DP Features

July 6, 2008

There’s plenty to do

From singing anchorman to blacksmith demonstrations

By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com

There’s plenty to do at this year’s Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction besides bid on antiques. Live entertainment, food, friends, children’s activities and much more are lined up for every night.

Many locals are familiar with WNEP-TV anchor and reporter Mike Lewis who has co-anchored the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts since 1999. But not everyone knows he’s also a Nashville recording artist.

Lewis will sing a selection from one of his CDs at the auction on Saturday night and will then auction off copies of his CDs.

The singer and songwriter released his debut six-song CD titled “Umbrellas in the Sun” in 2003. He sold copies of the CD and donated all of his profit to the Northeast Pennsylvania Boys and Girls Club. “One Teardrop Falls” was Lewis’ second CD and was released in 2004. He worked with producer Steve Gibson on the 10-song CD, co-writing one song with singer and songwriter Gene Cotton.

Throughout 2006 and 2007, Lewis returned to Nashville to once again work with Gibson and, as a result, created the CD “Save the Day.” Lewis co-wrote the song “I Say Fly” with Cotton.

Skip Sensbach, who owns Green Dog Pottery with his wife, Kirsten, will be at the auction every night. A Dallas resident, Sensbach will do functional stoneware pottery demonstrations and offer his pottery for sale. This year, he is focusing on large forms and will construct 36-inch pots. All of his pottery is usable.

In addition, Sensbach will lead a make-and-take pottery craft from 5 to 6 p.m. on Thursday (Family Night) with children at the auction.

“When I’m there (at the auction), it’s as if it’s my studio,” Sensbach said.

The Sensbachs opened Green Dog Pottery together 12 years ago. For years, Sensbach worked out of his home, but in 2005, Green Dog moved to a studio on Main Street in Dallas. Kirsten, who helps with paperwork, is not an artist but works as a physical therapist.

At the end of 2007, Sensbach closed Green Dog for about two months when he donated one of his kidneys to his father, Howard. The older Sensbach, who lives in Naples, Fla., lost a kidney to cancer 12 years ago and, when his remaining kidney began to lose function for an unknown reason last year, he was going to be put on a donor waiting list. After a series of tests, however, it was discovered the younger Sensbach’s kidney was a match.

“Honestly for me, it was emotionally draining,” the younger Sensbach said. “Just getting through the testing was harder than I thought it would be. It starts with a blood test and progresses to a series of tests. When you know you’re the only one, it takes a lot more emotional stress on me for each test. At any point you can just get knocked out. Never having surgery before, the surgery was harder than I had anticipated. Even on the morning of surgery, even though I knew I passed all these tests, there wasn’t a sigh of relief until I woke up from the surgery and my kidney was gone.”

It has been seven months since the surgery and both father and son are doing well.

When Sensbach reopened his studio after the surgery, he cut back on his number of students.

“I’m really excited about the new work I’ve been doing since I came back in January,” he said. “I came back with a much different perspective and we’ve been running the studio a lot differently. We were much more student-oriented before. Now, I wanted to explore and have time for myself.”

On Friday and Saturday nights, Merle Eiffert, of Fassett, Pa. will do blacksmith demonstrations. He will have a fire going at the auction and will pound iron.

Eiffert, 43, got into ironwork about 20 years ago when a blacksmith, whose name he does not remember, needed help shoeing horses at the Endless Mountains Dressage Club. Now, Eiffert makes different types of decorative iron work, including handles, nails and even roses. Some of his work will be for sale at the auction.

“You know us boys and fire,” Eiffert laughed. “It’s really quite fun. It’s just a relaxing hobby.”

Sunday night brings artist Cheryl Korb, of Dalton, to the auction where she will sell her folk art paintings and woven rugs.

Back Mountain Memorial Library Director Martha Butler met Korb last August at the Arts at Hayfield at Penn State Wilkes-Barre in Lehman Township and asked Korb if she would bring her work to this year’s auction.

Korb, 50, has been a professional artist for over 20 years.

“I got the loom so I could stay home with my kids when they were little and still make money and it just took off from there,” she said.

The 1930s loom was originally purchased by a man named Alex Caesare, of Taylor, so he could support himself enough to quit working in the coal mines. Korb saw the loom advertised in the classifieds and bought it from Caesare for $75. She taught herself how to weave from the loom’s original instruction booklet. In addition to weaving, she enjoys painting local scenes, especially animals, barns and stone walls.

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