What's The Story?

Who is State Senator Judy Schwank? Only 9 of the 50 senators in Pennsylvania are women. She shares her story on the way to becoming a State Senator in the 11th District in Pennsylvania and some of the surprises she found when she got to Harrisburg. Judy fondly remembers growing up in Pittsburgh and shares memories of her grandfather and gives us insight into her life as a student. Looking back Senator Schwank says, “I’ve always said yes to opportunities” As student, volunteered for many different kinds of committees “Take what everybody else doesn’t want to do” Wanting to do good and help is part of her core being and it is why she said yes to the call to become a state senator.

Asked about the benefits and challenges of being a woman and in the minority in Harrisburg, Judy notes that women make very good policy makers, primarily because they are very collaborative. She says that on the whole, women are less ‘me’ centered and embrace a team approach. Female leaders work harder to prove themselves. They want to make a difference and want to do the job as best they can so they want to be sure they know the facts in order to speak with authority.

Service and representation to the community are of utmost importance to Senator Judy Schwank. She says opportunities come by serendipity. Sometimes serendipitous opportunities are born of difficult situations. A lifelong learner, Senator Schwank says “it’s important to do whatever you can, formally or informally, to always try to improve yourself”.

She shares her passions and some of life’s transformational experiences, periods of time that bring about growth and change. It is these experiences that drive her. It is also through these experiences that she is able to relate to and help others and is dedicated to mentoring young women.

Celebrate the Uptown Band’s 10th year anniversary and their nomination as Best New Adult Contemporary Group New Music Magazine. With their single release that Jenifer Kinder wrote ‘I Can Breathe’ at # 5 in the nation on the New Music Weekly AC Chart ahead of Taylor Swift, Coldplay and Gwen Stefani, the Uptown Band has good reason to celebrate!

So how do you get a hit single and a best new Adult Contemporary Group nomination? Well, on the way to making a living as an accountant Erich Cawalla came to a fork in the road. Erich Cawalla tells the story from the beginning. He says he always sang and then fell in love with the sax at age 13. He talks about recording in the basement, hauling equipment in a mini-van, singing with Burning House and the Bobby Mercer Road Show.

It all led up to forming The Uptown Band with Jenifer Kinder. Behind the headlines and the glitz and glamour Erich shares the reality of performing over 200 shows a year and the beginning of BANDAPALOOZA 5 years ago. It was the Uptown Band’s way of giving back to the community that supported them from the beginning.

Now it’s 10 year anniversary party time! Get your tickets for BANDAPALOOZA at the Crowne Plaza Reading March 25 at 7pm. It’s a party featuring the Uptown Band, Bunchafunk, The Groovemasters and DJ Bob Tier. There will be a raffle for a customized 10th anniversary Uptown Band guitar made by Dave Lewis.

All proceeds will go to the ‘Alisa B Anderson Voice Scholarship Program’ through the Reading Musical Foundation.

They are interested in almost anything that comes into their lives. Cindy Ross doesn’t conform to the rules. “What rules?” She asks! She broke all the rules. Cindy Ross was one of a handful of women to hike the full length of the Appalachian Trail in the 70’s. She took her kids out on the hiking trail from the time they were born. She says, “My parents didn’t support my lifestyle but they loved me!”

Cindy shares the story of using the ‘experiential learning’ method of teaching her kids. They would miss about 70 days of school a year while traveling with their parents. It was hard for the kids. When they were in the classroom Cindy said, they would beg her to not have to go to school every day. They were bored! Cindy relented but told the kids they would have to teach themselves. She would become their facilitator.

Cindy says, “ Kids can figure it out, give them time to dream and plan”. There was no TV in their house. The whole experience served her children well. Both her son and daughter received full scholarships to college.

Cindy lectures about the experiential learning lifestyle and encourages people to “Leave your comfort zone of America and go see really what the rest world is like”. She says fears will be dispelled by the people you meet. Check her blog CindyRossTraveller.com

Cindy Ross is an author, artist, adventurer and hiker extraordinaire! With her 6th book, ‘Modeling A Life’, about to be released she took a moment to share the story of how this life began. Cindy joined the Blue Mountain Eagle Hiking Club when she was 15 and learned everything she knows about hiking. It was while hiking with the club she was inspired to hike the whole length of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Cindy Ross did just that when she was 24 years old. This was the birth of her life-long journey.

She wrote and illustrated her first book after that hike. The Book was culled from the journal she kept along the trail. Cindy Ross had 3 published books before ever writing a magazine article … she certainly had something to share! She kept hiking and kept writing and a beautiful life unfolded before her.

Cindy shares the story of that first journey, love, loss, injury and finding herself again. She learned what is most important to her while experiencing the solitude of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Five million steps later, at the end of the trail, Cindy found herself at the beginning of a life on the trail.

Tune is as Cindy shares the story of meeting her husband, sharing a marriage that celebrates the simple life with nature and raising kids on the trail.

Dr. Harry Serio is Pastor at Christ Church in Temple and prior to that he was the Pastor at St John’s UCC in Kutztown. Dr. Serio says the notion of A Spiritual Exploration Project “begins with the recognition that every person is on a spiritual journey …. It will take them in many different directions based upon their culture, ethnicity and people that have influenced them.” Dr. Serio talks about his colorful tenure at St John’s where they encouraged people to give expression to their faith journeys. Consequently there were members who were Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Wiccans and Jewish. We would listen to what they had to say and help them on their journey.

