Bands & Bucks: When HU Presents plays, the local economy hums along.

March 31, 2020 | by M. Diane McCormick

When Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste learned about Death Cab for Cutie’s avid followers, he figured the band would draw a crowd to its June 2019 Riverfront Park concert. Then the rains came, and he thought, “I don’t know if this is going to work.”

“But it did, and I thought that was a really telling point,” he said now, looking back on the soggy HU Presents concert that restored live music to the banks of the river. “I remember that day, seeing groups of people come into town and go into restaurants before the show. That’s what we want to do—help drive business to our different restaurants and shops and help grow our economy.”

While HU Presents, the Harrisburg University-sponsored series, fills a live-music void by attracting big names and notable niche acts to Harrisburg stages, it’s also bringing new dollars to restaurants and hotels in and around the city. All told, the series has pumped $1.5 million into the local economy, according to Haste.

Open Wallets
Beginning in November 2018, HU Presents established itself with shows at Club XL, on the city’s outskirts. Then it added downtown venues, choosing sites that best suit each act and its audience. Grace Potter rocked the Forum. Cage the Elephant, 2020 Grammy winner for rock album of the year, is coming to Riverfront Park, as is the Icelandic band, Of Monsters and Men.

Harrisburg old-timers may remember a thriving music scene, with name acts at the pulsating Metron or the laid-back Gullifty’s Basement. In that spirit, HU Presents originated as a spinoff of Harrisburg University’s inaugural esports event, the HUE Festival, in 2018. HU wanted to bring people downtown while raising brand awareness in an interactive, cost-effective way, said HU President Eric Darr.

“Whatever we can do to improve the city of Harrisburg, improve the life here, that’s what we should do,” said Darr, who admits to being “a little crazy” about annual family excursions to concerts and music festivals. “The music represents one of the ways for improving life and economics in the city of Harrisburg for everybody.”

The shows are factors in downtown’s expanding arts scene. Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District Executive Director Todd Vander Woude cited a surge in offerings, aided by recent growth in residential options.

“The more people down here, the more it helps everybody out,” he said.

Restaurant owners have noticed, he added. All those music lovers and culture vultures arrive with open wallets.

“You definitely know when it’s show night,” agreed Hilton Harrisburg General Manager Joe Massaro. “You get a big crowd early. You see people leave at the same time to go to their show, and then you get a later showing when people come back for drinks.”

Hotels get a boost, too. The Hilton often books the acts and their crews appearing in Harrisburg and Hershey, said Massaro. Haste is seeing travelers from Baltimore, Reading and Philadelphia, complementing a rise in out-of-towners coming for jazz and blues offerings.

“I want folks to know that we’re somewhat of a hip area, and we’re going to make it a performing arts area, and we’re going to make it a fun place to be,” he said.

HU Presents helps brand the Harrisburg area as “an important destination,” said Massaro.

“You might not see a direct result on that one particular show, but any time you’re promoting a region as having a robust culture, with wonderful things to see and do, that helps you in many other time periods,” he said.

Main Engine
Consistent, quality programming gives visitors’ bureaus timely and unique experiences to promote, said Rick Dunlap, spokesman for Visit Hershey & Harrisburg. HU Presents extends concert season beyond the warmer months into “our typically slower tourism seasons,” he said.

“That is important when we are looking for ways to drive more visits and overnight stays during fall and winter,” Dunlap said.

Dauphin County raked in nearly $2.5 billion from travelers in 2018, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. But while lodging and food and beverage showed increases from 2017, spending of $587 million on recreation—the category that includes arts and live music—represented a slight dip.

Music promoters know central Pennsylvania because Hershey Entertainment & Resorts has long attracted top acts to a market that’s comparatively small in the stadium-tour scene, said HU Director of Live Entertainment and Media Services Frank Schofield.

“We’re so lucky to have Hershey in central Pennsylvania,” said Schofield, the entertainment veteran who heads HU Presents and herds all the cats necessary to get live shows on stage. “I don’t think people in this area realize how blessed we are because people in most markets our size still have to drive two to three hours to see a major-market show.”

The emergence of music streaming compels bands to make their money on the road. With the acts that don’t fill stadiums but are now packing XL Live, the Forum and Riverfront Park, “you just have to ask,” Schofield said.

“Bands always want to play to the crowds and get to their listeners,” he said. “Shows that we are doing in downtown Harrisburg give them that opportunity.”

The appearance of Death Cab for Cutie “helped HU turn the corner as far as the agencies realizing we can handle the bigger shows,” said Schofield.

“There are so many music options out there in live entertainment, whether it be a small club, major stadium tour, mid-level theater or whatever,” he said. “We all work together, and we all get along.”

Dauphin County and corporate sponsors share the vision for the series, said Schofield.

“HU is the main engine behind this force that’s driving the music scene, trying to get people excited about getting out to a show, coming to the city, getting a babysitter and buying a ticket,” he said. “There are a lot of fun things we’re doing. I don’t think we’ve seen the top yet, but we continue to grow, and it’ll be interesting to see whether this thing levels out year after year.”

Darr constantly encounters people thanking him for the music revival.

“I can’t put a dollar sign to it, but if part of the goal is to make Harrisburg and the region seen as a place to settle down and come visit and be a part of, then I’d say we’re doing a pretty good job,” he said.

HU Presents has upcoming shows at XL Live, the Forum and in Riverfront Park. For information and tickets, visit www.concertseries.harrisburgu.edu.

A Star Is Born: PA Capital-Star journalists reflect on their first year, ponder what lies ahead.

March 31, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda

John Micek

About a year ago, a new type of journalism splashed down in Harrisburg.

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star was one of three nonprofit newsrooms that launched within months of each other, all dedicated to covering state news.

