What's The Story?

Patty Mahlon talks to Jo about being diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. She was on a waiting list for a lung transplant for 4 1/2 years and speaks about the importance of organ donation, listening to your body and living life to the fullest. A powerful What's The Story.

The Berks Arts Council ( http://berksarts.org/) gives the Pagoda Award to the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps. It is well deserved. The Buccaneers have raised the bar for Drum & Bugle Corps winning the Championship in their division year after year. We talked with Lou Tierno who started in the Brass Line in the mid-80’s and marched till 2000. He is now the director of the Corps and says, “It’s been a long time since I marched… Watching the energy building I really miss marching” Lou explains what a Drum & Bugle Corps is and how you can become part of it. He says everybody is welcome – no experience necessary! Lou said, “It’s all about how bad you want it and how much you are willing to work” The Reading Buccaneers (https://www.readingbuccaneers.org) certainly do this community proud!

Fajjr+ali combine their musical talents and what a blend it is. “We improvise everything and go with the flow”, says Fajjr. The result is two singles, “Got To Be’ and ‘Without You’. That got the attention of a producer in LA and a soon to be released EP with 6 more songs is on the horizon!

Fajjr+ali write music very spontaneously – literally on the spot! Find out how the song ‘Got To Be’ came about. The song makes a social statement on a personal level. Expressing frustration over having an opinion about something and someone else having a completely different opinion and no matter what you say you can’t change their mind. They wondered, how do you move forward when you feel so strongly about an issue and you can't change somebody’s mind? And so the song begins, “Let me be quiet because you seem to have all the answers”.

The video was filmed in Allentown, PA choreographed by the non profit ‘Xcape Company’. It visually and artfully brings the song down to a relationship between two kids. In the end there is HOPE, Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vv_AdbQwMg

Plus you get a first listen to a brand new song ‘Space Walk’. This is what happened when a producer turned on a beat and locked them in a windowless room … another spontaneous songwriting adventure!

Dr Mary Jo Bonner was left baffled and hurt by the untimely death of her father when she was just 14. She thought that should not happen

As a 3rd year student at University of Penn Mary Jo noticed doctors did not share stories with patients, typically conversations happened outside the room with family members. She remembers thinking, “this is a strange way to practice medicine, why not have conversations about life an death?”

It was these things that shaped her journey in internal medicine. Mary Jo chaired the ethics department at the PA Medical Society. This was at a time when we weren’t prepared for the ethical situations the use of technology presented. This led her to the study of patients’ rights. She became a staunch advocate for the living will to be sure that patient wants are honored.

Mary Jo Bonner says “the Closest time to God is when there is a death or a near death”. To be able to bring a calm peaceful dignified death is a blessing to be present at the death of a person is a blessing

That led her to St Francis Home where the mission is to make sure no one dies alone and there is dignity, peace and calm around death. Her passion and energy surrounds St Francis Home in Cumru Township. It has 3 private bedrooms and is filled with love. It is a social model for hospice care. Round the clock volunteers will be their family and caregiver so the residents can undergo hospice benefits.

They always need volunteers. Find out more, call 610-670-1050 or visit http://www.saintfrancishomereading.org

He holds onto his dreams, schedules time daily to practice his craft and now his work will be performed in New York City. He is Mike Zielinski, both metro and sports columnist. He is Zeke, host of Talking Sports & Fitness on The PEOPLE Chronicles. He is Michael Zielinski published author and now playwright!

Mike has been writing all his life and enjoys the challenge of different genres. He wrote a 20-minute comedic one-act play titled The Confession and submitted it to Manhattan Repertory Theatre for production. Mike talks about his surprise when he received an email from the Ken Wolf, the Artistic Director at Manhattan Repertory Theatre. It said in an email to me: "We loved your play The Confession and we would be thrilled to produce this play at Manhattan Rep. Your play is really fun. I just loved it. I am going to personally be directing it for I just love this kind of comedy. And it will work so well in our new theatre."

Mike shares the details of his writing journey and offers some advice for budding writers too.

The Confession will be performed at Manhattan Repertory Theatre on Friday March 31 and Saturday April 1 at 6:30 p.m. both nights. Visit http://manhattanrep.com for more information.

Mike’s published novel is Jack Daniels on the Rocks and my forthcoming published novel will be A Pitch For Love.

