Harrisburg Magazine February 2023

Plan your no-hassle getaway today!

TRAILBLAZING

First, savor locally crafted beers, wines, ciders, mead, and spirits along our popular Adams County Pour Tour. Then take a scenic outing through the region’s many working farms and orchards on the Adams County Crop Hop, our farm and market trail. You can win prizes, the more you visit. Whatever your taste for foodie adventure, Gettysburg and Adams County have you covered!

HASGIVEN USRECOGNITION THATLASTS

PRESIDENT/CEO

Darwin Oordt doordt@harrisburgmagazine.com

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Darcy Oordt darcy@harrisburgmagazine.com

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING / SIMPLY THE BEST Chris Aloia caloia@harrisburgmagazine.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Jo Ann Shover jshover@harrisburgmagazine.com

MANAGING EDITOR Randy Gross rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@harrisburgmagazine.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Shane Carino scarino@harrisburgmagazine.com

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Richard Eppinger reppinger@harrisburgmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Chris Bauer

Jose Morales

Bill Roddey

CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS

Brad Maurer Georgia DuCharme

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Will Masters

Paul Vasiliades

SALES OFFICE

717.233.0109 4309 Linglestown Road, Suite 115 Harrisburg,

-Marion Woodman, Author

It’s the month for sweetness! For saying “sweet nothings” to one you’ve declared (or are about to declare) an undying love for … and also for enjoying sweet “somethings,” like the special custom cake (above) created by true-life Valentines Wendi and Jason Saposnek, owners of SweeTreats Bakery in Lemoyne. The Saposnek’s kindly regaled – and wowed – us with a delicious confection they baked especially for us, so we figured we’d share it with our readers. Well, at least a visual share … trust me, the cake didn’t last long at our office.

While we’re on the subject of food, this month get ready to go on a journey from sweet, to savory, to … sippable. Start with pancakes, French toast (and much more) when Christina Heintzelman visits

a local hidden gem, the West Shore Diner, owned by members of the Katsifis family since the 1980s. Then, it’s off to an elegant sit-down dinner with PJ Folk, who is charged with creating sustainable, healthconscious, locally sourced cuisine at Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar. And, finally, we cap things off with a profile of bartender Bo Bonitz, who “knows” how to mix up creative – and very sippable – drinks at Gilligan’s Bar & Grill in Mechanicsburg.

It’s always sweet to give props to those in the greater-Harrisburg arts scene, which is exactly what Christina Heintzelman does in the final installment of her series profiling 2022’s “Simply the Art” winners. This month’s honorees: local singer Amy Simpson; local band The

“The longing for sweets is really a yearning for love or sweetness.”

Swisher Sweets; local musician Shea Quinn; theatre company Gamut Theatre Group; and local actor (and playwright) Paul Hood. You can also read about long-time (“since the age of three!”) local painter Sten in Christina’s Artful Inspirations

Transitioning from the sweet to the bittersweet … Christina (a very busy gal!) tours the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum – “one of the ten best fire museums in the nation” – which pays homage to heroes who have lived through moments ranging from life-affirming to tragic over the centuries.

Transitioning once more, from the bittersweet to just … bitter. Our Black History Month visit to Harrisburg’s National Civil War Museum highlights the search for truth and meaning inside a sixty-six thousand square foot archive that could add another sixty-six-thousand feet and still not be able to cover the vast scope of the never-healed wounds inflicted by the bloodiest conflict in American history.

From bittersweet to … poignant. That word definitely applies to this month’s short story, “The Songbird of Jackson Street,” superbly crafted by Philadelphia native Chris Bauer. Our other literary offering, from current Harrisburg poet Jose Morales, is a painfully “heart”-felt piece titled “testing the endurance of the HEAVENS.” On the humorous side, Brad Maurer’s The Cercus takes a bug’s eye view of Valentine’s Day relationships; and satirist Bill Roddey, who, among other achievements, was once a joke writer for the syndicated Frank & Ernest comic strip, continues to jab and poke at modern conventions with more Off the Cuff one-liners.

I get ticked off when someone says “I will say…” Why do they have to announce that if they’re already saying something? My advice is “No you won’t.” Then walk away.

You know it’s gonna be a bad day when your dog doesn’t greet you wildly at the door anymore, you smile but your reflection in the mirror doesn’t smile back, and your forever stamps have expired.

NUDE PICKLEBALL IS TAKING OFF…clothes. FYI, I’m a clothed nudist.

To cut costs at Twitter Elon Musk has ordered his staff to bring their own toiletpaper. And that’s no s**t!

Don’t forget our columns! In Cinematic Ramblings, film & TV historian Kevyn Knox selects his 10 Favorite Films of 2022; Jacquelyn Duplessis (filling in for Andrea Reed) tells how to “Love Your Heart” in Nourishing Bites; Alex Brubaker’s By the Book previews a new release – and Harrisburg book-signing – by award-winning author Matthew Desmond (“Poverty, By America”); Bryson Roof answers the question “Should I Add Children to the Deed of my House?” in The Finance Hound; Barbara Trainin Blank previews some live shows you’ll surely love in February in Theatre Thoughts; HACC’s Robert Stakem discusses the importance of CPR training in Tailboard Talk; and Kristen Zellner’s For the Love of Pets highlights African Americans who played a historical role in aiding the animal welfare community.

On an additional bittersweet note: the staff of Harrisburg Magazine has had so many sweet moments with graphic artist extraordinaire, Laura Reich, that we truly can’t sum up in words how much we will miss her smiling face and “do it all” attitude. Yes, after five+ years of expertly laying out our pages, we bid a fond farewell to Laura, and wish her tremendous success in her new endeavor. All of which means, this month we also say a happy “hello” to new graphic artist Shane Carino, a Navy veteran with amazing talents of her own!

Be extra sweet to one another this month!

RG

The Cercus  reserves all  reproduction rights,  including the  right to claim statutory copyright,  in the above published Work . The Work may not be photographed, sketched, painted, or  reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express, written consent of the Cercus.

This Bo Knows the Fine Art of Mixology

Story By Randy Gross rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com

Photos By Paul Vasiliades

There was an advertising campaign in the late 1980s called “Bo Knows” that played up the dual-sport athleticism of pro football & baseball star Bo Jackson. Linglestown native and current Mechanicsburg resident Bo Bonitz may not be a pro athlete, but he does stay fit hiking, fishing, and working part-time for his family’s personal training studios and gym. Moreover, the slogan “Bo Knows” could be just as applicable to this Bo, because as this month’s selected bartender, Bonitz definitely possesses more drink know-how than the average mixologist.

Just spend a half hour listening to Bonitz describe the drinks he is so adept at mixing, and you’ll understand completely. Absinthe wash , an ingredient in a Sazerac, one of his favorite cocktails, is just one of many terms you may need to Google. (For those who don’t want to take the time, it’s defined as “ a method of coating the inside of a glass with absinthe ”). But the creativity and, yes, the flavorfulness of the artful concoctions Bonitz has been mixing up regularly during his eight years as a bartender at Gilligan’s Bar & Grill, the last five at their Carlisle Pike location, far outweigh any kind of technical mumbo jumbo.

As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding.” On a showery January morning, Bonitz treated our tastebuds to the following: the popular Espresso Martini (“because everyone orders them here,” says Bonitz); an original drink called a Simon LeBeaux , a visually-appealing mix of blueberry vodka, lemon, and violet liqueur; the aforementioned Sazerac which, in addition to the Absinthe wash, features rye whiskey, bitters, sugar, and a plain lemon peel; and February’s featured drink, perfect for Valentine’s Day, the Queen of Roses (recipe at the end of this article).

As head bartender, Bonitz himself is 75

Bartender, Bo Bonitz- Gilligan’s Bar & Grill (West Shore)

percent responsible for coming up with new drinks, with the other 25 percent coming from ideas submitted by the bartending team. “But everyone looks forward to the R&D process,” he says. It is quickly evident that Bonitz loves exercising his creativity, a prime reason why he started bartending right after turning 21. “It’s a lot of fun,” he says with a relaxed smile. “I make up drinks! If someone says, ‘surprise me,’ I can make something for them. And watching them enjoy that [drink] is a big part of why I actually like being a bartender!”

Whether behind the bar, hiking a favorite trail, watching sports (“I’m a huge Philadelphia sports fan,” he says), or enjoying his favorite Gilligan’s menu item (“definitely the Prime Rib!”) the “fun” Bonitz has experiencing life shows. Pull up a stool at Gilligan’s Bar & Grill, 5002 Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg, and we think you’ll agree that Bo Bonitz knows the fine art of mixology. And, when it comes to lively banter and a friendly ear … well, he’s not too shabby in those areas either .

Bo’s Dossier

Words of advice to home mixologists:

-Don’t be afraid to try a new spirit, something that’s outside your comfort zone. It helps your palate and knowledge expand.

Inspirations:

Making sure all my guests have a good time. People go to a bar to have an experience and forget about life’s problems. Connecting with guests and getting to know them makes the job fun.

Favorite spirit straight: Rum is probably my favorite. Although I do like to partake in the occasional shot of Rumple Minze.

Recommendations of two or three spirits to try:

-Ketel One Botanicals. Each flavor is fun to play with.

-Diplomático Rum. Makes the best traditional daiquiri.

Favorite spirits to mix:

Definitely the Ketel One Botanicals. It’s my Swiss Army knife of spirits. Goes well with anyone who orders “something sweet and fruity,” or a take on a Moscow mule.

Most commonly ordered drinks at your bar: Espresso Martini. Hands down.

Philosophy on drinks:

There’s nothing better than a good cocktail. Traveling to different cities and states and seeing how they differ from one another, you can really learn a lot about places by trying their cocktails.

Thoughts about your cocktails: I always enjoy putting my time and effort into my cocktails. Whether it’s a simple Vodka Cranberry or a Sazerac, I always want to make sure it’s the best drink that person has gotten. To me there’s nothing better than seeing someone’s eyes light up when they take the first sip.

