van halen tribute to rock woodlands pg. 6 -...

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Enter your pet for Weekender’s PET OF THE WEEKby sending photo, pet’s name, breed if applicable,

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FUTURELoren Schoenberg

and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars present “Tribute to Prez: The Life and Music of Lester Young,” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at the University of Scran-ton’s Houlihan-McLean Center. At 6:30 p.m. , Schoenberg will give a pre-concert talk on the life and music of legend-ary saxophonist Lester Young, nicknamed the “President of Jazz” or “Prez.” Admission is free. Info, 570-941-7624.

New York, NY Duel-ing Pianos, comedy-based dueling piano show will bring music of Jimmy Buffet, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Jerry Lee Lewis, Disney and more to The Theater at North, 1539 North Main Ave., Scran-ton, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Tickets $25 to $35. Tick-ets, thetheateratnorth.org

Measure for Mea-sure, the Music of Shakespeare’s Plays. Ensemble Chaconne presents Elizabethan music with renaissance flute and lute, viola da gamba, and a mezzo soprano offering selec-tions from “As You Like It,” “Henry V,” “Othello,”

“Hamlet” and more. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13, Lemmond Hall at Misericordia University, Dallas Town-ship. Tickets are $15 for premium seating, $10 for general admission, and free to Misericordia stu-dents, staff and faculty with identification. Info, 570-674-6719.

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Jake Owen, with hits such as “I Was Jack (You Were Diane) and “Bare-foot Blue Jean Night” to his credit, the country star will bring his Life’s Watcha Make It Tour to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Oct. 4.

The McCartney Years, a tribute to the music of Paul McCart-ney, with hits such as ‘Hey Jude,’ ‘Jet,’ ‘Let It Be,’ ‘Band On The Run,’ ‘The Long And Winding Road,’ ‘Live And Let Die, 8 p.m. Oct. 6, F.M. Kirby Center, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre. Tickets $29.50, $39.50 and $49.50 plus fees. Info, 570-826-1100.

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Gathering of Sing-ers/Songwriters, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22, with regional folk talents Tom Flannery, Lorne Clarke and guest per-formers, Dietrich The-ater, 60 East Tioga St., Tunkannock. Admission by donation. Info, 570-996-1500.

“Before the Kirby was the Kirby” Film Series: Alexander’s Ragtime Band, 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24, F.M. Kirby Center, Public Square, Wilkes-Barre. Celebrating the building’s 80th anni-versary with films from its movie-theater past.

This is the first movie to play at Wilkes-Barre’s Comeford Theatre when it opened its doors Aug. 18, 1938. Matinee, $3. Evening, $5. Info, 570-826-1100.

Osterhout Friday Movie Matinee: In the Line of Fire, 2 p.m. Aug. 24. This week’s free movie stars Clint Eastwood, John Malkovick and Renee Russo. Popcorn pro-vided. Osterhout Free Library, 71 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. Info, 570-823-0156.

Arts at Hayfield Summer Festival, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 26, Penn State Wilkes-

Barre Campus, Old Route 115, Lehman, with arts and crafts, step dancers, a bag-piper, vendors, storytell-ing and tours of historic Hayfield House at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Admission $2 for adults. Info, 570-675-2171

7th annual Hazle-ton Wine and Beer Festival, sponsored by Hazleton Rotary, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 25 at Hazle Township Babe Ruth Field, 601 Hazle Township Boulevard. Proceeds will benefit various Hazleton Rotary Club community service projects.

eVENTS

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By Joe [email protected]

Buddy Blachard was quick to point out on a recent telephone inter-view that he and his bandmates don’t actually think they are the mem-bers of Van Halen.

But when Blachard, the lead singer of VH tribute band Romeo Delight, was asked about how fans react to his band, he certainly seemed to be channeling his inner David Lee Roth.

“They are awesome,” Blachard said. “The come out wearing their Van Halen shirts. The guys are great.”

He then hesitated for

just a moment before adding a line that sound-ed as if it came from Dia-mond Dave himself.

“The girls are even better.”

The Philadelphia-based band will bring its show to the Woodlands on Aug. 31. Blachard prom-ises diehard VH fans won’t be disappointed.

“We create a full Van Halen show,” Blachard said. “All the music, all the costumes, all the things that made Van Halen famous.”

That includes all the theatrics that Van Halen brought to the stage, Blachard added.

