Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 40

E-4 Sunday, November 21, 2004 LEISURE: ENTERTAINMENT By DOUGLAS BROWN The Denver Post Bobbing for apples in a snake- filled tank traumatizes some "Fear Factor" participants, but others grin and dive right in. "Gross" anatomy sends some kids into fits of giggles, while others can't stand the thought of boogers. But what about the people who have jobs others might consider revolting? Clearly, gross is in the mind of the beholder. Life of a butcher It's a bright weekday morning, 's dirty work, and then there's really dirty work .1 and Dean Roberson stands behind glass and before a couple of sisters, slicing and sawing their 4-H Club's 16 pigs into stacks of pork chops. A puff of blood-and-bone mist rises from the table saw.

Roberson's knives, strapped to his waist in a metal holder, fall through pig carcasses with such ease he could be a mime hacking away at air. Flesh packs his Brighton, meat-processing shop, Saxx Custom Cutting; blood smears his T-shirt; a swatch of white fat clings to a vvorkboot; the smell of blood's iron and here! This information is provided to the Gazette by the Indiana County Tourist Bureau. For more information or to list your event, dinner or leisure activity on this calendar, contact the bureau at (724) 463-7505 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Anyone who plans to visit events may wish to call for confirmation. Events are subject to change of date or time. Today Wine of the Month Weekend at the Windgatc Vineyards salesroom on Hemlock Acres Road nearSmicksburg features samples and refreshments. A guided tour from 1 to 3 p.m. will show how Wmdgate wines are made.

The winery is open from noon to 5 p.m. daily. Call (814) 257-8797 for more information. Shoppers Day be held at the Jimmy Stewart Museum, downtown Indiana, from noon to 4 p.m. All visitors to the gift shop will be admitted free to the museum.

Refreshments will be served Call (724) 349-6112 for more information. Downtown Indiana Open House will run from noon to 4 throughout downtown Indiana, with special holiday discounts and services. For more information, call (724) 463-6110. JethroTull will perform at 8 p.m. at Fisher Auditorium on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus as part of the IUP Onstage Arts and Entertainment Series.

Admission: S23-S35, regular; holders. For tickets or more information, call (724) Nov. 25-28, Dec. 2-5 and Dec. 9-Jan.

2 Blue Spruce Park Festival of Lights will have more than 75 lighted displays. Hours will be from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Admission is 56 per carload. Friday Downtown Indiana Light-Up Night will begin with the arrival of Santa Glaus at the county courthouse at 5:30 p.m. Children's activities will be happening on North Seventh Street and a Children's Christmas Carnival will be held in the Atrium from 6 to 8 For more information, call (724) 463-6110.

Nov. 27-28 Holiday Open House at Dillweed Bed and Breakfast in Dilltown will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free For more information, call (814) 446-6465. Nov.

27-28, Dec. 4-5, 11-12 Gamble's Tree Farm Christmas Fest 2004 will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Activities will include hayrides, visits with Santa, face painting, refreshments alone With handmade crafts, Christmas trees, wreaths and swags available. For more information, call (724) 726-5377 or (724) 463-7505. Saturdays through Dec. 18 "It's a Wonderful Life," a movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, will be shown at 2 p.m. in the theater of the Jimmy Stewart Museum, downtown Indiana.

The film will be shown even- Saturday through Dec. 18. Admission: S5, regular; S4, seniors- S3 children ages 7-17. Dec. 1-4 IUP Music Theater presents "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Maid as Mistress," one-act operas in English, at 8 p.m.

at the Waller Hall Matnstage on the IUP campus. Tickets, available at lUP's Hadley Union Building, are $14, regular admission; $12, discount; and $8 forl-card holders. Call (724) 357-2547 for more information. Dec. 3 Clymer Light-Up Night, including a visit from Santa, will be held at 7 p.m.

in front of the American Legion on Franklin Street. Call (724) 254-4710 for more information. Homer City's Old-Fashioned Christmas and parade will be held on Main Street, with the parade starting at 6 p.m. The celebration will include craft and food booths, a bonfire, trolley rides, visits with Santa and the presentation of the annual Good Citizen Award Calf (724) 479-9759. Dec.

3-4 Blairsville Light-Up Night will take place Dec. 3 on Market Street, next to Bank downtown, with the tree lighting at 7 p.m followed by the BIG luminaria display at 7:30 p.m. at the community center walking track and the Quota Club Fabulous Firs Christmas Tree auction in the community center basement. The Blairsville Holiday Homes Charity Tour will be held Dec 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

at five Blairsville Homes. The tour also features a luncheon. Tickets for the tour are S20 and are available bv calling (724) 459-0200. Smicksburg's Old Fashioned Country Christmas will be celebrated, with shops open extended hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., both days, and Santa arriving in Smicksburg Dec.

