Embracing the natural life … Barry Kaplan claims that no matter where you are, it’s what you make of it. After “wandering” the United States in the 1970s, the Scranton native never lost sight of northeastern Pennsylvania, and eventually came home to plant his roots. Kaplan is not only involved in the local real estate market, he teamed up with his...

  Faith in jazz … Bill Carter is all about jazzing up the word of God. As the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Clarks Summit and the leader of the Presbybop Quartet, Carter and his bandmates have been performing and recording jazz favorites and original compositions for years. Originally from Owego, New York, he relocated to our area in December...

He has something to say … Drew Kelly has learned to embrace the comparisons to Bob Dylan’s sound that comes his way. The 22-year-old Scranton native has been performing his original folk songs throughout the region for the past three years and will release his second album, “Running Time” later this month. You’ve most likely seen Kelly playing in...

Wheels always turning … If you’re one to gallery hop and enjoy art festivals, you’re probably familiar with some of Skip Sensbach’s work. The owner of Green Dog Pottery in Dallas, Sensbach is an award-winning ceramic artist who is well-known for pieces featuring a lovely fern pattern, and for sculptures that are larger than life. We recently caught...

The art of the game … Johnny Braz has married his love of sports with his love of filmmaking, and the combination couldn’t be better. We caught up with Braz just a few days before the premier of his latest labor of love, Play It Again. The film chronicles the events of the Dunmore-Mid Valley girls’ basketball rivalry and their historic face-off in the...

Always good to see him … Whether he’s racing to a house fire, assisting someone suffering from cardiac arrest or responding to a “kittens in the drain pipe” call, Christopher Mooney is always ready to help. A staff member of the Kingston/Forty-Fort Fire Department, we caught up with Mooney at the station to talk about the 2012 Fight For Air Climb...

The art of storytelling … If you notice film crews in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas this month, it’s likely you’ll be seeing filmmaker Christian Huennebeck and his team. Huennebeck, a native of Berlin, Germany who now calls Scranton his home, and Blakely native John Kilker of Water Gap Pictures, are in the process of bringing The Paragon...

Guiding Light? … Dickson City resident Julia Treat is a medium willing to heal and help people in search of answers and spiritual guidance. The daughter of a Baptist minister, Treat grew up in South Dakota and relocated to northeastern Pennsylvana eight years ago while looking for a big change in her life. After attending a local conference, the mountains...

An eye for design … Michael Gilmartin loves design, art, history and the people and places of northeastern Pennsylvania. He taught art in the Abington Heights School district for 35 years and has been an active volunteer in the greater Scranton community for many years. So it’s quite fitting that he would be among the group of volunteers creating Dinner...

King of the ice … Mark Crouthamel is surrounded by lions, tigers, giraffes and a 40’ elephant tusk slide sculpted out of blocks of ice that he and his staff at Sculpted Ice Works have been working on for the African Safari themed “Crystal Cabin Fever.” This event was created to cure the cabin fever people often feel in February, and features dozens...