Bethlehem Press

Marcie Lightwood, from the Institute for Jewish - Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College, led a workshop on developing good listening skills at the South Side branch of the Bethlehem Public Library recently. Janine Santoro, from branch adult services, said she felt there was a need in the community to address the current polarized political climate. “No one is listening to anybody,” she lamented.

The Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission granted a certificate of appropriateness for an ambitious project to convert the former Lehigh Valley Cold Storage facility at 321 Adams St. into 30 apartments during the Sept. 18 Banana Factory meeting. Lehigh University, which owns the warehouse, was represented by developers Charlie Jefferson and Duane Wagoner from Jefferson-Weiner LLC and architect Tom Gerchk. Named “Brinker Lofts” in tribute to the cold storage company’s founder Adam Brinker, the massive five-story red brick 1890s era structure fills the block between E.

“Digest,” through Oct, 17, the Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley, Center Valley, is the free-form creation of Allentown artists Daisuke Shintani and Atsuko Tajima.

“This is our painting in the air. Our floating forms are created in some way similar to improvising music.” according to Shintani’s and Tajima’s artists’ statement.

“We divided the room diagonally with a lighter side and a darker side,” Shintani said at the Sept. 7 opening reception.

Visiting University of Hong Kong professor Ian Holliday brought a selection of 10 contemporary paintings by Myanmar artists for the exhibit, “Altered State: Painting Myanmar in a Time of Transition” in the Galleria, Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College.

While visiting and studying Myanmar as a political science professor, Holliday began collecting contemporary paintings from artists he met.

In a talk he gave at Muhlenberg, Holliday described how Burma, a former British colony, later renamed Myanmar, was ruled by repressive military-backed regimes from 1962-2011.

The Baum School of Art has awarded full, half and quarter scholarships to nearly 60 students from age five through 17 during the closing reception of their “Children and Teen Student Exhibition” in the David E. Rodale and Rodale Family Galleries.

Executive director Shannon Fugate emceed the event, where event sponsors Mike and Wendy Stout of Stout Associates, LLC presented certificates to the enthusiastic scholarship recipients. Full tuition scholarships were given to art students through the Allentown Neighborhood Arts Program.

A poker run hosted by the Iron Order Motorcycle Club (IOMC) raised money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley (PCFLV) July 22. Riders primarily from the Berks County-based Blacksheep chapter enjoyed sunshine and moderate temperatures for a scenic drive that began at the East Penn Diner on Chestnut Street in Emmaus. After stopping off at Hannah’s Hanover Inn, Little Oley Tavern and Bally Hotel, the bikers returned to the diner.

For Julian Phillips, chronic pain is an everyday fact of life. Nothing in Phillips’ active childhood years in England, where he was born, indicated that he would later be living a life of constant physical agony.

September is “Pain Awareness Month” in the United States. Phillips again this year brought the American Chronic Pain Association awareness program to the attention of the board of commissioners in Salisbury Township, where he resides. Township commissioners agreed to allow “Pain Awareness Month” signs to be placed in the township.

Christine Ussler from Artefact, Inc., was granted certificates of appropriateness for project proposals for the four proprieties she represented at the Historical and Architectural Review Board hearing Sept. 6.

With Chairman Fred Bonsall unable to attend, vice chair Philip Roeder took charge of the meeting held in the Rotunda.

Golazo House at 123 W. Fourth St. was the first of three small businesses to be granted certificates of appropriateness for signage by the Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission during the Aug. 21 Banana Factory meeting. Represented by co-owner Javier Alvarado, approval received to install a solid or cutout metal sign featuring the name and logo. The building owned by Jose and Rafaela Nunez was the former home of Horns Restaurant. Alvarado was also given the option to repaint the windowless front door red or to replace it with one having a three-quarter window.

Students from Freedom and Liberty high schools volunteered time from their summer break to run a three-day sports camp for Bethlehem area elementary students July 10, 12 and 14. BASD Mini-Thon members partnered with the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley to organize the event. Athletes from the Freedom and Liberty varsity teams provided instruction in the basics of field hockey, baseball, football, cheerleading, lacrosse and volleyball to the eager day campers, who ranged in age from 5 to 11 years old.