Recently, we sat down with the Capital-Star’s four journalists—Editor-in-Chief John Micek, Associate Editor Cassie Miller and reporters Stephen Caruso and Elizabeth Hardison—to find out how the first year has gone. In the process, we also touched on such topics as nonprofit news and the often-dysfunctional relationship between Harrisburg the city and Harrisburg the capital.

Excerpts from our interview follow, edited for clarity and length.

TheBurg: How did the Pennsylvania Capital-Star get its start?

Micek: I was at PennLive in 2018. I was approached by an organization called the States Newsroom Project, which said they were opening up this new outlet in Pennsylvania, and would I be interested? After a couple of conversations back and forth, I decided that, yes, this was worthwhile.

TheBurg. What attracted you to it?

Micek: First and foremost was the idea of building something new from the ground up. At that point, PA Post was here; Spotlight PA had not yet launched. And I put in 20 years of my working life to covering Pennsylvania state government. It was the idea of creating a new voice within that, to help add to coverage because, at that point, the Capitol pressroom was fairly depleted. It’s wonderful to see so many new faces up there now working away and to have so many eyes on state government. But, at that point, it wasn’t really like that.

The really great thing about the States Newsroom Project was the idea that we could give voice to under-heard voices in the public dialogue, those who don’t always make it into the committee hearings, those who don’t make it into the hallways of power. So, now you see a lot of focus—through Lizzy’s work on criminal justice reform, for instance—on people who often have the whole system weighted against them. Stephen does outstanding work on climate. So, we tried to find the places that we thought weren’t receiving as much coverage or weren’t being paid attention to in the way that they probably should have been and trying to really build the coverage there, trying to elevate those voices.

TheBurg: Tell me about the foundation that supports you.

Micek: We are organized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. The nearest analog I can draw is that we are funded in much the same way that NPR is funded, a mix of individual and foundation donors. The States Newsroom Project is based in Raleigh, and we’re right now in 15 states, with the goal of having 20 by year’s end. It’s a very aggressive model.

TheBurg. Tell me about your reporting beats.

Stephen Caruso

Caruso: I cover the PA House. I cover environmental issues, specifically focused on climate, and I cover labor. Those are the three areas. The House brags about being the “people’s house,” so it’s important that the people have free and fair access to information about it. That’s what I try to do in my beat.

I would say, for how I do my job, it’s a pretty long leash. On a session day, I’m up in the Capitol, and I just run around until I find people who I know will talk to me, and I do the best I can to get the information we need. I think that ideally is what statehouse reporting should be doing, and that’s what I strive for, to be focused on what is happening and what needs to be explained to people, because a lot of this is not readily evident. We need to try to explain why Harrisburg matters and explain what’s happening.

Hardison: I cover criminal justice and education. There’s a lot of interesting bipartisan convergence in Harrisburg right now about what people call criminal justice reform. It’s not all as sweeping and consequential as people want it to be, and there are so many giant, unaddressed, unchallenged practices in our criminal justice system that need reform that politically have been non-starters for people, like sentencing reform. I also cover the state Senate. So, that’s kind of where I started day one—I was assigned to the state Senate, and then we really just defined beats over time based on what we were interested in. Stephen and I had very different interests, so we were able to just define what we wanted without stepping on each other’s toes.

Cassie Miller

Miller: I’ve only been here since November. So, I have not really established beats the way that Stephen and Lizzy have. I’ve been more filling in as needed, bouncing around in a broad range of things. So, I’ve done things like census stuff, trying to explain the census and how it works and the potential impact. Right now, I’m working more on an understanding of the budget. So, I can fill in when these two are busy with the Senate and the House, and I can jump around where needed. I also do a lot of multimedia stuff, a lot of photo stories and videos. I’m also John’s right-hand. So, whenever anything in the office needs to be addressed, or any administrative stuff, I can pitch in there.

TheBurg. What is one of the more surprising things you’ve found about how the state works?

Hardison: One of things that surprised me is how non-essential the city of Harrisburg is to the state. When I was covering the city (at TheBurg), I remember that Act 47 reform was passing, and that was hugely consequential for the city. It was a pocketbook issue because there was the specter of really big tax increases for the city residents if the state didn’t move on some kind of Act 47 reform. It was like all anyone in Harrisburg could think about for a month. Then we go into the Capitol to cover it, and the scale of perceived importance was a lot different. It was just kind of another item. It passed in the Senate, which was its last stop, without any debate or anything. It was just one of many votes they took that day. It was sobering or surprising to me that something could seem so important in a community, but then the scale just changes on the state level. I thought there would be more interplay, but [Harrisburg] really is just a sound stage for the state government.

Micek: Honestly, one of the reasons I looked to Lizzy as a potential staff member when we started was because she had that knowledge, so she could serve as that bridge between city issues and state issues. The city matters to me. We put the office in downtown for that very reason. We have a really wonderful columnist named Anwar Curtis who tells the stories of the people of the city. That was a very conscious decision to make sure that the people on the Hill knew that their actions did not exist in a vacuum, that the state Capitol was not some island floating on a hill, but, in fact, they had this entire city all around it.

TheBurg: This happens not only on a legislative level but on a departmental level. It seems to me that the state hardly recognizes the city of Harrisburg at all, except as a place to transit through to get to and from work.

Elizabeth Hardison

Hardison: The city is kind of a case study: How do you fund and keep these small cities in Pennsylvania financially solvent? No one has a good answer. We are in one right now, a third-class city that struggles for various reasons—a big swath of non-taxable property, depopulation, people fleeing for the suburbs. It’s just really hard to fund services. You could cut lawmakers the benefit of the doubt and say, well, if you’re from rural Pennsylvania or the suburbs of Philadelphia, you’re not really familiar with the problems of third-class cities. But you come in and work here every single day. There’s a reason that the roads you take in to get to your place of work are filled with potholes. It’s because of decisions that people make.

