Progress Mifflin County Towns & Valleys Edition 2021

The Sentinel

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PROGRESS MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

¯ Community involvement in Goose Day traditions continues to grow each year , Page 2 ¯ MCS Bank opens new operations center in Milroy, Page 4 ¯ Venturous Coffee brings taste of Pacific Northwest to Mifflin County, Page 5 ¯ Kish Bank Innovation Center, Page 8

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C2—Lewistown, PA

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

Community involvement grows around old tradition Goose Day brings unique touch to local tourism

By BRADLEY KREITZER Sentinel reporter bkreitzer@lewistownsentinel.com

LEWISTOWN — If you grew up in Mifflin and Juniata counties then you probably know of the custom of eating goose on St. Michaelmas Day, the tradition known more affectionately as Goose Day in the Juniata River Valley.

Well others are beginning to take notice to the centuries-old tradition — the rest of Pennsylvania.

Goose Day’s growth in recent years can be accredited to the amalgamation of efforts put forth by area non-profits, support by community leaders and the community itself for embracing the unique holiday. The inception of the modern-day Goose Day activities happened eight years ago with then-president and executive director of the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, Jim Tunall.

Current Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau executive director Jenny Barron Landis recalls when she first joined the agency, Tunall was still interested in holding a large event that would be hosted by a local business or organization. However, they realized such an event would be difficult to sustain. After some discussion on the matter, the duo came up with a crowd sourcing idea.

“The idea was to get our community involved in Goose Day and to get them to believe in it and get excited about it and make it fun and make it different,” Landis said. “The hope was that that could sustain itself.”

Wooden coins made by Mifflin County High School STEM students were hidden in purple eggs and hidden in both counties. 200 eggs were hidden this year. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

Photos courtesy JUNIATA RIVER VALLEY VISITORS BUREAU

Knox Messerman finds the hidden goose inside the corn maze at At the Barnyard along Ferguson Valley Road.

In 2017 the visitors bureau started the “I believe in Goose Day” campaign with the idea that people can believe in the folklore of eating goose on Sept.

29 to secure wealth and prosperity, but also look at the day as an economic generator for the area.

“We ask businesses, churches, organizations, individuals, anybody to do anything for Goose Day,” Landis said. “That is definitely building.”

According to Landis local artisans have made a

plethora of goose-themed items are being made to coincide with the event such as T-shirts, pottery, pins, earrings, stickers, garden flags, scented candles, soaps, lotions and lip balm. Landis said the bureau has a graphic designer on retainer that designed the Goose Day logo for the annual event. To get as much exposure for the holiday as possible the visitors bureau makes the logo available to anyone to use at no charge. This enables businesses and or-

ganizations to use the logo in their Goose Day promotions, advertising or anything. Landis said the logo

is for people to use to help them get a leg up on planning their participation in the holiday. Also, Landis mentioned that businesses and organizations don’t have to use it. It’s not an official logo just an option that can be used if anyone wishes to. Next year will see a new logo from the visitors bureau that will be available to use. Landis said at some point there will be plenty of different logos to choose from.

“Which is cool,” Landis said. “You have to keep it mixed up. We have to keep

it interesting.”

Landis said she’d like to see some old Goose Day events return such as the Cavalcade of Bands competition or the Goose Day horse show. Anyone with a new idea for an event or a plan to bring back an old favorite is encouraged to organize it and the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau will help promote it.

“Our job is not to create all this stuff,” Landis said.

“That’s not the idea. This is all about the community See Goose / Page 3

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Lewistown, PA—C3

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Maelyn Swanger hangs out with Harvey the Harvest Goose at Bilgers Pumpkins along Ferguson Valley Road in McVeytown. Harvey is part of the ‘Wild Geese Flock Together’ project that has seen 18 painted goose sculptures installed in Mifflin and Juniata counties.

Goose

Continued from Page 2

chipping in and doing their own things.”

In one way or another Goose Day is always on the minds of the staff at the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau. Come July of each year fulfillment director, Janet Walker and marketing coordinator Buffie Boyer take to the phones to remind restaurants and businesses of the approaching holiday and gather information on planned events. Landis said in order to get on the bureau’s list of events they have to know a month ahead of Goose Day what an organization or business has planned.