Your day job (if bartending isn’t your day job):

I work for my family on my days off. They own 2 personal training studios and a gym. My mom and her husband actually won the most recent “Simply the Best” award [for their business, Perry Strength & Fitness Center].

What days/times do you typically work at the bar:

Wednesday through Saturday nights. Always the back bar.

DRINK OF THE MONTH

1.25 oz Ketel One Grapefruit and Rose Vodka

.75 oz PAMA Pomegranate

Liqueur

.75 oz lime juice

.75 oz grapefruit juice

.5 oz cranberry juice

Shake, strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a lime.

From left to right - Espresso Martini, Sazerac, Queen of Roses and Simon LeBeaux

A BARTENDER OR BARISTA! harrisburgmagazine.com/submissions

Nourishing Bites/Jacquelyn Duplessis

Love Your Heart

Valentine’s Day is all about expressing love for others, so why not express love for ourselves during this holiday? There are many ways we can show love for ourselves just by consuming a healthy diet daily. More specifically, a healthy heart leads to a happy, healthy life. A heart-healthy diet lowers the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. By acting and following these three easy steps, you will be heading towards a heart-healthy life!

The first step is incorporating more fruits and vegetables into our daily diet. Fruits and vegetables are highly nutritious, low in calories, and are great sources of vitamins and minerals. An easy way to start adding fruits and vegetables to our diet is by making stir fry, salad, pureeing vegetables into your pasta sauce, etc. Ways to incorporate more fruit in our diet include eating fruit as a snack, making smoothies, or adding a banana or berries to cereal or yogurt. The second step is limiting the consumption of saturated and trans fat to lower blood cholesterol. If our blood cholesterol is high, it can lead to plaque buildup in our arteries, which can lead to a heart attack, stroke, or even death. That is why saturated fat and trans fat are also known as contributors to “bad cholesterol.” Cooking with healthy fats such as vegetable oil, olive oil, and avocado oil and limiting cooking with butter is a great way to reduce blood cholesterol levels. Purchasing lean meats and trimming the fat off meats will lower the consumption of saturated fat as well. The third step is to limit the amount of sodium in our diet. High sodium can contribute to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. A key tip for reducing sodium intake is reading and understanding food labels. Soups and processed foods typically contain high levels of sodium. The American Heart Association

recommends adults consume no more than 2,300mg of sodium per day. Choose products that are labeled “low sodium,” “reduced sodium,” or “no salt added” to reduce your daily intake of sodium. By reading food labels and limiting the consumption of processed foods, our sodium intake will likely be reduced. Following a heart-healthy diet is important to everyone, and by making it a priority, we will be on our way to a healthier life!

There are many different ways you can “Love Your Heart.” Remind yourself each day that you deserve to be healthy and put your health as your first priority. By introducing healthy habits to your lifestyle, you will be able to accomplish a happy, healthy heart! Make this February the month when you start to consume more fruits and vegetables, incorporate healthy fats, and limit your intake of sodium to improve your overall health. It is time to focus on improving your heart health to show that you love your heart.

Jacquelyn Duplessis is a senior at Michigan State University, majoring in dietetics with a minor in health promotion. When she isn’t studying for school, she’s most likely on a walk with her husky, Loki, or traveling.

Should I Add my Children to the Deed of my House?

This may come as a surprise, but I often advise against adding a child to the deed of the house or a checking account. While this approach may protect your home from nursing home costs, there can be a multitude of unintended consequences. Let’s take a look at these issues and explore an alternative solution.

Unintended Consequences:

• Liability Risk – When you add your child to the deed of the house, they become the co–owner of the house or checking account. This means that if your child gets divorced, the equity of your home or value of your checking account can be included in the divorce proceedings. Additionally, if your child declares bankruptcy, your home equity or bank account can be included in the bankruptcy proceedings; if your child runs into a tax situation, the IRS could place a tax lien on your home; or, if your child were to get sued, your house could be included in the lawsuit.

• Unintended Inheritance – In the unforeseen situation that your child predeceases you, the equity of your house may transfer to someone other than you. Or at best, if you re-inherit your property, you will likely have to pay an inheritance tax to the state of Pennsylvania for 4.5% - even though it’s your house.

• Taxes – Adding your child to the deed of your house is considered

a gift, which will result in filing a gift tax return on form 709. Typically, this will avoid Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax (4.5%) on the portion of the house they own. Assuming they own half the house, when you pass away, they will have to pay Capital Gains tax on the remaining portion. Say you purchased your house for $100,000 in the 70s. In 2023, your house may be valued at $500,000. Your child would inherit a cost basis of $50,000 (half of the initial purchase price). They would need to pay capital gains on $200,000 (half the value of the house, less the cost basis) which is $30,000 in taxes, assuming a 15% capital gains rate.

Alternative Solution:

Most estate planning attorneys can draft an estate plan for a few hundred dollars, up to $1,500 for more complex cases. Naming your child as power-of-attorney allows them to help pay bills on your behalf, sign documents for you, and assist with your financial affairs. But legally, they do not own any of your assets. This is particularly useful for limiting your liability. If your son or daughter runs into financial trouble, gets divorced or sued, your assets cannot be included in the legal proceedings.

The Finance Hound/Bryson Roof

Additionally, your updated estate plan will make certain your loved ones inherit your assets. Let’s assume your child inherits your $500,000 home, because they get a stepped-up basis at the time of your death, they have zero capital gains and will only owe the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax. At 4.5% on a $500,000 home, that is $22,500. That’s a $7,500 tax savings compared to the earlier example. While paying taxes is never fun, I often advise my clients in a way that would allow them to pay a reduced rate if they can.

Bryson J. Roof, CFP , is a financial advisor at Fort Pitt Capitol Group in Harrisburg, and has been quoted nationally in various finance publications including CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, and Barron’s.

Training Prevents Tragedy

Millions watched the heroic efforts of athletic trainers and emergency services personnel during the NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals on Jan.

2. During the game, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest is an unexpected medical condition resulting in unconsciousness, loss of breathing and loss of heart function. Because of the efforts of those on the scene, Hamlin was successfully resuscitated and is making a remarkable recovery.

According to the American Heart Association, 356,000 cardiac arrests occur annually outside of a hospital. Left untreated, these events can be fatal. With high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), early access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and early notification of the emergency response system, lives can be saved – as was the case with Hamlin. If you have been trained in CPR and encounter someone who may be in cardiac arrest, you can take the following life-saving actions:

• Ensure the scene is safe and call for help. Make sure there are no threats to you or others before you render aid. For example, be sure there is no moving traffic, fire or smoke, gas leaks or other situations that may put you and others in danger. Remember that if you get injured, you cannot provide aid.

• Begin CPR. If the person is unresponsive and not showing signs of

life, begin chest compressions in the center of the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute. Push hard and push fast, and allow the chest to fully recoil with each compression.

• Use an AED. Follow the directions for use on the AED. Continue CPR while another person applies the AED pads. Continue to provide CPR until emergency responders arrive. Even when they arrive, continue compressions until an emergency responder takes over.

AEDs are widely available in schools, churches and shopping centers. However, without high-quality CPR, these devices have limited success. Learning to provide CPR is easy. Training is available through the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, many local healthcare systems and HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College. If you or your organization are interested in learning more about how you can learn CPR, please email cpr@hacc.edu. Together we can save lives.

Robert Stakem is executive director of the Senator John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.

How can NFTs, Non-Fungible Tokens, be collectibles if they don’t really exist? It’s like collecting air in your cupped hands then going to play with your imaginary millionaire.

Now no one’s in charge at Twitter. That’s like building an electric car without a battery.

Theatre Thoughts/Barbara Trainin Blank

February is a Month for Lovers (of Local Theater!)

Gamut Theatre Group offers its Winter Mainstage Partnership Production, co-presented by Sankofa African American Theatre Company. The production consists of Voices of the Eighth Chronicles II: Stories from Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward, written and directed by Sharia Benn. www.gamuttheatre.org.

Ephrata Performing Arts Center features A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, composer-lyricist, on February 18 only. epactheatre.org.

Opening the 2023 season at Hershey Area Playhouse is The Property Known as Garland, by Billy Van Bandit, February 10-12. Adrienne Barbeau starred in the original Off-Broadway staging of this fictional backstage account of Judy’s final concert appearance. hersheyareaplayhouse.com.

Sister Act, to be presented at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, from February 24-April 1. Based on the musical comedy movie, Sister Act tells the hilarious story of Deloris Van Cartier, a disco diva, whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder and the cops hide her in the last place anyone would think to look – a convent. Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps the secluded sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. dutchapple. com.

From February 10-19, Theatre Harrisburg offers Pieces at its Krevsky Center, written by Harrisburg playwright Paul Hood. It’s a new American family drama that asks, “What happens when a father’s dreams for his family start slipping away?” Captivating until the last moment, this beautiful original play captures what the American dream

By the Book/Alex Brubaker

means to small towns. theatreharrisburg.com.

The Belmont Theatre presents Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, February 17-19 and 23-26. Lovingly ripped off from the motion picture “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” SPAMALOT retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, featuring a bevy of beautiful show girls, cows, killer rabbits, and French people. The 2005 Broadway production won three Tony® Awards, including Best Musical. This entertaining story of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake will delight audiences as they search for the Holy Grail and “always look on the bright side of life.” thebelmont.org.

The Golden Gays — Hot Flashbacks (Valentine’s Day Show), February 14. Sophia Petrillo has gone missing. Favorite pals and confidants Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose — hip grannies — must travel down the road and back again across America to find her. Lucky audience members have a chance to make their stage debuts. oystermill.com.

Keystone Theatrics at Allenberry Playhouse bring The Drowsy Chaperone to the stage, February 17-26. Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz Age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another. With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life in his living room. The show contains adult language and mature themes. keystonetheatrics.com.

Author of highly anticipated book coming to Harrisburg

When sociologist Matthew Desmond released Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City in 2016, he was a relatively unknown Junior Fellow at Harvard. Within the year, Desmond would receive the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and be listed by Politico as one of “fifty people across the country who are most influencing the national political debate.”

