Instructor Bios

Mark Arrington, a full-time musician and private music teacher, has been performing various types of folk music for over 30 years. After a number of years of piano and accordion lessons as a child, he taught himself guitar and banjo, played concerts with his brother, and started an acoustic blues band. A few years later he taught himself to play fiddle and joined a Bluegrass band and an Irish band. He spent one summer playing with a local chamber orchestra, and a few years in the ‘90s with a Western Swing band. He has recorded with his own bands and on others’ projects, including one with the National guitar flatpicking champion. Some well-known places he’s performed include The Captain Noah show (WPVI-TV), WHYY and WXPN radio, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Bethlehem Musikfest, Longwood Gardens, and the Constitution Bicentennial celebration, 50 feet form Ronald Reagan!

Today Mark keeps a full roster of students for fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar lessons, performs with his bluegrass and Irish bands and solo, and plays for Irish dance competitions around the country. He is currently organizing music contests at for the Bucks County Renaissance Faire and the Middletown Grange Fair.

Blair Barbour is currently a producer for Howcast productions, an exhibiting artist, the youngest board member of the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, a Yoga instructor, an independent filmmaker, a newspaper photographer, a writer, a world traveler, a sand sculpture contest winner and a lover of variety.

Blair’s talents were first recognized in high school with a national art award. Then again at Bucks county Community College where she received the Marian-Ebert Wolle scholarship and got her degree in Fine Art. After Bucks she traveled to Garopaba, Brazil to get her Yoga teaching certification and have the time of her life. When she came home she went to Temple University and got her Bachelors degree in Film and Media production. Today Blair is delighted to come and teach at Bucks and states this is where she received her best education.

Susie Susie Beiler is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor and Licensed Occupational Therapist with Ivyland Counseling Center. Her expertise is in nutritional and spiritual guidance. Using essential oils, deep listening, and gentle coaching, Susie draws from her well of wisdom to collaborate with her clients as they progress on their food journeys. She is the inspiration behind the holistic nutrition DVD, “CHANGE your Food, FUEL your Life.” Susie is a prolific writer, offering a free monthly email newsletter as well as contributing to various magazines. Her services include comprehensive personalized health assessments, private nutrition and spiritual counseling sessions, workshops, group programs, speaking engagements, Raindrop Technique with essential oils, essential oil consultations, and health food store tours.

Ron B.Ron Bevilacqua hassculpted for more than three decades. His early works of art were abstract welded metal from scraps found on construction sites. He now works primarily in local wood and occasionally in stone and clay. He attended Millersville State College, Spring Garden College, Bucks County Community College, Penn State University and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Education at Temple University. Ron studied sculpture at the Cheltenham Art Center with Linda Brenner, the Baum School of Art with Richard Lieberman, Ben Marcune and Jonathan Hertzel, and in Pietrasanta, Italy.  He served an apprenticeship and worked as a commercial bricklayer for 13 years prior to accepting a job teaching masonry construction for 17 years at the Swenson Skills Center in the Philadelphia School District. He concluded his teaching career retiring from an administrative job and then without uncertainty occupied his life with creating and exhibiting his art and teaching sculpture at his studio in Haycock Township, Upper Bucks County.

You can see his work at many regional shows throughout the year. Ron stays focused and maintains a connection with the art world through his active membership in a several of the local art organizations.

Patricia Q. Brennan, a Certified Financial Planner™ licensee (CFP) was a Family and Community Health Sciences Educator with Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County, New Jersey since 1981. She held the tenured faculty rank of Associate Professor at Cook College, Rutgers University and is now Professor Emerita. Pat taught 80+ personal finance classes for approximately 4,000 adults annually. Professor Brennan is also a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC), an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) and a Certified Housing Counselor (CHC). She wrote for Morris County newspapers, appeared regularly on the Cablevision cable TV show “Money Counts,” and has made guest appearances on CNBC and News 12 New Jersey. She is the co-author of “Money Talk: A Financial Guide for Women.” Professor Brennan has made more than 35 national professional conference presentations and contributed numerous articles for professional journals and proceedings. Ms. Brennan earned a B.S. in Home Economics from Immaculata University and a M.A. in Education from Montclair State University.

