I thought we would need respirators. We Please See Dance on page 10
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hy You Should Be Dancing From the AARP article Let’s Dance to Health
Dancing can be magical and transforming. It can breathe new life
brain, healthy as you age. Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals
found that ballroom dancing at least twice a week made people less likely
• improve your posture and balance, which can prevent falls
into a tired soul; make a spirit soar; unleash locked-away creativity; unite generations and cultures; inspire new romances or rekindle old ones; trigger long-forgotten memories; and turn sadness into joy, if only during the dance. On a more physical level, dancing can give you a great mind-body work out. Researchers are learning that regular physical activity in general can
that encourage nerve cells to grow. And dancing that requires you to remember dance steps and sequences boosts brain power by improving memory skills. There has been some promising research in this area. According to Rita Beckford, M.D., a family doctor and spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. For instance, a 2003 study published in
to develop dementia. Research also has shown that some people with Alzheimer’s disease are able to recall forgotten memories when they dance to music they used to know. Like other moderate, low-impact, weight bearing activities, such as brisk walking, cycling or aerobics, dancing can help: • strengthen bones and muscles without hurting your joints
• increase your stamina and exibility • reduce stress and tension • build condence • provide opportunities to meet people • ward off illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, and depression So if you’re tired of the treadmill and looking for a fun way to stay t and healthy, it might be time to kick up
help keep your body, including your
The New England Journal of Medicine
JANUARY 2008
• tone your entire body
MOUNTAIN HOME
your heels!”
Page 9
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The Power of Dance here’s no doubt about it, ballroom and Latin dancing is changing the way people feel about exercise, and themselves!
Latin is very similaroftoB&L a hug. It is believed this isDancing part of the attraction dancing; you getthat the security of a hug without the need for intimacy. Hugs are truly therapeutic and the ballroom circle does a lot of hugging as well as their dance positions, that’s a whole lotta hugging going on. Self-Esteem: The Self-Esteem: The rst time I took my wife in an underarm turn, she almost broke my hand she squeezed so tight, and ‘Someone might notice me’ was her explanation. She went on to a national championship, and then
For those skeptics who don’t believe in the power of the mind in health and medicine, I’ve listed the physical proof rst. Millions of people every year are enjoying the many benets that these forms of dance provide. From physical, mental and social standpoints, our favorite recreation is one of the best overall forms of low impact/high aerobic workouts available. It’s fun, it can be free, and best of all it’s always done with someone else. Here are just a few of the many benets Ballroom offers: THE PHYSICAL BENEFITS
became a teacher then a performer. My wife and I, and almost everyone I know who does B&L, have found a deeper self-worth and hold a greater value in themselves. Confdence: Many ballroom dancers have experienced the thrill (rush) of dancing in front of people. This is one of American’s Top Ten fears. Overcoming this fear increases condence in dance, in one’s self and in life. Since I started more than eleven years ago, I approach every challenge in my life with a solid (but realistic) condence. Most of the
Cardiovascular: Ballroom and Latin dancing (henceforth called B&L) can raise the heart rate anywhere from eighty to 120 beats per minute, the equivalent o off any strength training or aerobic program I have heard of. Sustained in two-minute bursts over a forty-ve-minute period will build not only your heart’s strength, but it’s endurance, too. Muscle Tone: B&L Tone: B&L dancing, when danced at an intermediate to advanced level of technique, uses the perfect blend of isometric and isotonic resistance (the two key ingredients to muscle building and toning). The blend
ballroom dancers I know are the same. Social Ease: There is documentation supporting the theory that ‘comfort and ease in social situations’ is one of the four primary needs in all individuals (almost every philosophy, psychology and self-help book has the list). From weekly exposure (and a bit of trial and error), people become much more at ease in a social situation. They learn to engage in conversation, proper social etiquette (one of the biggest social ‘phobias.’) to ask
and use of the muscles is perfect for building beautiful tone in the muscles without building a lot of muscle mass. Joints: According Joints: According to the American Journal of Medicine, the best way to avoid arthritis, early arthritis and to remedy
someone to dance (a big rst step for many people). It even helps people deal with crowds. All in all the ultimate source for social edication and eventually comfort. Posture, Appearance and Balance: B&L Balance: B&L gives better
“T
While not a proven scientic fact, ballroom dancing has been shown to induce a phenomenon known as ‘spontaneous smiling.’ Dance continued from page 9
did not. What was driving this? Something else struck me. There were people in the the group I knew who were lawyers, janitors, doctors, secretaries, teachers, artists, construction workers, and retired whatevers.. This group crossed just whatevers about every social and economic boundary in our local society. So this ballroom phenomenon was not a class thing. Hmmm.