3 at 6 p.m., followed by the tree lighting at 7 p.m. Dec. 3-5 Parlor Players present "Christmas Stories" at Dillweed Bed and Breakfast in Djlltown. On Saturday and Sunday, hors d'oeuvres ivill be served at i p.m., followed by the performance at ,8 p.m. The matinee begins at 2 p.m.

Sunday, with activities lasting until 5 p.m. Cost is S16 a person; reservations are required. For reservations or information, call (814) 446-6465. Dec. 4 IUP Saxophone Ensemble, under the direction of Keith Young, mo 6 0 azzand classical music at 1 p.m.

in Gorell Recital Hall, 1UR Admission is free. For more information, call (724) 357-2547. IUP Chorale and Chamber Singers, under the direction of James Ueanng, will perform at 3 p.m. at Calvary Presbyterian Church, Indiana Tickets, available at the HUB, are $7, regular; $5, discount; and S4, with an I-card. Saltsburg Light-Up Night will include a Christmas bazaar and luncheon from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. at the United Presbyterian Church. Trees will be decorated from 4 to 6 p.m., with the tree lighting taking place at Canal Park at 6:15 p.m. Christmas trees may be sponsored for a $20 donation. For more information, call (724) 639-3431 or (724) 639-3728.

Dec. 5 "Hymns and Celebrations," will be held at 3 p.m. at Fisher Auditorium, IUR featuring the IUP Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band, under the direction of Jack Stamp and Jason Worzbyt. Tick- etS at Uie HUB are 8 regu'ar; $7, discount; and $5 for Icard holders. aging fat clings to the cold space.

Roberson, 45, has been in the meat business since he was 9. The work environment never has bothered him. "It's like when your dad's a stockbroker and you think every dad puts on a suit and works 9-to-5," says Roberson, a goateed bull of a guy with a shaved head. He stays fit by muscling 150-pound, half-pig carcasses hanging from hooks onto tables. In addition to carving the carcasses of pigs, cows, lamb, elk and just about any other kind of meat for the table, Saxx Custom Cutting will slaughter the animal.

That's a job, Roberson says, that you have to work your way up to. In August, his busiest season for pig processing, he shuns that meat for dinner. "When you're doing that many, you don't want to see a pork chop," he says. Potty cleanup It takes only 30 seconds to withdraw the waste from a porta-potty, using a 3-foot "wand" connected to a hose that propels the contents into a lank on the back of a pick-up. Randy Cavendish spends his days, as he says, "pumping potties," and he doesn't mind.

Except when kids knock over the porta-potties. "You have to go in there and clean it up," says Cavendish, 47, the owner of Parker Porta-Potty. "That's not fun." He sticks with the business be- cause it's lucrative "very lucrative," he says. "Nobody wants to do it, so you have very limited competition." He was in die septic-tank business and heard about untold riches in portable bathrooms. So eight years ago he bought 20 porta-potties and began installing them at construction sites.

Now, he's got 500 potties, most of them flung across the horizon south and east of Denver, where people erect pricey ranchettes on 5-acre lots. The workers framing the walk-in closets and digging the foundations need batii- rooms. Cavendish supplies and maintains them. With short gray hair, a neat goatee and oval spectacles, he looks like a college professor, not a guy who evacuates sewage. In addition to tipped-over potties, too-full toilets also make for disgusting work, Cavendish says.

When waste rises high in the plastic cavity, it forces the cleaner to stir the contents. What really grosses out Cavendish? "Blood," he says. Disposing of dead "Our job is hygienic to hygienically dispose of dead flesh'," says Ron Lewis, the owner of Evergreen Memorial Park. "But our sendee is to help people." Lewis has spent nearly 40 years in a grassy swatch of valley in building' his business. It began when he bought a hydraulic backhoe in the 1950s and town elders informed him thenceforth he would use the machine to dig graves for the local cemetery.

He got comfortable with the grave racket and soon opened his own cemetery. Then, a funeral home and a pet cemetery. A minister, Lewis built a church on the grounds, and using materials from five old log structures in Colorado, he cobbled together a building that serves as both a crematorium and a wedding chapel. Lewis, 71, fancies a thin, white Abe Lincoln-style heard, leather suspenders and cowboy boots, and he rattles around his acreage in a silver pick-up truck with his 19th German shepherd, Khan. He picks up corpses and delivers them to the property.