According to Boyer, the visitors bureau isn’t the only entity attempting to grow the Goose Day tradition. The non-profit agency Community Partnerships RC&D has also taken strides to highlight the local holiday.

“It really seems to have grown in the past two or three years and I credit that to Sam (Price) and Kiernan (Schalk) with the Wild Geese project,” Boyer said.

“I believe that puts Goose Day in the residents’ face every single day. So it’s showing community pride and people want to be part of that.”

The project Boyer was referring to is the Wild Geese: Flock Together public art project which coordinates the creation of fiberglass geese sculp-

tures painted by regional artists and having them installed at various locations throughout Mifflin and Juniata counties.

According to executive director Sam Price, during 2008 a trip to Erie, Pennsylvania with his wife Kristen, he saw the painted frog and fish sculptures scattered throughout the city and thought the Juniata River Valley would benefit from similar installations that highlighted the area’s Goose Day folklore.

The pair had a chance encounter with John Vanco, Director of the Erie Art Museum, who was instrumental in the GoFish! Erie public art project and gathered information from him on how to organize such a project. Price then began gathering information and speaking to other towns and cities that had carried out similar public art projects.

Then in 2018 Price visited the Erie area again this time with Community Partnerships RC&D program manager Kiernan Schalk.

On the trip back to Mifflin County Price mentioned the idea he had in 2008 for goose sculptures and Schalk encouraged him to revisit the notion.

According to Price, Kay Hamilton, project director of Success Together — a group of stakeholders from across Mifflin County, invited him to introduce the project to the group. After the presentation the Wild Geese project started getting the backing it needed.

It wasn’t long before Kay Hamilton, Beth Reifsny-

der, the Mifflin County Commissioners and Community Partnerships sprang into action to raise the required startup funds for the prototype mold. Price said the community embraced the project almost immediately and the artist and sponsors made it happen.

“We really appreciate everybody who partnered on this project. It has a lot of moving parts and there are a lot of different partners and they all bring something to the table.

And we’ve been blessed with great artists and great sponsors. I think that public art is evidence of a healthy society,” Schalk said.

So far, 18 goose sculptures have “landed” in the Juniata River Valley commitments for many more.

Community Partnerships also was instrumental in the installation of a Legends and Lore Marker highlighting the local Goose Day tradition. In its work with Folk Art Pa. Community Partnership, Community Partnerships became aware of a grant through the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. In a partnership with the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau and the Mifflin County Commissioners, Community Partnerships received the grant to install the Legends and Lore Marker next to the Mifflin County Library on Wayne Street in Lewistown.

“With our unique folklore here, the goal was to put us on the map and recognize our hundreds-years old tradition,” Price said.

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C4—Lewistown, PA

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

MCS Bank opens new operations center in Milroy Facility built using local materials, contractors

By BRADLEY KREITZER Sentinel reporter bkreitzer@lewistownsentinel.com

MILROY — With growth comes change and growth is what led to the need for the new MCS Bank operations center in Milroy. With no more room to expand at the Lewistown location, MCS Bank began looking for a place that they could construct a new building to fit their needs as well as reflect their personality.

“We’re the ‘friendly bank.’ We are a different organization in the way we are structured, and in the way that we act and who we really are.” chief operating officer Tom Kinsey said.

“We’re not stuffy, we’re not pretentious, we’re easy to get along with and we wanted the building to kind of reflect a lot of that.”

From day one Kinsey said he wanted the building to look like a big white barn, structures that are prevalent throughout the region. To achieve this look Kinsey said they chose “really good and humble” building materials in colors that don’t take away from the MCS Bank’s blue and green branding colors. This allowed the bank to add touches of their logo to different areas of the building’s design. The high roof line of the structure allows for bright open areas that align with the building’s barn-like aesthetic.

The building’s layout has the bank branch closest to Old US Highway 322 with three straight drivethrough tellers. The interior of the branch is an open concept with a warm, welcoming setup. The branch is designed in such a way that makes the bank tellers visible before even setting foot inside the lobby. In the area of the lobby are the teller lines, two commercial business lenders, deposit operations and three collaboration rooms.

The collaboration rooms include high tables, computers and monitors that everyone in the room can view.