ENTAL AL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS MENT Hug Theory: The Theory: The dance position used in Ballroom and
Waltz Dancing for Health I also came to realize as time went on that it was not about “Dancing with the Stars.” It was about social dancing with
an emphasis on community health— both mental and physical—focus, and fun! And it was happening all over our
region of north central Pennsylva Pennsylvania nia and New York’s Finger Lake country. People from all walks of life are doing this for a bunch of reasons. To give give you an idea of the breadth of those reasons, I’ll introduce you to some folks in the Twin Tiers. The rst is a couple that has been involved
current joint discomfort is to continue to use the joints in a controlled manner. The beautiful rise and fall of waltz demonstrates this beautifully. The Spinal Column: Before Column: Before B&L, I had a chronic back problem and looked like I had curvature of the spine. When I stand as I used to, compared to what my natural posture now looks like thanks to ballroom, I look at least 3 inches taller. The frame or posture maintained places the spine in a natural and correct position, even more correct than when standing or sitting naturally! Plus that puts all your organs in alignment, which is now thought by many doctors and chiropractors to ght sickness, disease, fatigue and more. Respiratory: Many Respiratory: Many track greats know that a strong set of lungs gets plenty of oxygen, which makes the heart work easier, which in turns allows us to dance and have fun longer! That’s why sprinters run a lot of ‘wind’ bursts. Brief bursts to up the heart-rate quickly, then bringing it down and doing this repeatedly. This is similar to dancing at a party, club or ballroom.
posture, which in turn gives one a much more attractive appearance. If your ego from looking so good doesn’t throw you off, the improved posture improves balance as well. This in turn will help one to move more gracefully, which is explained in the next benet. Grace and Poise: Through Poise: Through improved balance and self esteem, one tends to stand and move in a much more polished and pleasant manner. Clumsiness is overcome, which also increases confidence and social ease. Psychological Escape: No Escape: No matter what you do in life, you’ve got to take a break sometime! Ballroom provides a temporary escape from the cares of the world and its pressures and for a few hours a week gives people freedom and enjoyment, invigorating them for the normal responsibilities. Emotional Lifeline: For Lifeline: For many people, there is emptiness, loneliness, something missing in their life. Ballroom offers something wonderful to ll that void.” From the Ballroom the Ballroom Dance Passion Web Passion Web site: http://ballroom-dance-resource.com/betterhealth.htm
Please See Dance on page 11
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MOUNTAIN HOME
JANUARY 2008
L E G E I
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Corning Invitational
by Dar Dara a Rie Riegel gel
can’t jog without turning an alarming shade of red while gasping for air. My inability to follow direction when it comes to my body, and general lack of coordination, inhibits me from feeling anything but hatred for choreographed aerobics classes. But, man, can I dance.
I
On the dance oor, I shed my inhibitions like high
heels at the prom and go at it like nobody’s business business.. Breathless jitterbugs, disco moves, unabashed shimmying . . . I love it all. So why do I torture myself myself with empty promises promises of getting in shape at the gym? I found myself asking that question a few weeks ago as I pondered over the fact that despite my
WHAT:
Open dance
to 9 P.M., starting January 9 WHERE: 171 Cedar Arts Center, 171 Cedar Street, Corning, New York COST: $3 per person CONTACT : Dara Riegel Riege l at daraboyko@yahoo. com or (607) 936.3159 WHEN: W Wedne ednesda sdays, ys, 7
The love lovely ly progra programme mmers rs there there list listened ened thoughtf thoughtfully ully as I excitedly explained my plan to host weekly open dances for the public, and offered to let me rent their ballroom for an extremely reasonable rate for the experience. So, every Wednesday evening starting January 9, I
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dedication to getting my ve-foot-nine frame down to
a healthy weight, I hadn’t been to the gym in quite a while. So I decided to to take char charge. ge. Stop pussyfooting pussyfooting around and waiting for something fun to grab my attention and dispel my extra 100 pounds. I want to dance it away. away. Not the type of dance that requires me to follow the instructions instructions of a pert and perky ve-and-a-half-pound human dance machine, but the all-out ailing around, singing out loud, making-aruckus-type that I love. Enter 171 Cedar Arts Center. As a well-respec well-respected ted center for the arts in Corning, New York, 171 is a “community-based not-for-prot multi-arts center” that upholds its mission to “provide
the community with a warm, friendly home in which to explore the arts” by offering offering a variety of art and
dance classes. One minute spent within the walls of the campus lets you know that they have succeeded. With open gallery spaces for artists to display their works, well-kept wellkept art and d dance ance studi studios os for clas classes ses and rentals, rentals,
and an impressive list of offerings, the center presents a welcoming fface welcoming ace to anyon anyonee interested interested in the arts arts..