The whole experience led Dr. Serio to the Spiritual Exploration Project. He says “there is a great deal of validity and truth in so many different faith expressions …. The common thread would be one’s own existence and how we came here is the question that people are asking”. Dr. Serio says “the goal of the project is to enhance the spirituality of persons who are looking to express their faith in different ways”.

There are three initiatives in this project which is still evolving. The first is an Interfaith Dialogue to include all faiths and no faiths. An event is planned April 17. Dr. Serio says that, “So many are misguided about the Islamic community … Because of the attacks perpetrated by ISIS they think that Islam is a terroristic religion and that is absolutely not true”. Every religion has its own expression of violence and so the initial presentation will be a community forum on ‘God and Violence’. The hope is gain a better understanding of all faiths

Another initiative is the development a contemplative spiritual community that would also become involved in social justice concerns and social actions. Dr. Serio suggested this community will be modeled after the protocols of the Iona Community of Scotland and become a group that would look in and then also look out. They would go out into the community and do constructive work.

The third initiative is storytelling. “We want to gather stories of people and hear where they come from, what their hopes are, what their dreams are ... What was in their background to bring them to this particular place in time”. Dr. Serio is encouraged by the response to this Spiritual Exploration Project so far and invites you to join the journey.

Daniel Egusquiza, owner of the T.E.A. Factory, shares why it is important to him to be involved in the community working to make it a better place. The T.E.A. Factory is a community co-working space for Technology, Education and the Arts located on Canal Street in Reading.

Daniel talks about a very poignant experience he had about 5 years ago when he saw a woman while walking down Penn Street. The impact of that moment shaped his life. It was then that he decided to make this community a better place. He started slowly. He cleaned up his walk and then enlisted the help of his neighbors to clean up the whole block.

Gradually he started getting more and more involved in the community He never saw that woman again but he says, “In a way, it is good because she became every woman, she became you, she became my mother, she became my grandmother, she became my sister, she became all women”. Daniel adds that as a result “Love has always been a key component, like a check mark in my life. If I am doing something I am doing it because I love to do it. I couldn’t do it otherwise”.

Daniel also organized and directs ‘Barrio Alegria Dance Company’ which translates to ‘Neighborhood of Happiness’. He explains, “We look at how to develop leaders through the art of dance. We bring in members of the community who have absolutely no idea how to dance. We start teaching them how to dance and at the same time we give them leadership roles … then we go out into the community and they lead workshops or dance descriptions”.

The name of the dance company is derived from a poem where the writer lives in the neighborhood of melancholy but wants to live in the neighborhood of happiness. Daniel invites you to share the dream of creating a neighborhood of happiness and be an active part of it. He says, “Love is what should drive you and happiness will show the way. Everything follows happiness”.

The heroin epidemic knows no boundaries and the numbers of Americans addicted to heroin grows daily. We have very powerful medications that end up being misused. Doctors stop writing prescriptions. Patients buy pills on the street and soon find out they can get heroin a lot cheaper.

Dr. Bill Santoro, Chief of the Section of Substance Use Disorders at Reading Hospital & Medical Center and Medical Director at New Directions talks about the heroin problem. Dr. Santoro say, “three entities are involved in the problem: the pharmaceutical industries, the physicians and the public.

Dr. Bill Santoro adds, “ If we all stop pointing fingers at each other we can actually accomplish something and fix the problem”. He outlines a very specific plan where all parties play their part. It makes a lot of sense but requires a ‘buy-in’ from all parties. Tune in and find out what you can do.

We continue our conversation with Dr Bill Santoro, Chief of the Section of Substance Use Disorders at Reading Hospital & Medical Center and Medical Director at New Directions. Every family knows addiction, either a family member or close friend suffers from addiction.

What are the signs of addiction? Dr. Santoro says, “The warning sign that you have a chance to become addicted is if you are human … so every human being should be warned”. The influences are both genetic and environmental. Tune in to learn more about the warning signs and what you might do to help.

The Bike Hub is a lot of things… it’s a brick and mortar full functioning bikes shop run completely by volunteers. We sell bikes we repair bikes we help with maintenance we sell parts. We offer bikes at affordable prices to the community because people donate bikes, we refurbish them and make sure they are safe and then sell them at minimal cost. Education and community are important aspects of the Bike Hub. Dani Motze says, “We want to get butts on bikes …. It’s important because we have one of the highest rates of bike commuters right here in Reading. Commuters ride their bike to get to the store, to work and to see their family. We want to help them be sure their bikes are safe and they are riding safely”. The Bike Hub volunteers also host ‘Roll Right Reading’ which is a community bike ride every Wednesday night at 5:45. Join the fun, Everyone is Welcome! Come make new friends, meet at the Bike Hub, 720 Cherry Street right behind the Santander Arena and ride for about an hour. www.readingbikeub.org

We have an epidemic in the US, 23 million people suffer from addiction, 102 people die every day from an overdose. Where is the outrage? Dr Bill Santoro, Chief of the Section of Substance Use Disorders at Reading Hospital & Medical Center and Medical Director at New Directions, says, “we talk about people who suffer from addiction differently … instead of talking about them as people who suffer from a disease”.

In 1914 The Harrison Act made it illegal for a physician to treat a person addicted to opiates with opiates. Dr. Santoro adds “they moved the disease of addiction out of the hands of medicine and into law enforcement”. We do not treat addiction as a disease we treat it as a moral failure.

Dr. Santoro adds, “To solve a problem we first have to identify it”. Conversations like this help change the way we treat addiction and those suffering from it. We get one step closer to healing this illness. Check it out and share...