16 Year Old Dish Washer Helps Found Local Theater Company!

Second Taunt Theatre Company Founders at rehearsal.

I have another bright young employee to brag on today! 16 year old Sarah Paulson is mostly behind the scenes at the Franklin Inn washing dishes and attending to kitchen duties. But, this weekend she'll take center stage as Helena in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream put on by the Second Taunt Theatre Company.

The Second Taunt Theatre Company was recently formed by Sarah along with three friends (Annie, Joanna, and Mathilda - age 16-17). The girls became acquainted through Saltworks Theater and, with a shared love of Shakespeare, decided that A Midsummer Night's Dream would be the first performance. After many planning sessions in the Paulson living room and with a cast of youth ranging in age from 7 to 17, The Second Taunt Theatre Company will be putting on their show this weekend. The whole production is planned, organized, and performed by the kids.

The show is free; however, donations will be accepted for World Vision's Clean Water fund (Click here to find out more about the fund). The girls learned of the need for life-saving clean water while Mathilda was volunteering at World Vision and it touched their hearts.

Check out Second Taunt Theatre's premiere performance and support the efforts of these young people and their community theater. The show is only an hour and fifteen minutes long. The location is conveniently just a block south of the Franklin Inn. Join us afterwards for a late dinner or dessert. Here is the information that the Second Taunt Theatre Company has provided for me:

Looking for something to do ... that's FREE?

Want to support a good cause?

Feeling blue because summer is slipping away?

Second Taunt Theater Company presents

William Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream

Friday, August 19 or
Saturday, August 20
6:00pm

Heritage Presbyterian Church OUTDOOR Chapel

Rain location: Fellowship Hall @ Heritage

2262 Rochester Road, Franklin Park, PA 15237

Admission: FREE

Donations will be accepted to benefit World Vision's Clean Water Fund.

Performed in an enchanted amphitheater nestled in the woods.
There are benches, but feel free to bring blankets and pillows!

When you bring four mixed-up lovers, a band of bumbling actors,
and a few mischievous faeries to a clearing in the woods, you're bound for excitement!

Second Taunt Theatre Company is a student-run organization.
From the actors to the director to the help, everyone is between the ages of 7 and 17.

Directed by Annie Utterback
Stage Managed by Joanna Weiss
Costumes/Props by Olivia Weiss

-Cast-
Hermia - Mathilda Savocchia
Lysander - George Burnet
Demetrius - Kevin Compliment
Helena - Sarah Paulson
Titania - Kaye Burnet
Oberon - Amber Flevaris
Puck - Kathryn Human
Nick Bottom - Eddie Miller
Peter Quince - Kate Stratmann
Tom Snout - Sara Lewis
Robin Starveling - Ryan Hilberg
Francis Flute - John Paulson
Snug / Egeus - A.J. Savocchia
Theseus- Jay Hadfield
Hippolyta - Emily Wilson
Philostrate / Faerie - Janine Paulson
Faerie Assistant - Mary Elena Savocchia

Come and enjoy free community theater, support a good cause, and experience Shakespeare like you've never seen it before!

Thank you!

We raised $600 Together for the Ride for Ryan Fundraiser. Thank you so much for participation.

First Stop on the Ride For Ryan.....The Franklin Inn

The First Stop before the Ride for Ryan begins is Tuesday, July 26, at the Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant. Bring this coupon to the Inn for lunch or dinner and 20% of your bill will be donated to the Ryan Diviney Special Needs Trust.  You can enjoy a nice meal and help a family in need. Why are we doing this? Read on....

One of our regular Franklin Inn patrons and a good friend, John Maletta, is spearheading the Ride for Ryan to  benefit the medical needs of Ryan Diviney. The Ride is made up of a group of Clarion friends touched by the needs of the Diviney family. These men will be cycling 320-miles on the rail trail from Pittsburgh-to-Washington, DC the first week of August fueled by pledges from family and friends. All of the funds raised will assist the Diviney family with medical bills for their son, Ryan, who was a victim of senseless violence.

Maletta and John (Cibula) attended Clarion University with Ryan's father, Ken Diviney.  Twenty-year-old Ryan was a scholar student at West Virginia University. In November of 2009, he was savagely beaten and left for dead in a convenience store parking lot in Morgantown. Ryan is currently in an eyes-open coma with serious brain damage.