“We wanted to have some spaces where we could sit with customers

Sentinel photo by BRADLEY KREITZER

The new MCS Bank operations center in Milroy not only contains a fully operational bank branch, but a conference room, classroom, collaboration rooms and more. The construction was performed by local contractors and when possible was built using locally sourced materials.

to either go over setting up an account or making account changes, or doing investments or doing a loan application where they can see things in real time on the screen. So, take a lot of the unknown and a lot of the anxiety of the whole banking process and make it easy,” Kinsey said.

The lobby is home to several MCS Insurance sales representatives as well, making the Milroy branch convenient for MCS customers.

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friendly, welcoming bank, the lobby also has a free coffee bar where customers can grab a free cup. Since

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Lewistown, PA—C5

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

Venturous Coffee brings taste of Seattle to McVeytown

By ERIN THOMPSON Education/religion editor ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com

McVEYTOWN — Trevor Koehn and his family have brought a taste of Seattle back to their hometown.

Venturous Coffee Roasters was inspired after Koehn took a six-month mission trip with his church to Seattle, Washington, where he performed a number of tasks for the needy.

“On Saturdays we would go to three or four coffee shops and we just got addicted to coffee,” he joked. “We came back and there just wasn’t coffee here.”

Koehn said he had conversations with his sister, Tiffany, about the potential for opening a coffee shop, and at times, would sit in other coffee shops and discuss what they would do different if they had their own.

Then one day when driving down the road, Koehn recalls seeing a “for sale” sign and the rest is history, so they say.

The building — which at one time served as the McVeytown Fire House and was most recently a laundromat — required a complete remodel, which he did with dad. It took about a year, Koehn recalled.

“There was really nothing left unturned.”

The shop opened in May of this year — Just before Country Memories Day — and gives patrons a welcoming modern rustic feel.

Venturous offers everything from fresh roasted coffee to Red Bull slushies.

Also offered are items like paninis, wraps, salads, regular drop coffee, cold brew, lattes, frappes, espresso-based drinks and fruit smoothies.

To prepare himself for business, Koehn taught himself to roast coffee beans, which in itself was a rigorous process, he recalls.

“But definitely worth it,” he said.

His sister, Tiffany, now works behind the counter as the barista. His wife, Mandy, also works for the coffee shop, he said. Koehn’s mother, Ruth, serves as the head baker, providing the shop with fresh

Sentinel photos by ERIN THOMPSON

Venturous Coffee Roasters owner Trevor Koehn talks with a customer about learning to roast his own coffee beans.

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As shown by the number of cars in the parking lot during peak business hours, business has been good so far.

“If you come in on a Saturday, you’re sure to have a little wait,” Koehn said.

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Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

MCS

LEFT: The conference room contains seating for eight at a rustic table.

Continued from Page 4

to a college-style classroom with elevated seating and a large multifunctional video screen. One of the uses of the classroom is for employee training. Two days a week MCS Bank offers morning classes on a variety of topics including banking, insurance, investments, loans, credit or computer items so their employees can better serve customers.

In the spring, MCS Bank looks to utilize this space with a seminar series for its customers. The series will cover a wide range of subjects such as home buying, budgeting for young people, credit repair and credit building. MCS Bank also looks to hold seminars geared toward some of the bank’s older clients such as retirement estate planning or continuation of wealth.

“We wanted a venue right off the lobby that we can do those things and host those events,” Kinsey said. “It’s something we like to do and it’s something we are proud of.”

Across from the education classroom is the investment services wing with MCS’s two financial advisers and their assistants.

Also, on this side of the building is the loan center which utilizes the same style of customer friendly collaboration rooms.

Kinsey said the collabora-

BELOW: The sign outside the main entrance lists all the service available at the new operations center, including the Milroy branch as well as financial advisement services, insurance services and mortgage services.

Sentinel photos by BRADLEY KREITZER

tion rooms make for a better customer experience.

Not only do these spaces make the process simpler with a better understanding but quicker as well.

“You answer questions easier,” he said. “It’s not a give and take. It’s more like collaborating work to bring things together.”

In this wing is additional space into which MCS Bank can build more offices and grow. The bank already has offices that are currently under construction in some of those available spaces. Also at the end of the wing is the employee kitchen. Kinsey said they have a fun group of employees at MCS Bank, so they wanted to create a fun space for them to relax and unwind to enjoy their break time. The kitchen is not only equipped with appli-

ances for employee use but also some lively touches to make spending time in the room more enjoyable. The high windows let in plenty of natural light and lend to beautiful views of the surrounding area.

