The Institute at Renfrew is a non-profit organization serving the region with outdoor programming in environmental education, interpretation of a historic Pennsylvania German farmstead and a widevariety of family events. Activities are conducted on the site of Renfrew Museum and Park. (Please note that The Institute at Renfrew operates independently from Renfrew Museum and Park.)
The mission of The Institute at Renfrew is to guide the people of the Cumberland Valley region to become stewards of their natural and cultural worlds.To achieve its mission, the Institute:
• provides environmental and cultural education to elementary and secondary school children,
• supports and conducts research about natural and cultural history,
• provides opportunities for adults to learn about the nature and culture of the region and the world,
• presents programs that inform and entertain the community.
JOB SUMMARY: The early childhood environmental educator is responsible for delivering established programs of The Institute at Renfrew (The Institute) at the preschool– 4th grade levels and developing creative new programsinto the future. The primary role of this position is to work outdoors with preschool and primary age groups.The early childhood educator must work in cooperation with co-teachers, administrators, volunteers,interns, and all other personnel of The Institute and with the staff of Renfrew Museum & Park.Availability: Position is part-time, seasonal. Educator is expected to attend training sessions and regularstaff meetings and to teach 3–5 days/week during the fall and spring teaching seasons (September–November & March–June) and winter/summer programming as needed. As new preschool program offer-ings are developed, the hours of the early childhood environmental educator will increase accordingly.
Duties and Responsibilities: Share Renfrew’s rich heritage, stories and landscape to inspire and engage stewards of the naturaland cultural world.
Renfrew Institute’s 28th annual Jazz Festival is scheduled for Sunday, August 25, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the lawn behind the Renfrew Museum house in Waynesboro, Pa. The concert features world-renowned musicians and is offered free to the public.
This year’s concert will feature the highly acclaimed Jeff “Tain” Watts Travel Band, featuring Jeff Watts on drums, Paul Bollenback on guitar, Orlando la Fleming on bass, plus special guest Grégoire Maret on harmonica.
“Each of these artists is an internationally renowned jazz musician,” said event organizer, Andrew Sussman. “This concert is an opportunity to hear these stellar jazz artists for free in beautiful Renfrew Park!”
Lead sponsor, FirstEnergy Foundation on behalf of West Penn Power, is returning this year to support the event. “We are proud to help sponsor this marvelous concert that brings extraordinarily talented jazz musicians and vocalists to our backyard for our customers and others to enjoy,” said John Rea, Regional President of West Penn Power.
Jeff “Tain” Watts spent his formative years with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and his compositional skills now command equal attention, earning Watts a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017. Watts initially majored in classical percussion at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, where he was primarily a timpanist, followed by enrollment at the Berklee School of Music. He joined the Wynton Marsalis Quartet in 1981 and proceeded to win three Grammy Awards with the ensemble: Black Codes From The Underground, J Mood and Marsalis Standard Time.
Watts left Wynton Marsalis in 1988. After working with George Benson, Harry Connick, Jr. and McCoy Tyner, he joined the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 1989, winning Grammys for “I Heard You Twice the First Time” and “Contemporary Jazz.” In the film and television industry Watts has appeared as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and as an actor, Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s “Mo Better Blues.” He joined Kenny Garrett’s band after returning to New York in 1995 and continued to record and tour with Branford Marsalis as well as Danilo Perez, Michael Brecker, Betty Carter, Kenny Kirkland, Courtney Pine, Geri Allen, Alice Coltrane, Greg Osby, McCoy Tyner, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Harry Connick, Jr., and Ravi Coltrane. http://www.tainish.com/
Grégoire Maret (harmonica) is one of the most sought after harmonica players in the world. Often compared to legends Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder, he has been asked to play with an incredible number of famous musicians including Youss N’Dour, Meshell Ndegeocello, Pete Seeger, David Sanborn, George Benson, and Cassandra Wilson, to name a few. In 2003 he was the subject of Swiss filmmaker Frédéric Baillif’s documentary, Sideman, which won several awards. In 2005, Grégoire toured with the Pat Metheny Group, receiving a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for their album “The Way Up.” He also won the Jazz Journalists Association ‘Player of the Year Award.’
After his Grammy win, Maret embarked on a two-year tour with the world class bassist Marcus Miller and subsequently joined Herbie Hancock’s band. Following his time with Hancock, he co-led the jazz trio Gaïa with pianist Federico Gonzales Peña and drummer Gene Lake. In 2010, Maret played at The Concert for the Rainforest with Elton John and Sting. In addition to those already mentioned, Maret has played and/or recorded with Prince, Little Jimmy Scott, Diane Reeves, Toots Thielemans, Terri Lynne Carrington, Tito Puente, Kurt Elling, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Mike Stern, Charlie Hunter, Béla Fleck, Kenny Werner, and many others.