Maletta explains, "The past twenty months have been a living hell for Ken and his family. It is tremendously painful to watch them go through this life altering experience. Ken has had to quit his job in order to be Ryan's full-time caretaker. The Diviney's medical insurance doesn't even come close to covering their medical expenses for Ryan's treatments and their medical debt is mounting."

When Maletta approached us and asked if there was anything we could do through the Inn to help get the word out about his ride and the situation with the Diviney family, we of course, agreed. So, the first stop in preparation for the Ride for Ryan will be at the Franklin Inn on Tuesday, July 26.  Bring this coupon to the Inn (click here), and we'll donate 20% of your bill to Ryan Diviney's Special Needs Trust. This money will go directly to paying for Ryan's medical needs.

If you can't visit the Franklin Inn on Tuesday, July 26th, you can send your donation directly to:

Ryan Diviney Special Needs Trust
℅ Ashburn Village Sports Pavilion
20585 Ashburn Village Boulevard
Ashburn, VA 20147
NOTE: Please make checks payable to: Ryan Diviney SNT and put "Ride for Ryan" in the memo section of your check.

You can learn more about Ryan's story by viewing his web site at www.ryansrally.org

Thank you for your support.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Franklin Inn has Our Own Zorro!

Brendon (left) at the Holy Grail 2011 Tournament.

You’ve probably met Brendon Beatty during one of your visits to the Franklin Inn.  He’s been with us for several years and can be seen mostly serving and sometimes even cooking (probably because he likes the shiny sharp objects in the kitchen!) This soft spoken server has another side unrelated to food….he’s a master swordsman.  That’s right! He is the Franklin Inn’s very own Zorro!

Brendon is actually a Champion Fencer, Master Swordsman, and USFCA Certified Instructor with years of experience in tournament competition and teaching others.  He is the former coach of the then Championship winning Taylor Allderdice Fencing Team (My Alma mater by the way!). He continues to share his knowledge and history of the sport he loves through his Corsair School of Arms.

Leanne at the Tiger Fencing,
Women's Foil Competition.

Corsair stands for Club of Renaissance Swordsmanship and Interpretive Reenactment.  Corsair provides both Sport Fencing and Historical Fencing (Dueling) with period weapons. I told you he’s our Zorro! I visited one of his practices and was surprised to see that it was multi-generational not just kids and teens.  I should also note that Corsair is not just for the boys. In fact, another Franklin Inner is also involved and receiving accolades: Leanne Woods looks sweet and smiley when she is serving you a margarita but she is a worthy opponent as evidenced by her progress in the sport. In their last competition at the Holy Grail 2011 Tournament the Corsair Team entered with a Mixed Saber Team and won first place. Corsair will be competing again July 30^th at the 2011 Keystone Tournament Games in Hershey, PA. Good Luck Brendon, Leanne and the rest of Team Corsair.

Brendon's dad, Vince (middle)

During my visit to Corsair’s practice, I was warmly welcomed by Brendon’s father, Vince.  He enthusiastically explained what we were observing, the various weapons used and the history of fencing (like why fencers wear white...see http://usfencing.org/resources/fencing-facts for the answer to that and some cool fencing facts). I was hooked and intrigued by the eloquence of this sport and how it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood authors, Dumas, whose stories brought romantic ideals alive for me…the struggle between good and evil, the triumph of truth, forgiveness, noble intentions, honor and true love. Hoping to live vicariously through my children, I just about begged them to be my three little musketeers and give fencing a try.  Alexandre who? The Count of What? They’re in a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” reading world. My mention of the Princess Bride and Zorro was also met with a blank stare. I switched tactics and told Joey that he would learn to battle like a Jedi with his light saber and reminded the girls of how much they loved the Barbie and the Musketeers movie.  That sparked some interest!

Corsair Saber Team at Holy Grail 2011.

Setting aside the romantic notions of the classics or images of modern pop movie heroes engaged in battle; fencing in reality is a great sport to stay fit mentally and physically.  You’ll also learn hand eye coordination, balance, stamina, agility, and what "En garde" really means.  Consider visiting Brendon to find out more about fencing. You will be fascinated by his and his father's fencing knowledge. Corsair currently meets at Heritage Church just a block south of the Franklin Inn.  Most recently, practices are held on Monday and Thursday nights but the schedule does change occasionally, so contact Brendon for updated days and times. He can be reached at brenjamin@yahoo.com or corsairfencing.info. Feel free to ask Brendon about Corsair next time you visit the Franklin Inn as well.  He's at the restaurant at some point (pun intended) most days of the week.

Happier Waiting at the Inn?