The second floor of the building houses the bank’s internal offices such as accounting, human resources, information technology organization and compliance department.

Connecting the two wings is the gallery — a place where MCS Bank can highlight and showcase different local trade or crafts persons.

“There are so many amazing trades in this valley, in this area, in this county that we want to be able to show those and display it,” Kinsey said.

The artwork that will be

on display in the gallery rest on easels made by a local craftsman Joe Peachey.

Displays in the gallery will be switched out every six to eight weeks.

Outside the operations center, MCS Bank included a farmers’ market where bank customers can sell their local produce, baked goods and plants. The idea See MCS / Page 7

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Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

Lewistown, PA—C7

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

The lobby at the new MCS bank operations center displays the high ceiling and open space that is prevalent throughout the building.

MCS

Continued from Page 6

to have sales of barbecue chicken or homemade ice cream on site are also being explored and may take place next spring. Kinsey said MCS Bank is excited to have the farmers’ market and it is a neat way to engage with customers while providing a service to the community.

Also, outside the operations center is a buggy shed which provides a parking area for customers who use a horse and buggy.

Chief operating officer Tom Kinsey said MCS Bank saw a lot of potential in Armagh Township.

“It is adjoining to our existing footprint so it was natural to come here,” he said.

“And with the new highway renovations we really think this is an area of the county that will have great growth over the next 25 years.”

With the desire to build in Armagh Township, MCS Bank began the search for a suitable location to fit its needs. The bank contacted Ed Lerch about the possibility of purchasing a single lot in the Armagh Business Park but, seeing the benefits of having land for future expansion, ended up buying the park’s remaining acreage — an area roughly 15 to 16 acres in size. Because MCS Bank secured the remaining land, Armagh Township saw the potential to extend the right-of-way for the new building and connect it to the rest of Commerce Drive

creating a loop through the business park. Armagh Township is currently working with SEDA-COG on securing a grant to connect the two roads.

In planning for the new building, Kinsey said they made some logical decisions to make future expansion easier. Kinsey said MCS Bank kept four acres at the location for any future additions to the building. Also, they decided to leave the curb on the north end of the lot off so if they do build an addition, they can do so without cutting a curb. Conduit was also run under the parking lot so if other buildings are constructed behind or next to the MCS Bank, utilities can be easily connected.

Kinsey said they took great care to think everything through in planning the new operation center since it was going to be the bank’s new headquarters.

All the operational aspects of the bank are now housed in the new center such as accounting, human resources and information technology. With all operations under one roof, Kinsey said work and communication between departments will be better. MCS Bank’s loan center that was located on Market Street in Lewistown has been also moved to the Armagh Township location.

Kinsey said although the loan center was a nice building, parking was a challenge at that location.

Kinsey said construction of the new operation center took about 10 months and

was done by many local tradesmen. The hardwood floors of the operation center are locally sourced and the beams used in the building came from the Big Valley.

MCS Bank’s general conSentinel photos by BRADLEY KREITZER tractor for the project was Sunset Construction out of The new MCS Bank operations center works in touches of the MCS Bank logo and Belleville. Kinsey said they colors throughout the complex. were amazed by not only the contractor’s level of care and craftsmanship but also their suggestions on how to make the building more energy efficient and ways to cut costs during construction. Kinsey said the company’s craftsmanship and specific ways to do things was Cut & Split Hardwood very inspirational.

A lot of thought went into the employees while designing the new facility. The Home Heating building has 12 different (including ornamental grasses) Camping • Cooking heating and air-conditioning zones which control the loss Sold by the scoop or cord • pick-up or delivery and gain of heat throughout the day. The plans also included a covered patio to provide employees with outdoor seating. Parking at the new building has also been an improvement for the MCS Bank employees.

“We’re unique. We’re not a stock institution, we’re a mutual savings bank and as a mutual we don’t have shareholders. We are owned by our depositors,” Kinsey said. “What that means for us is we’re more vested in 26 Timber Lane, Reedsville • 717-667-3600 our communities and our www.metzlerforestproducts.com customers because we’re not trying to make a stock price go up or make a bunch of shareholders happy. It’s just a whole different atmoBIG OR SMALL, WE GROOM THEM ALL. sphere and this building reNO BREED DISCRIMINATION. flects our personality in the fact that we are different.”