We had a school district that was failing by every single measure in the city. There were reasons for that to do with leadership. But it’s also a funding problem, the way our schools are funded. You can see the inequities in schools, between here and Camp Hill. So, it kind of heightens the irony, the fact that Harrisburg can languish because of choices that people make. It need not be this way.

Micek: As someone who’s watched state government for a long time, one of the things that I find encouraging is the infusion of younger lawmakers, newer members who are coming into the House and the Senate who look at this and are not content to let things roll along the way they are. A lot of people come in, and they’re full of wide-eyed idealism, and they’re sucked into the vortex, and they become this sort of stereotypical state lawmaker. My hope is that there are enough people who exist outside of that. You know, it’s going to take forever, but at least there may be some incremental progress.

TheBurg: After a year, what have you learned, what changes do you feel you need to make?

Micek: The one thing that has been most gratifying is that people have been telling me that we’re everywhere, which is fantastic. They quite literally see Stephen running up the stairs to get to somebody or that Lizzy has turned around a really quality story on schools or criminal justice. Out of the gate, the goal was to establish us as a legitimate and respected news organization, and the only way to do that was to flood the zone with coverage. People say that they come to us now for their state government news. That’s been the most gratifying thing by far.

We moved into larger public service projects. We have the #PennForward project that we launched in September, which looks for evidence-based solutions to big public policy problems confronting the commonwealth. We spent four months doing nothing but looking at the issue of gun violence from every angle and trying to find solutions, hopefully passing those along so that they could become part of the dialogue. We’re now moving on to climate and fossil fuels.

We just launched the Purple State Project, which is a four-state project across the States Newsroom network. We’ll be sharing stories across the four properties throughout 2020, hopefully, calling attention to issues that are relevant to voters in all four of those states, making a difference in the dialogue there.

TheBurg: How are you preparing for the election?

Micek: Frantically. It’s beyond a cliché. Pennsylvania will be hugely important in 2020, and we want to play a role in vigorously covering that campaign, recognizing that Lizzy and Stephen, their first priority is covering the General Assembly. We will need to have bodies on the ground across the state to help us with our coverage. The goal of the Purple State Project is the same thing—it’s the economy of scale across the four properties. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the fact that we have the largest Washington bureau of any Pennsylvania news organization. We have three people in D.C. who work across the sites, who work across the network.

TheBurg: Do you believe that the nonprofit model is viable across other types of journalism?

Micek: Being a journalist is all I ever wanted to do, and I hope it’s all I hope to do until I can’t do it anymore. And that means finding a way to keep doing it, because, obviously, the old model doesn’t work anymore. If that means finding large donors who believe in the importance of journalism as a civic mission, I’m OK with that. It’s a way to hold power accountable. It’s a way to tell the stories of the people who need to have their stories told.

The best thing about it is that nobody tells us what to do. All of our calls are made in house. There are no ads, there’s no paywall. We don’t share people’s personal information. So, to me, there’s more of a purity about the model in a lot of ways.

You hear these stories across the country about these local papers shutting down, creating these news deserts in these small towns. I think that’s where the nonprofit model could do the most good. Some of those billionaires should take their money into Youngstown, Ohio, and find a way to revive the Vindicator as a nonprofit. Put their billions there. When you take journalists away at the local level and elected officials feel that nobody is watching them, the accountability and that watchdog function goes out the window. I’m glad we’re here, but it’s even more critical in these tiny towns across the country.

You can find the Pennsylvania Capital-Star at www.penncapital-star.com.

Disclosure: Elizabeth Hardison is a former reporter for TheBurg.

Emotional Ride: Coming-of-age complexities in heartfelt “Charm City Kings.”

March 31, 2020 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

The very first character we meet is dead.

We meet him through a video he’s recorded. His brother, 14-year-old Mouse (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), watches the video on his phone while riding the bus in Baltimore. It’s a moment of nostalgia, but also a little foreshadowing for where the story might lead us. It is clear that Mouse’s brother loved motorcycles; it is also clear that he died. One can connect the dots quite quickly.

Director Angel Manuel Soto’s “Charm City Kings” follows Mouse’s story as he struggles to balance the love of his family, his friends and his hobbies in such a way that is common for inner-city kids. Mouse has a lot going for him, as far as most teenaged boys are concerned. It’s clear that he has been raised in a loving environment. His mother (Teyonah Paris) constantly worries over him, and a local police detective has taken it upon himself to mentor Mouse, even getting him an under-the-table job at the local veterinarian’s due to his love of animals.

And then there are his friends. Steadfast and up for antics, Lamont (Donielle T. Handley, Jr.) and Sweartagawd (Kezii Curtis) are never too far away. The three of them have a fascination for motorcycles, and Mouse often sneaks out of the house, paying his sister to be quiet, in order to see “The Ride”—a summertime tradition in which motorcyclists perform tricks in the streets and defy the cops. The most favored motorcycle gang that shows up for these performances is the Midnight Clique, a crew that Mouse and his friends very much want to be a part of. Maybe it’s the connection to his brother or maybe it’s just that the prospect of owning a bike would make him look cool, especially in front of the new girl in town, Nicki (Chandler DuPont).

Police Det. Rivers (William Catlett) sees this bike obsession in Mouse, and he does his best to steer him away from it. After all, look what happened to his brother. But someone else sees Mouse’s passion for bikes as well—Blax (Meek Mill), an ex-convict who used to be a part of the Midnight Clique and now runs a mechanic’s shop. He hooks Mouse up to work for free at his shop in order to earn himself a bike and teach him a thing or two about life along the way.