Evicted would go on to win countless prizes and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. According to Barbara Ehrenreich, Desmond “set a new standard for reporting on poverty,” and the book would go on to receive praise from Barack Obama, the New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. To this day, Evicted is a modern classic and one of the 21st century’s most acclaimed works on poverty, housing, and economic exploitation.

Now, Matthew Desmond is back again with a new book to answer one of America’s most timeless and pressing questions: why, as the richest country on earth, does the United States have more poverty than any other advanced democracy? His new book, Poverty, By America, which hits the shelves on March 21st, will attempt to answer that question — and point us a way forward. Desmond’s publisher hits the nail on the head with this brief summary:

“Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for

ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.”

Needless to say, Poverty, By America is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year, and Desmond’s landmark work is going to change the national debate around poverty.

Desmond, who is now a sociologist at Princeton, will make an appearance at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg on Wednesday, March 22nd at 7pm to discuss his new book, answer questions, and sign copies for customers. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.midtownscholar.com.

Alex Brubaker is the manager of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore and director of the Harrisburg Book Festival. Previously, he was the editorial assistant at Rain Taxi Review of Books and the exhibit coordinator for the Twin Cities Book Festival. He is a graduate of Millersville University and now lives in Harrisburg.

Local Dramatists Guild member playwrights will be presenting their works as staged readings at Open Stage of Harrisburg as part of the regional Footlights series. February’s playwright, on February 9 at 7 p.m., will be Randy Lee Gross, Harrisburg Magazine’s managing editor.

Barbara Trainin Blank is a freelance journalist, book author, editor, and playwright. She grew up in New York City in a house rich in the arts, which are a major focus of her writing. She lived in Harrisburg for 24 years and continues to contribute to regional publications.

Nominate Now Simply the Best

Nomination Round

End February 22nd

https://harrisburgmagazine.com

Black History Month and Animal Welfare

As we celebrate the accomplishments of historic figures in Black history of the United States, it is fitting to highlight some of their contributions to the animal welfare community.

Born into slavery in 1856, educator, orator, and author, Booker T. Washington, used his talents and connections to become a pioneer of the animal welfare movement. When the Civil War ended and he was free from slavery, his stepfather sent him to work in a salt furnace and a coal mine where he had no opportunity to receive a formal education. In 1872, after years of hard labor, he enrolled in Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. In his autobiography, “Up from Slavery,” Mr. Washington wrote that he had no money to travel the distance from home to the school, so he walked most of the 500 miles. Arriving with just fifty cents, he worked as a janitor to pay his tuition.

At Hampton, Booker T. Washington and his fellow schoolmates started a branch of the Bands of Mercy, a humane youth organization that was born from the American Humane Education Society and the Massachusetts SPCA. Booker T. Washington and the Bands of Mercy members worked to end the over-hunting of wild animals and protect their habitats. They pledged “kindness and justice to all living creatures” and strove to end the cruelty and abuse of farm animals and pets through educational programming and by stopping animal cruelty when they saw it happening.

Also born into slavery in 1833, Dr. William Key became a self-taught veterinarian and equine dentist who inadvertently achieved fame through his horse, Jim. Young William grew up tending to the farm, when it was discovered that he had natural ability and great skill when working with the farm animals. He trained horses and mules when most children were learning the alphabet and later studied veterinary texts in his free time. Young Key concocted remedies and healing salves for animals and humans, which later became a very profitable

venture.

Dr. Key’s Keystone Liniment was such a great success, he began selling it on the road. On one of his sales trips, Key purchased an abused Arabian circus horse named Lauretta. He brought her back to health and she gave birth to a sickly colt that Key named “Jim.” Key later learned that Jim was a naturally intelligent equine when he observed that Jim taught himself to unlatch gates and open drawers to get his apples. Through his positive and humane methods, Key taught Jim to spell, tell time, do math, use a cash register, and sort mail. When he went public with Jim’s talent, they became local celebrities.

Jim and Dr. Key gathered such a large following that they went on tour with their show, spreading the message to be kind to animals. Thousands of people came to see “Beautiful Jim” at the New York City show. When the press covered the story about the talented pair, Beautiful Jim became a sensation. At his shows, children were asked to pledge “I promise always to be kind to animals” and then they received Jim Key Band of Mercy cards. Key regularly donated a generous portion of his show proceeds to local animal welfare groups to support their work in rescuing animals and educating the public about humane treatment of animals.

Kristen Zellner owns Abrams & Weakley General Store for Animals, est. 1986, Central PA’s first health food store for pets. She helps customers keep their pets healthy through better nutrition.

My 10 Favorite Films of 2022

1. Pearl (Ti West) - This movie is what one would get if Alfred Hitchcock had dropped acid and remade The Wizard of Oz. The prequel to West’s slasher movie X, Pearl takes place on a farm not unlike the one Dorothy lived on in Kansas. The film is shot to resemble a Technicolor masterpiece (complete with the most Bernard Hermann-like score one could come up with) and Mia Goth is spectacular in the title role.

2. Nope (Jordan Peele) - One of many films from this past year that play at either homage to or reference the magic of Hollywood, Peele’s third film as director is a no holds barred sci-fi horror masterstroke that incorporates his love for both Hollywood history and horror.

3. Babylon (Damien Chazelle) - Telling a similar story to Singin’ in the Rain (the coming of Sound into Hollywood) and paying exquisite homage to the classic, Babylon takes an obviously darker route in its narrative, ending in a beautiful coda to the cinema.

4. Everything Everywhere All at Once (Daniel Kwan;Daniel Scheinert) - Go and watch this crazy multi-dimensional, multiverse Gordian Knot of a movie. Michelle Yeoh will show you the way. Then we’ll talk about it. And talk and talk and talk.

5. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu) - One of the best directors working today, Iñárritu gives us his very own 8 1/2. Personal and brilliant, just like Fellini’s opus, Bardo is

magical realism at its finest.

6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach) - Baumbach takes his usual dysfunctional family-dynamic storytelling and rolls into Roland Emmerich disaster movie territory with his latest film. And after watching this, I very much want to go back to the 1980’s and spend an entire day walking around A&P - preferably with someone with Greta Gerwig’s character’s hair.

7. Tár (Todd Field) - The director’s first film in sixteen years, Tár is a beautifully shot, meticulously designed movie surrounding a brilliant career best performance by Cate Blanchett. And to say Miss Blanchett gives a career best performance is saying a whole hell of a lot.

8. Aftersun (Charlotte Wells) - First time writer/director Charlotte Wells gives us a movie of quiet longing and unanswered questions. Paul Mescal and a wonderful eleven-year-old Frankie Corio (in her film debut) play a father & daughter on what seems to be their last trip together.

9. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg) - The prolific director shows us a (semi) fictionalized tale of his own life as a child, teenager, and budding filmmaker. Michelle Williams as Spielberg’s troubled but loving mother is one of the finest performances of the year.

Cinematic Ramblings/Kevyn Knox

10. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh) - Martin McDonagh brings Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson back together and they do nothing short of giving career best performances - as do Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

That’s it gang. See you at the movies.

Poem/Jose Morales

testing the endurance of the HEAVENS

By Jose Morales

Your heart was molded in clay, an imperfect passion possessed the vessel walls. You danced through your youth like those curated beauties with scripted hearts. The kiln cured your perceived failures, fed to you from the HEAVENS, into its structure. You danced in glass shoes on streets paved in gold. They poured their own waste in until those concave walls cracked in the wrong hands. You gathered the remnants left in the dust and squeezed the fractured love, carrying its pieces in your crimson grip. The shards sliced the sinners who sought your supplemental comfort. They cast you out. They said your copper soles tarnished their flawless streets. My hands freed the fragments from your punished palms. I pour out my love to wash the pain from your hands. I drank my waste and handed you my kintsugi heart. You admired its beauty. I told you to keep it. I will be here… and I squeezed.

Kevyn Knox is a Writer, Artist, Pop Photographer, Film & TV Historian, Pez Collector, and Pop Culturist. He has written film reviews for FilmSpeak, Central PA Voice, and The Burg. His reviews & other ramblings can be found on his blog, www.allthingskevyn.com.

Jose Morales Jr. is a New Jersey-born, Pennsylvania-raised poet, residing in Harrisburg. After a decade of performing as a metal musician, he penned his collection, The Devil Lives in Pennsylvania, in 2016. He has performed around the state, including Dickinson College, and is working on his next collection titled American Panic

THE SONGBIRD OF JACKSON STREET

By Chris Bauer

Illustration by Georgia DuCharme

South Philadelphia, February 1955

Sara Jane lay spent on the cement cellar floor, a nest of newspapers cradling her, an old winter coat opened flat beneath her legs, its gray lining wet with melted snow and red-black birthing fluids. She worked her jaw from side to side, cramped from the cloth diaper she’d clenched between her teeth. It was three a.m. She had awakened no one.

The memories that mattered and the faces they belonged to would not stay where she put them. She weathered their intrusion, her new baby girl pulled tightly to her chest. All came rushing at her in whatever fashion her disheveled mind could arrange:

A faded, scalloped photograph showing her as a child in the driver’s seat of her father’s Studebaker. Her small hands were on the steering wheel, her short black curls just above the car’s window ledge with her father leaning on his elbow and smiling at her, and her smiling at the camera, her two front teeth missing.

A stabbing memory from a year later, with her at the top of a Ferris wheel sobbing wildly, her father dead from a coronary in the seat next to her.

Another photo, this one of her squirt brother in cowboy boots and she in a pink skirt and white bobby sox, her arm around his shoulder, the two of them in front of the Liberty Bell.

An image of her mother’s favorite shot glass, a sickening hint of whiskey in its amber stained concavity. No photograph, yet one indelible memory: her mother’s cord-veined neck, seething face, roadmap eyes, and a lower lip wet from a spray of sarcasm. Her mother’s words like a noose: “Good riddance to you and your crazy voices. Don’t none of you come back.”