He works on bodies to make them presentable for viewings. He sends them into ovens. "If all I did was deal with dead bodies, with dead fiesh," he says, "this would be an unrewarding job. There is nothing pleasant about that part of the job." But what he does, he says, serves as "an entry point to the resolution of grief," and that makes the job worth the hardship. Given all the unpleasantries, there isn't much that grosses out Lewis.

"There's nothing worse than rotting flesh, the smell of rotting flesh," he says. "You never forget that terrible stench." Crime-scene cleanup When Nick Hodgdon's beeper goes off, death has happened. Somebody was stabbed in an apartment or expired in the bathtub of a mountain trailer maybe months before. The police arrive first, then the coroner. Neither cleans up the crime scene.

That's Hodgdon's job. "The body is gone by the time I get there, so it's whatever is left over," says Hodgdon, 27, a lanky hipster from Kansas City with long sideburns and tousled hair, from his quaint Denver University-area bungalow. "Blood on the walls. Parts of their skulls embedded in the wall or the ceiling. I've found teeth in other rooms." Two years ago, Hodgdon was in sales in Denver, and looking to start his own business.

Most franchises he found were too expensive. Then he heard about Crime Scene Cleaners based in California. The work, he acknowledges, is gruesome. Most people wouid have great difficulty dealing with it. "The smell and the maggots are the worst part of the job.

They're two things you never get used to." Little about his jobs bothers him, but don't get Hodgdon near a syringe. "I can't stand the sight of needles," he says. "I get myself tested all the time to make sure I don't catch anything, and I almost pass out every time." All kinds of misdirected connections By Mary Ann Cooper GENERAL HOSPITAL: Overwhelmed in grief, Sam accuses Sonny of being glad that their baby died. Sonny tries to'get Carly to see that Durant is using her to get to him. Meanwhile, Durant finds the file of in bpeaking criminating info on Sonny that Michael accidentally packed with his toys.

Mac goes to VVyndemere to talk to Emily and mistakes Connor for Nikolas. Although Connor agrees to leave for Canada ASAP, he purposely opens his wounds so he'll be forced to stay at VVyndemere. Courtney tries to make Jax understand that she can't move in with him because she wants her independence. Sonny is touched when he sees how many people have showed up for the memorial sendee for his and Sam's baby. I HIS WEEK: Connor agrees to leave Port Charles and head out of the country for Emily.

Luke sets a trap for Heather. ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Natalie confesses to John everything that happened between her and Paul, including how he held her at gunpoint and how she strug-. gled when he tried to force himself on her. She says that Paul was already gone when she regained consciousness. Meanwhile, Cristian leaves a mysterious note for Natalie, asking her.

to go to the Buchanan lodge, where they later come face to face. Natalie is shocked and thrilled to see Cristian alive and well, and their emotional reunion leads to lovemaking. Afterwards, Natalie voices' her shame for getting involved with Paul nnd assures Cristian that she didn't kill him. Cristian is rattled by the news that Tico is not only in Llanvicw, but that he's Jessicas husband and Antonio's brother. TH IS WEEK: Tico sets a trap for Cristian.

John is notified that a witness to Paul's murder has surfaced. ALL MY CHILDREN: Zach hides in the shadows at the rest stop and takes a shot at Ryan and Greenlee with his rifle. They flee to the parking garage and As low as per month jump into bis car, where they find a bullet lodged in the seat. Later, Greenlee imagines Kendall killing Ryan, so she decides that, in retaliation, she'll mow Kendall down with her car! Greenlee gets behind the wheel of her car and heads right for Kendall, who dives out of harm's way before being hit. When Ryan later returns home, he finds her dazed and confused and takes her to the hospital to be checked out.

He accuses Zach of taking a shot at him, which Zach, naturally, denies. Maria tells Greenlee that they have to run some tests, including an MRI. Greenlee jumps to conclusions, admitting that she's terrified that she has a brain tumor. THIS WEEK: Ryan goes after Jonathan. Bianca urges Ethan to have a DNA test.

PASSIONS: At the hospital, a distraught Gwen defends Theresa against Rebecca's venomous attacks. At the same time, Theresa confides in Whitney that Ethan is destined to leave Gwen for her. Whitney tries to convince Theresa otherwise, but is distracted with concerns of her unborn baby. The distrust Rebecca feels toward Theresa is nearly confirmed when Whitney and Gwen unknowingly walk in on Ethan giving seductive Theresa a sensual back massage. Paloma faints when she discovers Martin, the man that raised her as a father, is in fact her biological father.