The contrast between these two mentors’ fostering techniques really adds some complexity to the film. But whether the teachable moments are well meant or, in fact, harmful to Mouse is the real question. As Mouse struggles to place his priorities, and he and his friends take measures to be a part of the gang, the stakes rise higher and higher. Mouse must learn to grow up, but he must decide how he will grow up—and that is the beauty of “Charm City Kings”.

It’s a beautiful film, with high-energy cinematography and a straight connection to Mouse’s emotional journey. This is partly a credit to Soto for his decisions as a director, but mainly praise for Winston, who absolutely will steal your heart no later than 10 minutes into the film and will hold onto it well past the credits. Honestly, the younger members of the cast are the reason to watch the film. While Paris really sells her motherly love for Mouse, Catlett and Mill don’t get enough depth in their characters to really wow us with their performances (which is more of a comment on the writing than it is for the actors).

This is a summer indie classic in the making. It’s a great gem with a little bit of action and a lot of heart. Don’t miss “Charm City Kings” at Midtown Cinema in April.

“Charm City Kings” plays this month at Midtown Cinema, 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.

Artist in Focus: Rebecca Muller

March 31, 2020 | by Admin

April is flower month, so we could think of no better person to be our “Artist in Focus” than Gettysburg resident Rebecca Muller.

Muller got her start in floral art and design some 11 years ago when she began cultivating flowers while working on a farm. Since then, she’s grown her skills into a company called LOCAFLORA Design, which creates 3D flower installations from local, sustainably sourced flowers.

“In many ways, I believe flowers can be a platform for empathy in the community, and I consider floral installations to be one of the greatest ways for people to share an artistic experience,” she said.

When Muller is not creating flower art, she can be found at the Foundry Makerspace in StartUp Harrisburg and at Waldo’s & Company, a Gettysburg-based arts nonprofit, where she’s director of operations.

For more information and to see additional designs, visit www.locafloradesign.com.

More Is More: Harrisburg’s housing challenges run deep, requiring a broad approach.

March 31, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda

You may have noticed, but sometimes life doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Candy corn, Auto-Tune, all those cat videos on the Internet—I don’t get it.

Life in Harrisburg can be quite confounding. Why does Forster Street have the same number of through lanes as the Pennsylvania Turnpike? Ah, the mysteries.

I find the housing situation here especially mystifying.

Here, you have a city where demand for a decent apartment seems to far outstrip the supply, yet there is practically no new development. Harristown is basically the only developer in the city adding inventory and, it’s doing so largely because its charter mandates that it revive the downtown.

Meanwhile, the city has thousands of developable lots, places where buildings used to be, but that have burned down or been bulldozed over the past 60 years. And, according to a 2018 study, Harrisburg has another 4,000 abandoned houses and commercial buildings. Yikes.

So, if developers wanted to build, they could. There’s a ton of opportunity in the form of empty land and empty buildings. Then why aren’t they?

According to builders I’ve spoken with through the years, there are three main reasons

High cost/low ROI
It’s expensive to build in Harrisburg. Land and buildings in downtown and Midtown tend to be costly, and many “available” properties sit for years on the market because they’re priced too high. Construction costs also tend to be high, especially when builders need to close off streets, work beside or near other structures and do expensive abatement and preservation work.

Also, most builders are not in the landlord business. Once a building is up, they want out. In Harrisburg, they often have trouble recovering their investments post-construction, much less turning a decent profit. There are a few Harrisburg-based companies that are buy-and-hold builder/managers, but they’re the exception and operate on a fairly small scale.

Land is much cheaper in other parts of the city, but total project costs still tend be more than builders can recover through rents or sales. For instance, the city’s MulDer Square townhomes cost almost double to build compared to what they sold for, the difference made up through government subsidies.

In Harrisburg, there’s another type of “builder”—the renovator. These generally are individuals attracted to the city for its charm, history, walkability and access to amenities. They like old buildings and city living and, so, are less price sensitive. I fall into this class. Since I’ve lived in Harrisburg, I’ve renovated several buildings and ultimately lost money on every one. My decision to live in Harrisburg is a lifestyle choice, not an economic one.

Regional competition
Harrisburg is not an island. The city competes regionally for residents, for businesses, for capital, for workers and for everything else. Thus, when developers decide to build in central PA, they have many places to choose from.

Builders are most likely to select an area where they can make the greatest profit—with low input costs and robust demand. For sheer return on investment—after all, construction is a business—Harrisburg has a tough time competing with the likes of Hampden and Lower Paxton townships

Harrisburg has more success competing in another category—not regionally, but nationally, against other cities. Compared to Washington, New York, Boston and Philly, Harrisburg is a ridiculous bargain. Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen in-migration from larger places, from veteran city-dwellers who happen to find themselves in central PA. Once again, I resemble that remark.

Slumlords
Blight is a big problem in Harrisburg, even in so-called nicer neighborhoods, with numerous implications for housing.

First, many blighted properties end up condemned or torn down, removed from the market entirely, thereby reducing supply. Second, rundown houses discourage people from moving into a neighborhood, even when it’s well located or otherwise desirable.

But perhaps the greatest problem is the self-perpetuating nature of slumlordism. If a rundown property is for sale, it’s often priced at a premium, based on its current cash flow. This assumes that the new owner, just like the old one, will spend virtually nothing on the property, happy to collect rent as the building falls apart around them. The inflated sales price scares off renovators, who need to get the property at enough of a value to make a costly restoration economically feasible.

Currently, Harrisburg is pondering a new housing policy. In my opinion, the city needs a universal solution to its difficult, complex, perplexing housing problem, overcoming some of the hurdles described above.

This broad solution might include zoning changes for denser development, stricter codes enforcement, homebuyer programs, tax incentives, renovation assistance and the greater use of organizations like the Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership. It also should include a welcoming attitude towards newcomers who want to live and invest in Harrisburg.

