- [Riecke] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories," what's in a barn quilt and what are they all about?

Join us in the classroom where one teacher is taking tradition to a new level.

And meet the mother of two higher-needs children who's changing the face of athletic play in the North Country.

Plus, a Central New York filmmaker creates an award-winning film, taking on every role.

Your stories, your region, coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories."

(dynamic music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories," is brought to you by the Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, The J.M.

McDonald Foundation, The Estate of Grant Mitchell, and the Dr. D Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

Additional funding from the New York State Education Department.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories."

I'm Michael Riecke.

You've seen them as you drive the roadways, mostly on barns, but also on residential homes and some businesses.

They are colorful pieces of art known as barn quilts, and right now they are all the rage.

As part of a special series funded by the Dorothea Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund, we take you inside a classroom at Hermon-DeKalb where barn quilting is stimulating young minds.

This decades-old art form has been revived in recent years and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

(people murmuring) - [DesRosiers] As an artist, Sarah Platt makes lots of choices.

From paint colors and designs to the meaning of each piece, these choices are all part of the artistic process when it comes to a craft that originated outside of the US.

- Barn quilting actually is an art form that's probably about 300 years old.

It came from immigrants from Europe.

They brought the idea over here, but it didn't gain popularity until 2001 when a woman was inspired by her own mother to make her barn look more beautiful.

Her mother was a quilter, and so she took that concept and used it to paint a design, a quilt design on her barn.

I didn't know anything about it until my principal came to me and said, "Hey, do you know what barn quilts are?"

And I had no idea.

So she started telling me about some in the area that she had seen, and I looked it up and I painted my first barn quilt.

- [DesRosiers] It ignited a fresh kind of art class at Hermon-DeKalb Central School where seniors come to the table with barn quilt design ideas.

With great patience they take to the boards, creating pieces with meaning and gifting their final products to friends and family.

- This is my first year taking barn quilting, and I like this class because it's really satisfying to see the finished product.

I created a barn quilt that was for my grandma, and it was a bluebird.

I picked a bluebird because that's just what my family thinks about whenever we see one.

We think, oh, that's our grandma coming to visit us.

- [Platt] Barn quilts have somewhat of a geometrical pattern because they are images that quilters would make.

Anything that you can make out of fabric, they take into the idea you can make them into barn quilts.

So there's very traditional barn quilt patterns made after sewing patterns like a pinwheel or a mariner's compass, but it's really up to the designer.

So as barn quilts have become more popular, people have taken them different directions.

The main purpose for a barn quilt, not only for decorative reasons because paint was very expensive when they first were coming to the area, was to show people where a family was located, or a crossroads between a certain road so people traveling could find your home.

But now they've just grown into a popular design to tell somebody about who you are.

So the animals have come into play like horses and cows.

- [DesRosiers] A quiet drive down a long back road can reveal the likes of dozens of different barn quilts.

- There are barn quilt trails over multiple states, and at one point there were over 7,000 barn quilts being displayed that were on an active barn quilt map.

- We've been getting a lot of tourists into Hammond.

A lot of people come, they're driving the Barn Quilt Trail, then they look for a place for lunch, then they look for a place for dinner.

Then they visit the gift shops and the farmer's market, and we're a magnet for people driving the Barn Quilt Trail, people who love quilting and people who love celebrations of rural beauty.

- [DesRosiers] People like Sarah Platt.

While those taking in various pieces on back roads may not realize what goes into making a piece, Sarah certainly does.

- Traditional barn quilts are eight foot by eight foot.

They are done on two pieces of plywood that are put side by side.

However, with popularity, people have wanted them smaller.

Not everybody can host a humongous barn quilt on the side of their house.

So sizes range from two by two to four by four, almost anything down to a foot by a foot, anything that's perfectly square, and you don't really need much.

Today, they are painted on something called MDO Board, which is easily available at like your hardware store, and some people prefer to just do it by hand or use tape to make nice crisp lines.

I use acrylic paint, but a lot of people, we use house paint.

It just depends the durability that you want.

When I get ready to do a barn quilt, I sit down and look through images online and then pick out ones that my eye's drawn to.

It could be just for color, it could be for pattern.

One of my barn quilts was inspired by my grandmother.

When I was a child, my grandmother made me a Sunbonnet Sue Quilt, and I just loved it and I've always kept it.

I have it as an adult.

So this winter, for her Christmas present, I painted her a Sunbonnet Sue Barn Quilt that she can hang in her home.

For aspiring barn quilters, I would tell them to pick out designs of images or patterns that they love that inspire them and to not worry about it being perfect, just make something that they enjoy, and that's the only person that they need to please.

As for my students and my work, I hope it inspires somebody else to try something new.

When I started this project with my students, they had never done a barn quilt before, but now they are pleased with what they have.

They have given them to their parents, their family members, or reminds their family members of something that was important to them.