Eve, ready to give in to TC's demands to sign the divorce papers, is urged by an adamant Julian to not merely capitulate, but fight for her husband! THIS WEEK: Sheridan informs Katherine that she can't have any further involvement with her. Ivy tells Whitney that the biggest mistake she ever made was trying to pass Ethan off as Julians son. DAYSjOF OUR LIVES: Lexie worries' about Abe's condition and decides to send him to a special eye clinic. Hope grows more concerned about Shawn's behavior. Bo gets an emergency call from Billie and Hope fears this spells trouble.

Much to Samis dismay, Brandofi decides to stay in Salem for as long as Abe needs him. Sami must accept that her parents are gone and she blames John and Kate. Hope arrives at the hospital with news about the missing Salemites. Mickey makes an unusual proposition to Maggie and Bonnie. Will the two women accept? On the fishing trawler, Roman and Marlena make a stunning realization.

Roman and Marlena realize that in Salem they are presumed dead. What is Toiiy up to? Lucas catches Sami in a compromising position. THIS WEEK: Through his pain, John dreams of being reunited with Marlena. Kate tries to keep Billie in town. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Thorne informs the Spectra group that Stephanie and Eric are trying to bring the family back together and he doesn't understand why Ridge can't see that.

Thorne pleads with Brooke to stop this-war and tells her that only she has the power now. Rick apologizes to Caitlin for not making time for her and invites her out to Cafe Russe. Rick gently breaks things off with CaitHn and although he tries to comfort her she leaves upset and with tears in her eyes. Thorne visits Nick and tells him that Ridge is making this a personal battle. Thorne urges Nick to put a stop to Ridge's rash decision.

Rick informs Thomas of his breakup with Caitlin but Thomas advises for Rick to reconsider this decision THIS WEEK: Stephanie, Eric, Thorne and Darla lend support to Brooke. Jackie comes alive when she is back in the boutique atmosphere. THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Neil, Dm, and Lilygo to the rec center to say goodbye to Devon. He-expresses resentment towards the Winters family for giving him a taste of life that he could never maintain. Neil shocks everyone by revealing that Devon should go home with them.

Devon is reluctant to accept Neil's offer, but agrees to move in after Neil assures him that he intends to guide him through life. Nick goes to the ranch to see how Nikki is holding up without Victor. Nikki informs him that she is doing well, partially because of her ability toes- cape while she's at the club. Kevin tries to convince Lauren that his fight with Michael was therapeutic. Later, Kevin tries to ease tensions with Michael and Lauren by sharing a few supporting words of their relationship.

THIS WEEK: Gloria and John stun Jack and Ashley. Harrison denies Jill's accusations. AS THE WORLD TURNS: Lucy comes to see Dusty at the police station and they are both greatly affected by the sight of one another. Lucy starts teiling Dusty about Aaron's inadequate insurance coverage, but later, Lucy discovers that Dusty's made arrangements to personally cover all of Aaron's expenses. Craig is stunned to find himself face-to-thee with a just returned Sierra and she lashes out at him for turning Lucy's life upside down again.

He tries to make her see that they are on the same side, to do what's best for Lucy, but Sierra lets him know, on no uncertain terms, that she is not on his side, and plans to keep him out of Lucy's life. Meanwhile, everyone eagerly awaits for Aaron to wake up and Alison is there when he does in fact open his eyes! THIS WEEK: Ben breaks the bad news that Aaron has brain trauma. Barbara is out of control. GUIDING LIGHT: Horrified by the news that Phillip has died from his wounds, Alan at first goes into denial but soon starts looking for someone to blame. Frank suspects everyone of murder, including Buzz.

Ruth becomes Frank's number one suspect. Gus tries to divert Frank from pursuing Ruth because he knows the truth behind Ruth's true identity. Meanwhile, the Four Musketeers are now down to three, when Mindy comes to town and she, Rick and Beth reminisce about the Phillip they knew and loved. Later, Rick and Beth read a letter from Phillip, signs of the Philip of old shine through and touch them both. Meanwhile, concerned that she is not handling Phillip's death well, Lillian begins to worry about her granddaughter.

THIS WEEK: Josh tries to get Reva to leave town. Cassie and Edmund resolve to put the differences of the last few weeks behind them. Now UP 70 FIVE TIMES FASTER THANWAL-UP A Division of Indiana Printing Publishing Co. Home Installation Guarantee Internet Provider of IUP -HIGH SPEED SERVICE' AVAILABLE Call us at 724.463.0105 As per month.