A universal solution might also include an affordable housing element. However, a smart, targeted affordable housing statute should be part of an overall solution that encourages more building and renovation. Otherwise, Harrisburg runs the real risk of having not just one active developer, but none at all.

In urban real estate, there’s a popular catchphrase that says, “more is more.” It means that a city needs more decent housing, period. It needs to remove obstacles, fight blight, welcome newcomers and bravely fight NIMBYism. I agree.

Lawrance Binda is co-publisher/editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

To Serve, Inspire: AME Church honors five community leaders during Women’s Day.

March 31, 2020 | by Gina Napoli

Vera Cornish

Angel Fox

Rev. Dr. Brenda Alton

Pat Gadsden

Dr. Siéta Achampong

When Pat Gadsden was young, the strong male role models in her family instilled a sense of equality and strength into her role as a woman.

“They made it clear to me and my sister that women were just as competent as men in the family,” she said. “My dad had no patience with his daughters succumbing to males. We were responsible for ourselves. We didn’t let being female get in the way of anything we wanted to accomplish.”

The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church holds an annual Women’s Day to “uplift women and recognize the contributions they have made,” said Myra Blackwell, Women’s Day co-chair.

With a theme designed around the mnemonic WOMEN: Worship, Orchestrate, Motivate, Encourage, Noteworthy, this year’s honorees bring a lifetime of servant leadership and substantial contributions to the local community.

“We chose women from the community who embody each category,” Blackwell said. “We want men and young children to see one common theme of consistency and unity, something to inspire everyone.”

Worship
Rev. Dr. Brenda Alton, CEO of Brenda Alton Ministries (BAM!), is a community advocate and grassroots organizer. As a child, her elders who served the spiritually and socially poor inspired her to do the same.

As an ordained minister, she founded Holistic Hands Community Development Corp., Teaching Teachers’ Bible Institute, Sweet Love of Jesus Ministries and Kingdom Embassy (formerly Harambee United Church of Christ), where she served for 15 years as senior pastor. Traveling throughout the United States and internationally, she has given her life to building leaders, instructing and motivating people in their gifts and calling.

“Women are being honored for their life experiences, their survival skills, their ability to impart knowledge, and to lead with wisdom,” Alton said. “This is significant to me because I get to share honoring women who are a true life source in their homes and the community.”

Orchestrate
Dr. Siéta Achampong, principal of SciTech for 15 years, always knew she wanted to serve youth either as a teacher or a principal. The many awards SciTech has earned, plus her personal awards for her leadership and community involvement, are a testament to her dedication to developing young people.

“It’s important to set aside a day to recognize women,” Achampong said. “Over the years, we haven’t always been equal to our male counterparts. Students need to see women being successful in running a household, serving in leadership positions.”

Motivate
For all those who personally knew the late Vera Cornish, her recent passing at age 64 came as a shock.

With a prolific and impressive resume of board and committee appointments, speaking engagements, fundraising endeavors, strategic consulting, career fairs, published works, special events, and influential awards, Cornish served the community as a speaker, facilitator and strategist.

Filling a social niche critical to Harrisburg’s demographic makeup, Cornish published the multi-cultural lifestyle publication, The Urban Connection of the Capital Region, produced and founded the Women of Heritage Breakfast, the Access & Opportunity Breakfast Series, and the Access & Opportunity Career Fair. She also served in ministry for almost two decades. She left behind her a large set of shoes to fill.

On a personal note, I attended one of Cornish’s workshops almost 20 years ago. She convinced me to stop focusing on improving my weaknesses, outsource them instead, and imagine how much further my energy could travel by focusing on building my strengths. That game-changing piece of advice is the reason I wisely no longer cook (my family is grateful, too).

Encourage
As a young person, Pat Gadsden volunteered in her school and as a candy striper for the Red Cross. Those were just seedlings of what would grow into forming the professional training/consulting firm, Life Esteem.

Through her business, Gadsden leads workshops and seminars, administering to businesses, state agencies, colleges, schools and human service organizations. Along with her husband and pastor of Imani African Christian Church, Nathaniel Gadsden, she ministers to the community through the church and through various print and electronic media.

Noteworthy
Angel Fox serves as chief of staff to state Rep. Patty Kim. She is also CEO of both Fox’s Wash & Go Laundromat and Tears for Tarina, a nonprofit organization for domestic violence assistance and awareness. In 2011, she lost her best friend and teammate to domestic violence.

“I knew, when she passed, that I had to keep her legacy alive and bring awareness to our community,” Fox said. “I know God has a calling for my life, and he is using me.”

Fox cited her toughest job currently as raising her two boys as a single mother and acknowledged that her community involvement can take time away from them.

“For my boys to see me get this award is well worth it,” she said. “And for my mother and my sister being a part of this, knowing they were my positive role models, it’s an honor.”

Along with celebrating Women’s Day during Bethel AME Church Harrisburg’s regular services, the church provides its congregation with opportunities to expand their knowledge by offering parenting classes and a prayer breakfast specifically geared toward women.

“We’re looking to make a difference in areas we know there is still a need for improvement,” Blackwell said.

Bethel AME Church Harrisburg’s pastor, Rev. W. Ouemonde Brangman, recognized the Women’s Day event as a “way to inspire women to reach their highest potential, trust God through difficulties, and acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices countless women have made.”

“I don’t give back to the community for awards or a paycheck,” Fox said. “So, getting this award is for the community to let others know they can do it, as well.”

The Women’s Day celebration takes place on Sunday, April 26, at Bethel AME Church, 1721 N. 5th St., Harrisburg, at 10 a.m. For more information, visit their Facebook page “Bethel AME Church, Harrisburg, PA.”

Research on a Roll: HU, Bodhana Group team up to explore tabletop games as therapy.