So, as long as it's made a connection with somebody, that's my goal.

- [DesRosiers] For "WPBS Weekly," I'm Joleene DesRosiers.

- Tonight we introduce you to Kylie Schell, the mother of two higher-needs children who continues to create opportunities for our youth, where differences are celebrated, strengths are accentuated and there is a place for everyone on the team.

Kylie established a nonprofit called Encompass Recreation, where every child feels encouraged and included.

Take a look.

(people clap) - There it is.

Oh, do it again.

(people cheer) - [Cleary] It's exactly moments like these that Encompass Recreation is all about.

Founded in August, 2022 by Kylie Schell, Encompass Recreation is an organization that aims to provide recreational opportunities for youth with higher support needs and beyond.

- This got started because I have three children and two of them are autistic, and it became really evident that there was no programming for kids like mine around here.

So I started one.

I decided to start a nonprofit, and here we are.

So we are at Copenhagen Central School today, and we are having an inclusive basketball and cheer game with the Lady Knights from Copenhagen.

And we're so excited about that because this event last year was our very first event ever with Encompass Recreation.

So we've sort of come full circle.

- [Cleary] Alicia Kiechle, mother of an Encompass participant, says that the environment created at an Encompass event is one that is a safe space and lots of fun for her child.

- My son Kyle is seven years old and he's on the spectrum.

So he's here to play basketball today.

Encompass has brought my family a lot of joy.

It gives us a place to go that is judgment-free.

Kyle gets to run around, jump, sit, laugh, and nobody is looking at you funny.

So it's a very loving, warm environment, and we enjoy every event that we go to.

Encompass has really become a soft place in my family's heart.

My husband, he's actually one of the sponsors, so it means a lot to us for Kyle to be able to get out and do different things that he normally doesn't get to do where typical kids get to go play.

So it gives us a safe place for Kyle to be him and for my family not to have to stress, and it's just been amazing.

- [Cleary] It's not only the hard work of Schell that fosters such an environment, it's volunteers like Claire Rogers who help to create the safe space.

- I have been volunteering since Kylie started the program, which was about a year ago.

I've known Kylie my whole life.

I grew up with her kids, I watched her kids, and when she came to everybody with this idea, I was all for it.

As a volunteer, from time to time, I'm tasked with different things, whether it's working one-on-one with a kid, or last event I coached soccer.

So I was the one kind of in charge there, and I loved that.

And other times I'm just maybe like just making sure everything's okay, making sure everything's running smoothly, no one needs any help, answering questions, things like that.

Really seeing the smiles on the kids' faces and even the parents, watching them watch their kids do things is amazing.

- [Cleary] Schell adds that, anyone interested can volunteer, including former Encompass participants.

- Oh goodness, everybody can volunteer.

So you will see around here today we've got a whole lot of high school kids and college kids that are volunteering.

The entire JV and Varsity Lady Knights from Copenhagen are our main volunteers today.

We've also got a bunch of adults.

At the end of the day, we just need people to register on our website.

We also have some volunteers who used to be participants with us.

So our programs are for kids ages two through high school.

So, once they've graduated high school, they are no longer able to come as a participant, but we welcome them as volunteers.

And if you see Wyatt out here tonight, so Wyatt graduated from Indian River a couple years ago and he is our announcer today.

- Yep.

- We have scored the ball.

And he shoots.

- Three down.

- Three down.

- [Cleary] Speaking further on the program, Schell says everyone is welcome, no matter where they may or may not fall on the spectrum.

- So one of the intentions of Encompass Recreation and our board of directors is that we don't ask, nor do we require any type of official diagnoses, for a couple different reasons.

First, there's a lot of kids out there that may have diagnoses that just haven't received them yet.

But second, we all have different needs and different circumstances.

So there's a kid here today that felt the need to be playing here with basketball, but might be able to play, say soccer or swim with a typical group.

So at the end of the day, we welcome you, however you need to be here.

And the beauty of it is that, again, we don't ask, nor do we require, but it's a judgment-free zone.

So you're gonna see kids today that probably don't even touch a basketball, and you're gonna see some kids that have some pretty decent skills, and we love that for everybody.

- [Cleary] Schell also says that the future is bright for Encompass Recreation.

- So, last year we only planned on having four activities, and we ended up with over 60.

We did a strategic planning session with our board of directors and some community input this year, and we decided that this year we're gonna continue with our activities, but we're also gonna focus on community-based programming.

So, we have just formed a partnership with the Adirondack Foothill Cycling Club to be able to offer an inclusive cycling program.

We have six Lego clubs at different libraries across two counties.

Rhonda's FooteWorks offers a monthly dance class for us, and we're hoping to be able to set up a monthly music program.

So our community-based programs are really the focus for 2024 while continuing our activities.

- [Cleary] No matter the event or the activity being held, the consensus is clear.

