People to See Rob Lake & His Magic

FREDERICK /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- One of the world’s most celebrated illusionists, and America’s Got Talent finalist, Rob Lake, comes to the Weinberg Center for the Arts Oct. 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. with The Magic of Rob Lake.

Named “The Top Illusionist in the World” by Caesars Entertainment, Rob is internationally renowned for his mesmerizing and award-winning illusion spectacular.

Tickets are $35 and may be purchased online at WeinbergCenter.org, by calling the box office at 301-600-2828, or in person at 20 West Patrick Street. Discounts are available for students, children, and seniors. has been featured in countless films, television shows, theme parks, and live productions worldwide.

Rob Lake has been performing world class illusions to delighted audiences since he was just 22 years old. Lake fell in love with magic when he was 10 years old and began to ferociously study the art of illusion. 12 years later, in 2008, he became the youngest magician ever to receive a Merlin Award for International Stage Magician of the Year, in 2012 Caesars Entertainment named him the “Top Illusionist in the World,” and his magical prowess

Lake has become the source of modern magic know-how in the industry. He is known for his large-scale tricks, once making an armored truck full of one million dollars appear in front of The FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN, in live time to an audience of 15,000 people. He has toured internationally, was a finalist on America’s Got Talent, and performed an extended run at the iconic Atlantis Paradise resort in the Bahamas. When he’s not performing physics defying stunts, -10- | WEEKENDEREXTENDED.COM ~ October, 2021Rob Lake dedicates his time to raising funds and support for his hometown, Norman, Oklahoma’s Animal Rescue.

By Lisa Garcia People to See Editor

The Weinberg Center for the Arts is one of the region’s premier performing arts presenters, offering film, music, dance, theater, and family-focused programming. Located in the historic Tivoli movie theater in downtown Frederick Maryland, the Weinberg Center strives to ensure that the arts remain accessible and affordable to local and regional audiences alike. Weinberg Center events are made possible with major support from the City of Frederick, the Maryland State Arts Council, Plamondon Hospitality Partners, and other corporate and individual donors.

A complete listing of artists and performers scheduled for the 2021-2022 season can be found at WeinbergCenter.org.

Rob Lake may also be seen Oct. 16 at the Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College in Irmo, SC.

II recently camped at Stephen Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp. It’s a beautiful place with a strange and interesting history. Okefenokee Swamp covers almost 700 square miles, mostly in Georgia but a small section extends into north Florida. On a boat tour of the swamp with Ranger Alex, I learned several new things about the old swamp. One thing he told me “It’s not really a swamp. It’s the headwaters of both the Suwannee and the Saint Marys rivers. It’s just easier to say ‘swamp’ than ‘natural wetlands preserve.’”

Before white settlers discovered the diversity of the Okefenokee, Native Americans lived and hunted in the swamp. They called it “Land of the Trembling Earth.” Ranger Alex took me to a patch of some type of grasses that were in the process of forming land. Truly, when I poked at the small island with my paddle, it trembled.

Between the boat trip with Ranger Alex and a bit of kayaking I did on my own, it’s easy to see how a person could become lost forever in this place that is more water than land. Ranger Alex told me one piece of valuable information. If you become lost, just toss in a handful of leaves and see which way they float. The current will take them, and a lost person following the leaves, back to the park dock.

It’s no wonder legends about ghosts, UFO abductions, and strange swamp creatures like the Pigman, a creature resembling the Everglades Skunk Ape, circulate. There are tales of were-deers, were-bears and were-panthers seen on the swamp’s islands at night. Like the traditional werewolf, only silver bullets can kill them. A fourteen-year-old boy camping with his family at Stephen Foster State Park reported a sighting of the Pigman in 1972. A creature that looked like a cross between a chimpanzee and a small person attacked the boy. It tried to bite the boy’s neck but he screamed and his parents heard and shouted back. The creature let go of the boy, jumped into the water, and swam across and disappeared into the woods.

The fear generated by all the mysterious tales of strange creatures allowed the swamp to be used as a refuge by those desperate enough to enter. During the 1800s before and during the Seminole wars, Native Americans used the swamp to elude soldiers, intent on banishing them to Oklahoma. Billy’s Island, about a 2-mile boat trip from the park dock, is believed to be named for Billy Bowlegs, a

Seminole, who hid there to evade the soldiers. Runaway slaves hid deep in the swamp.

When William Bartram came to explore it in the 1700s, he learned a Creek legend he later retold in book, Travels, of an immortal native tribe “whose women are incomparably beautiful” who lived in an enchanted land where men got lost in the swamp. Bartram believed they were the Yamases, a tribe nearly exterminated by the Creek nation that came to the Okefenokee and established their control of the swamp.

One strange sighting in the swamp had a basis in proven fact. People claim to have seen and even been pursued by green glowing orbs. Science can explain this. It’s swamp gas, also called “foxfire” and “wetland flatulence.” Organic matter like leaves and grasses even dead animals sink into the water and decay. The decay releases methane gas. Sometimes this glows.

I don’t know about the were-deer but I saw dozens of deer roaming the park while I was there. Ranger Alex said November is a good month to see bear. The scariest creature I saw was a large alligator that was just ahead of my kayak. He submerged as I got close and I worried that he might decide to get under my kayak and turn it over so he could have a morning snack.

Many of the cypress knees and remnants of cypress trees cut during Okefenokee’s logging period when the Hebard Cypress Company began harvesting the old cypress trees in the early 1900s have strange shapes. One stump that I saw while kayaking resembled a Bigfoot in a crouch near the shore.

Another paranormal event people claim is that the swamp plays tricks on technology. I did find one weird thing. My cell phone lost its signal inside my van but

By Kathleen Walls Contributing Editor AmericanRoads.net

could pick up sometimes just out the door. Maybe, just not many cell towers in that vast wetland.

Whether you are seeking an encounter with a smelly Sasquatch, searching for a UFO, or just want a peaceful place to camp, Stephen Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is it.