Usually, August is “vacation month.” Maybe not so much this year.
Yes, it seems like the “staycation” is back, as people scale back their trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re actually lucky here. There’s plenty to do in and around central PA for day trips or quick weekend jaunts, ones that allow for social distancing, too.
Our area has many wineries, where you can sit outside and, often, take in spectacular mountain views. The nearby Appalachian Trail and many other spots offer terrific hiking and, with the extension of “Saturday Nights in the City,” outside dining has gone from rare to everywhere.
This month, we bring back our special “focus” sections, which we suspended after the coronavirus threw our entire story planning process out of whack back in March.
So, for August, we have numerous stories dedicated to schools and youth, as we do every year. This subject couldn’t be more pertinent or timely since, as I write this introduction in mid-July, we’re still not certain how schools, children and parents will adjust to the new pandemic academics. There seems to be only one sure thing—most physical buildings plan to reopen.
This month, we’ve also brought back our “Happenings” section. It’s much shorter than usual, given the continuing paucity of events in and around Harrisburg. However, we consider the revival of this section to be yet another small step back to some state of normalcy.
Lastly, I would like to put into ink something that I blogged about last month. In July, the venerable Press & Journal of Middletown printed its final edition after 166 years in business.
We would like to extend our warmest wishes to the publishers, Joe and Louise Sukle, as well as to their talented and dedicated staff. The Press & Journal was regarded as one the best weeklies in the state, but it nonetheless couldn’t survive the harsh economics of local news, plus the devastation wrought by the pandemic.
The newspaper business gets tougher each day, as we well know. If you would like to support our efforts to deliver a quality news product to the greater Harrisburg area, I encourage you to please join our new membership program, Friends of TheBurg.
With that, enjoy our new August issue!
Lawrance Binda
Co-Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