She felt for her tapestry satchel, an eggshell tan overgrown with embroidered roses, their ruby petals blooming through caked street soot, her keepsakes and necessities inside. She opened her eyes, retrieved the two photographs from the bag, brought them closer to her new daughter’s contented, suckling face. Introductions all around, followed by a special prayer of thanks to Mrs. Yancy, from one new mother to another, the woman asleep with her own child two floors above her.

This was a good neighborhood. Clean, quiet, busy. Two-story brick rowhomes, most with nice couples living in them, some still waiting for their husbands to return for good from the wars.

Couples like the Yancys. Husband, wife, and a newborn girl of two months, their first child. Sara Jane’s face flushed at this impression.

The caring Mrs. Yancy always had a tenderness in her eyes. Next door to the Yancys, their front stoop shared, lived the Charmagnes, Mrs. Yancy’s pregnant older sister and her husband, who was still on active duty. Mrs. Charmagne’s look at Sara Jane on the street was different. Curious. Interested. Like a child on a bench in the park with a trail of breadcrumbs leading to her feet. Mrs. Charmagne’s latest gift to Sara Jane had been a receiving blanket.

On colder nights, the cellar doors to both sisters’ homes were left unlocked. Sara Jane accepted this charity by way of quiet, late-night entrances from the alley, and exits before dawn.

Hers was a confused life made simpler two years ago, when at age seventeen she left home. A life now contained in one soot-stained, lumpy tan and red fabric bag that followed her in a corroded toy wagon with rust-pocked white wheels as she walked the narrow streets of South Philadelphia.

But things had changed. Simple had become complicated.

Her fabric bag was good for it. It could handle another life.

Sara Jane was not sick, she was not crazy. She was burdened. Yesterday, today, always. It was only one voice that came to her, she’d told her hardened mother. Always just one voice, and this voice was lovely, and musical, and real. And, unlike her mother, it would never hurt her.

***

The Yancys’ coal furnace hatch was open; Sara Jane needed it for light and warmth. The furnace fire was almost out, the cellar chilly now, a rosy pre-dawn horizon brightening the dusty casement window above the coal bin, the bin’s planked door ajar at the edge of the coal pile.

Her head drooped then rose as she fought her exhaustion, her pale palm and the fingers of one hand black from stray lumps of coal she’d flicked into the furnace’s belly. Her head drooped again, came to rest temple-to-temple with her baby and stayed there as Sara Jane closed her motherly eyes. She would sleep now, would let her dreams comfort her, would let them diminish the remnants of another bruising day, the taunts from the streets still ricocheting: vagrant; beggar; pregnant whore; and the cruelest of them, a play on her S-J initials, Straitjacket. All names that shamed her, yet there was one name that did not: the Songbird of Jackson Street.

But the beautiful voice that had earned her this label, the spirited soprano that often burst through her lips uninvited as she and her bagladen wagon moved from street corner to street corner, this voice was not, and had never been, her own.

She and this songbird with the beautiful voice dreamed.

The furnace belched. Two tiny coal fireballs skidded onto the cellar floor, one settling on the lining of her coat, the other on a greasy rag left on the fringe of the coal bin overflow.

Her songbird took flight in their dream and chattered at her in earnest from the treetops, pleading for Sara Jane and her baby to wake up, to flee the fiery predator that was about to devour them, to join the songbird in safety.

In the deadly, carbon-monoxide-filled air, the new mother was too tired to fly.

Chris Bauer is a brute force author with seven novels published, the crime thriller “2 Street” the latest. A Philadelphia native, he's a veteran of street sports played on blacktop and concrete, fistfights, row houses, and twelve years of well-intentioned Catholic school discipline. Find him at ChrisBauerAuthor.com, facebook.com/cgbauer/, twitter.com/cgbauer, instagram.com/ cntbauer1/.

Pennsylvania National Fire Museum: A Historic Gem in our City

Story by Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos by Will Masters

The fire alarm sounds – three clangs, a pause, and then two clangs. The volunteer firefighters of the Reily Hose Company No. 10 know exactly where to respond – the area in town with alarm box 32. The company moves into action – the horses are harnessed and in less than four minutes the volunteer fire fighters are on their way!

That was the scene back in the early 1900’s and it is brought perfectly to life by a visit to The Pennsylvania National Fire Museum, located on 4th Street here in Harrisburg. “This museum is rated one of the ten best fire museums in the nation. It might not be among the biggest in size, but it has a wide variety of history, from the earliest fire equipment up to modern times,” says museum volunteer Richard Wertz, Jr., himself a fifty-two-year veteran volunteer firefighter. He was the fire chief in Hampden Township in the 90’s and moved to Perry County’s Duncannon Fire Company, and now is a volunteer with Bloomfield Fire Department, along with working part time for Hampden Township as a diesel mechanic. In his spare time, he continues to volunteer at the museum. The museum is in the beautifully restored 1899 Victorian firehouse which was the home of the Reily Hose Co. No. 10. Wertz states that the original station was one of sixteen in the city. The reason for so many fire stations was because, early in the history of fire stations, the equipment was either horse or man drawn and was not capable of traveling long distances. “Times change and we began to have motorized equipment. Then it was noted that building maintenance was very expensive, so the city of Harrisburg has now condensed the number of fire stations to three here in the city,” Wertz adds.

The old Reily Hose Co No. 10 was taken out of commission in the 1980’s and began to fall into disrepair. The late mayor, Steve Reed, along with firefighters and politicians, saw the need for the building to be restored, enlarged for storing more historical equipment, and certified as a national museum. This work began in the 1990’s.

On display is a wooden hand pumper that dates to 1792. Originally there needed to be a brigade of volunteers that lined up with buckets all the way from the blaze to the closest water source, with the man at the end closest to the fire having to heave the bucket. Then someone

came up with the idea of creating a hand pump on the wooden cart that also had a trough for water which could then be pumped, putting the firefighters one step closer to extinguishing the blaze. The pumper was capable of discharging 150 gallons of water per minute, with a range of about fifty feet through the gallery pipe on top of the compression chamber. Since the engine is not suction equipped the water had to be dumped into the trough using buckets.

This is the perfect place to interject a touch of history for those readers who are history buffs: Benjamin Franklin is the father of the volunteer fire services here in Pennsylvania and perhaps he is the father of this for the entire nation. He co-founded the Union Fire Company, known as the ‘Bucket Brigade’ in Philadelphia, PA in 1736. It was shaped after Boston’s Mutual Fire Societies, which existed first, but the important difference between the fire society of Boston and Franklin’s Union Fire Company was that the former only protected its members while Franklin’s volunteer company protected the entire community.

After the Civil War, the steamer (also on display) was invented and now water could be pulled from the water source via a hard sleeved hose to the steamer which could pump the water rather than having a brigade of men to operate the hand pump. The horses were trained and knew exactly where to stand when the alarm sounded; the harnesses, suspended overhead, were lowered onto the horses’ necks, and they were ready to take the steamer off to the fire in less than a minute.

A story that Wertz tells from the time of the changeover from horses to motorized equipment is a story of the horses from a station in Shenandoah, PA, being sold to an in-town power company to assist them in pole hauling. Everything went fine until a

Jenny Cameron cart

Another interesting fact that Wertz shared is that fire stations, back in the day when they used horses, had to install spiral or curved steps if the building was more than one story. This was because the horses would constantly try to climb the steps into the living quarters. “The spiral steps kept the horses downstairs but it wasn’t great for speed for fireman having to come down the stairs in a hurry to answer an alarm,” Wertz added. In 1880, the first brass pole was installed in the Boston Fire Department and poles became standard equipment all over the United States.

An artifact that is unique to the museum in Harrisburg is the Jenny Cameron cart that dates to the Civil War. Wertz says, “After the Civil War there was a huge need for funds and services for returning soldiers. A wealthy family in Harrisburg, the Camerons, bought this cart and went around to all sixteen fire houses in the city and said that whichever company raised the most money for the veterans’ fund would be awarded the cart as a prize. The hand-pulled cart is a beautiful parade piece complete with bells. It was pulled in parades and was a source of pride for the company that was awarded this gift from the Camerons. Hope No. 2 was the winner of this cart.

Dave Houseal, history buff and published author, former fire fighter, and volunteer at the Fire Museum, provided this information about Hope No. 2: “The Hope No. 2 was organized in 1814 in the old borough of Harrisburg. In the old ‘hand pulled and hand pumped’ days the equipment was small, as were the firehouses…In the early 1850’s they moved to a small frame firehouse located at 606 N 2nd Street, Harrisburg. The frame firehouse almost collapsed and in 1871 the present firehouse structure was built…The Hope as a company no longer exists, fading away as the members got older and passed on during the 1950-60’s.” The Hope No. 2 Firehouse building is the oldest standing firehouse in Harrisburg, and for many years was home to The Firehouse Restaurant which housed small memorabilia from its firefighting days. It is the second oldest standing firehouse in Pennsylvania.

The bell tower at the top of many firehouses wasn’t just used for warnings regarding a fire, it had another important use: to hang and dry the fifty-foot-long hoses after use. There was a bar located across the top and hoses could be draped down either side of the bar and left to dry in the air. When electric air driers were invented, the bell tower no longer needed to be used for drying purposes.

In the second downstairs room is the museum gift shop and off to the side is the location of two of the five original horse stalls. These stalls have been upgraded and contain a perfect replica of Harry and Mike, two of the horses who lived and worked for Riley Hose Company. The entry to the overhead hayloft is still visible. All the firemen helped with the horses, but we can imagine that the new guys got the job of removing the manure.

The back downstairs room contains more antique pieces of fire equipment along with three vintage vehicles which are still taken out for parades and for the annual Pump Primer event held yearly in July. The Pump Primer Muster and Parade is a huge fundraiser held along Riverfront Park in Harrisburg and features dozens of antique fire trucks brought in from across the eastern seaboard. One truck used in parades has been donated to the fire museum by Dave Houseal. This truck was the truck that Houseal was trained on when he first became a volunteer fireman.

Another permanent exhibit is a collection of

approximately three thousand patches from fire companies throughout the United States, arranged according to state. Visitors are encouraged to bring along a patch from their local fire department and the museum will proudly display it in their collection.