GiacomoGiacomo Calabria is a native of Bucks County who studied history and political science at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA.  While there he was given the opportunity to study Renaissance history and literature with Syracuse University in Florence.  After graduating he began a year-long commitment teaching ESL with VITA language services as part of a commitment with the Peace Corps.  He has also taught classes on Dante's Inferno and Renaissance Art with Bucks County Community College and remains a guest speaker at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He looks forward to continuing my studies in Renaissance history and independent writing on the subject.

Larry_ChestnutLarry Chestnut is an east coast artist specializing in a manner of painting called premier coup - paintings that are inspired by the scene directly in front of the artist and completed in one sitting without later revisions. The artist combines this style of artwork with plein air painting to achieve spontaneity and to sharpen visual acquity. Larger works requiring research are often done in the studio and the premier coup techniques and philosophy are still employed when doing still life paintings in the studio.

Major influences are the American Impressionists, the Ashcan School and the New Hope School of Painting, specifically, artist like Edward Redfield, Robert Henri, Childe Hassam, Theo Robinson, Sargent and Homer. Contemporary artists like Liz Ruggles, Bob Saxon, Don Stone and Richard Schmid have been major influences on the style and technique of the artist.

He has been painting, teaching and selling his work for nearly 30 years. His subjects range from people, to old cars and their parts, to architecture and landscapes. He received many awards for his work which is included in a number of private and corporate collections in the US.

Jayne Davis has taught children’s cooking classes for the past four years in the Bucks County area. She holds a Certificate of Culinary Arts from the Bucks County Community College. Additionally she has worked as an Assistant Chef at Lily’s on the Canal in Lambertville, NJ and at the Pink Petal Tea room in Yardley, PA. Additionally she holds a Master’s in Creative Art Therapy (MA) from Lesley Graduate School in Cambridge, MA.

Sharon Egan has painted since childhood.   Watercolor is her preferred medium.  Favorite subjects include still life, her family and the Bucks County landscape in the changing seasons. Influences are J.M.W. Turner and contemporary artists Mary Whyte, Miriam Warfield, James Toogood and the local community of Sharon_Eganwatercolorists.  After earning a B.A. in Drawing at Pennsylvania State University, Sharon found her niche in the commercial art world as a professional photographic retoucher.  She continued her education at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, under Vilia Reed and won awards in her specialization from the Professional Photographers of America.   In response to the tight detail demanded by retouching, watercolor became her favorite medium because of the looseness and freedom the paint allows. Sharon is a member of Artsbridge, the Doylestown Art League and Just Painters.  Her works are included in a number of private collections.

Scott I. Fegley, Esq. has represented clients in a wide variety of civil matters for over eighteen years. In 1984, he graduated cum laude from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He received his Juris Doctor from the Villanova University School of Law in 1987. Mr. Fegley is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Academic Honor Society.

Mr. Fegley started his own law practice in 2002 focusing on business and employment law. His main office is located in Yardley, Pennsylvania. He also has a satellite office in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. Mr. Fegley is an adjunct instructor on Labor and Employment Law at the Bucks County Community College and was a member of the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors from 1994 through 2005. Mr. Fegley currently serves as counsel to the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce. He is also active in a number of other business and professional associations including the Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, the Bucks County Council for Individuals With Disabilities, and the Bucks County Bar Association.

Cheryl Gilmore has taught children’s cooking classes for the past four years in the Bucks County area. At the present time, she is working on attaining a Certificate of Culinary Arts from Bucks County Community College. She also has served as a Girl Scout troop leader through Girls Scouts of Freedom Valley. Ms. Gilmore holds a Master’s of Social Work (MSW) from The University of Pennsylvania.

David V. Hartke is a registered architect with over twenty years of experience. He is a regionally recognized expert in sustainable architecture and planning and is currently the Principal of Stampfl Hartke Associates, LLC, an architecture and engineering firm located in Holicong, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hartke is the lead designer in all of his firms sustainable design endeavors.