will be dancin dancingg my heart ou outt in ttheir heir beautif beautiful ul ballroom ballroom and I invite you to join me. Whether you’re looking for a fun way to lose weight like me, or you just want to get out of the house and move for a little while, you’re more than welcome to drop by and see what’s what. No obligations, no instructors, and no structure…just us and a boom box full of danceable mix tapes. We’ll We’ll pla playy all all so sorts rts o off pop mu music sic,, fro from m 1950s 1950s swing swing,, Author Dara Riegel (left) shakes a tail feather.
to disco, to rock-and-roll. If you have some great
(appropriate) dance music you want to share, bring it along. We’ll We’ll dance to all of it. Want to dress up and twirl? Don some ratty jeans and break dance? Jump around in your sweats? Great, Great, we’ll be doing all of the above. Don’t think you can dance? Well, I’ll tell you a secret….no one can. We all look completely ridiculous when it comes right right down to it. The trick is not caring, and letting go enough to get swept up in the fun of it. I look like a convulsing jac jackrabbit krabbit half the time when I dance, but I couldn’t care less because I am loving every minute of it, and that joy translates
I recently attended a wedding and got a slew of complements on my dancing…not because of my undiluted grace (hey, I only fell once), or killer moves (thankfully I didn’t hit my uncle in the head too hard), but because I got into the spirit of it and dragged others along with me until they enjoyed themselves as well. That’s That’s my goal with this this open dance endeavor… endeavor… to get people involved, and active, and having fun. And if we happen to fulll our New Year’s resolutions
to get in shape in the process all the better.
into condence and inspires others to let loose as well.
Here’s to a h appy, healthy healthy,, and fun-lled New Year!
Dance continued from page 10
since Day One. The gal went through a double organ transplant some years ago and, just recently, was found to have
a multitude of reasons including stress
our area that promotes fellowship,
relief, physical tness, condencebuilding, focus, ego-killing, and attitude
tness, and fun. Ballroom dancing has
breast cancer. She is in chemo now. Her recently retired partner enjoys bringing her to classes, dances, and practices. Their stated reason for dancing? It ggives ives them a way of constantly exercising exercising..
adjustment to name a few. Many state that it is a great date night and evening out. We would second that. Several other couples we know offer similar comments and claim common
provided us with a fun way to exercise, and empowered us to expand our circle
As well, the lessons always provide
benets. One states that: “My upper
something new, and they love the mental and physical feeling after a night of dance. They are still dancing and
body is getting a work out as a result of the frame position, and deliberate footwork, especially in the waltz that tones the lower body as well. I know that, in the beginning, my neck and
enjoying it. Right through the chemo! Another couple, far and away the
enhanced our relationship as a couple,
of friends.”
It’s For For All Ages One nal note on this. As I
mentioned earlier, people who are doing this are all ages. It really hit home one evening as Janet and I visited the Laurels in Wellsboro where my mom lives. We had just begun lessons a short time before that. The Laurels is an assisted care place with folks from
best dancers I’ve seen in this group, is
shoulders really hurt from keeping my arms up during the whole practice.
attack and cancer survivor, and they are the smoothest thing going on the dance
chimed in with someth ing like: “We can
“I’m not sure that there is anything aerobic going on” he says, and added slyly slyly,, “That happens when you get home.” Another gal basically says that she sleeps better, and nally, to top them
always learn something new and it gives
all, one guy states that since he’s been
us a chance to dance and meet people.” Wow! Wo w! Talk about humble.
dancing it “makes h im more regular.”
I forget what the party was about, but there was a lady who lived there playing the piano and many of the residents were just sitting sitting around listening. listening. Janet Janet and I both approached ladies and asked
Now that is honesty.
them to dance. I danced with a 100-
just as amazing. The husband is a heart-
oor. They ow. I asked them once
why they bother bother with the lesson lessons. s. Both
Yes,, most of us are not as amazing as Yes
Another lady sums it up well:
their late sixties to 100-plus years old.