Paul Bollenback (guitar) started his music career in 1981, and has performed as a sideman with a wide range of jazz luminaries, including artists as diverse as Stanley Turrentine, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Steve Gadd, Gary Bartz, David “Fathead” Newman, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Joe Locke, Jack McDuff, James Moody, Jim Snidero, Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis, Paul Bley, Geoffrey Keezer, Mike LeDonne, Carol Sloane, Chris McNulty, Gary Thomas, Grady Tate, and in the group, East Meets Jazz with the renowned tabla virtuoso Sandip Burman, to name a few. He is known for his versatility, and also for an influential 20-year stint with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco.
Bollenback performed on over 80 recordings as a sideman, and has released eight CDs as a leader. A busy performance schedule has been augmented since the late ’90s by steady jazz education duties at Columbia University, Queens College, and The New School. Bollenback is also a composer whose pieces have appeared on Joey DeFrancesco’s Reboppin’ and on the Jazz Times Superband CD. His most recent recording, Portraits in Space and Time (Mayimba Music), with his trio, was released in 2014. Bollenback resides in the New York City area.
Orlando le Fleming (bass) is counted among the most proficient and accomplished bassists in the field of contemporary jazz. His facility as an improviser and capacity as a team player were first honed not on the bandstand, nor in the practice room, but on the cricket pitch. Originally from the UK, Orlando seemed destined for an athletic career, and was briefly a professional cricketer, until he was granted a place at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and his lifelong passion for music won out. Le Fleming’s 2003 move to New York City was a timely one. Soon after arriving stateside, Le Fleming joined Jane Monheit’s band, consequently sharing the bass duties on her 2004 release Taking a Chance on Love with Ron Carter and Christian McBride; the year following, he recorded with jazz legend Jimmy Cobb on his Marsalis Music Honors release. Greatly in demand, he has worked with Branford Marsalis, Leslie Odom, Jr., Wayne Krantz, Joey Calderazzo, Bill Charlap, Billy Cobham, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and David Sanchez among others. His latest endeavor as a leader, Romantic Funk, presents a pastiche of classic fusion sounds and ideas, updated by Le Fleming’s signature palette of polyrhythm and abstract exploration.
Support for this event was provided by lead sponsor, FirstEnergy Foundation on behalf of West Penn Power. In addition, Renfrew Institute receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Further sponsors include The Hamilton Family Foundation on behalf of Hamilton Nissan and Hamilton Hyundai, Franklin County Visitors Bureau, Stephen D. Fisher, and Renfrew Institute’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; the John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation; APX Enclosures, Inc.; The Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support is provided courtesy of Renfrew Museum and Park.
Parking is available behind the visitors center, with additional parking in the lower lot off Welty Road. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets, and picnics are welcome. Rain site: Waynesboro Area Middle School auditorium.
Children are invited to explore Renfrew Institute’s four-square garden in the Summer Institute program, “Down a Garden Path.” The program, designed for children completing grades K–3, will be held from 9:30–11 a.m. on Thursday, July 18 at Renfrew Park in Waynesboro.
Renfrew Institute’s garden expert, Doris Goldman, will guide children as they look for hidden treasures and hunt for butterflies.
“Join in the fun as we harvest, plant seeds and discover ladybugs and other garden critters,” Goldman said. “Take home your own mini-garden and a garden craft, and learn to ‘make rain’ with watering bells. We’ll water, dig, pick and play!”
Kids should wear shoes and clothes that can get dirty.The cost is $4 per child for Renfrew Institute members, and $5 per child, non-members. Pre-registration not required, and participants should arrive 15 minutes early to register at the Visitors Center.
Underwriting support for this program provided by Max Creager, in memory of Nancy Hess Creager, and by Today’s Horizon Fund donors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; The John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation, APX Enclosures, Inc.; and The Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support is courtesy of Renfrew Museum and Park.
This program is part of Renfrew Institute’s “Summer Institute.” Information about additional summer programs for youth is available at www.renfrewinstitute.org.
Parking is available behind the visitors center, or in Renfrew’s lower lot off Welty Road. In case of rain or for more information, please call the Institute at 717-762-0373.
Renfrew Institute hosts a production of William Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors on Saturday, June 15 at 5:30 p.m., at Renfrew Park in Waynesboro, Pa. (Rain location: Waynesboro Area Middle School.)
The performance is free and open to the public. A Comedy of Errors is the second Shakespeare in the Park production by the Maryland Entertainment Group (MEG) of Hagerstown to be presented at Renfrew Park.
“This show represents the institute’s continued effort to bring Shakespeare in the Park back to our local community,” said Tracy Holliday, executive director of Renfrew Institute.
A Comedy of Errors is a farce about two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth. Twins Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse—along with their twin servants, Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse—find themselves in the same town, unaware of each other’s existence. Chaos ensues as identities are mistaken, false accusations are made, and puns run rampant.
Among Shakespeare’s shortest comedies, the play was written in the early years of Shakespeare’s career, relying heavily on slapstick and word play.