Mr. Hartke’s career began when he graduated from the Catholic University of America School of Architecture. A major component of the University’s educational program was passive solar design, which ultimately led him to his interest in sustainability.

In 1993, Mr. Hartke co-founded BrightRooms, Inc. a building company specializing in efficient home design and construction. In order to further educate himself in this specialized field, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) came out with the Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) Program and Mr. Hartke became a certified LEED professional.

Mr. Hartke campaigns sustainability to the community by leading various committees and serving on their boards. He is the founder and chair for the Keystone GreenBuilt Initiative program of the Home Builders Association (HBA) for Bucks and Montgomery Counties, which is the cornerstone of sustainable design/construction for homebuilders in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. Mr. Hartke also chairs the Bucks County Committee on the Environment (COTE) in addition to serving on the Advanced Energy Design Guidelines for Small Retail (AEDG-SR) Committee representing the American Institute of Architects (AIA) nationally. Additionally, he is building Bucks County’s first LEED certified home for his personal residence in the Borough of Doylestown.

Mr. Hartke writes a bimonthly column dedicated to sustainable design for the Home Builders Association (HBA) of Bucks and Montgomery Counties and also for the Building Industry Association (BIA) of Philadelphia. In addition to his regular writing commitments, Mr. Hartke has been featured in numerous local publications including The Doylestown Intelligencer, The Bucks County Courier Times and The Bucks County Herald highlighting his work in this sector. There is also an article featuring his new home that is being published this fall in Environmental Design and Construction Magazine, a leading literary publication dedicated to sustainable design and construction. Mr. Hartke has also been a guest on KYW 1060, a radio station serving Philadelphia and the surrounding area, speaking about the educational process regarding sustainable technologies.

Mr. Hartke also frequently gives talks in an effort to motivate and educate others about the benefits of sustainable design with audiences that include architects, engineers, construction professionals, facilities managers, planners, educators, utility professionals, and those working in the public sector. Mr. Hartke is currently the lead instructor for the Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) program at Bucks County Community College. In addition, he has served on numerous expert panels and has been invited to speak at conferences and industry events. One of the more recent seminars he was asked to present was given at the 2005 Delaware State Governor’s Housing Conference.

Mr. Hartke’s application of practical knowledge gained through both designing and constructing sustainable buildings provides his clients and colleagues with realistic direction and support. His goal is to work alongside others and create a partnership that is not only beneficial to the people involved but the environment as well.

Nancy B. Hill has a Master’s degree in dance performance and pedagogy from Temple University.  At Temple, she trained with Helmut Gottschild, first assistant to Mary Wigman who was the founder of the modern dance movement in Germany.  After several years of training with Gottschild, Ms. Hill was invited to join his company, ZeroMoving Dance Company, where she performed in ensemble pieces and solo roles.  Her studies also include the great modern dance techniques of Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Murray Louis-Alwin Nikolais and Lester Horton.  In addition, Ms. Hill studied ballet with New York City Ballet star Roy Tobias, Joffrey’s Finis Jhung and the Royal Ballet’s David Howard.  Jazz studies include the technique of Ron Forella and Luigi.

In 1983, Ms. Hill co-founded the Terry Beck Troupe (TBT) dance company of Philadelphia.  With TBT, Ms. Hill performed in such venues as Dance Theater Workshop in New York, Theater Workshop of Edinburgh and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London.  Nancy served as Associate Artistic Director of TBT until 1989 when she retired from modern dance performance.  Then, her love of dance found new expression in the study of Flamenco.  Since 1990 she has been studying with Julia Lopez of Philadelphia and performs with Fiesta Flamenco, an affiliate group of Raices Culturales Latinamericanas.

Throughout her career as a working artist, Nancy’s first love has always been dance teaching.  She taught at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Jenkintown/Settlement Music School and, for four years, at her own studio in Center City Philadelphia.

An accomplished arts manager, Nancy Hill moved to Bucks County in 1998 to accept a position as Cultural Programs Director at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) where she presented a world-class performing arts series and auxiliary cultural programs for the college community.  She also served as the Program Officer for Education at the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and, most recently, was invited to teach an academic course in 20th Century Dance History at The College of New Jersey.  She looks forward to sharing her long history in the dance field with members of the Bucks County Community College community.