Jitterbug
these two couples, but we are there for
“Finally, an activity has come to
JANUARY 2008
Please See
Dance on
MOUNTAIN HOME
e s u o h k r u B l i h P Y B
O T O H P
PA’s Elk Herd Is Worth
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A Look This bull elk wears a garland of vegetation. During mating season or ‘rut,’ excited bulls thrash around in the underbrush with their antlers, and these headdresses are common. The fall rut is one of the best time to view elk in the several Pennsylvania counties that are home to the herd.
By John John Fulmer Fulmer
tourists who ock here in the autumn. In the fall, a bull’s bull’s antlers will have reached their imim pressive peak, which can mean forty pounds of bone that’s four feet high. They’re a pretty effective weapon, and part of mating season’ season’ss fascination and fun—or horror, for the squeamish—is watching these massive creatures lock horns—or “antler wrestle”—as they battle over cows. This can be extremely violent and sometimes fatal, though Bainey said rutting deaths are a rare occurrence. There’s also comic relief, provided by adolescent bulls still perplexed by the proceedings. “The yearlings are fun to watch,” said Bainey, who studied wildlife management at Penn State. “They’re totally confused because the hormones are kicking in and yet they want to be by mamma’s side.” A full-grown bull elk can weigh up to 1,000 pounds—cows are more petite and usually maintain a svelte 500- to 600- pound gure—and a normal set of antlers has six tines per side. The twelve points give him the designation of “royal” bull while an “imperial” bull has fourteen points. The rut’s time can vary,
to “bugle” like crazy all the time, hardly have a minute to eat, and must ght off lesser bulls to control their harems, which normally contain fteen to twenty cows, though Bainey said some harems can reach twentyve females. The rut is crucial to the bull’s legacy, but its rigorous demands—it can cause a twenty-percent body-weight loss—might spell his doom during the long, cold Pennsylv Pennsylvania ania winter. The rut is the best time of year for elk viewing in the Alley, ofcially designated by the state as Elk Scenic Drive, a 127-mile loop made up of Interstate 80 between Exit 120 and Exit 111 and ve state highways. Route 555 from Wee Weedville, dville, in Elk County, to Drift wood, in Cameron County and part of State Route 872 to Sinnemahonig State Park is where most of the action takes place. The elk range covers about 850 square miles and also includes parts of Cleareld, Clinton, and Potter counties. However, However, the town of Benezette, in Elk County, is Elk Central, and there are several public viewing areas nearby. Also, a string of hotels, restaurants, and gift shops along Route 555 cater to the
t’s fall and the sounds of love will once again ll the air in Elk Alley. By that we mean screaming and bugling. Grunting and bellowing. Hufng and pufng from aggressively ared nostrils. The loud clack of a ntler-on-antler contact. Yes, it’s mating season for Pennsylvania’s wild elk herd, when the big fellows with a n overabundance of chest hair look for the girl girl of their dreams. But it’ it’ss never easy. Faint heart never won fair cow. “This is the time of year it gears up,” said Lisa Bainey, park manager at Cameron County’s Sinnemahonig State Park, which which has a program of guided elk watc watches hes that lasts until October 20. “The bulls are vying for dominance over the herd. It goes on until the second week of October, but usually usually by the rst week in October, the big bulls, the dominant bulls are pretty worn out. There’s a lot of ghting going on. It’s interesting interesting to watch because if there’s a cow in heat, they are just ravenous.” During the “rut,” as it’s called, big, older bulls have
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MOUNTAIN HOME
OCTOBER 2007
but late September and early October mark the height of mating season. One thing that doesn’t change is the bull elk’s “bugling,” which is a signal that the rut is in full swing. The elk’s distinctive distinctive mating call has been been described as a low bellow that continues as a squealing or whistle followed by several grunts. Several elk-viewing areas, equipped with blinds and staffed by volunteers from “The
ELK SCENIC DRIVE
C0UDERSPORT
6
EMPORIUM
Sinnemahonig State Park
120
2
ST. MARYS
555
1 255
BENEZETTE
Kettle Creek State Park
872
3 DRIFTWOOD
RENOVO Ro oad Hill ll R low Hi ins slow Win W
120
Bucktail State Park
LOCK HAVEN 120
555
WEEDVILLE Wykoff Run Road
Bugle An Corps,” have been setpeople up along drive. estimated 75,000 visitthe Elk Alley in the fall, and the herd is now 800
255
Quehanna Highway
4
120
144
