Artist
- Boyertown Senior High School Students
Elizabeth Wagner, instructor
Fourth and Monroe Streets
Boyertown, PA 19512
610-369-7435
ewagner@boyertownasd.org
Sponsors
- Pottstown Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates, Inc.
- Dr. Anthony M. DeNicco
- Dr. John L. Lignelli
- Dr. Paul G. Smith
- Dr. John L. Lignelli II
20 Philadelphia Avenue
Boyertown, PA 19512
610-367-6074
FAX 610-326-5491
Journal Entry
Journal for Pottstown Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Bear
Caity Fisher, student at BASH
When I decided to become part of the Bear Fever experience in Boyertown, I had no idea what I was getting into. The only knowledge I had of Bear Fever was that businesses were buying bears and painting them By becoming part of the Adopt-a-Bear program, I had the privilege of discovering the people behind the scenes of a Bear Fever bear.
The sponsor of my bear is Dr. Lignelli, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Dr. Lignelli has been in his profession since 1978; obviously, he has a lot of experience. Although his main office is in Pottstown, he decided to become a sponsor for a bear in Boyertown because he says that “anything that demonstrates a genuine concern for this special kind of place and people is a good enough reason to become involved.”
As a sponsor, Dr. Lignelli requested that students decorate his bear, and he met with them to plan the design. The lead artist of this bear was Steve Fegely, an art teacher at Boyertown Junior High East. Mr. Fegely became involved in the Bear Fever project because he was “personally requested by Shanea Wisler,” a former student of his.
Mr. Fegely says that his goal in this project is “to work with some former students of mine and see how they’ve matured artistically in the three years since I’ve seen them.” The students he is referring to are Jaci Hardgrove, Kelly Coughlin, and Sam Terkowski, members of Mrs. Wagner’s Painting I class at the high school.
When I walked into Mrs. Wagner’s class during second period on April 13, 2005, I was pleasantly surprised to see all three students working diligently on their designated bear. The bear wore a white lab coat, green pants, and a tie decorated by images of teeth. Its fur was given texture by layering thousands of different colored paint strokes.
According to the girls, painting the bear’s fur was the hardest part to paint because “other people would come and work on the bear, and they would layer in the wrong direction. We had to sand down the area, paint it a solid color, and start layering again.”
Kelly said that another reason the fur was hard was “figuring out how to mix the colors correctly to get the previous shade of brown.” They tried to prevent having to make more paint by putting the leftover paint in a container, but the acrylic paint would dry quickly.
Despite the difficulties of painting a three-dimensional object, the girls were able to have fun and learn. The girls claim that the funniest part of the project was when the bear had a “lazy eye.” They learned that you should “take advantage of an opportunity to get involved in the community.” In addition, they learned how to “work with other people and that communication is the key to working together.”
I learned that Boyertown is changing into a community that everyone is going to love. We have people like Dr. Lignelli, Mr. Fegely, Sam Terkowski, Jaci Hardgrove, and Kelly Coughlin who want to make a difference in our small, but mighty, community. People like these are striving to bring the community together by connecting generations; this type of bond can be a powerful one. With people like these, we can build a better Boyertown.