Anwar El-Homsi has over 18 years of quality and statistics experience in a variety of industries. He has held engineering and management positions at Becton Dickinson, Eastman Kodak Company, Heidelberg, Xerox Corporation, Corning Corporation, and he is currently the President of Transformation Partners Company. His areas of expertise are Six Sigma methodologies including Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), Design of Experiments, Statistical Process Control, and Reliability Engineering. He is considered an expert in Six Sigma deployment and philosophy. He is an outstanding coach and trainer. He has trained more than one thousand engineers and scientists, and mentored many Black Belts who documented millions of dollars in direct savings. Anwar received his MS in Applied Statistics from the Rochester Institute of Technology and his BS in Engineering from Alfred University.  Anwar is a Master Black Belt and Certified Quality Engineer. He is a member of the American Society for Quality, Society of Reliability Engineers, and was a member of the Advisory Council for Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Quality and Applied Statistics. He is an originator and served as President of the Society of Reliability Engineers, Rochester Chapter. Anwar is the coauthor of the revolutionary book “TPS-Lean Six Sigma, Linking Human Capital to Lean Six Sigma”.

John Homan is a professional teacher with more than 40 years in the field of public, industrial, and private education. He received his B.S. degree in Mathematics from Temple University in 1966, and attended Trenton State College for his Master's Degree in Special Education. He also attended Bucks County Community College for Computer Programing.

Mr. Homan’s industrial experience includes employment at DeLaval Turbine Company where he worked as a Testing Engineer/ Supervisor in the Research and Development division of the company.  At DeLaval,  he was involved in major engineering projects including testing components for the Alaskian pipeline.

During recent years, Mr. Homan was employed as a Special Education Teacher for Bucks County Technical High School.  At the technical school, Mr. Homan instructed students in various trades including: electrical wiring, plumbing, building trades, auto mechanics, CDL preparatory classes, and home inspection. He is also employed by Bucks County Community College as a night school instructor and he runs an SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) math preparatory class for the college on Saturday mornings.

He is currently working on writing a math book, Quick Math, designed to make math more interesting for students and the general public.

David C. Honhart is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD) and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science Degree in Physical Oceanography (Math and Physics). Following his graduation from Annapolis he served in the Navy for 26 years, including service as Chief Engineer on several ships, Command at Sea, service in the Vietnam conflict and concluding his career with eight years serving on the staff of the Navy’s most senior Admiral, the Chief of Naval Operations (the Pentagon) where he directed a $323M element of the Navy’s Space Programs. At Annapolis, Captain Honhart graduated in the top 3% in leadership and as a senior officer was recommended for promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral. For his outstanding service and accomplishments he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medals from the President of the United States.

From 1986-1988 Captain Honhart was elected national President of the American Astronautical Society – the technical society of the U.S. Space Industry. He is credited in writing with implementing sound financial policies that saved the society from bankruptcy. He was the first military officer ever elected to that prestigious position.

In private industry Mr. Honhart served as the Director of International Business Development and Customer Relations for the highly successful Astro-Space Division of General Electric Company. Under his direction the division achieved $1B in sales for the first time ever. He was awarded the Special Management Award by the Vice-Chairman of GE. Following GE he directed a regional office of Geharity and Miller Environment Engineering Company where he implemented more effective business development and project tracking procedures. Mr. Honhart then served as the Director of Executive Education Management Programs at the prestigious American Management Association in NYC. Following this he served as Director of Business Services in the Philadelphia office of Grant Thornton – the nation’s 6th largest accounting firm.

In academia Mr. Honhart has extensive teaching experience over a period in excess of 30 years at various Universities and Colleges - including graduate courses (Ph.D. and Master level), undergraduate (B.S.),college continuing education courses and professional training schools. Mr. Honhart is a published author having written articles and books on the business subjects of Leadership, Management, Communications, Performance Evaluations systems, Sales and Marketing, Conducting Effective Meetings in addition to college science textbooks on the subjects of Underwater Acoustics and General Oceanography.

