"Hills and Valleys"

You can read the second annual edition of "Hills and Valleys," our magazine of student literary/visual arts, here. It includes all the winners and runners up of our Literary Awards for high school-level students, and all the Youth Art Award winners from kindergarten on up through high school. Both groups of awards are open to Sullivan County School District students, home schoolers and Red Rock Job Corps Center residents.

Amy McGee was named first prize winner in theLiterary Awards. Her contributions - "Reaching," a tragic short story; "Another Night of Work," a reminiscence about her farm duties in a cow barn; a carefully considered essay on love and hate; a reminiscence on the city of Charlotte; and a poem on the death of her father - were unanimously chosen for the top prize by Judges Connie Hatch, Barbara Murray and Linda White. McGee, a home schooler, placed second last year.

Second prize went to last year's top winner, Megan Kiner, for two poems, one historical ("Battle Cry") and one personal ("The Inner Unreached Being - or the Soul"), plus "Torture," a deeply felt, fictionalized examination of a current social problem.

Sara Urner took third place with "Fading Voice," a poem dealing with current teen reality, and a short story, "Omnipresence of the Soul," told by an adult daughter contemplating memories of her mother.

Forth place was gained by Devin Strickland for two short stories - a science fiction piece called "Reapers" and "Part of the World," recalling hikes with an uncle - plus a descriptive poem, "A Desert Day."

Heather Geist took Honorable Mention with "Listen," a long poem on the art and personal value of hearing both sound and silence.

Runners-up included Megan Avery, MacKenna Bagley, Brianna Baumunk, Kaiti Beinlich, Thomas Blasi, Nicole Burt, Sarah Carl, C.J. Charleston, Shaina Durham, Heather Fitzgerald, Eli Henninger, Addie Jordan, Samuel Reeser, Trey Richlin, Donnie Smith and Nick Weinhardt.

The cash award to the top four winners have been supported, in part, by a generous donation from Chesapeake Energy.

Threepeat for Alyssa

For the third year running, Alyssa McDonald received our annual Choice of Show Award at the high school art show May 2. Her oil, titled "Michelle," captivated judges Vi Barker, Karen Black and Mary Ellen Minnier. Te Arts Council buys the winning work, has it framed and hung on permanent exhibit in the high school corridor. Alyssa has now earned more for her artwork before graduation than many artists do in their lifetime. And deserved it, for sure.

"At the Forks"
Rehearsals for the Roving Historical Theater play are going swimmingly (appropriate for a piece with a flood theme). If you read this week's Sully (back page), we outlined the scenes, so we won't go into that here. The play will be held in the 4-H building at the Forksville Fairgrounds, June 8 and 10 at 7 pm, June 9 at 2 pm. Adult tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door; students are $1, preschool free. To order advance tickets, send a check or money order made out to SCCA, PO box 243, Dushore, PA 18614. Tickets will be held at the door in a neat little envelope with your name on it.