“NoWait” is One New Way We Are Striving
to Improve Our Service to You

We love you and appreciate that you are willing to wait to eat at the Franklin Inn on busy nights, but we want to do better by you if we can. Most of you don’t mind chatting in the bar with a margarita until your table is available. For others who have children (I know....we have three!) or places to go, a wait can be more difficult.  Folks currently seated need time to enjoy their meal from appetizers to dessert without feeling rushed but we also know that you are in our door way waiting to be seated too. Enter “NoWait.”  A cool new ipad tool developed locally to help better manage the seating list resulting in a happier wait.

Now, when you visit the Franklin Inn on a night where a wait list has developed: 
You’ll check in with the host as usual. In addition, she'll ask for your cell phone number to text you when your table is ready. The host will send you a text with your estimated time. This gives you freedom of movement! You can enjoy a margarita at the bar, wait on our patio, read a magazine article in your car, take the kids for a walk along Oakleaf Lane, etc.  You may even have enough time to run a quick errand or return to your nearby home to pick up the teen who was still fixing her hair when you left! You don’t have to worry about missing the host yelling out your name or have the nuisance of holding on to or being out of range with one of those traditional clunky restaurant pagers.  Just keep your cell phone on and handy (and keep in mind the host’s estimated time before you go too far!).  When you get the table-is-ready-text, return to the host to be seated. Or, you can text back and say that you’re not ready to be seated. We'll return you to the list and seat the next group. It's that simple. I'm told that any cell phone or smart phone with texting capabilities should work.

After your meal, you’ll receive another text from us asking you if you'd like to opt into our text message service to receive updates and other special offers.  If you decline, your phone number is wiped out of the system. If you do opt in, however, you may receive additional goodies from us occasionally. (The best deal is to join our email program, the Inn Crowd, where you'll receive the eInnSider Update, birthday certificates and more.)  We will never ever misuse or give your contact information to anyone else.  

What happens if you don't have a phone with texting capability? No problem. Just stay close by and the host will call out your name when your table is ready. Our intent is simply to serve you better.

“NoWait” offers you more freedom of movement with a more pleasant wait. We'll be testing this program for the next six months to see if you are better served through the use of it.  Bear with us as we work through the initial kinks and all hosts are trained. Let us know what you think of it once you’ve had the opportunity to experience “NoWait.”  We appreciate your input.

We'll be at Cocktails & Cuisine Benefit for Crisis Center North Tonite!

What are you doing this weekend? John, Carrie, Cody and I are headed to the Cocktails and Cuisine Benefit for Crisis Center North. If you are attending, stop by the Franklin Inn table and say, "hi." We'll be serving Potato Pepper Soup and Chorizo Bites. It should be a fun night. And, it looks like we are going to have great weather.

Visit their website or check out this video to find out more about the great work that Crisis Center North is doing.



If you aren't attending, join Mari Kay and the rest of the gang at the Inn. We have a great weekend lined up and, of course, your menu favorites are also available.Check out the weekend features here: http://www.franklininn.net/Franklinspecials1.htm.

Congratulations Kristen!

Pictured above (pun intended) is the Inn's own multi-talented, Kristen Thomas. Her photo to the right was selected from a few hundred photographs to be included in Point Park University's Mirrors and Windows exhibit. The caption under the photograph says: " Untitled" a Carbon Pigment Print.

Jalapeño PopCorn Recipe

Many of you have requested the recipe for our Jalapeño PopCorn. John was inspired to create it years ago when a customer raved about a pepper popcorn that he had eaten at a bowling alley. John thought to himself, "with all the fresh ingredients we have around here, we should be able to make a kick-butt spicy popcorn." Karen took over and perfected John's original recipe. I've been trying to get the details from John or Karen on how we make the Jalapeño Popcorn. Both of them give me slightly different versions (John uses fresh garlic and Karen uses garlic powder).

Ingredients:
* Vegetable Oil (amount per instructions on popcorn you use)
* Fresh Garlic thinly diced or garlic powder (if using garlic powder add at end in bowl)
* Jalapeno thinly sliced and diced (Again to taste-Karen uses about a tablespoon per half cup of kernels).
Leave a few thin round slices to impress a guest. Looks pretty but be careful about eating it unless you like it hot.
* A Good Quality Pop Corn
* Butter
* Garlic Powder and Salt to taste

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large deep pot.  If using fresh garlic add now along with diced jalapeño and popcorn kernels.  Mix and sauté until all the flavors are infused in the oil and kernels are well coated.  Kernels should start to pop. Be mindful of the directions on the brand you use. Move the cooked popcorn to a large serving bowl.  If you are using garlic powder like Karen, add it now along with salt and melted butter to taste. Heck...I love garlic so I vote for both fresh and powder in mine!