Human Trafficking – is it really happening in Berks County, PA? YES !!! Andrea McHenry is the Executive Director of F.R.E.E. which stands for Freedom and Restoration for Everyone Enslaved. Andrea was a volunteer with this organization since it began in 2009. When the founding director re-located Andrea took the reins in this crusade to provide assistance to the victims and end Human Trafficking. Andrea says, if we don’t shine a spotlight on the issue and continue to talk about it, the business of human trafficking will continue to thrive.

When allowed to operate under the radar more and more victims fall prey to sex trafficking. Listen to her story and find out why it is important to her and how you can participate. It is through the work done by Andrea and her team of volunteers that this business sees the light of day and more are made aware of the human consequence. Girls as young as 12 and 13 years old are trapped in this industry. In order to stop this we must stop hiding our heads in the sand and believing this doesn’t take place in our community. Find out how you can be part of the solution to ending this scourge, visit http://www.freefromht.org/

Learn more about What's the Story? with Jo Painter.

Take The Chill Off is the brainchild of Marc Goldstein and Chef Tim. Marc was looking for a way to get more blankets to people in need. Chef Tim wanted to use his talents to help that effort. Together they created this one day event that takes place at multiple sites around Berks County. Chef Tim makes his award winning chili and 100% of the proceeds go directly to Blankets of Hope. Marc created Blankets of Hope to operate without any overhead. All donated money goes directly to getting blankets to the organizations that need them. Find out what inspires and motivates these two to keep on providing opportunities for all of us to get involved and help others.

Frank Grill walks through doors of opportunity and when the road leads to devastation he looks for another door of opportunity and tries again. Frank shares his story from becoming a Christian to earning his MBA and becoming a successful corporate analyst, then losing everything.

Listen to his journey and find out how Frank found his way when a second door of opportunity opened at Hope Rescue Mission. The position allows him to use his analytic abilities and grow his creative talents at the same time. His focus is different now. His world is different. Frank is a genuinely happy man making a difference.

Downtown Reading is all dressed up with fresh inviting art in the 300 and 600 blocks of Penn Street. Two artists were chosen to install a sculpture in the 600 block of Penn Street and Edward Williams is the muralist chosen from 40 applicants to design, execute and display his art in the 300 block of Penn Street. Jane Runyeon served as the art liaison to the city during a 2 year process to award the NEA grant. Jane says Edward’s ability, knowledge and depiction of a train, one of the symbols of our city, were all contributing factors to selecting him for this mural project

Edward talks about the ‘art’ of creating large mural art from a design drafted in a studio. Edward bid on 3 or 4 different locations for his art and is happy that this location was chosen because the architectural bump-out on the wall lends itself to depicting a trestle bridge. Jane adds the aspect of urban renewal was incorporated, “The wall was in terrible shape and was re-stored in order that a mural might be painted on it”.

Edward is motivated to paint large. While working on this particular mural he was further motivated by people walking by and giving him a thumbs up or saying “Great job!”. Edward says it’s been his experience that when people start seeing visual things going up it motivates others on the block to dress up their space as well.

Thanks Edward for installing “Steam Engine” mural at 334 Penn Street! Check it out next time you are in downtown Reading. And you can check out more of Edward Willimas’ work at www.thestudio33.com

Life is full for Karin Wulkowicz and she shares it freely with others everyday, which is quite possibly, a trait she inherited from her Dad, Kaz, or Casimir Wulkowicz. Karin is a Master Gardener and now has been charged with setting up a Master Watershed Steward Program for Berks County through the Penn State Extension Office in Leesport. She says the goal is to train citizen scientists! As the coordinator Karin will be looking for volunteers and for partner organizations. Her team of volunteers will help fill the needs of the partner organizations like Berks Nature and The Conservation District. Education is the primary focus of the Master Watershed Steward Program and there will also be plenty of opportunities to go outside and get dirty too … cleaning up ponds and doing riparian plantings. Tune in and find out what you can do everyday to be a valuable watershed steward.

In addition to her work in the Master Gardener and Master Watershed Programs at Penn State Extension Office, Karin is also a professional licensed landscaper, and a volunteer at Hawk Mountain and the Reading Public Museum. She also hosts her weekly radio show, ‘Karin’s Music Festival’ on WEEU. Karin can be reached at 610-378-1327.