“We really do try to bring it all,” Blachard said of Van Halen’s ener-

getic shows. “We stay in shape, do all the jumps and stuff. (We) just try to bring the authentic Van Halen experience.”

The group also brings an impressive resume.

Romeo Delight is the most viewed Van Halen tribute band in YouTube, have had one of their vid-eo’s chosen by David Lee Roth to be shown on his podcast, have recently played for 5,000 fans at a music festival and have received plenty of praise from fans and celebrities.

“When I need a shot of Vitamin V these days, I get a healthy dose from VH tribute band Romeo

Delight,” WMMR’s Jack Bam Bam is quoted on the band’s website. “Lead singer Buddy Blanchard should be the fourth singer for Van Halen. He high kicks and jumps like a young Diamond Dave.”

Blanchard said that the band tends to favor the era of the band when Roth was lead singer, but they do play some of the hits Van Halen had with Sammy Hagar fronting the group.

The band has also become known for recre-ating Van Halen albums, playing the songs in the sequence they appeared on the album. Blanchard said he expects the band to perform the group’s “Greatest Hits” album at the Woodlands.

Fans can expect to hear such VH classics as “Eruption,” “And the

Romeo Delight bringing Van Halen show to Woodlands

Romeo Delight is the most viewed Van Halen tribute band on YouTube.

IF YOU GOWhat: Romeo Delight, Van Halen tribute bandWhen: 9 p.m., Aug. 31Where: The Woodlands InnAdmission: Free

See DELIGHT | 7

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Cradle Will Rock,” “Hot for Teacher” and, of course, “Jump” to name a few.

Romeo Delight takes it name from Blanchard’s favorite Van Halen song, an underrated track from VH’s “Women and Children First” album. He pointed to the song’s “intensity and power” as one of the reasons it’s his favorite.

The group has been together for 10 years, longer than Roth himself was with Van Halen.

However, Blachard’s association with Van Halen started years ear-lier.

“When we were kids, we would play some of these songs,” he said.

Years later, Blachard

noticed the type of crowds Van Halen was still drawing and the idea for a tribute band dawned on him.

Van Halen classics aren’t the only tunes the band has been known to play. Blachard and his bandmates have also backed Blachard’s broth-er-in-law – Mikey Dolenz of The Monkees.

“We were asked to per-form with Mikey Dolenz

at The Monkees conven-tion,” Blachard said. “It was pretty thrilling to play with someone like that.”

But don’t expect to hear any Monkees clas-sics at the Woodlands.

No, the Woodlands show, Blachard promises, will be pure classic Van Halen.

Reach Joe Soprano at 570-991-6393 or on Twitter @jsoprano.

From page 6

Delight

Van Halen tribute band Romoe Delight will perform at the Woodlands on Aug. 31.

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By Patrick [email protected]

With a considerable amount of hype leading up to it — at least, if my Facebook and Instagram feeds were to be believed — “Sweetener,” the latest record by Ariana Grande, piqued my interest.

I’ve always said Grande is a phenomenally tal-ented performer, with an incredible voice and acting chops to boot. But I was never fully on board with her, as I often felt she lent her voice to mostly generic pop tracks.

With a single as strong as “no tears left to cry,” though, I thought “Sweet-ener” might be the album the album that changes my mind regarding the songstress.

And in many ways, that’s what I got. But it’s more fair to describe “Sweetener” as a mixed bag, where Grande occa-sionally engages in a type of progressive pop music, while other times she just falls into the normal traps of Top 40-ism.

Some of this seems owed to a veritable tug-of-war between Pharrell Williams and all of the other producers on the record, including Max Martin, Ilya, Hit-Boy and others. Pharrell produces the bulk of the tracks on the album — and if you’re the sort of person who can pick a Pharrell song out of a crowd, it won’t be hard on this record either — which leaves the remaining songs feeling

at odds with his.This leads to a sort

of jumbled, mish-mash of sounds, with some feeling a bit half-baked. That’s especially true for the album’s opening cut, “raindrops (an angel cried),” a 30-second-long “intro” song which really just feels like the first verse of a song that feels suddenly cut off.

Almost as if an unseen

hand took control of your stereo and skipped to the next track, the listener is suddenly jettisoned from Max Martin and Ilya’s emotional-sounding open-ing to a Pharrell Williams banger with “blazed,” which actually features vocals from Pharrell.

Truly, “blazed” would have made a more fitting opening track, as it’s just a really fun pop song.