A premier exhibit on the second floor is the working Gamewell alarm system headquarters from Johnstown, PA, dating to the 1920’s. Visitors can pull the alarm box and watch and listen to alarm tones send a signal that will be received in all stations, and a ticker tape that records day, time, and location of the fire. Wertz says that this system was quicker than systems used now but because the alarm boxes were all over a town, people often pulled the lever as a prank and the sending of firefighters and equipment out to a false alarm was very costly and potentially dangerous. This room also includes the Dauphin County fire dispatch console that was in service during the nuclear incident at Three Mile Island and other equipment used throughout the late 20th century.

On the third floor is a bunk room that is set up as it may have been in the mid 1900’s. Wertz says that now it is more common to have a series of bunk rooms that are used by firefighters according to the type of truck they may go out on, as usually not all types of trucks respond to one fire.

In another upstairs room there is a large collection of memorabilia that has been assembled by current Harrisburg Fire Chief, Brian Enterline. The museum has one of the largest collections of fireman’s parade hats in the country. There is a 911 display and a large case dedicated to movies that have been produced about firefighters. The third-floor displays are usually changed out yearly so that returning visitors have something different to view.

If you have not yet viewed this lovely, historical city gem, take an hour or more for a fact filled tour and a wonderful history lesson. There is a large free parking lot available. The facility is handicapped accessible with an elevator. See The Pennsylvania Fire Museum on Page21

The Pennsylvania Fire Museum, continued from Page 19

The Pennsylvania National Fire Museum is located at 1820 N 4th Street in Harrisburg. The hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am – 4pm. Find them online at their website www.pnfm.org, and on Facebook: Pennsylvania National Fire Museum

The National Civil War Museum: A Storehouse for History

Story by Christina Heintzelman: cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos by Will Masters

What if we all believed that every effect must have its cause? That the past is the cause of the present and therefore the present will be the cause of the future?

The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg speaks to this idea in their social justice mission statement: “The…mission is to serve as a national center to inspire lifelong learning of the American Civil War through the preservation and balanced presentation of the American peoples’ struggles for survival and healing. As we witness the ongoing divisiveness in our country more work needs to be done to achieve the founding principles of this country and the vision of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. To this end, we will continue to provide balanced programming as we have since the Museum’s inception. We intend to evolve our programmatic offerings and encourage open discussion to bring greater awareness of the relevancy of the events of the Civil War and its immediate aftermath to today’s citizenry. It is our hope these efforts will promote healing and equality for all citizens.

Jeffrey Nichols, CEO of The National Civil War Museum, says that the museum is one of the largest in the world dedicated solely to the study of the American Civil War. It opened in 2001 and aims to tell the entire, balanced story of this chapter in American history through historic information consisting of three-dimensional artifacts that allow visitors to see actual items used throughout the period, before, during, and after the war – both military items and common use items, archival records and photos, and dioramic exhibits and videos that involve the viewer through sight and sound. Northern and Southern viewpoints are presented as well as military and civilian perspectives. “There is twenty-five thousand square feet of exhibits that will give the viewer an excellent story of the American Civil War,” Nichols states. There are approximately sixteen galleries chronicling the beginning of slavery in the United States and the growing unrest, then moving through the making and training of armies on both sides, the motivations of both the Confederacy and the Union, campaigns fought and the weapons used, music played, the roles of women during the

war, and the life and death of Abraham Lincoln.

The galleries also contain a large collection of original artifacts. Just to mention a few: there is an 1852 Sharps carbine and a pike head from the raid on Harper’s Ferry; the pen used by Governor Wise to sign John Brown’s death warrant; the last battle map used by General Robert E. Lee during the Appomattox campaign and his riding gauntlets, hat cord, and a Bible inscribed in his hand and used by him for almost twenty years. There is a sword belt presented to General Ulysses S. Grant to commemorate the capture of Vicksburg, and Major General George McClellan’s saddle used when he was General-in-Chief of the Union Army.

One of the galleries is devoted to Harrisburg’s role in the American Civil War due to the largest Federal training camp being housed in the eighty-acre area of land then used by the Dauphin County Agricultural Department as fairgrounds. After it was donated by Dauphin County for training use it was officially named Camp Curtin, for Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin. More than three-hundred-thousand soldiers passed through this camp, and it also saw service as a supply depot, hospital, and prisoner-of-war camp. At the end of the war, Camp Curtin was used as a mustering-out point for thousands of troops on their way home. History also suggests that General Lee may well have been planning an attack on Harrisburg, because it is the capital city of Pennsylvania and also home to major railroad lines and waterways used for transportation of supplies.

There are changing exhibits which allow for special interest items from a specific era or subject to be viewed, such as Above and Beyond: Medal of honor Recipients of the Civil War, and another entitled Pieces of HistoryNew Acquisitions Exhibit, a display of artwork, rare and unique military commissions, carte de visites, documents, uniforms, and militaria. The second exhibit is sponsored by Abel and Son Roofing and Siding.

“This museum certainly was the brainchild of former Mayor Reed and his desire to make Harrisburg a destination city by building

(And a Search for Truth and Meaning)

a museum like this. He began collecting artifacts during his tenure as mayor and slowly over time had enough to create this wonderful facility,” says Nichols. The city government, along with Mayor Reed, began building the museum in 2000 for its historic exhibit value as well as its destination desirability for tourism, given the proximity to Gettysburg and the National Military Park’s historic battlefields. It was built in Reservoir Park, the highest point in the city of Harrisburg with scenic vistas of the Blue Mountains, Susquehanna river valley, and the State Capitol. Nichols says that, even though the project was motivated by the city, the state did contribute through bonds and grants.

When the museum opened in 2001, there were twenty-thousand artifacts and archival pieces available for display. Today there are more than thirty-one-thousand pieces, thanks to the generosity of contributors who wish to see their personal memorabilia and artifacts safely housed and cared for, as well as to create the ability for others to view important historical artifacts.

Although two to three hours should be allowed for visiting the museum, if a visitor has only forty-five minutes for a tour, the exhibits are set up in a way that would allow a good overview of the history of the American Civil War within the shorter time frame. By following the exhibit from the beginning displays, which record events of 1619, through the dioramas allowing you to experience what people may have been facing back then, walking through the actual time-line of the war, and viewing artifacts associated with that period, one will walk away knowing more about this war - having a better sense of the causes, battles, and the eventual outcome - and perhaps understanding the cautionary tale told here of a country bitterly divided and prepared to battle fellow countrymen.

Nichols states, “This exhibit has held up for the entire 20 years it has been on display and this attributes to the designers and historians who put it together then, even discussing the events of 1619 long before the 1619 Project began its initiative in 2019.” The Museum is a partner in the Affiliate Program with the Smithsonian Institution and as such has access to historians, scholars, programs, and the borrowing of objects. “Not only that but it is a great resource for securing speakers and bouncing around ideas with their curators and historians. It is so beneficial for us to be a part of their program,” Nichols states.

People come to Harrisburg to visit the museum not only from across the United States but from all over the world. Pre-covid, the museum averaged about 40,000 visitors a year. School groups from all over the

Commonwealth find the museum a popular spot, but the museum is also creating online programs for students so they can receive information directly in their classrooms. An important goal of classroom education is to open students to the idea of critical thinking and gain a different perspective from what they have known in the past, allowing for the ability to look at the past and understand how it affects the present. Other areas within the museum and the museum grounds also hold a treasure trove for visitors. The library and archives are used mainly for research but are available to be seen by the public by calling and making an appointment. The gift shop has well curated items along with many interesting historical books for readers ranging from children to adults. Memorial bricks for the Walk of Valor are available for purchase and are exhibited on the outdoor walkway and arranged by state. Anyone can purchase a brick to memorialize a loved one who was engaged in the Civil War. There is also a special area specifically dedicated to the many African American troops who fought in the Civil War. All proceeds from these bricks go to the operation of the museum.

The entire museum is sixty-six thousand square feet, which includes meeting spaces, archival library, storage, and public event spaces. It requires a staff of five full time employees and a fluctuating number of part-time employees to care for the artifacts, keep the doors open, provide services and inside maintenance. “Often people will not think about the need for proper lighting and humidity control but the care, conservation, and maintenance of the collection for perpetuity is one of our most important goals,” Nichols states.

“Because the museum is a self-guided tour, it allows us to operate with a smaller staff. We are lean but we do a nice job of maintaining the site, having good programs, and hosting special events. So, like every other non-profit, it is always a challenge to find new sources of revenuesometimes through competitive state and federal grants - and continue to grow our membership base and do fundraising. Luckily the city, the community, and the county have been very supportive of us,” Nichols adds.

The National Civil War Museum is a participant in the Museums for All Program, a national access program that encourages individuals of limited means to access museums by presenting their SNAP EBT card when entering. The card allows up to four individuals per EBT card to view the museum free of charge.

See National Civil War Museum on Page 25

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The JDK Group - Here to Celebrate with You for Life!

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National Civil War Museum, continued from Page 23

The museum, located in Reservoir Park, is open 361 days of the year: 10am - 5pm, Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 pm on Sunday. The website is www.nationalcivilwarmuseum. org; Facebook: National Civil War Museum; Instagram: @thenationalcivilwarmuseum. There are various videos available by typing in National Civil War Museum on YouTube.

If you want more information on museums that are part of the Museums for All Program the website is: www.museums4all.org/about/

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Business Law Attorney (Ind.)

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Law Firm

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Customer Values

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RECREATION & LEISURE

Art Gallery

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Antiques

Clothing Boutique - New Clothing Boutique - Vintage/Consignment

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Nursery/Garden Center

Place To Shop for The Home

FOOD & FUN

Central PA Cake!

There’s no denying it … people on East and West Shore alike share a passion for sweet treats. And places like SweeTreats Bakery, in the West Shore Farmers Market, 900 Market Street in Lemoyne, is a local favorite for cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pies – and more! Baker and co-owner Wendi Saposnek’s special Valentine’s sweet treat (pictured above) is two tiers of exquisite vanilla bean cake layered with fresh fruit and topped with a buttercream frosting. Want to say “Be Mine” with a cake this beautiful and delicious? For advance ordering information call 717-761-CAKE or visit www.sweetreatsbakery.com.