March 31, 2020 | by Susan Ryder

If you’re a tween, spending time with imaginary characters from Dungeons & Dragons, My Little Pony and Scooby-Doo may sound like a fun way to spend an evening. But it also can be therapy.

That’s the message of the Bodhana Group, a York-based nonprofit that has been using tabletop role playing games (RPG) as therapy for more than a decade.

“I’m finding it works,” said Jack Berkenstock, Jr., founder and executive director. “I have seen firsthand kids who have gone from wallflower to debonair in six months. I’ve seen kids develop confidence to go on job interviews, start their own social engagement with other people, using the game language as a kind of passport to other friends.”

Berkenstock, a master level therapist, described tabletop RPGs as “playing pretend with rules.”

Not to be confused with computer RPGs, tabletop RPGs run solely on the imagination of the players. Each player takes on a role with certain characteristic and powers under the tutelage of the “game master.” The game master sets the stage—hunting the pillaging dragon, for instance—and the players begin describing the step-by-step means to do that.

And now the Bodhana Group is partnering with Harrisburg University to explore the safety, effectiveness and value of RPG therapy. Recently, HU Prof. Adams Greenwood-Ericksen received a $20,000 Presidential Research Grant to pursue research on RPG games in therapeutic settings.

Greenwood-Ericksen, the director of HU’s User Experience Center, said his research has two goals.

First, he wanted to support the Bodhana Group as they’re a local group “doing great stuff” in an interesting area. Also, he saw a unique and creative way to add to an important field of knowledge.

“This is an opportunity to find out stuff about an area that’s underrepresented and understudied, and that’s really important, and where we have a potential to make a real impact,” he said.

This type of therapy took root in the United States in the 1970s, but it never gained much traction locally, Berkenstock said. The Bodhana Group is one of only three organizations on the East Coast using RPG therapy, he said.

“It would be nice to be able to say to people, ‘We know it’s working, and this is his how it works, or why it works,’” Berkenstock said.

This research would be especially beneficial when using games to treat clients because people sometimes don’t believe that this is more than just a good time.

“Because of the topic area, because it relates to games…there’s a certain level of ‘side-eye’ that you get,” said Greenwood-Erickson.

But fun is what keeps young people interested.

“It isn’t good enough to be a good therapist. It also takes a person who’s skilled at running a good game,” Berkenstock said. “There’s a lot of intentionality between characters.”

A great deal of planning goes into each session. For example, if a client has trouble with anxiety, the game master will lead the game in a direction where the person can address that anxiety, always maintaining the ability to pull back if it becomes too much. At any time, a client can tap the “X” card, which means that a break is needed.

The therapy also fosters collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. If a group member falls into a pit—hypothetically, of course—others will work on a solution to get them out or maybe even join them. Players sometimes use dice to decide if an endeavor fails or succeeds, moving on from there, developing resilience.

HU wanted to participate in the study because, just like RPG itself, the university is all about problem-solving and experiential learning.

“We’re interested in giving students the opportunity to do real-world work and real projects when they are undergrads or graduate students,” said Greenwood-Ericksen. “So, when they go off into the world, they have real experience on their resumes.”

He said that he can’t say what the research will find and then quoted Albert Einstein, “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be research.”

What’s known is that this research has the potential to benefit HU students and area youth, as mental health challenges often surface in the college or younger years, said Greenwood-Ericksen.

Harrisburg University has collaborated with the Bodhana Group in the past, offering training and sponsorship at its annual, three-day convention, Save Against Fear, which promotes therapeutic gaming and teaches therapists how to incorporate RPGs into their practices.

“The opportunity to get a study started, to study the efficacy of this and how useful it could be, is a dream come true,” Berkenstock said “It’s something not only that we can talk about with other professionals, but it’s also something that the field needs.”

To learn more about therapeutic gaming and the Bodhana Group, visit www.thebodhanagroup.org. To learn more about Harrisburg University, visit www.harrisburgu.edu.

Dawson’s Peak: Local architect sets his vision on Harrisburg.

March 31, 2020 | by Diane White McNaughton

There’s a reason that Chris Dawson gets up at 4 a.m. every day.

Call it “passion.” Call it “curiosity.” Call it the attainment of “critical mass” in a historic city he has not only embraced but started to reshape.

Dawson is the reason that many buildings in the Burg, from apartments to eateries to offices, now feature just the right blend of lighting, space, materials and effective solutions to the challenges of modern living.

He is the founder of CDA, headquartered in the heart of downtown Harrisburg. Founded 11 years ago, his firm now has a staff of nine, with four certified architects who share his focus on creative problem solving.

Dawson, tall and graceful, sits in his office high above 2nd Street as classical music plays softly, pendant lighting hovers over large desks and a royal blue accent wall injects color into the room. He has a contemplative way of speaking about his craft.

”For every project, we look at it as a unique condition that we are trying to develop a solution for,” he said.

Artistic Side
Dawson’s guiding philosophy shapes every design: architecture is art. That belief was solidified when a former employer had a difference of creative vision and argued, “Look, Chris, this is not an art.”

He disagreed, so much so that his own firm’s motto became, “Art is architecture.”

Dawson credits early childhood experiences for his choice of profession—from his Lego obsession to bike trips around the neighborhood to study interesting buildings. Ultimately, he attended Syracuse University for architecture, with additional training at Harvard and Cornell.

He graduated college in 1993 and found himself thrown into a slow job market. He bartended briefly before a Lancaster architectural firm picked him up. He went on to work for a firm in York before opting to open an office in Harrisburg. He and his wife Tracie hope to move downtown someday, after their two children finish school.

“Harrisburg has a lot of potential,” he said. “The Capitol complex is stunningly beautiful.”

Few places take you from a bustling urban center to the heart of rural America so rapidly, he noted. He also saw the “need for more contemporary design” in the capital city.