Infused with the sort of R&B sensibilities that you may have caught on the newest Janelle Monáe record, “blazed” bounces around the room with the frenetic sort of produc-tion Pharrell is known for, and Grande’s gorgeous voice is the perfect com-plement for the sound.

Quickly, though, things get too frenetic for Phar-rell. Case in point is the

Nicki Minaj-featured “the light is coming.” While Grande’s vocals on the chorus are as catchy as ever, the song is built around a sample of some guy yelling at Senator Arlen Spector from back in 2009 (no, really, I swear). The sample is repeated so often that the track feels unnecessar-ily cluttered, and Nicki’s verse is one of the more

lackluster we’ve heard from her in a while.

The best of the Phar-rell-produced tracks on the record is undoubt-edly the title track, with a driving, insistent chorus that calls to remind the commands of the classic game Bop It, but just, you know, sexier. It’s an awesome track, and one of my favorites from the record, just slightly behind “no tears left to cry” (which is, inciden-tally, the only Martin and Ilya produced track that I think is any fun).

From there, though, things just sort of level off for me. Songs vary between either being kind of grating — like the annoyingly braggadocious “successful” — or simply forgettable — which is how I feel about basically the entire last third of the album, from “borderline” to the end.

Ultimately, I do feel a bit disappointed by “Sweetener.” I still think Grande is an incredibly talented singer. However, she keeps setting herself up with songwriters and producers who either make messy tracks or forgettable ones. It leads to an album that, while having a few bright spots, is just as forgettable as those songs.

Ariana Grande’s ‘Sweetener’ is like candy: sweet, but fleetingAlbum: ‘Sweetener’Artist: Ariana GrandeLabel: RepublicLength: 47:25Best Tracks: ‘no tears left to cry,’ ‘sweetener’Worst Tracks: Basically the final third of the record

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By Hartt Lang

There once was a time where I lived in a world where I didn’t carry my phone around with me like the baby that it is.

I want to go back to that.

I didn’t have a cell phone until I was 16. It was a Nokia something. A bulky phone with an antenna and pay-by-the-minute phone calls and text messages.

I remember playing snake, a game that con-sisted of black squares that could only move

in four directions. The black squares got longer as you advanced and you had to avoid bumping into your-

self.Riveting.Facebook, Instagram

and Twitter didn’t exist. My Nokia didn’t have any cameras, no web browsing, GPS, voice to text or spell check.

I miss it so much.Being a teenager who

was brought up without a fancy phone and social media made me realize that I knew what happi-ness was. Life was sim-ple. I was true to myself, because I didn’t have anyone — specifically strangers and internet celebrities — to compare my life to.

I know it’s out there. It used to exist, I lived it. It was a magical place where I experienced things and moments without sharing them with people I didn’t talk

to or care about.Things are different

now. We live in a world

where we have apps that give you face lifts and tummy tucks. The amount of followers you have matters for some reason and being verified is equivalent to being knighted.

I’m not sure why.I understand that the

point of social media is to interact with others. However, do I think that people overshare on social media? Why, yes. Yes, I do.

On that note, do you know it’s possible to do a good deed for someone and not record a video? Or go to a concert or event and not record the entire thing? Do you know that it’s possible to be in a relationship with someone and not put them on blast on Face-book when you break up or fight about something dumb?

It’s also possible to go shopping and not take pictures of everything you bought. Or to take a vacation and not post about what you’re having for dinner.

Imagine this: you can have big life experiences and victories and keep them to yourself. You can actually share your spe-cial moments with your friends circle and family without taking a photo or writing a narrative about it. Isn’t that crazy?

I don’t understand why people feel the need to share so much of their personal lives with the world. I wish people would stop focusing on things that don’t matter – like material possessions and selfies.

Is it a confidence thing? When people comment, like or share your post does it makes you feel good for a little while? But why do you need gratification from strangers?

Gratify yourself. Make yourself proud instead of depending on other peo-ple for your happiness. Put your phone down. Experience things, travel, find a hobby. Having a bad day? Keep a journal. Please.

Now, excuse me while I trade my iPhone in for a Nokia 6100 and disap-pear into a social media-less utopia.

Missing the simpler, phone-less liferants and raves

Hartt LangWeekender columnist

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13Weekender

DAY TRIPPERBy Toni [email protected]

You know that trip that just ends too soon?

It’s your last afternoon or evening there, and you realize all of the things that you didn’t do. You end up either immedi-ately planning your next visit or trying to cram as many activities as you can into your last few hours.