Photo by Will Masters.

West Shore Diner

An Original Silk City Diner for All Roadside Diner Fans

Story by Christina Heintzelman: cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos by Christina Heintzelman and West Shore Diner

Brothers Chris Katsifis and George Katsifis, owners of West Shore Diner, have a fantastic piece of diner history sitting on their site at 1011 State Street in Lemoyne. Their diner, built in the 1930’s by PattersonVehicle Company as part of the division known as Silk City Diners, is one of only 1,500 diners built between 1926 and 1966. Theirs is one of the earliest that is still in existence as a working diner. Each one of these Silk City diners is tagged with the year and order in which it was built. Many were made of tin with only the trim consisting of stainless steel.

The diner has been modified from its original narrow floor plan, which only allowed for seating at a counter, by bumping out the back wall and allowing the counter to be moved further back, providing space for a row of deuce booths along the outside wall. A separate dining room was also added in later years that is located along a further bumped out area in back. The ceiling of the original diner is narrow and steeply curved. The interior still has the dark woodwork, tile, and Formica adorning the original part of the diner.

The diner was initially settled in the Fishing Creek area off Route 83 and later moved to New Cumberland. It was moved again to Market Street in Lemoyne and then to its final place on State Street forty-four years ago. George and Chris have owned the diner since 1991, but the diner has been in their family since the 1980’s, when it was owned by their brother, John, during which time Chris and George worked for him.

The Katsifis family came from Greece to the United States when Chris, the youngest of seven children, was six years old. As Chris explains, Greek communities in various locations in the United States would sponsor other families still in Greece to come to the United States. These families would then work to pay back their sponsors, support their families and finally assist other Greek immigrants to come to this country. The Katsifis children were all hard workers who went to school, found jobs with other restaurants, and then moved on to have restaurants of their own. The work ethic in their Greek communities was one of always striving to help support their family while building their own means of becoming solid citizens in their communities. Chris says that even his children were raised working in the diner in various capacities and because of the work ethic they learned from him and his wife they have now moved on, achieved college degrees, and are successful in their own professional fields.

George and Chris trade off every week between the job of cook and front-of-house manager. Chris’s wife, Jo, is integral to their team and keeps the diner running smoothly with her friendly conversation, waitressing abilities, and technical expertise in keeping their website and Facebook page up and running.

The diner serves breakfast and lunch with breakfast being available all day. The breakfast menu has everything one could want for breakfast, from hearty combinations of pancakes, French toast, eggs, various meats, home fries, toasts, English muffins, and bagels to the simple and low-calorie bowl of oatmeal. There is also a large assortment of omelets that are mouthwatering, the most popular being the western omelet and the cheese steak omelet. Cream chipped beef served over toast and home fries is a specialty and, as Chris states, “It is made with the best quality dried beef which is hand cut here at the diner.” George adds, “We keep the pieces a nice size so that it doesn’t resemble ground up meat.” The brothers say that they bought their meats from Kessler Foods for at least fifty years when it was located across the street from the diner. Kessler Foods was a staple in the community for over a hundred years and was widely known for their Nittany Lion Franks. In 2022, Kessler Foods was sold and is now located in Camp Hill. Today the diner uses meat products from Hatfield.

Lunch items are served from 10:30 a.m. until closing and consist of homemade soup of the day, salads, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, entrees, and various side dishes.

There are a lot of regulars who have their very own place at the counter and enjoy the

George Katsifis, Chris Katsifis & Jo Katsifis

WEST SHORE DINER

banter and sports talk with each other and with the team of Chris, George, and Jo. Since the Katsifis brothers have owned the diner, they have seen three generations of customers come through their doors. Local resident and diner regular Rob Cowman says, “At least 90% of their customers here are regulars and that’s because they do such a great job.” He says that his favorite thing to eat is the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on an English muffin. He also says that he is a faithful reader of Harrisburg Magazine!

The diner offers food deliveries through Door Dash and Grub Hub. Chris credits the food deliveries as being the saving grace during the Covid shutdown. He adds, “And the deliveries still continue, maybe thirty or forty a day, and have built up our business even more since we have been able to open back up on a full-time basis.” The brothers mention that they have one take-out customer that continues to order and has ordered more than two hundred and thirty times from them. “We have never met her, but we sure do appreciate her continued business,” Chris states.

The diner manages to keep its prices low and the quality and quantity of food high even though the price of food and particularly eggs have skyrocketed in the past year. “We used to pay $30.00 a case for extra large eggs and now we pay $185.00, wholesale,” George says. Chris adds, “This is a huge increase because eggs are a staple for so many things that we make here. We keep our prices reasonable because customers can only afford to pay so much but we really need to keep an eye on this.”

West Shore Diner has a history with Harrisburg Magazine as a winner in the first year of the Simply the Best competition, taking the prize for Simply the Best Diner and third place for Place for Breakfast in 1998. In 1999 they were awarded Readers’ Choice for Diner.

West Shore Diner, located at 1011 State Street, Lemoyne, is open daily from 6am to 2 pm. Their website is www.westshoredinertogo. com. You can find them on Facebook: The West Shore Diner.

Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar

Creating Sustainable, Health Conscious, and Locally Sourced Cuisine

Give, Love, and Serve is the motto of Harvest Seasonal Grill and it is emblazoned over the kitchen wall, where customers can see it every time they visit the restaurant for a delicious locally sourced meal. Their belief is that if you give, love, and serve in everything you do, it all comes back to you. If you genuinely love what you do and provide valuable services to others, you’ll get it back. Harvest also has the slogan, Know Your Farmer, Know your Food, and every menu has a list of local farms that have provided the ingredients for their specially prepared meals. “We even get specific with letting our customers know what type of soil the products are grown in,” Executive Chef, PJ Folk adds. All items used are organic or transitional. Transitional is the term used for foods that are not yet certified organic by USDA but are moving along that path. Harvest also has a hydroponic program in partnership with Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA). Students in this program get the opportunity to come to the restaurant and eat the fruits, or vegetables of their labors.

PJ Folk, a Steelton native, started with Harvest Seasonal Grill nine years ago as a sauté cook. “I was hired by Corporate Chef, Josh Short, who was then Executive Chef here at the Harrisburg location. I was immediately put on the line. It was my sink or swim moment but with Josh’s help and expertise I was able to work my way up.” Working side by side with Short, Folk became a corporate trainer for the other eight restaurants in the Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar family. Within six years Folk was able to work his way up to Executive Chef of the Harrisburg location. “I give credit to Short for molding me into what I am now because of his diligence in working side by side with me. It was the turning point in my life,” says Folk.

Folk began cooking at an early age alongside his parents and grandmother. “It began with breakfast, and I pressed forward with cooking skills, learning as I experimented and opening other doors as I moved along. I guess I knew that this would become my life pathway,” he says.

Folk heads up twenty-three back-of-house employees. Along with a

Story by Christina

Heintzelman: cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos by Will Masters

Food Photos provided by Harvest Seasonal Grill

prep area there are four stations and the expo station, which expedites the speedy delivery of prepared meals to the customers.

Harvest is a chef run organization and chefs from all the restaurants meet on a seasonal basis to discuss the upcoming menu, which is based on the farm-to-table business model. “All chefs within the organization get a chance to suggest dishes which will appear on the seasonal menu. I’m proud to say that along with the executive chefs, our line cooks get the same opportunity to suggest menu ideas,” says Folk. Although the menus for the various restaurants will be similar, there is always room for the executive chef to add specials to a daily menu based on availability of local produce. “I may be driving down the road, see a roadside stand with some beautiful vegetables and fruits, and make the decision to purchase some items for daily specials,” he adds. Folk states that the restaurant works very closely with Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op, an organic farmers’ co-operative of more than one hundred local farmers who work tirelessly to provide communities near and far with the best of organic produce and pastureraised animal products.

In addition to the locally sourced special items for the food menu, Folk also works with the bar and bartenders in developing signature drinks that will match food items used on the menu. “Our lead bartender, Casey Frank, and I have a great relationship and often share suggestions for a seamless pairing of drinks and food. I am completely blown away by the quality and creativity of what comes out of the bar.”

Loyalty runs deep in this organization and Folk says, “The company has been very loyal to

PJ Folk

Executive Chef

me and in return I have a loyalty to them and all the staff. Our common goal is to prepare and serve the best possible meal to our customers in a beautiful and relaxing setting.” This is more than apparent whether you sit at the bar area for a meal or drink, or find a quiet nook, next to the gas fireplace, that is slightly removed from the large open dining room.

In addition to serving organic foods, the menu includes many gluten free or vegan offerings. And many of the meals served consist of five hundred calories or less. These items are all specially marked on the menu.

Sunday brunch is served from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a boundless menu of traditional breakfast choices of special upscale toasts with avocado or smoked salmon. Or try the prosciutto and ricotta toast, all of which can be served with a poached or fried egg. There are soups, salads, sandwiches, and amazing brunch entrees, such as Butterscotch Mochaccino French Toast or or a flatiron steak served with andouille sausage, two eggs, spicy potato, and pickled serrano chili. If you are looking for a plant-based option, the Cuban Black Bean and Rice, served with adobo sweet potato, avocado, chickpea, and a plantain chip should not be missed. After Sunday brunch the regular menu is available until 8 pm.

Lunches are served Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 3:30. The Butternut Squash Soup is a favorite and has stayed on both the fall and winter menu. How about a flatbread? There are various combinations, one of them being pear and bleu cheese crumbles with a fig glaze and micro arugula. Various appetizers are served, each one large enough to fill you for the rest of the day. One of the many creative appetizers is a Grilled Chili-Lime shrimp served with spicy crispy smashed potato, Andouille sausage with romesco sauce and pickled serrano chili with cilantro – it is the perfect bite of spicy and slightly creamy sweet flavors. Add in the wide variety of salads, entrée salads, lunch entrees, plant-based entrees, and farm fresh sides and it could be a challenge to go through each seasonal offering before the menu changes up for the next season.

