For many music groups, getting exposure can be a problem. But that’s “No Pressure” for the Hanover Township, Northampton County, band that Bob Sedlock manages. “No Pressure” is the name of the ‘80s-to-pop kid cover band that Sedlock’s sons Grant and Bryant created three years ago with friend Andrew “Drew” Cirillo. Growing in size and popularity each year, the band boasts a... »
The idiom “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow” aptly describes the Upper Macungie Township plant food maker JR Peters, Inc. The family-run fertilizer business began in the basement of an Allentown home and now sells to greenhouse growers around the globe. “We make water-soluble fertilizer for greenhouses and nurseries” from Kutztown to South Korea, said Dr. Cari Peters, ... »
When looking to adorn Allentown’s new luxury Renaissance Hotel with art that could capture the color, glamour and excitement of the city’s rebirth, one artist’s name topped the list: Ann Elizabeth Schlegel. “I immediately thought of Ann,” said Jane Heft, vice president and director of project design and branding for City Center of Lehigh Valley. Heft had seen Schlegel’s se... »
April showers bring May flowers, as the popular poem goes. It is also the time when folks flock to Ross Plants & Flowers, the long-time experts know. Ross Plants & Flowers is a well-known, yet hidden treasure, located on Route 309, directly across from Orefield Middle School. Ross is one of the busiest businesses of its kind in the Lehigh Valley, its owners surmise... »
Some might think elementary school art teacher Angela Faidley was out of her mind for launching a business in her 22nd year of employment at St. Ann’s School in Emmaus. But, if you ask Faidley, teaching art during the day and running an art studio at night is “a dream come true.” “I have asked myself, ‘Why start a new career in the middle of my life,’” she said. “But then ... »
Every day, patients ask Dr. Scott Sackman to lift their tired faces, give them more hair and less belly fat. Then, they implore, please don’t let it hurt, and, oh, can you get me back to work by Monday? “Everybody wants magic: a younger you with no pain, no bruises,” said Sackman, adding that although magic wands have yet to be invented in the 30+ years he’s been in practi... »
By Ann Wlazelek ArtsQuest has a new leader at the helm. Kassie Hilgert, former senior vice president of marketing and advancement for the Bethlehem-based non-profit organization that runs Musikfest, Chriskindlmarkt and Steel Stacks, earned the position and was selected out of more than 30 candidates in a nationwide search for founder Jeff Parks’ successor at ArtsQuest. Q. ... »
By Ann Wlazelek Sources: CNN, The History Channel, Smithsonian Magazine, Library of Congress, U>S> Department of Agriculture, National Women’s History Museum, Cornell Lab of Ornithology »
by Ann Wlazelek School lunches – snacks included – aim to be a bit more nutritious this school year. Cafeterias will pack more whole grains and less fat, sugar and salt into all foods served on campus as the latest effort by federal health officials to reverse the nation’s rising rate of childhood obesity, which now stands at or above 17 percent. The best part? The kids ma... »
by Ann Wlazelek Allen High graduate Chris Manley nearly ditched his dream of making movies or TV shows while studying film at Temple University in Philadelphia. “I got the feeling that because I was in Philly, a career in film was kind of impossible. I almost changed my major to English to teach creative writing,” he said in a recent phone interview. “It seemed more sensib... »