In management consulting – from 1994 to the present, he has been responsible for implementing the Business Relations Management System (BRS-System) in many businesses and organizations – a management system which he invented, successfully implemented and managed at the highly profitable Astro-Space Division of GE – forwhich he has been personally commended by various organizations. Mr. Honhart is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, a member of the National Honor Society and an Eagle Scout.

Valorie

  Valorie Johnson has been a practicing goldsmith in the Bucks and Hunterdon counties for over 30 years. She brings to her workshops and easy approachable style necessary in encouraging the creative spirit. Her rich background as a goldsmith, retailer, gallery manager, teacher and now e-commerce retailer is invaluable in the classroom and she enthusiastically solicits your questions.  Valorie has instructed on all levels of education, offers personal instruction in jewelry making and is a proud supporter of community   arts.  

NitaNita Keesler has 14 years experience in Massage Therapy and Therapeutic Assisted Stretching Techniques and has been a Massage Therapy Instructor for over 7 years. Nita is also an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor. Her goal is to bring a sense of Awareness, Balance and Empowerment to each person and creating long term pain relief and quality of life through corrective yet relaxing Massage Techniques, Assisted Stretching, Posture & Flexibility workshops and teaching others to give relaxing massages to friends and loved ones to continue the benefits at home. Nita believes in the necessity to understand the mind/body connection and re-educating the body to be able to better relieve stress and chronic tension in the muscles.

AAlKrasslfred Krass, minister of the United Church of Christ, The Rev. Alfred Krass came to Bucks County in 1985. While pastoring at United Christian Church in Levittown, he was noted for his activism in the community, particularly with housing and homelessness. He founded and was the initial director of the Interfaith Housing Development Corporation of Bucks.

As an officer of the Lower Bucks Center for Church & Community, he became involved in interfaith activities. He was one of the founders of The Peace Circle, which is now forming a new organization of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others called the Interfaith Community for Middle East Peace.

Since his retirement in 1999, Krass has been a leader of the peace movement, first with the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia and then with the Coalition for Peace Action in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, from which he retired in June of 2008. He has been teaching for over six years in Temple University’s lifelong learning program. His specialty there has been a course that deals with poetry of different faith-traditions. He has also taught regular courses in peace and nonviolence.

He and his family live in Levittown. He is an avid gardener, an enthusiastic (mostly vegetarian) cook, and a cyclist. He also dabbles in sketching and watercolors.

Krass is a graduate of Amherst College (B.A.), Yale Divinity School (B.D.), and the New School for Social Research (M.A.) He is the author of five published works.

Edward H. Kropp, Ed.D. is an educator and trained facilitator with an extensive background in executive management. His educational and facilitation skills have been used in numerous departments of the government over the years including the Department of Interior, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CIA, and the Drug Enforcement Agency to name a few.

Prior to teaching for the University of Virginia, he has over 33 years of experience in business. He has served as a Senior Manager for KPMG Consulting (Bearing Point) and Director of Commercial Telecommunications for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He also has held various senior level management positions at AT&T, one of which was managing the telecommunications and broadcast services for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Additionally, he is a decorated Vietnam War and Desert Storm veteran who served for 27 years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve before retiring as a Colonel.

Ed is currently teaching graduate level courses in research, contract management, statistics, leadership, change management, communications, risk management, project management, and quality management at the Northern Virginia Center for the University of Virginia. He is also a volunteer for the Northern Virginia Literacy Council, an Executive Board Member of the National Capital Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, and a certified trainer for the Institute for Global Ethics. The list of major accounts for his consulting practice presently includes Science Application International Corporation (SAIC), Department of Interior (DOI), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), MVM Inc., Beers and Cutler, Radian, Inc., and several other leading companies in the Washington metropolitan area.

Prior to receiving his doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia, he earned an MA from George Mason University, and a BA from Temple University. Ed also has a Certificate in Project Management (PMP) from George Washington University and is a member of the National Contract Management Association (NMCA).