Director Sam Little has created a novel twist for the comedy. “Comedy of Errors is already a really funny show by itself, but we wanted to up the ante by doing a little gender swapping,” Little said. “Shakespeare is great at creating power dynamics between the sexes in his plays. We found that when you swap the sexes of the original characters it provides a whole new perspective on the roles we place on gender in society throughout history and also provides another level of comedic potential in the play. The result is both thought-provoking and hysterical.”
The cast includes Jacob Reese (Dromio of Ephesus), Jacob Waeyaert (Dromio of Syracuse), Megan Siebeneichen (Antiphola of Ephesus) and Anne Hunt (Antiphola of Syracuse).
The production debuts a new partnership between the Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library and Renfrew Institute, Novel Reels LIVE! The Novel Reels program, combining free books and free movies, began three years ago as a way of helping young people make the connection between movies on screen and the books they read.
Novel Reels LIVE! expands to live performances with the Shakespeare in the Park production. Those attending will get a free copy of A Comedy of Errors, plus a certificate inviting them to the library at 45 E. Main St. to receive a free copy of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
“A summer evening at Renfrew and Shakespearian comedy is already a winning combination,” Holliday said, “but when you add free copies of not only one, but two, of the Bard’s plays, this makes the event even more special.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnics as they enjoy Shakespeare under a summer sky.
The performance is presented with support from an anonymous donor, and from Keller, Keller, Beck & Ross, LLC, Ghost Writer, John & Dudley Keller, Center Square Real Estate Settlement Services, Kulla, Barkdoll & Stewart, P.C., and Renfrew Institute’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation, The John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation, APX Enclosures, Inc., and The Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin.
“Be a Hero!” is the theme for Renfrew Institute’s 30th annual Youth Festival on Sunday, May 26 from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Renfrew Park in Waynesboro, Pa. The event is free and open to the public.Geared for kids of all ages, the event features a variety of workshops, demonstrations, activities, and entertainment throughout the day.“Heroes are found in all walks of life—we are celebrating community heroes, first responders, pet rescuers, and many more everyday heroes,” said Jessica Watson, the institute’s assistant director. “Kids will enjoy an interactive experience that is fun and educational.”
In keeping with the theme, the featured guest entertainment, at 2:15 p.m., will be “Heroic King Arthur and the Sword and the Stone,” performed by members of the Maryland Entertainment Group (MEG).The fast-paced show performed by two actors playing multiple roles tells the story of how Arthur becomes King. The tale of young Arthur is full of castles, wizards, magic, and a special feat that earns Arthur the crown.“This is a fun, interactive, and kid-friendly tale of The Sword in the Stone, where an unlikely hero becomes the champion of his people,” Watson said. MEG’s mission is to provide “exceptional and relevant performing and visual arts to the greater Hagerstown area and surrounding community, for the purposes of diversifying and enriching the artistic offerings in the area, providing opportunities for artists and performers, and cultivating a broader arts audience.”
At 4:30 p.m. the Waynesboro Children’s Theatre Troupe returns to its roots with a revue of favorite show tunes, featuring a selection of Broadway classics and songs from the stage and screen. A Hero Hunt will celebrate 30 years of Youth Fest—kids can search for 30 special wooden necklaces hidden throughout the lower park. (Please, one find per family.)
Workshops and fun activities run from 1:00–2:00 p.m. and 3:30–4:30 p.m. and are open to all ages.and include:
• Paper Bag Hero: Create your own “paper bag hero puppet” to display on the Art Clothesline, with Amber Naugle.
• Stories that Save the Day: Enjoy stories of victors and avengers with Alexander Hamilton Memorial Library.
• Protectors of our Planet: Kathy Helfrick and Jane Glenn will lead park citizens in a fun environmental project, making “Flower Seed Bombs.”
• Fantastic Beasts: Observe diverse critters you know and love from your own backyard, up close with Sheila and Bryan Eyler.
• Ambulance Avengers: Meet the heroes of Waynesboro Ambulance Squad who save lives every day in our community.
• Super Sensory Powers: Explore special sensory packets to enhance fine motor play skills with First Start Partnerships for Children & Families.
• Pollinators for the Planet: Keep the buzz going when Kim Sheffler leads a Mason Bee Home project.
• Paddling for Peace & Justice: Charge your way through the waterway as you paddle a stretch of our own Antietam Creek with Mr. Mike Dudash as your guide. (Bring water shoes, dry clothes and a towel for after your paddle.)Youth
Children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, contact the institute at (717) 762-0373 or email to: info@renfrewinstitute.org. Fliers are available at www.renfrewinstitute.org. For those wishing to have lunch in the park, St. Andrew Catholic Church Youth Group will be hosting a food concession.
Youth Festival is underwritten in part by lead sponsors, John and Debbie Beck, and by contributions to the Today’s Horizon Fund by The Nora Roberts Foundation; The John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation; APX Enclosures, Inc.; and The Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support courtesy of Renfrew Museum. The event was organized by co-chairs Jessica McCleary and Terri Smith. Parking is available behind the visitors center, with additional parking in Renfrew’s lower lot off Welty Road. Rain location is Waynesboro Area Middle School.