strong, the largest one east of the Mississippi. Hunted to extinction in the Appalachians around the time of the Civil War, War, the elk’s reintroduction and survival here is a tale betbetting a proud creature. To Today’s day’s herd herd is descended from 177 elk sent in by train from Wyoming and South Dakota and set loose in ten Pennsylvania counties from 1913 to 1926; but only those twenty-four released in Cameron County and the ten reintroduced in Elk County thrived and developed a breeding base. Habitat loss and elk hunting, legal from 1923 to 1931, helped spell their decline in the other eight counties. The commonwealth put them under protection in 1932 and elk hunting was not made legal again until 2001. It is, however,, a lotter y-type hunt and only forty however elk tags will be issued in 2007, with the $10
Parker Dam State Park
PENFIELD
5 West Branch Susquehanna River
VIEWING AREAS
153
S B Elliot State Park
Exit 111
1 GILBERT FARM 2 DENTS RUN 3 HICKS RUN
4 5 6
BEAVER RUN DAM HOOVER FARM SINNEMAHONIG STATE PARK
144
322
BELLEFONTE/ STATE COLLEGE
153
CLEARFIELD
80
Exit 147 SNOW SHOE
80
MAP BY JOHN FULMER
license fee going to farmers’ crop damage. In last twenty-ve years, Bainey has worked with the herd as part of several commonwealth commissions, and she said it was endangered recently until state agencies and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation stepped in. “I can even remember when we almost didn’t have herd,” she said. “This was back in the 1970s and early ‘80s. The numbers were very low, probab probably ly 10 100 0 elk.” elk.” Several factors were in play. The brain worm parasi te, wh ich at tacks an ung ulat e’s spinal cord and brain, thinned the herd, and without an effective fencing program to keep them from f eeding on crops, elk were t he ta rget of ang ry f arm ers. Poach ing wa s another concern. “Plus there were not a lot of habitat-enhancement programs at that time,” Bainey said. “The foundation entered and helped with land acquisitions. Elk are grazing animals, like cows, and the Benezette area has a lot of reclaimed strip mines. It’ It’ss grassland and it’s a magnet to the elk. Plus it was remote. “To “Tourism urism really became a factor in the ‘90s,” Bainey said. “Before that, you could come to elk country and you had to look hard to nd one.” More tourists may have guaranteed the elk’s survival, but the inux of visitors required a delicate balancing act. With the increased number of tourists, locals need need--
GUIDED ELK WATCHES
WHERE: Sinnemahoning State Park. Route 872, eight miles north of Route 120 junction, Cameron County WHEN:
P.M.
Through October 20. Starts at 4:30 COST: $30 for families; $15 for individuals. Week’s notice required INFORMATION: [email protected] or Jackie Flynn or Janet Colwell at (814) 647-8401 DESCRIPTION:
After a short discussion on elk-watching tips, you’ll be driven into the range to observe the rut. A limited number of spaces is available and registration is required. Park Manager Lisa Bainey said it’s a long program, so set aside some time. “One of the woman lives right in the heart of elk country and has a good pulse as to where they are,” Bainey said.
Elk Alley locals. “There needed to be some way to disperse the number of tourists,” Bainey said. So the partnership helped helped design the Elk Scenic Highway. “It guides the visitor along in an organized way, way, instead of the helter-skelter viewing that was occurring.” occurring.” A system of “elk etiquette” etiquette” was was instituted instituted with the help of Bugle Bu gle Corps volunteers trained through the DCNR. Responsible elk watching, Bainey said, is a combination of respect for the animal and local property owners, and recognizing that you, the observer, are very close to a wild, huge, unpredictable beast. “What happens is you see an elk for the rst time, and they’re so big and magnicent and incredible, people just immediately drawn like a magnet to the animal and
mind,” she said. “And he’s not thinking about the park visitor who’s trying to get close to take photographs.” photographs.” Though she’s she’s been close to the herd fo forr a quarter century, like the arrival of fa ll foliage, the elk-mating season always seems like a surprise to Bainey Bainey.. “I’m always amazed. It’s a cyclical thing, and you look forward to it just like the leaves changing color every year,” said Bainey. Watching the elk mate can have an immediate, immediate, elemental effect, she said. “There’s nothing that compares to sitting out in a blind on a moonlit night and you hear that squeal of a bull elk and the responding bugle from another dominant bull,” Bainey said. “You can smell them. You can smell the musk. They come clashing together and