Betsy Cartwright Kruse comes to Bucks County Community College with a wealth of experience from the corporate world, having spent 12 years in the petrochemical industry and 4 years in the pharmaceutical sector. Betsy has been a lifelong student obtaining a Master's of Health Science from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Learning and continuous improvement are her passion, which she eventually parlayed into a career by opening her own business in Doylestown in 2004, helping students of all ages develop their math & reading skills through the Kumon Learning Method. Betsy has completed two marathons and hopes to run a marathon in Hawaii some day.

Judy LaTorre is inspired by the beautiful landscape and historic landmarks of Bucks County.   Working Tyler_Hallexlatorreclusively in watercolor, she captures mood through her treatment of light.  Her careful observation of sunlight and perspective creat dramatic works that radiate warmth.  Given the fine detail rendered in each scene, coupled with the effect of sunlight, she considers her work a combination of realism and impressionism. 
Judy has participated in such Juried art shows as The Tinicom Art Festival, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, Phillips Mill, and many more.  She has had solo exhibits at Pearl S. Buck “Tastes of the World Party”, at ETS, and at Bucks County Community College’s “Tyler Tasting” among many others, and she has a work in the Tyler Hall permanent collection Judy has a BS degree from St. Francis College, PA.


MARGARET MENHARDT has taught Ballroom and Latin American Dancing for the past 12 years. Since 1994, she has trained under the personal direction of Miss Miriam Ellis, Dual Fellow and Examiner, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London and United States.

 

 

 

PAULA MOLINO is owner of Fashion Fix, a full service fashion consulting business (www.fashionfix.com), which specializes in wardrobe analysis, body shape and color assessment, closet organization, personal shopping and guest speaking.

As a fashion expert, she is a QVC on-air guest host for jewelry products and has been featured on “10!” on Philadelphia’s NBC 10.

Paula has more than twenty five years experience in the fashion industry as a buyer, designer, and product manager with Macy’s and QVC as well as a fashion design professor at Philadelphia University. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Apparel Design from University of Delaware and a fashion merchandising certificate from Patricia Stevens Institute of Fashion.

NNancyancy Montvydas, CFRE, is senior director of development at Soroptimist International of the Americas in Philadelphia where she has worked since 1992. Nancy holds a bachelor's degree (magna cum laude) in sociology, with a minor in business, from LaSalle University. Nancy earned the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2005. She also earned certificates in fundraising management from the University of Pennsylvania College of General Studies and nonprofit management from the LaSalle University Nonprofit Management Development Center. In addition to working for Soroptimist, she is a member of Soroptimist International of Indian Rock in Bucks County and volunteers with other community and professional organizations.

Debra Niehoff, Ph.D. trained as a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and has written extensively about the biological origins of emotional behavior for the academic community, health care professionals, and the general public. Reviewers called her book The Biology of Violence: How Understanding the Brain, Behavior, and Environment Can Break the Vicious Circle of Aggression (1999, The Free Press), "a fine contribution to a debate often clouded by emotion," and "a reasoned and intelligently argued position on the biology of violence." Dr. Niehoff teaches a course on the neurobiology of violence at the FBI Academy and is also the author of a second book, The Language of Life: How Cells Communicate in Health and Disease (2005, Joseph Henry Press), which features new material on brain development, emotional memory, and the neurobiology of addiction.

DaveDavid  Salaba, B.Sc.,C.W. has been making wine for over 31 years.  His background includes a degree in microbiology from Purdue University, and he is also a graduate of the University of California at Davis, receiving his Certificate in Winemaking from the University in 2006. He has also recently completed additional studies in fermentation technology at the Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany.  He is active in many organizations, including the American Society for Microbiology, the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, the American Wine Society, the Rhone Rangers and the Society of Wine Educators.  Dave has worked as a winemaking consultant, authored  articles that have appeared in publications such as Winemaker Magazine and the Journal of the American Wine Society and has been teaching winemaking seminars for the past several years.  He enjoys entering winemaking competitions and over the years his wines have earned over one hundred twenty five awards including Best Red Wine, Grand Champion Red Wine, Concordance Gold and Best in Show at various national and international competitions.