Happy hour? Harvest has you covered with specials on wines, beers, and seasonal sangrias. A smaller and deliciously varied assortment of various flatbreads, sandwiches, gluten free, and vegetarian dishes complete that after-work need to relax and meet up with friends for a tasty nosh before returning home.

Since brunch and lunch have been discussed, it is necessary to talk about the dinners, which are available Sunday through Saturday, served after lunch, until closing time. Start with a soup, or flatbread, moving through to a salad and entrée, farm fresh sides, and perfectly sized desserts. If you can’t decide between the Grilled Filet Mignon or seafood treat yourself to both by ordering the filet with a side of scallops, shrimp, or crab cake. For those who prefer a smaller meal, there is an assortment of entrée salads of chicken, Thai beef, or salmon which are bountifully served with varying greens and dressings depending on your protein choice. A kids’ menu is also available for guests twelve years of age or under. A catering menu is available by contacting Harvest.

“Harvest has shown me what my life can

be from working in a supportive team-driven environment, creating amazing recipes with the best products available, and learning how my health can be better by choosing to eat high quality foods prepared with top quality ingredients,” Folk says in closing. This sounds like the perfect model for a life well lived.

Harvest is located at 2625 Brindle Drive, Harrisburg. Their hours are Monday - Tuesday 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Wednesday - Thursday from noon until 9:00 p.m., Friday - Saturday from noon until 10:00p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. Their website is harvestseasonal.com/harrisburg-restaurant/. Find them on Facebook: harvestseasonalgrillharrisburg.

With Love

CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S ALL WEEKEND FROM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH WITH OUR CHEF’S ADDITIONS AND FULL, FARM-TO-TABLE SEASONAL MENU .

A Diversity in Style and Technique Turns a Chrysanthemum into a Portrait

Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos Submitted By Artist

If you were to ask Sten how long he has been an artist, he would reply, “Since the age of three!” And he has the photo to prove it. (see photo below)

The adventurous art journey in Sten’s life has been a long time in the making and his art has a maturity and depth that tells that story. “I’ve adored art all the way from age three through grade school, middle school, and high school when I was the art editor for the high school newspaper, The Courier, in St. Clair, PA.” To this day he keeps in touch with his high school art teacher and shares his art with her. After high school he came to the Harrisburg area to attend Thompson Institute and pursue a degree in data management. After graduation, he worked in this field for about five years and then moved onward to a thirty-eightyear career with Blue Cross, most of that time as a claims supervisor.

But during this time Sten did not give up on his art. “Sometimes I painted a lot, other times only a little but I kept my hand in it because of my love for giving voice to my creative nature. I’ve exhibited in various locations and donated to charities and always had a piece of art in Jump Street’s Derby Day fundraising event. After retirement five years ago, I went full force into my creative passion for painting.”

Sten has worked mostly in acrylics but at times, as a divergence, he has included oil and mixed media in his styles. In addition, his work in acrylics is often completed with many different techniques of paint application – brush, palette knife, bubble wrap, paper towels and his fingers. “I’ve set works on fire or run pieces under water in order to come up with varying textures,” he says. His style and technique have changed over the years, and he has always been open to input from other artists in the area. “I am self-taught so the input I get from others in this field is so helpful and it allows me to grow in my very diverse creative styles and my abilities by listening to them suggest other techniques or methodologies. Some important local people to me have been Terrie Hosey, Rachel O’Connor, Nate Foster, Carrie Wissler-Thomas, and Debbie Smith.” He also spends time volunteering at Art Association of Harrisburg as a gallery host.

Sten’s art is informed by what he is seeing and sensing in his world. “I often think of how I can translate a song, an object, a lyric, a person, a world event into a piece of

art that expresses what I am feeling or thinking,” he adds. When asked whose art he gathers inspiration from, the list of artists is long and includes Klimt, Picasso, Munch, and Van Gogh. He adds that although he doesn’t paint in the style of Van Gogh, he is drawn to Van Gogh’s life journey and his way of expressing himself through his art. He says, “My work doesn’t necessarily reflect these great artists, but their work inspires me – I was either born too late or I’m remembering a time that I once passed through.”

Sten’s passion and connection for art goes to the extent that thirteen years ago, when he turned fifty, he made sure he was not only in the Louvre but standing under the Mona Lisa at the exact day and moment he was born.

Sten’s work begins with an idea that he has and which he wants to turn into a piece of art. “I then think about it, maybe for a few months and then I’ll make a quick pencil sketch of it before I begin to lay down paint.” Although he works thoughtfully and slowly, he says that for every ten paintings he creates, he may decide to only bring one of them into the light of day in the art community. With his other works he will often overpaint or maybe just leave a few of his original ideas on the canvas as it morphs into something totally different than what he started with. “A good example of this is when I began working on a piece of art to give as a birthday gift to a friend. I wanted to do chrysanthemums, as that is her favorite flower, but it just wouldn’t develop in that way, and it became a portrait of a woman, and my friend loved it.”

He doesn’t keep a schedule for his painting but rather works when the inspiration hits him, which could be any hour of the day or night. He currently does his painting in his den, but he is in the process of building a studio where he can paint and host patrons and friends for an art inspired evening.

Sten is the first to say that he doesn’t have a particular style and, depending on what he is creating, his style will differ between how a person is portrayed and how a landscape is characterized. His wide

range of techniques also add variance to his body of work.

A prime example of his thought processes and work is through the discussion of one of his paintings, Lost Balloon. “I was thinking about Paris one day and a walk along the Seine and even though there is no river in the painting, just an abstract sky, I knew how the painting would progress. I thought of that walk along the river and how many different things can be seen, including perhaps a red balloon that has escaped from the hand of a child and is now floating upward. The red balloon became the symbolism and feeling for this moment and the water is just an assumed unnecessary part of the painting.”

A serendipitous recent event involving Sten’s art and moving him fast forward in his career came after he had met Debbie Smith of Smith’s Gallery and Fine Custom Framing. It was immediately agreed that four of Sten’s artworks would be shown at the gallery with a show planned for October. One of the paintings was of sunflowers and a few prints of that piece were made. In the meantime, Rubicon restaurant was in the process of planning a fund-raising event for Ukraine, and Smith and Sten were both looking for a way to assist in this effort. Someone came into Smith’s Gallery and purchased the original sunflower painting, and a joint decision was made by Smith and Sten to contribute one hundred percent of the profit to Rubicon’s fundraising effort for Ukraine. Prints of the original are also available in the gallery.

Sten’s work has been seen in many local places in the area in long term exhibits and always during Art Walk, an annual event hosted by

Art Association of Harrisburg.

Sten’s advice to others who want to explore their artistic, creative side is this, “Absolutely do it, do not get discouraged, do not listen to those who say, ‘don’t do that!’. Even if you can’t do it full time do it as your passion and hobby. None of us are here for one hundred and fifty years, so just do it. I held myself back way too long. Listen to those who have constructive and positive critiques, do not listen to those who only want to criticize you.” He finishes this thought by stating, “Not everyone has to like my art, or even appreciate every single piece I do but I want them to at least consider it and even if the emotion is raw, it means the person was touched by it and even if you don’t like it, at least you have interacted with it.”

You can find Sten’s work on his website https://sten1959.wixsite. com/sten; and on Facebook: Dan Stencovage (Sten). Or you can email him at sten1959@gmail. com or text him at 717-5141706. Smith Gallery and Fine Art Framing has also produced an Art Talk YouTube video which can be found online, and a few of his paintings are still at the gallery.

MEET THE WINNERS

Harrisburg Magazine’s Simply the Art

Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos

Submitted

In August 2022, Harrisburg Magazine, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of Simply the Best. A decision was made to expand this program and create a niche award program to represent artists. Nineteen categories representing visual and performance artists were created and the voting began. Some winners are alumni of previous art related stories in Harrisburg Magazine, but many are new artists not known to us before. This article is the last in the series that began in Harrisburg Magazine in the November 2022 issue.

Amy Simpson (Harrisburg Magazine, October 2021) took home the title for Local Singer in Simply the Art. She performs in a duo with keyboardist Larry Lentz and at other times with various local artists.

Simpson comes from a military family and has lived all over the world, which greatly informs her musical versatility and style. One can pick up 90’s rock, blues, jazz, world music, and contemporary vibes in her style as a vocalist and songwriter. She has been performing since the age of eighteen and has performed all over the world and in the upscale hotel circuit.

Simpson is on a new course and has begun studying with Lana Ryder, director, and senior instructor of Soundwise Health Associates – School of Harmonic Therapy. The school teaches the healing power of sound, voice, and music. She is using her studies with Ryder to create another business as a vocal instructor, teaching her students the various ideas of breathwork and information from Simpson’s varied career as a performer. “I take students who already know the basics in music theory and teach them the necessary but often untaught tools of the trade beyond that. This is so important because I affected my vocal cords in a very negative way while I was out on the road singing, by not knowing the proper way to breathe and use my voice. I ended up having to take two years off from my singing career because of that.” She adds that she wanted to study with Ryder because of her holistic, individualized, and intuitive approach to the idea of sound as an energetic path to healing.

Regarding Simpson’s voice coaching she says, “In addition to giving lessons to singers, I also assist people who may have an interest in doing voiceovers or even improving their voice for public speaking. This is an entirely different approach for students in voice lessons.”

by Artists

“I’ve grown up a bit and realize that as one gets older, you are more aware of your comfort zones and what you want to take precedence in your life to find your own way.” She adds, “In the creative process you begin to channel your expression into all areas of your life. I love change and I love adding tools to my belt to grow creatively.”

In addition to her musical art, Simpson, along with Denise Nickey, create visual art through their business Zeta Ascending. Art is done in the encaustic style on birchwood, with the hot wax then manipulated into varying designs. Birchwood is chosen because it is a natural product and beeswax is used also because of its natural properties. These designs are created during a total immersion with meditation, with musical tones informing the creation of the art pieces through energetic harmonizing. Fractal images are then created through photography using a special computer application to create fractals, kaleidoscopes, and mandalas. Originals and prints of these pieces are available. A piece of the art from Zeta Ascending, entitled Unity, has been purchased by Penn State Hospital in Lancaster and is on view there.