I certainly didn’t expect to feel that way about Asbury Park, but here I am.

I was, indeed, pleasant-ly surprised by the short weekend trip I took there with my partner (Thurs-day evening through Sat-urday morning), which was not much more than a last-ditch effort to go to a beach before the sum-mer’s impending end.

My most pleasant surprise, interestingly enough, was the food.

As a vegetarian with a vegan significant other, our trips need to be care-fully chosen to ensure that we aren’t stuck with salads and a few black bean burgers for every meal. We need at least a few places with a couple of good options, and Asbury Park fit the bill.

Sure, we ended up with a two-star hotel outside of the shoretown with yellowing walls and no water in the vend-ing machines, but what did we expect when we booked the cheapest hotel we could find on only a

few day’s notice?We wasted almost no

time upon arriving at our

hotel before making our way to the Watermark, a bar and tapas lounge by

the ocean.Let me tell you about

their seitan skewers. For those who aren’t vegetar-ian, seitan is a wheat gluten with a meat-like texture. I will think about these skewers every day until I can have them again. I will dream about them. I will never, ever forget them. They were incredible.

Among the other bliss-ful delicacies we shared were soft-serve vegan ice cream from Cookman Creamery. We both got strawberry and banana twists in cones, and wow. Holy creamy.

We enjoyed our ice cream in gARTen @713 Cookman, an outdoor gal-lery featuring art created from found objects.

And then there was the “Vodka Bacon” pizza from Talula’s, with vodka sauce, vegan ricotta and coconut bacon. I was skeptical about the coconut bacon, because while I always feel that the texture is there, all I

can taste is coconut. I can tell you right now that I did not want coconut on my pizza, and I still do not want coconut on my pizza (unless I’m wrong about that and I’m miss-ing out?).

Talula’s bacon imposter, however, was awesome. I tasted no coconut, but instead the wonderfully salty little crunchy bits that I was hoping for.

How could I forget the Korean fusion tofu tacos from Mogo right on the boardwalk?

Seriously. I almost con-sidered moving there just by virtue of the food.

But that’s enough about the food. I don’t know nearly enough to write a food column. I just really liked eating it.

Of course, the beach was wonderful. Prior to the trip we were warned about Asbury’s beach being dirty, but that did not appear to be the case.

We spent as much time there as possible, but had to find time to squeeze

in some shopping at the plethora of vintage stores and other shops that had me jumping up and down.

I will say, Asbury Park’s boardwalk is not like the ones I remember visiting as a kid.

I didn’t see any rides or any games, but there was the Silverball Pinball Museum, which is exactly what it sounds like except that you can also play retro arcade games and drink beer.

No, there weren’t any stands where you pay an exorbitant amount of money to throw darts at balloons for a price worth about 15 cents, but there were a lot of really cool bars and restaurants, and there was a lot of music. There was seemingly a live band at every other establishment as you walked by, and the vibe was great.

Unfortunately, the Stone Pony and Wonder Bar, pretty much the only places I knew about prior to going to Asbury Park, were busy with perfor-mances by The Gaslight Anthem and Dick Dale, respectively, and we didn’t get to check them out.

There was also a bar on the beach that seemed like loads of fun, and likely many more restau-rants.

Welp, I guess we’ll just have to go back. Oh, darn, I guess I wouldn’t mind some more of those seitan skewers.

Weekend at Asbury Park a pleasant surprise

Toni enjoys some vegan soft serve from Cookman Creamery in gARTen @ 713 Cookman, an outdoor gallery featuring art made from found objects.

The vegan Vodka Bacon pizza from Talula’s with a Gin and Jam cocktail.

Toni and her partner, James, enjoying the beach. They both got sunburn, but, reportedly, it was worth it.

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PhilAsk Phil

Dear Phil,My friend just got her

hair cut and colored. And I can’t lie, it’s hor-rible!!

It does nothing for her and actually makes her look like a cartoon character! She loves it and wants to keep it, but how do I tactfully tell her to try a different style — or better yet — hairdresser?!

Sincerely,Please let it grow

Please let it grow,

Thanks for reach-ing out!

While I have never dyed my hair before or done anything

outside of a buzzcut in the last decade, I do feel like I can help you out in this situation.

First thing’s first, any good friendship is based on honesty. You should

be able to tell your friend your opinion no matter what it is. Grant-ed, it’s your friend’s deci-sion whether or not they should take your advice.