LisaLisa Sandstrand has seven years of experience teaching high school and middle school literature. During this time sheworked on a number of initiatives including curriculum design and development, portfolio assessment, reading and writing diagnostic testing and tracking in grades 9-12. Presently she is home with her three and four year old toddlers. Lisa has an MA from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and a BA in English literature from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

Susan Sciarratta is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania. She has worked as an environmental engineer since 1991 in both the public and private sectors. Susan runs her own business, Young Engin'uity, providing science enrichment programs to children of all ages. She also consults for Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions, a small firm whose mission is to shepherd brownfield sites through the administrative and technical process of redevelopment, including site selction, assessment, cleanup, and planning. Susan is also Vice Chair of the Newtown Township Environmental Advisory Council. Susan resides in Newtown with her husband and three children.

A.L. SIROIS has more than three decades of writing experience behind him, as well as twenty years' background in production and project development and twelve years as a web designer. He cites creative influences as diverse as Firesign Theatre, the Beatles, Pieter Brueghel, Wally Wood, Mervyn Peake, H. G. Wells, and Frank Zappa. Two of his short stories made the Top 25 in Eternity's Best of the Web '98 contest - more than any other author. The stories, March 11 1936, 5:30 AM and As Bad As It Gets, received Nebula recommendations. His collection The Beginnings of Forever includes the Pushcart Prize-nominated story In the Conservatory, and others that have appeared in Amazing Stories and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, among other publications. His children's book Dinosaur Dress Up appeared from Tambourine Press in 1992. Al has published comic book continuity, marketing material, articles, and song lyrics. He worked as a Senior Technical Writer for Bear Stearns from 1999-2001, where he also created multimedia presentations and web sites. Al's recent freelance experience also includes: web design for Sul Ross University (Texas), CD covers for Silver Kamel Records, web design and animation for Far Sector.com, political and sports cartoons for Bucks County Courier-Times newspaper and summaries of financial conference calls for Ubiqus. He was adjunct professor of web design (Spring, 2004) and Film Pre-production (Spring & Fall, 2006) at Mercer County (NJ) Community College. Al contributed summary reviews for five editions of Grolier's MASTERPLOT series. A performing musician since his teens, in October of 2005 he took over as music reviewer for SciFi.com, the SciFi Channel's online presence. Al is a resident of Pipersville, PA, on the Delaware River. He won First Prize in the 2006 Writers Corner Short Story Contest with Death in the House of Imhotep.

LARRY WEIKEL is a graduate of both Muhlenberg College and Temple University. After teaching for thirty years in the Pennridge School District in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, he turned his avocation of travel into a vocation. In 1998 he was named by the National Education Association/Retired Magazine as one of six educators who began a new career after retirement. After working with Experience Travel and HistoryAmerica Tours, he incorporated his own company, Guided Tours Unlimited. He has journeyed to all seven continents, traveling from above the Arctic Circle to below the Antarctic Circle. He has visited all fifty states and nearly sixty countries. Highlights of his travel experience include a Christmas pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, trekking over the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon celebrating the trail's 150th anniversary, hiking the Inca Trail in Peru, welcoming the millennium on the International Date Line, plying the Mississippi River in its annual riverboat race, dog sledding in the Alaskan wilderness, and a gorilla safari in the Congo.

LINDA C. WISNIEWSKI a freelance writer in Bucks County, Pa. Her credits include the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Christian Science Monitor, Massage, The Rose & Thorn, Mindprints and other regional and literary magazines. Her memoir was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and she won third prize in the Bucks County Writers Workshop summer fiction contest. Linda writes regular features for the Bucks County Herald, a weekly newspaper. She is an active member of the Story Circle Network and a regional representative of the International Women’s Writing Guild.

 

ANNE WOLFE is a professional writer, published author, and instructional designer, with a M.A. degree in Educational Technology. A former hospice volunteer, Anne is a member of the Association of Personal Historians, with a special interest in personal stories and end-of-life spirituality issues.