New Castle News

Local News

Related Photos

  • Isaiah Servedio, 3, tries to decide on what he’d like to eat. He is a grandson of Shenango maintenance employee Bob Servedio. Dan Irwin

    10.jpg

Related Links

Discussion

February 4, 2013

Photo Gallery, Story: Shenango chili cook-off creates scholarship money, community interaction

Dan Irwin New Castle News

NEW CASTLE — Who says you need a spaceship to travel between worlds?

Sometimes, a bowl of chili works just as well.

That, Shenango art teacher Jason Naelitz said, was the concept behind Saturday’s second annual Chili Cook-Off in the high school cafeteria.

The event was sponsored by the school’s arts, languages and life skills departments. For $10, visitors got to choose a ceramic bowl handmade by Shenango art students, try each competitor’s chili, vote for a winner and enjoy live musical entertainment, also provided by Shenango students.

“I teach digital media, so I’m really trying to advance technology,” Naelitz said. “But at the same time, you want to have something authentic, something you can touch – working with your hands, and getting your hands dirty. Making the bowls is one way to do that.

“It’s also the whole idea behind this day: to have some human contact with our students and parents. We live in an era with the Internet and everything is ‘cyber-this,’ everybody’s on the computer. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we wanted some real face time with the community; a get-together that takes place in real space instead of cyberspace.”

In addition, Naelitz explained, money raised from the event goes to a scholarship fund for students in the participating departments.

Senior Nicole Essinger, a fourth-year art student, has participated in both last year’s and this year’s programs.

“I think it’s really cool to have everyone in ceramics make their own bowls and sell them,” she said. “Last year, I made chili, too. I didn’t make any this year, but I plan on trying them. I like the spicy ones.”

Visitors to the cook-off also had the option of paying just $5 and getting a utilitarian foam bowl rather than a handmade ceramic one. Early on at least, most folks went for the upgrade. About 150 ceramic bowls were made for the meal, and just over an hour into the three-hour event, about 100 already had been purchased.

Meantime, French club students added to the affair by making crepes, and others such as Jesse DeLorenzo, Mike Gaydos and Gabriel Davis – members of the band Dime Store Novel – performed live for diners.

Ultimately, the Shenango Conservation Club’s chili was named the best of the day with 137 votes, while $800 was raised for the departments’ scholarship fund.

For Naelitz, a highlight of the event was a visit from Richard Wukich, a professor of ceramics at Slippery Rock University and Naelitz’s mentor in the medium.

“He really turned me on to ceramics, and I loved it,” Naelitz said. “I only took one ceramics class, but I found myself thinking, ‘Man, I wish I’d have taken more than one. But I’ve tried to teach myself more and more about it, and the kids love it.”

He added that his efforts are assisted by the presence of a gas kiln in the art room, “which is rare; not every school has that.”

“The guy who came before me was really specialized in ceramics,” Naelitz went on. “I took over about four or five years ago, and I have tried to keep that alive.”

(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News
  • 04.jpg Movie Memories, Part 3: The Hi-Lander and Cinema theaters were the last two New Castle movie houses to go dark

    Although the downtown once was dotted with movie theaters, one of the last to close was well up the North Hill. The 750-seat Hi-Lander opened in 1952, the result of a joint effort by two pairs of area drive-in owners: Al Tate and John Wincek (Highway 51 near Darlington, and John Favorite and Joe Glorioso (Blue Sky near Zelienople).

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo 1 Slideshow 2 Stories

  • No tax hike in Union school budget

    The Union Area School Board has introduced a $10.6 budget with no tax increase. If the $10,585,494 spending plan is approved, it will be the third year without a tax increase in the district. The property tax is at 14.42 mills.

    May 22, 2013

  • STATE_JohnBorovilos.jpg Movie Memories, Part 2: Monsters, cowboys and ultimately, sex, were staples at State Theater

    Second in a series: Daily through Memorial Day, the New Castle News will be looking back at some of the city’s now-defunct movie theaters. These movie houses will be seen primarily through the eyes of New Castle natives with ties to them — including “Mister Movie” himself, Leo Mickey. Today: The State Theater
     

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo 1 Slideshow 1 Story

  • VICTOR_01.jpg Movie Memories, Part 1: Victor one of many long-gone local theaters

    First in a series: Today through Memorial Day, the New Castle News will be looking back at some of the city’s now-defunct movie theaters. These movie houses will be seen primarily through the eyes of New Castle natives with ties to them — including “Mister Movie” himself, Leo Mickey. Today: The Victor
     

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo 1 Slideshow

  • vote.jpg Our Opinion: Make the most of your power to vote by casting ballot tomorrow

    So what kind of turnout will there be for tomorrow’s primary? Recent history suggests somewhere between low and lousy. This year’s elections are devoted to local races, and there are few major ones being contested in the primary.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • Relay for Life set for next week

    New Castle’s Relay for Life will kick off at 7 p.m. May 31 on the track at Shenango High School’s Glen “Pop” Johnston Stadium. Relay for Life is an organized, overnight fundraising walk for the American Cancer Society.

    May 20, 2013

  • Sorg.jpg New Castle News names new publisher

    Sharon A. Sorg is no stranger to hometown newspapers. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s been selected to lead the newspaper in her hometown. Sorg has been named publisher of the New Castle News, which is just a few miles from her residence in Pulaski Township.

    May 18, 2013 1 Photo

  • Disney.tiff Rockin’ Recess: Laurel youngsters earn a morning of music, health education

    Hands clapping. Arms waving. Crowd chanting. That was the scene at Laurel Elementary School yesterday morning. Laurel beat out four other school districts in the UPMC For Kids and Radio Disney-sponsored “Attendance Counts” competition.

    May 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • Memorial service scheduled

    The annual Croton Memorial Service will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Croton Honor Roll. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly will be the guest speaker.

    May 17, 2013

  • Russo.jpg John Russo Jr. Remembered: Colleagues salute former councilman

    Honest and dedicated. That is how those who knew John Russo Jr. well described him after his passing Tuesday. Russo served as a member of New Castle City Council for more than 17 years at four different times from 1985 through 2009.

    May 16, 2013 1 Photo