Have you been against an outfit that your friend is wearing and told them to change? I know I have. Isn’t that the same thing.

Speaking from past experiences, I have had the same look since sophomore year of col-lege. A buzzcut and a beard. In fact, I’ve basi-

cally always sported a buzzcut and wasn’t able to grow a sufficient beard until then.

It’s not fancy, but it’s me.

So earlier this sum-mer, my best friend gave me some advice on my appearance, when it comes to my haircut and my beard. His advice? My hair is best short and my beard is best kept tight.

It was actually the same opinion that both my mother and grand-mother have given me time after time. In fact, it’s often the first thing they say to me when I walk in the door if I haven’t cut my hair or trimmed my beard lately. Especially my beard.

Do I get upset when my family and friends give me these critiques? Of course not. I know they love me and they’re only thinking what’s best for me.

If we’re being honest, I often know when my beard is too long — it is right now as I’m

responding to your ques-tion. It’s just whether or not I have the time, or want to take the time to trim it, because it’s quite the task.

Don’t worry. I have a point to this story.

Friends should be able to help friends out, and that includes advice. It’s not like you’re try-ing to hurt your friend’s feeling or knock them down. You just want to share your opinion and you have every right to do that. Like I said, just because you make the suggestion doesn’t mean you have to listen to it.

As for the point about changing hairdressers — that could be a pretty easy fix.

Just because someone is a hairdresser doesn’t mean they’re very good. It’s the same with every profession. Some people just aren’t good at their jobs. If your friend loves her new hairstyle, and she’s not willing to give it up, maybe trying out a new hairdresser could do the trick.

There’s always a chance that a different hairdresser can pull the style together. We’ve all had a bad haircut before.

Please let it grow, I hope this helps.

— Phil

Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle

To grow or not to grow?

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Flea, Craft & Vendor Sale, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 25 (note change of date from Friday to Saturday), Dallas Chap-ter Eastern Star Hall, 15 Foster St., Dallas, (behind CVS) indoor and outdoor vendors, lunch of wimpies, hot dogs, haluski and desserts. ‘Our Famous Welsh Cookies’ will be for sale. Info, call Dianne Corby at 570-675-4893

Ukrainian Folk Festival, with folk arts and crafts, ethnic foods, amusements, music and dance, noon Aug. 26, Ukrainian-American Sport Center, County Line and Lower State roads, Horsham, Mont-gomery County. Admis-sion $15, $10, and free for children younger than 14. Info, 267-664-3857.

Frank & Dottie Henry Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Aug. 27 at Wyoming Val-ley Country Club. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a barbecue lunch and shot gun start at 12:30 p.m. Hit a hole in one and win a car. Tons of prizes. Registra-tion form and additional information is available on Relay For Life of NEPA Facebook page. All proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

FUTUREForty Fort United

Methodist Church flea market and craft fair, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 8, in the church parking lot, corner of Wyoming and Yeager avenues, Forty Fort, with approximately

25 vendors, a bake sale and light refreshments available to purchase. For info, call Pat at 570-417-4920, or the church office at 570-287-3840.

Dozynki Harvest Festival, a traditional festival with roots going back to Poland more than 100 years ago. Noon to 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at Holy Mother of Sor-rows Parish grounds, 212 Wyoming Ave., Dupont, with blessing of the har-vest wreath at noon and music by Polka Punch beginning at 1:30 p.m. A flea market will be held 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 8 on the church grounds. To reserve a table, call Lois at 570-603-9633 for more details.

Pheasants Forever annual banquet, 5 p.m. Sept. 15, with games, dinner, live auction, New-berry Estates, Apple Tree Terrace, Pioneer Avenue, Dallas. The organization is dedicated to conserva-tion of all wildlife. Info, Paris Alunni 570-347-0294 or nepapf.org.

Flea market, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 15 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 16 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 22, at St. Nicho-las Byzantine Catholic Church hall, 320 Vine

St., Old Forge, with antiques, jewelry, furni-ture, children’s clothing, and toys and more. A variety of ethnic food items, baked goods, and refreshments will also be available.

Boy Scout Troop 143 car show and flea market, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 23, parking lot of Hugh B. Hughes Funeral Home, 1044 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, with live entertainment, food, raffles and tropies. Car registration is $10 and flea market vendor is $15. Info, Caroline at 570-288-0294 or Jim at 570-718-0443. Rain date is Sept. 30.