There you have it: spicy and tasty Jalapeno popcorn. We've been serving it up at the Inn for over a decade to rave reviews. Let me know if you attempt it. Or, just join us for Jalapeño PopCorn Happy Hour in our bar on Wednesdays. You can also use a Jalapeño Salt Topping, but trust me you won't get the same rich deep flavor as using the real stuff.  Enjoy!

Free Fried Ice Cream for Doing a Good Deed?

The Third Annual Race for Joe takes place a couple blocks south of the Franklin Inn (the neighborhood where John grew up) on Saturday, April 23rd.  It's a memorial 5k run/walk in memory of a local young man, Joe Guzzetti. All proceeds will benefit scholarships for graduates of North Allegheny High School.

John, the kids, and I will be participating. And, we thought we'd sweeten the deal if you would like to join us for this event.  Do a good deed, get a little exercise, brush off the winter blues, hang out with others in our community, and get a free fried ice cream.

That's right, a free fried ice cream.  One of our most popular desserts.  Join us for lunch at the Inn after the walk and we'll treat you to a free fried ice cream. Just show your server proof of participation. There will be a coupon in your runner's goodie bag. Visit our website for the full details and rules here: http://www.franklininn.net/specialevents.htm.

To register for the Walk for Joe visit their website. If you register before April 10, you will be guaranteed a t-shirt and a reduced entrance fee. The website is http://www.raceforjoe.org/index.html.

And, by the way, I will be walking not running...but knock yourself out and I'll see you for lunch and fried ice cream at the Inn!

Race for Joe

Saturday, April 23, 2011

www.raceforjoe.org

History Repeats Itself at Fire & Ice Chili Cook Off.

Franklin Inn’s Aztec Chile Wins First Place At Chile Cook Off, Again….Two Decades Later!

Several weeks ago I received a call from Denise, the Director of Development, at Anchor Point Counseling Center.  She explained that the Owners of the Shoppes at Northway had been so kind and hospitable to Anchor Point providing a nice space to store and sort books and a venue for the organization’s upcoming Used Book Sale (June 6-11).  They wanted, in turn, to support the Mall’s efforts, so Anchor Point reserved a table at Northway’s Third Annual Fire and Ice Chili Cook Off.   The problem was Anchor Point is not known for their chili (counseling, parenting workshops and tutoring-yes-but chili,nope). No recipe-confident volunteers amongst the staff stepped forward to make the chili for the competition.  So, Denise asked me if the Franklin Inn would bail them out and donate the Chili for the cook-off.

John and I decided to enter the competition with our Award Winning Aztec Chile.  We knew it would be a strong contender.  No one else has a chili like it. It’s spicy and features special ingredients like the smoky pasilla chile.  Sue Cibula (John’s mom) developed the recipe for the Inn’s popular Aztec Chile in response to an invitation to a local Chile Cook off about 20 years ago. “I thought that we ought to be able to come up with something better than the other submissions since we were a Mexican Restaurant,” she explained.   Sue and then manager, Aunt Noreen, entered the recipe in the Chile Cook off. It won over the taste buds of the judges and took first place.  The Aztec Chile was then added to the Franklin Inn’s menu and customers have been enjoying it ever since.

Denise Patsko & her nephews (L). Wendy, John, Joey, Grace & Julia Cibula (R).
BTW, The event was for the Central Blood Bank...Don't forget to give blood.

Our kitchen manager, Karen, cooked several gallons of this amazing chili for the Fire & Ice Chile Cook Off last Saturday Night and off John and I went.  The event was great fun. We were excited and flattered by the numerous return visitors to the Anchor Point table featuring the Franklin Inn’s Aztec Chile. Taster after Taster told us that our chili was the best.  The event had a better than anticipated turnout. Our Chile actually ran out way before it was over…and history repeated itself! We won the Chile Cook Off. Two decades after its first award the Aztec Chile is still a tasty winner.  Thank you to Anchor Point for choosing the Inn’s Chili to enter into the competition giving us the opportunity to prove once again that the Inn’s approach of simple fresh Mexican food made with good ingredients stands the test of time.  Join us at the Inn today for a bowl of Sue Cibula’s Award Winning Aztec Chile and taste it for yourself.