Former Mayor Reed calls this man “The Mayor of Cumberland Street,” an earned and well-deserved nickname.
He takes care of the whole block, spraying down weeds, doing leaf clean-ups and planting and tending to the trees he’s installed for himself and neighbors alike. He’s personally taken on the role of chief steward and designer of the memorial garden in Riverfront Park at the foot of the Taylor Bridge.
You may not know him personally if you aren’t a resident of his curated block in Midtown Harrisburg. But you may have looked up and recognized his colorful pinwheels spinning in the wind, a feature that brings both wonderment and some joy for the passerby.
Bill Fritz is an energetic and important citizen of this neighborhood, a mainstay of Harrisburg and an import from nearby Lebanon, Pa. He and his business partner Patrick Brady migrated from Philadelphia, citing this city as a “nice blend between Philly and his hometown.”
Upon arrival, Fritz and Brady got to work, founding Classic Groundskeeping, now a 26-year-old business providing facelifts and sweeping changes to home and commercial environments around central Pennsylvania and even to places as far away as Florida.
Fritz said his obsession for both the built and natural environment stems from his Boy Scout days. He also started cutting grass at the age of 11, which provided supplementary family income for his father, who worked as a concreter in the Cornwall iron ore mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. After studying ornamental horticulture at Delaware Valley College, he transferred to Lebanon Valley and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration.
This marriage of business and know-how is Fritz’s jam along with a tireless work ethic. He meets for the interview in his work boots, tank top, jean shorts and an NRA cap; his mustache, crew cut and landscaping tan, along with his hurried movements and chatter, is a clear indication of the hard-nosed handyman he is.
I ask how many clients he has, and he looks at Brady, who has assumed the office work as of late. “Too many” seems to be the nonverbal, but that hasn’t stopped them from starting a pest control business this year.
“We wanted to get into something that was year-round, and it seemed like a natural transition,” Fritz says.
Comprehensive Pest Control uses safe methods like integrated pest management and organic applications, because, he says, “you’re dealing with family and children,” a pragmatic and progressive alignment.
On a more informal note, Fritz really likes his logo. “It’s a rat that’s cross-eyed in the crosshairs, and lots of people get a big kick out of it.”
He immediately gets back to business and chalks up their workmanship and success to their motto, a quote from one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” This paradoxical aphorism is the motivating force behind all their landscaping and pest control initiatives.
Beyond his business acumen, he clues me in on another one of his athletic undertakings.
“I didn’t get into any sports [growing up], so when I’m not working, I’m working on a house,” an irony that is not lost on me.
His true architectural passion is of the Victorian type, calling it the “epitome of society.”
The family room I sit in and the dining room adjoined showcase his carpentry and interior design artistry. He started from scratch in many of the rooms, installing the wainscoting, finding and hanging the chandelier in the dining room—a purchase from one of the Wannamaker mansions in Philadelphia—while the one in the family room is from the former Ephrata Mountain Springs Hotel’s receiving room, a place where Lincoln and Grant once stayed.
Portraits from bygone eras encircle the furniture. They aren’t just mere vintage, but photographs of their respective family members; a remarkable one of his grandmother in flapper garb catches the eye. Fritz is a maximalist, so it’s hard to keep your eye on any one thing in this house, especially when his beautiful gray cat, Sequel, vies for your attention.
After showing me his Caribbean themed patio—complete with palm trees, purple railings and yellow fencing—a shocking transition from the under-lit but gracefully adorned first floor, Fritz decides to reminisce, retelling, albeit quickly, a powerful narrative about his father (an MP during the American occupation of Germany) and his mother being wed overseas, a military ceremony that was purchased through soap, cigarettes and linens. He shows me the picture, and, sure enough, MPs line the aisle, his mother and father completing one of the first post-war nuptials between an American and German.
As if an aside, he called to mind the days that he and Brady owned Sweet Passions, a coffee shop that was located at 1006 N. 3rd St.
“It was ahead of its time. We had Tarot Card readings on Monday. Poetry night on Tuesday. On Sunday, we served Belgian waffles with fruit compote and had chair massages out back. We also sold exotic flowers out of it.”
A man of many passions and skills, he doesn’t give me an indication of what’s next on the plate for his frenetic life, but he does strongly suggest that I mention his 2013 Reader’s Choice award for landscaping and lawn care that Harrisburg Magazine is bestowing upon him.
I make a mental note of the irony of mentioning another Harrisburg publication, but the Mayor of Cumberland Street certainly deserves his title and his choice standing in the community.
You can reach Bill Fritz at Classic Groundskeeping at 717-234-2415 and at Comprehensive Pest Control at 717-712-2520. Learn more about his businesses at www.classicgroundskeeping.com and www.comprehensivepestcontrol.com.