- [All] We love Encompass Recreation!

- [Person] Woo-hoo!

- [Cleary] For "WPBS Weekly," I'm Eric Cleary.

- To learn more about this incredible program, visit encompassrec.com.

Well, it takes a lot of talent and dedication to create a film, especially when you're the writer, creator and well, every character in the film.

James Marlowe of Syracuse shares his award-winning short film, "Trent Lockwood and the Doomsday Machine."

It's a silent short film shot in noir style, and it is sure to keep you engaged the entire time.

(epic music) (tense music) (suspenseful music) (tense music) (intense, frightening music) (tense music) (suspenseful music) (hopeful music) (tense music) (triumphant music) (soft music) (suspenseful music) (triumphant music) - If you haven't heard the unique sounds of local musicians, Coyote & Crow, you're missing out.

Thomas and Jamie Coppi visited our studios before the birth of their baby.

Here they are with one of their original tunes, "Song for Scott."

- Hey, what's up?

We're Coyote & Crow, and here we are with "Song for Scott."

(mid-tempo banjo music) (upbeat banjo music) ♪ Just past dark and getting cold ♪ ♪ Them flashing lights make a well up the road ♪ ♪ The morning and night woe was way too much to hold ♪ ♪ Poor head lost his life but not his soul ♪ ♪ He was a mile away from home ♪ ♪ Passed him this evening just past nine ♪ ♪ What I would do to just sit down with you ♪ ♪ And hear you play that song just one more time ♪ ♪ Wanna hear you sing your song ♪ ♪ I wanna feel you living on ♪ ♪ This willow will bring a different kind of chill ♪ ♪ To the good old boys on the Skylar Hill ♪ (banjo music) ♪ Still catch the love you left behind ♪ ♪ Not every day did you find someone so kind ♪ ♪ What I would do to just sit down with you ♪ ♪ And hear you play that song just one more time ♪ ♪ That town will never be the same ♪ ♪ And every now and then I pass by on the train ♪ ♪ I look up to the skies and I call out his name ♪ ♪ To hear him singing that song once again ♪ ♪ Wanna hear you sing your song ♪ ♪ I want to feel you living on ♪ ♪ This willow will bring a different kind of chill ♪ ♪ To the good old boys out on Skylar Hill ♪ ♪ This willow will bring a different kind of chill ♪ ♪ To the good old boys out on Skylar Hill ♪ (soft banjo music) - In a few short weeks, many Northern New Yorkers will bear witness to the event of a lifetime, the solar eclipse.

In the meantime, will you be able to see this incredible event on April 8th from where you are?

Here's how you'll know if you can see it in your region.

(mid-tempo music) - A question I get asked a lot is, what will I be able to see where I live during a solar eclipse?

Well, that depends on where you are.

The moon's shadow makes landfall on the west coast of Mexico and cuts across North America from southwest to northeast.

The shadow of the moon will be widest at 123.7 miles across when it first touches Mexico.

By the time it makes its way across the US, it will shrink to about 108 miles across, and that shadow moves fast.

By the time it makes its way to New England, it will be moving at more than 2,700 miles per hour.

In New Hampshire, the shadow will cut across the extreme northern section of the state, and in order to see the eclipse as total, you have to be in that section at the right time.

The closer to the center line of the shadow, the longer totality will last.

If you're outside the shadow, you'll see a partial solar eclipse, and you must protect your eyes during the entire eclipse.

So it's location, location, location that'll determine what you see.

- That does it for this Tuesday night.

We're taking next week off for our membership drive, and we do hope you'll join us.

The drive starts this weekend, and as always, we look forward to your support.

Your contributions are what keep us in a place where we can continue to air the programs you know and love, including this show, "WPBS Weekly."

When we return, we'll take a fresh look at these stories.

March is Women's History Month, and we're kicking it off with an incredible story.

We'll meet Canadian business owner, Kristine Geary.

She shares how her turbulent childhood shaped her into the person she is today.

And two North Country high schools forge a new path for women and girls in the sport of wrestling.

Plus, young people explore their abilities through their physical disabilities, with their able-bodied siblings.

We'll take you inside the Y Penguins Water Program at the YMCA in Eastern Ontario.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

Drop us an email at WPBSweekly@wpbstv.org, and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now, everyone.

Have a great night and we'll see you soon.

Take care.

- [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by the Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego Counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nysbdc.org.

Additional funding provided by the J.M.

McDonald Foundation, The Estate of Grant Mitchell, The Dr. D Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation, and the New York State Education Department.

(upbeat banjo music) ♪ That town will never be the same ♪ ♪ And every now and then I pass by on the train ♪ ♪ I look up to the skies and I call out his name ♪ ♪ And to hear him singing that song once again ♪ ♪ Wanna hear you sing your song ♪ ♪ I wanna feel you living on ♪