Her parting words are, “Do what you love and love what you do!” Contact Simpson for voice lessons through her email simpsonamy83@ yahoo.com; for information on art use the website zetaascending.com.

In addition to Amy Simpson in the vocal category, other winners were The Swisher Sweets (photo on page 39), who won for Local Band, and Shea Quinn (photo on page 39), who won as Local Musician. Unfortunately, neither was available for a personal interview.

The Swisher Sweets is a local trio consisting of Joey Dalto, lead vocals/guitar; Phil Cannizzaro, bass guitar/vocals; and front man, Steve ‘Swish Dogg” Swisher, drummer. The trio are regulars at all the local area hot spots for live music. They have performed as the opening act for national recording artists.

An interesting aside is that Swish Dogg and Shea Quinn were the founders of the highly popular Luv Gods in the late 1990’s and they still perform as a duo periodically. And, as mentioned above, Shea Quinn was awarded a STA win for Local Musician.

Quinn was/is a member of the 1980’s band, The Sharks, winners of the MTV Basement Tapes competition; the Band Who Sold the World, undeniably one of the best David Bowie Tribute Bands; and of course, The Luv Gods.

Find more information for The Swisher Sweets on their website swishersweetsband.com; on Facebook:

The Swisher Sweets; and Instagram @swishersweetsband. Information for Shea Quinn can be found on Facebook: thebandwhosoldtheworld; and the website of the same name. Read more about The Luv Gods on the website theluvgods.com.

Gamut Theatre Group, winner of Simply the Art for Theatre Company, and Paul Hood, winner of Simply the Art for Local Actor, go together mainly because theatre is life enhanced and amplified both negatively and positively, with actors providing us with those experiences through working with a well written script and a creative director.

Gamut Theatre Group (Harrisburg Magazine, October 2021) and its founders, Melissa and Clark Nicholson, are now celebrating thirty years of bringing NYC quality live theater to our area. Gamut has been in their new home located at 15 N 4th St, Harrisburg, since 2015. Before that they were in Strawberry Square, which was home to their very first Harrisburg venture, Popcorn Hat Players, a theater for children. Gamut Theatre Group is home to Select Medical Mainstage Productions, the Stage Door Series, Popcorn Hat Players, TMI Improv, and the Young Acting Company. They are also well known for the annual Free Shakespeare in the Park, held every summer at Reservoir Park through the Harrisburg Shakespeare Company. When asked how they manage all that Clark Nicholson says, “There must be a division of labor with nine of us here full time and then there are probably thirty part time workers here. We have to figure out our budget, how to pay the bills, and how to let people know that we are here and producing quality live productions. In early years we were often over-programmed and underfunded, and we had to figure our way around that. It is only with the help of my business partner and life partner, Melissa, that we have been able to figure out how to play that game.” Melissa adds, “As a non-profit we are governed by a board of directors, who are very helpful to us in many ways including fundraising, meeting new people, and keeping up with all of these different entities that make up Gamut Theatre and keep it afloat.”

As a non-profit art related group, the need for art related grants is utmost in keeping the doors open. Melissa says, “The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC) is a constant as well as other local arts grants and corporate groups, but it is important to keep searching for other sources of new money to diversify the portfolio.”

The Nicholsons have made it a priority to let the Harrisburg community know that the quality of stage performances available in this area are of the quality one would expect to see in NYC, Chicago, and LA. “We bring in performers from nationally held auditions, bring them here to Harrisburg and house them for the season – they are here for a year and sometimes even sign on for another season. We do open auditions here in the community so a cast can really vary greatly in the mix,” Melissa says. Currently they are getting ready to plan the 20232024 season, with the season running from September 2023 through August 2024. “By this coming summer we will be getting down to the nitty-gritty of next season – set designers, costume designers, and graphic designers,” Clark adds.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants here in the Harrisburg theater community,” Clark says as he mentions Jay and Nancy Krevsky (Harrisburg Magazine, October 2022). The Krevskys, after their move to this area, became involved with Harrisburg Community Theatre (HCT), which was formed in 1926 and is one of the oldest active community theatres in the United States. HCT was later renamed Theatre Harrisburg and their productions are staged in two locations, The Krevsky Center and The Sunoco Performance Theater at Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. “The Krevskys’ help sustain one of the oldest and most

respected small theatres in this country,” Clark adds. “We got familiar with Jay during the time Gamut was doing the ‘Merchant of Venice’ and Jay played the role of Shylock. He then singlehandedly got all the synagogues in the area to come to different night’s performances to build our audience.” Clark then says, “Our history with the Krervskys is so full and rich and I was the first director to have the honor of directing both of them on stage together for the first time in the same scenes and exchanging dialogue in our production of ‘The Sunshine Boys.’”

Gamut Theatre’s thirtieth season opened with “Innocent Merriment; An Evening with Gilbert & Sullivan”. Along with Sankofa

African American Theatre Company, Gamut is currently showcasing “Voices of the Eighth CHRONICLES II: Stories from Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward” by Sharia Benn. This is a collage of storytelling that fuses imagery, movement, sound, and music and is the second part of an original work that pays homage to the resilient spirit of the nineteenth and twentieth-century African American liberators, educators, orators, and writers who fought to build a community of freedom and belonging.

“Thistle & Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge,” directed by Narçisse Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, FL Henley Jr., opens on March 4th and runs until the 19th of the month. “The Jungle Book”, based on the story by Rudyard Kipling and directed by Rachita Menon Nambiar and Melissa Nicholson, opens March 31 and runs through April 2nd. “Macbeth,” directed by Melissa Nicholson, opens for three days beginning on April 14. And Shakespeare in the Park’s “Richard III” opens at Reservoir Park in June. Maria James-

Artful Inspirations

Meet the Winners, continued from Page 39

Thiaw will also be debuting her new play “HairStory: Reclaiming Our Crown”.

Popcorn Hat Players Children’s Theatre still has two more shows: “Rollicking Ripsnorters: American Tall Tales”, and “The Three Little Pigs,” available in this year’s calendar.

Although Paul Hood (Harrisburg Magazine, February 2021) is mostly known for his plays, directing, and novellas, he was awarded Simply the Art as Local Actor, which unfortunately he hasn’t been able to concentrate on lately because of his success in getting his plays on stage, working for Narçisse as a resident artist, and his work with Susquehanna Township School District in Special Education, along with his summer work for Hope Spring Farms. “I was thrilled to be recognized as a part of the Harrisburg Arts Community with this award,” Hood states.

The Harrisburg art community is a close-knit group, and the connections are quite varied. Paul Hood met the Nicholson’s back when Gamut was still in Strawberry Square. Paul adds to this story by saying, “I was looking for a location to do a workshop of my new play ‘Sequin Royale,’ one of my most bizarre plays about a Viet Nam vet trying to win back the love of his life while suffering a mental crisis. I met with Melissa and Clark, and they offered to give me a platform, a place to show my work. Back then it was more difficult to make a break into having live performance showcased here in town and I am extremely grateful to them for allowing me to use their stage and get a cut of the door! They really jumpstarted my career.”

And as the conversation with the Nicholsons and Hood intertwine, another interesting connection is told. Clark Nicholson tells of his interest in the African Grove Theatre, founded and operated in New York City by William Alexander Brown in the early 1800’s. The company drew heavily on Shakespeare’s works for its performances. Unfortunately, the theatre burned to the ground in 1826. Hood says, “I was approached by Clark to develop a new play about this time in history and what may have happened if this theatre would have lasted and thrived. I wrote ‘The African Company: The Mystery of the African Grove Theater,’ which was presented at Gamut in January 2021. At the time I worked closely with Kim Greenawalt who is a dramaturg for Gamut, and she helped immensely with my understanding of developing the dramaturgy for this historical piece.” The piece is developed with the idea of how the Black theatre community would have thrived if it could have continued after the burning of the theatre. It is hoped that this play can move on and be shown in different locations for others to learn about this very important part of theatre history.

Theatre Harrisburg is currently doing “Pieces,” one of Hood’s plays. This play is the story of Phil Blakeny’s life as told through a collection of real time moments, both past and present, dreams, and the harsh reality of his mental breakdown due to the loss of his family business. The play was workshopped by Bare Bones Theatre Ensemble in 2020.

Hood’s list of plays is a long and impressive

one. His recent productions include “My Electric Life,” “The Imposter’s Snow Cone Machine,” “Apostle of Freedom,” “Freedom’s Eve,” and the riveting “Kill Keller” in which Hood bares his soul by portraying his early life through the story of an Allison Hill family that is torn apart by one man’s relentless quest for control. Hood’s novellas include “The Time of Their Lives in London,” “The Itch of Gloria Fitch: A Play,” and “Paths: The Diary of Baine Adams.” He has also done a series of audio monologues on Patreon for Epic Theatre entitled “Deadly Things: Monologues for Sinners.”

Currently, Hood was hired to do re-writes for an independent film. He states that his work in photography has assisted with this as his usual method of snapping photos is to think about what story the photo might be telling and how this informs his ability to re-write other’s works.

Although Hood is a multitalented artist through his acting, directing, producing, and photography, he is most involved with his writing and he says, “My writing has given me voice for everything else I am involved with in my life, the springboard for every other creative thing I’ve done.”

Melissa, Clark, and Paul all agree on one important point, and that is within our small community the various live performance theaters have all banded together in a supportive way to help each other along the path to not only bring impressive performances to our area but also to get the word out as to how awesome our theater community really is. This is just another example of our burgeoning art community’s desire to work together for the betterment of all.

Gamut Theatre information is available online at www.gamuttheatre.org; on Facebook: Gamut Theatre Group; and Instagram: @gamuttheatregroup. And pick up one of their 2023 calendars which has all their performances listed by month and date.

Paul Hood’s information is available online at Facebook: Playwright/Director, Paul Hood; and Instagram: @ phwroteit. He is also available through LinkedIn. His books are available through Goodreads and Amazon.