Sixth annual Kelci Ever After 6K Run and 2K Memory Walk, in memory of Kelci Gib-bons, 11 a.m. Oct. 7, Frances Slocum State Park, Mt. Olivet Road, Kingston Township. Registration 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at Pavilion 3. Cost is $20 and includes a t-shirt while supplies last. Proceeds go to the Kelci Ever After Fund at the Luzerne Foundation which distributes funds annually to local non-profits and charities.

From page 5

Events

Submitted photoStoryteller Frank Little Bear will be on hand during the Arts at Hayfield Summer Festival at Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 25.

I’ve been at a loss for words all week.

It’s not a great position to be in as a writer.

But I think a lot of Pennsylvanians can relate, especially those in the Catholic Church.

Since the grand jury report on clergy sex abuse was published Tuesday, our state has made headlines across the globe. It’s been the largest-scale grand jury report of its kind, and the details contained within the pages are without a doubt gruesome, heart-breaking and depraved.

My mother told me she never thought she would see the day that she would read some of those words on the front page of a newspaper.

To be fair, she never thought she would be reading about priests molesting, raping and abusing children either.

It’s caused shock waves in a lot of communities.

For so long, the church stood at the center of a community. Priests were revered and respected. Often, we would turn to them in times of tragedy, loss and grief.

If we can’t trust them, who can we trust?

This past week, I’ve read through countless pages of the report, in part because of the reporting I did on the matter, but partly because I couldn’t stop reading. As someone

who grew up in the Cath-olic Church, I couldn’t believe what I was read-ing. Up until this week, the history of abuse within the church was something that happened everywhere else but here. Like so many people in my family or in the news-room, it was hard to read names and parishes so familiar to us.

For those who followed my Weekender column, it’s no secret that I left the church years ago. It’s not something I’ve been shy about, and this week brought up a lot of conversations about the Catholic Church.

To be clear, nothing about my decision to leave is because of any abuse I encountered.

I was never abused or in a position to know of any abuse in my parish.

I grew up in a Catholic family, and spent a good amount of time in the church. I wasn’t to miss a Sunday service, no excuses.

Even so, abuse was nothing I had even heard whispers of.

Looking through the report, my childhood par-ish, St. Thomas Aquinas, only comes up a handful of times. From what I read, no abuse occurred while any priest was serv-ing there, it was just one of the many parishes that abusers were shuffled through.

Some names were

familiar to me, others left long before I was born.

In fact, a lot of these cases happened long before I walked this Earth, but struck me all the same.

I kept asking myself how this was allowed to happen.

And for so long.I wondered how many

other priests had abused children who never spoke up.

I wondered what would be said this past weekend during sermons, how pastors would handle the news and how parishio-ners would respond.

My mother said she heard an older man at work say he threw out his donation envelopes.

My decision was made years ago. I went to church on Christmas for my mother, but that will stop this year.

The reaction hasn’t all been as harsh as that.

Scrolling through Twitter the other day, I saw someone post that they weren’t Catholic because of a priest, a bishop, the pope or the physical building of a par-ish. Rather, their faith is placed solely in God.

And I envy that posi-tion. Those whose faith is that steadfast and strong are admirable.

I’m not there in my faith. Maybe I never will be.

Certainly, this past week hasn’t brought me any closer to that goal.

Reach Brigid Edmunds-Lawrence at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @brigidedmunds

Grand jury report heartbreaking even for an ex-Catholic

Brigid Edmunds-Lawrence

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Wednesday: 8/22/2018

Bar Louie: DJ the DJ

Hogs Hollow: Brooke n Kevin 7pm

The Woodlands: Heartbeat

Thursday: 8/23/2018

Bar Louie: Lightweight

Mohegan Sun Pocono Down: Party on the Patio: Bon Jersey

Molly O’Sheas: Bill Hoffman

The Woodlands: Bret Alexander & Eddie Appnel

Friday: 8/24/2018

Bar Louie: Graces Downfall Duo

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Grotto Pizza Edwardsville: Hagan & Company 8:00pm

Grotto Pizza Harveys Lake: Classic Rock Express 8:30pm

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Saturday: 8/25/2018

Bar Louie: Until Sunrise

Breakers: The Chatter

Grotto Pizza Harveys Lake: Funkee’s Dance Band 8:00pm

Hogs Hollow: Halfway to Hell (AC/DC Tribute) 6:30pm;

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Molly O’Sheas: Adam McKinley

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