“There’s a hunger for it,” he said.

When he talks, the names of his favorite architects and buildings fall like rain: Philadelphia legend Louis Kahn, Italy’s Carlo Scarpa (“as good as it gets”).

Dawson’s work includes a list of notable local projects from the last few years: the Hershey Library, Elementary Coffee Co., the West Shore Theatre, the King Mansion, WebFX and Milton Hershey School. He hosted an exhibit in the Susquehanna Art Museum titled, “Towards a New/Old Architecture,” which spotlighted the challenge of meshing contemporary touches with aging buildings.

As a testament to his art, CDA was the first firm in Harrisburg to be awarded a Pennsylvania Design Excellence Award from the American Institute of Architects.

“It’s more than engineering,” he said. “It’s the artistic side.”

Thoughtful
So, is there a trademark Dawson style?

He hopes not.

While he may have a contemporary flair, he emphasizes that the end product should be the client’s vision—a “collaboration” that “stands the test of time.”

“Budgets are a big driver in Pennsylvania,” he acknowledged. “A simpler, more streamlined aesthetic helps the budget as a whole.”

Going forward, Dawson has lined up a series of significant projects, among them Harrisburg’s MLK City Government Center. That project includes the renovation of City Council chambers, restrooms and elevators to make them more inviting and more accessible, with the first phase slated for completion by the end of 2020.

City officials lamented the lack of a true King presence there, other than his name and a small bust. So, plans include installation of a large image of King in the atrium, with an enlarged quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

CDA also is collaborating with Harristown Development Corp. on a proposed 10-story tower for the 300-block of Market Street, on the site of the former Rite Aid store. That building, still in the planning phase, will feature street-level retail, midlevel office and upper-level residential.

Dawson has already worked extensively with Harristown, including for the 2016 conversion of office space above El Sol on S. 3rd Street into residential units—Fifteen at 22, aka F@TT.

“We use Chris a lot,” Harristown CEO Brad Jones said. “Chris is very good with architectural imagery and schematic designs. He’s a very creative guy and a thoughtful problem-solver.”

Dawson also has completed projects in places like Ohio, Oklahoma and Europe. His staff includes Sara Sweeney, Jim White, Molly Mank and Allison Krichman.

Dawson, who just turned 50, notes that young people today expect good design, like they have in their high-tech iPhones.

“Good design should be built into their environment,” he said. “It’s not just what you put in your pocket.”

He laments buildings that are not “thoughtful.” Buildings that are slapped together “have no soul in them,” he said. So, he pours his soul into every space he envisions.

“Creating a beautiful space to live, work, eat and drink coffee has a tangible effect on people,” he said.

Chris Dawson Architect (CDA) is located at 300 N. 2nd St., Suite 701, Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-805-5090 or visit www.chrisdawsonarchitect.com.

Unwelcome In Our Woods: Invasive species upset the balance of nature, from Pennsylvania’s forests to home gardens.

March 31, 2020 | by Karen Hendricks

“Public enemy number one” is how Shannon Powers refers to the spotted lanternfly.

Powers, press secretary for Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture, said the invading insect is an $18 billion threat to the state’s economy—specifically products and jobs related to the grape, apple, hops and hardwood industries.

And April is when the spotted lanternfly hatches.

“The biggest thing to remember is invasive species don’t belong here, and they cause problems for the things that do belong here,” said Powers.

She encourages residents to be vigilant. And Powers doesn’t mince words—when spotted, spotted lanternflies should be squashed.

When they first emerge from their gray, mud-like egg masses in the spring, the pests are black with white spots. Through spring and summer, they develop red patches and wings.

The insect, native to Asia, found its way into Pennsylvania in 2014 and has prompted a quarantine across more than two dozen counties, including Dauphin.

This winged invader lives on a plant—with an unlikely name—that is also an invasive species.

“Tree of heaven, host plant for the spotted lanternfly, grows along highways and has big clusters of seeds that are aerodynamically shaped to travel with wind—so you see how easily it can be dispersed,” said Mary Ann Furedi, an ecologist based in Harrisburg. “It has the potential for an economic nightmare for our state.”

Ripple Effect

Furedi monitors invasive plants for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in partnership with four state agencies, including the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

“An invasive species is basically a non-native species that can cause great harm to the environment, the economy or human health,” Furedi said, quoting the federal definition set in 1999.

Two invasive insects that have already scarred state forests are the hemlock wooly adelgid and the emerald ash borer.

“When you’re driving throughout the state seeing lots of standing dead [ash] trees, that’s the wave of the emerald ash borer,” Furedi said.

Meantime, the fact that the eastern hemlock is our state tree means nothing to the hemlock wooly adelgid. And damage to the state’s most common evergreen has a ripple effect on waterways. That’s because hemlocks literally throw shade—keeping river and stream temperatures cool.

Numerous invasive plants have put down roots along the banks of the Susquehanna.

“Purple loosestrife is showy, with bright magenta rods of flowers, but it’s taken over the riparian zone,” Furedi said. “And Japanese knotweed has formed monoclonal stands, where you’d naturally have different herbs, goldenrod, grasses and seasonal plants.”

In Harrisburg, the city manages Japanese knotweed as best as it can by mowing along the riverbanks to stunt growth, Furedi said. Trimming keeps it from flowering and spreading further.

Why are riverbanks so valuable?

“It’s the interface between the river and the upland area—you have a lot of exchanges going on,” Furedi said. “Riverbanks also help spread out the energy of floodwaters, and there’s a lot of nutrient release. Our beautiful Pennsylvania farmland is associated with our large river system because of those deposits.”

Safe Bet

Closer to home, many home gardeners don’t realize they may be harboring—even planting—invasive species. Furedi said Japanese barberry and butterfly bush are two prime examples.