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C8—Lewistown, PA

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

PROGRESS — MIFFLIN COUNTY VALLEYS & TOWNS

Kish Bank growing into new Innovation Center Company adding video chat feature to ATMs

By BRADLEY KREITZER Sentinel reporter bkreitzer@lewistownsentinel.com

REEDSVILLE — When Kish Bank broke ground in 2019 for their new Innovation Center they were already looking ahead to future endeavors to better serve their customers and employees. Since opening the doors of the state-ofthe-art technology and operations hub last year some of that growth is already taking place.

According to Kish Bank president and chief operating officer Gregory Hayes some of the growth that has taken place was adding personal bankers into the facility either through new hires or from branch teams. These bankers now work out of the 38,000-square-foot building and can connect with customers not only over the phone but via live chat with online digital banking. Hayes said Kish is starting with digital chat with plans to evolve into live video chat.

“You’ll actually be able to see them sitting in that building with the view of the valley behind them.

So, you’ll know this isn’t someone in another country or another state. This is someone right here.”

Hayes said.

Soon, the bank’s website and cellphone app won’t be the only way to live video chat with Kish staff. The bank has plans to come out with new automated teller machines with video capabilities.

These new machines will have the same functions as a traditional ATM, only

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ABOVE: The Kish Innovation Center in Reedsville opened last year and now serves as a technology and operations hub for the company.

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Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 9am-9pm Tue. and Thu. 9am-6pm; Sat. 8am-5pm

allowing customers who may not be able to make it

ABOVE RIGHT: One of the main stairwells has a two-story mural painted on the walls.

now customers can press a button or touch the screen to connect with an Innovation Center video teller.

These video tellers, who are bankers, will be able to

answer questions and assist customers with transactions.

“All the things you normally do with a teller, you’ll be able to do at

the ATM machines. Those video-based bankers are right there (Innovation Center) with the video technology in place.”

Hayes said.

The video tellers are already in place at the Innovation Center awaiting the roll out of the new machines. Kish Bank is still testing the new ATMs which they will refer to as “video teller machines.”

Hayes said because of the video teller machines, Kish Bank will be able to expand its hours. The video teller will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

See Kish / Page 9

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Lewistown, PA—C9

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Submited photo

Office space inside the Kish Bank Innovation Center in Reedsville shows the spacious layout and the integration of windows allowing views of the surrounding Big Valley and natural light.

Kish

Continued from Page 8

to a Kish Bank branch before closing to still make transactions as they normally would. Hayes said they are excited for the technology that allows them to provide the community with the banking experience and convenience they need with employees they can trust.

Kish Bank also began renovation of the Financial Center next door to the Innovation Center. This facility will be converted into a bank branch and a financial center. The building will house all of Kish Bank’s other business units

and lines of service including insurance, wealth management, business banking and benfits consulting. The layout of this branch will have a whole new design.

Hayes said plans include taking away the teller line and creating what they call “teller pods” where customers can stand next to the banker and look at the computer screen and see everything that is going on in the transaction.

“What’s on our screen is not a secret. It’s your bank information,” Hayes said.

Hayes said the pods are also secure in that all the money being distributed comes from a machine eliminating the need for the teller to handle the cash.

Renovation of the new fi-

nancial center is expected to be completed around January or February. When completed, the gateway branch in the Innovation Center will be moved to the newly rennovated financial center building. Kish Bank will then look for a tenant to fill the space in the Innovation Center left vacant by the gateway branch.

As for the Innovation Center, some projects have been completed and changes made since the doors opened in 2020.

Kish has a food vending area for employees in the main kitchen. This area allows employees to select from an array of prepared foods, snacks and beverage. Hayes also said the patio in the rear of

the building has also been completed, giving employees and open space in which they can work complete with Wi-Fi. Kish also has a two-story-tall mural installed in one of the center’s main stairwells.

“It demonstrates our ‘why’ which is we believe we can make the lives of those around us better,” he said. “But it also celebrates our community.”

Hayes said Kish Bank is excited to show the community the Innovation Center some time in the spring.

“We’re really focused on this local personalized relationship based banking through technology. And that’s what this building is all about,” he said.

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The Sentinel

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021

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