Greater Hershey Area ALSO SERVING HUMMELSTOWN AND MIDDLETOWN
townlively.com
OCTOBER 13, 2021
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXIV • NO 15
New Film Details Italian-American Community In Hershey BY FRANCINE FULTON
After more than a year of conducting research, gathering photos and reviewing home movies, filmmaker Michael Accorsi has released a film that celebrates the 100-year history of Italian-Americans who lived and worked in Hershey. “Gioia e Solideritá,” which translates to “Joy and Togetherness,” is a 20-minute production that illustrates real-life stories about Italians in Hershey, including their struggles and
Members of Boy Scout Troop 594 Scouts explore the inside of a helicopter while earning the Aviation Merit Badge.
Scouts Earn Recognition, Plan New Adventures vation in Loysville, and summer camp is slated for July at Camp Rodney on the Chesapeake Bay. Scouts will also continue to work on the Aviation Merit Badge at Fort Indiantown Gap. Troop 594 recently added three Eagle Scouts to the more than 50 already in its ranks. The new Eagles are Michael Astfalk Jr. from Bishop McDevitt High School, Caden Prisbe from Middletown Area High School, and Nathan Russo from Middletown Area High School. Four members of Troop 594 recently became Arrowmen members of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts of America’s honor society. Avery Askins, George Belfer, Ben Rine, and Aiden Ruzansky earned this honor by showing Scout spirit through avid participation in camping and troop activities. Scouts continue to advance in rank through troop programs and sponsored merit badges, such as the Aviation Merit Badge at Fort Indiantown Gap, and all scoutmasters are fully trained with the Avery Askins of Middletown aboard Boy Scouts of America and the the helicopter iddletown Boy Scout Troop 594 recently set its 2021-22 agenda, recognized new Eagle Scouts and welcomed new Scouts. The coming year’s adventure plan focuses on historic trails. A day hike in Gettysburg is planned for October, as well as hikes on the Appalachian Trail, in Valley Forge, and around the region. A fall Scout skill weekend will be held at Hidden Valley Scout Reser-
Filmmaker Michael Accorsi has released a short film about Italian-American history in Hershey.
Geyers UMC Plans Trunk Or Treat Geyers United Methodist Church (UMC), 1605 S. Geyers Church Road, Middletown, invites the community to its annual Trunk or Treat on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m. Children and youths from toddlers through middle school are invited to dress in costume and bring a bag along to collect treats. A Trunk or Treat will be held in the church’s upper parking lot. More than 25 cars with decorated trunks are expected to be on-site, and the children may visit them to
See New Film pg 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Rotary Club Honors Local Business Owners . . . . . . .2 Tax Preparation Volunteers Needed . . . . . .2 Church To Celebrate Fall . . . . . . . . . .3 House Of Worship . . . . . . .9 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . .10
R076468
See Geyers UMC pg 3
Let us show you the difference a caring neighbor can make. Rothermel-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. Palmyra | 717-838-9211 Travis S. Finkenbinder, Supervisor
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER OCT. 13, 2021
Postal Patron
HCC
M
Scouting Wood Badge program. At this summer’s camp, the troop was named an Honor Troop for its achievements, and it won the Simon Cowell Award for Trivia Night. Assistant Scoutmaster Shawn Haviland took first place in the belly flop contest, Scout John Michael Beaudet received the snorkeling award, and Malik Haviland was honored for the mile swim. Also this year, the troop participated in both the Keystone Capital District’s Spring Camporee and the New Birth of Freedom Council’s Rendezvous Camp, which involved building a catapult for a camp-wide competition. Two chicken barbecue fundraisers are planned at Dailey’s Gulf, 200 E. Main St., Middletown, in conjunction with Cub Pack 113. The events will take place Saturday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, March 12, 2022, both from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. American Legion Post 594 in Middletown, which celebrated its centennial in 2020, sponsors Troop 594. For more information on the troop, contact Scoutmaster Michael Astfalk at mastfalk594@gmail.com.
celebrations. “The story of this Italian community is quite remarkable,” Accorsi said. “Like so many Italian communities, the values and strength of the community helped Italians persevere and achieve great accomplishments.” He added that the film was recently selected for the Venus Italian International Film Festival. Accorsi produces cinematic films as the owner of Accorsi Studios. His great-grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1914 and settled in Hershey along with many other Italians. “I just moved back to Hershey to spend time with my father and work on projects centering around the centennial for Italians here,” Accorsi noted. He explained that Italians first came to work in local quarries and later at the chocolate factory built by Milton Hershey. Accorsi noted that his father worked as a foreman in the chocolate factory. Accorsi collected old photos, many of which had to be touched up because they were damaged, and gathered home movies, some of which had to be converted for digital use.
Miller-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory Elizabethtown | 717-367-1543 Thomas W. Ford, Supervisor
Fager-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. Middletown | 717-944-7413 Alana A. Ace, Supervisor