In fact, Japanese barberry, a compact shrub with small red-tinged leaves, can introduce a whole host of additional issues into your yard. Its red berries attract mice, and the mice, in turn, serve as hosts in the life cycle of ticks.

“Tick-borne diseases are on the rise, and the invasive Japanese barberry is one of the many species associated with it,” Furedi said. “If you want to reduce the potential for tick exposure in your backyard, get rid of barberry.”

Some invasive plants are, incredibly, still readily available at garden centers, but experts like Furedi and officials like Powers encourage consumers to educate themselves on native species before exercising their green thumbs. Many garden centers now cultivate and promote native plant collections, which are always a safe bet for your home garden.

Keeping tabs on all the state’s invasive species, whether they’re plants, animals or insects, is the Governor’s Invasive Species Council of Pennsylvania, which meets quarterly.

Weeding out the state’s unwelcome pests and plants is, quite simply, dirty work.

“We still have the hope that, although there are invasive species, there’s also hope that we can educate people about the damage invasive species can do, so they can be more active about controlling them,” Furedi said. “It’s not an easy task.”

For more information on the spotted lanternfly, see agriculture.pa.gov; sightings can be reported at 1-888-4BADFLY. To learn more about the spotted lanternfly’s host plant, tree of heaven, see extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s website is waterlandlife.org, which includes a section on invasive and unwelcome species.

Earth Day Birthday: On this golden anniversary, there are many ways to celebrate, contribute locally.

March 31, 2020 | by Rebecca Johnson

Earth Day began on April 22, 1970, when 20 million Americans filled streets and public places in a unified protest of environmental ignorance and inaction. The day is widely recognized as the birth of the environmental movement.

Fifty years later, the tradition endures, with a more salient need for environmental protection than ever before. On the anniversary this month, millions will gather and act on behalf of our planet and natural resources for Earth Day 50. The Earth Day Network proclaimed “Climate Action” as this year’s theme, the most pressing challenge to the future of humanity and the systems that support life.

To bring this home, Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation (PPFF) released a new website that provides a calendar of activities, events and volunteer opportunities across the state for the month of April. There will be Earth Day celebrations at Black Moshannon State Park and Prince Gallitzin State Park, cleanups at Harrisburg’s Riverfront Park and Nockamixon State Park and a tree planting at Colonel Denning State Park and Pine Grove Furnace State Park, to name a few.*

PPFF has dubbed 2020 “The Year of the Tree,” a call for stewardship and investment in the natural infrastructure of our shared green spaces, areas that bring in over 40 million visitors and $1 billion in tourism revenue annually. The organization’s area of focus encompasses PA’s 121 state parks and 2.2 million acres of forested land across 20 forest districts.

“We recognize 2020 as ‘The Year of the Tree’ because trees are the panacea for much of what ails us,” says Marci Mowery, president of PPFF.

Trees remove carbon from the air, provide oxygen for us to breathe, reduce flooding and control runoff and soil erosion, while also cleaning water. Trees provide shade and block wind, which reduces energy costs and mitigates heat from paved surfaces.

“One of the simplest things that we can all do to reverse the impact of climate change is to preserve the trees that we have and plant additional trees,” Mowery said.

PA’s forests have undergone massive change since the mid-19th century—from clearcutting in the late 1800s to tree planting by the Civilian Conservation Corps following World War I to the more recent and gradual regrowth of the canopy. But storm damage, drought, human traffic and expansion and climate change are challenging old growth forests and their regrowth.

PPFF is working to improve this by planting trees that can withstand invasive insects, increasing temperatures and other climate-related hardships. Alongside its 41 state park and forest chapters, called “Friend Groups,” PPFF is recruiting a volunteer “tree army” to help plant tree seedlings.

Gratifying

PPFF is a Camp Hill-based, statewide nonprofit advocating for support and stewardship of the state’s parks and forestland through educational opportunities, recreation and volunteerism. Its Friend Groups are built on volunteers lending their time and support to bring people closer to PA’s natural places through environmental stewardship and engagement.

Mary Soderberg is a longtime volunteer with PPFF and a member of the board of the PPFF chapter, Friends of Pine Grove Furnace. She and her husband have a cabin in the park. This Friend Group hosts a volunteer event every year to observe Earth Day, which, in the most recent years, has been tree planting.

“We want there to be pine trees in Pine Grove Furnace State Park for future generations to enjoy,” she said. “I always find it very gratifying when families come help out on Earth Day. Hopefully, those experiences help to guide those young people in their future decisions.”

Soderberg still remembers the spring of 1970, when, at the University of Wisconsin, she witnessed thousands of fellow students turn out for activism on the first Earth Day in downtown Madison. Earth Day still means a lot for her.

“[Earth Day] reminds me of how thrilling it was to see a hawk in 1970,” she said. “It was so exciting we would pull the car over so we could watch the hawk.”

She went on to explain how her Peace Corps experience solidified how important and impactful environmental activism is. At that time, she witnessed DDT being used by local farmers with no protection. DDT, an insecticide, was banned in the United States in 1972, an environmental action stemming from the first Earth Day two years earlier.

If inspiration strikes, there are plenty of ways to get involved on Earth Day 50 beyond strikes and rallies—and all of them are good for personal health.

“On a human level, trees reduce stress, which causes illnesses, while also speeding up healing time,” Mowery said.

If you want to get outside, volunteer for a cleanup, attend an environmental reading, plant trees or contribute to citizen science research. Or learn more about climate change and personal actions to mitigate your carbon footprint.

Earth Day is April 22. To learn more about events for Earth Day 50, visit www.earthday50pa.org.

*Earth Day events may be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Please check with organizations for their latest schedules.

Stories on environmental topics are proudly sponsored by LCSWMA.

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