Chugging Along: The Station has been on the right track for 60 years.

January 31, 2018 | by Alexis Campbell

Burg in Focus: The Station from GK Visual on Vimeo.

I brought my 5-year-old daughter with me when I visited The Station in New Cumberland.

I don’t usually take her to work with me, but a model train store seemed like a place a child would enjoy. I was right.

And, besides, The Station itself is a family affair.

At the door, we were greeted by Julie Payne, daughter of The Station’s late owner, Richard “Dick” Wildman. Julie’s mother, Doris—or, Dee Dee, as everyone calls her—has been running the business with the help of friends and family since his passing a year ago.

Julie and Dee Dee were warm and open, and the store (an old reconstructed train station—more on that later) was bustling with family and customers. Julie’s nieces, Michelle and Nicole Huffer, help out at the store, as well, and Julie’s sister, Tracy Huffer, does all of the accounting and paperwork.

They offered us drinks and snacks, even allowed my daughter to sit and color at the counter with Dee Dee when she got antsy and let her try a new Hershey’s candy that isn’t on the market yet (she still talks about it).

It’s worth noting that I didn’t get special treatment because I was writing a story on the Station. Everyone is treated warmly when they walk through the door, and it’s that welcoming atmosphere that has kept The Station in business for 60 years.

“We know all of our customers really well,” Julie said. “They’re like family.”

The Station exclusively sells hobby trains and accessories, which seems pretty niche, but people that are into hobby trains are into them, and many of them have been coming to The Station for decades.

“There are people who come in here who came here when they were kids, and now they bring their kids here or even their grandkids,” said Julie.

The store itself has a fascinating origin story.

August “Gus” Wildman IV, Julie’s grandfather, was a model railroad enthusiast and began operating a hobby shop out of his home in 1945. By 1955, his business, called Model Hobbies, carried a complete line of structures and accessories, and even manufactured kits for buildings and other structures that hobbyists could rebuild on their own.

In 1957, Gus saw an ad for an original Reading Railroad station in Robesonia, Pa., that was going to be demolished. So, he bought it for a few dollars and, with the help of family and friends, disassembled it on the weekends, brought it to New Cumberland piece by piece, reassembled it in a lot next to his home, and moved his business there. In 1970, Dick came home to help his father run the business and, when Gus passed away in 1978, Dick and Dee Dee took it over.

The building, which is now more than 160 years old, is a labyrinth of sorts, with rooms upon rooms of all sorts of supplies, almost like a time capsule. Even though the shop doesn’t manufacture its own kits anymore, parts and instructions for them are stocked in the back, just in case they’re needed.

Julie and Tracy have worked at The Station in some capacity since they were kids, and after just a few minutes of conversation, it was clear how much the place means to them.

“[I used to work] as a child packing ballast, building paper and barrels for the wholesale business,” Julie said. “I remember hearing my dad hum or sing in the back as I was stocking shelves.”

The Station is truly a special place, and worth a visit even if you aren’t into model trains. It’s cozy and unique, and a welcome change from the big box stores that we tend to visit by default.

The Station is located at 213 9th St., New Cumberland. For more information, call 717-774-7096 and visit their Facebook page.

How to Heal: At Samara, mothers, fathers learn to become parents.

January 31, 2018 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

For Basil Talib, coming to Samara was like meeting “relatives I never knew I had.”

“When you get there, it’s like a holiday,” said Talib, of Harrisburg, who started attending Samara’s intensive parenting sessions in Harrisburg six years ago. “Everyone is so cheerful. They don’t judge you. They’ve been like a family.”

Samara: The Center for Individual and Family Growth is a nonprofit agency in Harrisburg founded in 2008 by Executive Director Pamela Haddad, a former child protective services worker in Lehigh County.

Clients are referred to Samara through the Dauphin County child welfare system, court and probation systems, other non-profit agencies and the community. A separate therapeutic visitation program assists families of children placed outside of the home through the Dauphin County welfare system.

“Our families have experienced a tremendous amount of trauma,” explained Haddad. “We work with parents who have come through foster families or intact families with trauma. Our goal with parents is to form safe, respectful relationships.”

In other words, Samara is a therapeutic base for parents who are having difficulty parenting, as well as their children. Often, it’s a carry-over situation caused by a lack of nurturing in the parents’ own childhoods.

Cathy Bacon was referred to Samara’s therapeutic visitation program in 2015 after her youngest child, then 3, was placed in foster care. She and her son met up in Samara’s homelike setting, where she utilized skills learned in Samara’s intensive parenting program. Bacon said her mother gave her “a work history and love” while she was growing up, but her father wasn’t around.

“Samara helped keep you calm and taught you parenting skills,” Bacon noted.

Bacon’s young son was returned to her home 18 months later, but she continues attending the center’s parenting groups today.

“I like Samara,” she said. “It’s comfortable and friendly.”

Harder Time

Haddad’s extensive field experience includes a stint as a parent educator/project coordinator for Cobys Family Services in Lancaster County from 1996 to 2001. During this time, she conducted a parenting course for community parents, foster parents and court-mandated parents referred by Lancaster County Children and Youth.

“When I was doing child investigations, I never met parents who didn’t love their children, but they didn’t know how to heal their families,” Haddad observed. “In 1996, when I was working in Lancaster County, I wrote a curriculum to help parents walk through their childhood.”

At that time, Haddad developed what would become a pilot program for Samara in collaboration with her mother, Jean Heigel. Heigel, her daughter’s mentor, worked for many years with foster children and at-risk families in Lancaster County, all while researching and writing volumes of curricula and teaching materials in the field.

“I found that lots of kids from foster homes were physically or sexually abused or bounced around 20 times to different homes,” Haddad noted. “If the kids don’t behave, some parents will return them. People who go through the system like that have a much harder time parenting their own children.”

Samara’s intensive parenting sessions includes a nurturing activity in which participants take turns giving each other compliments.

“Some people cry because they never heard nice things said about them before,” Haddad recounted.

Safe Haven

Talib lost his mother when he was 5, leaving him with a “dictator” father “who was never a role model,” he recalled.

He felt even more alone after his sister died early in life of natural causes.

“I grew up rough in Brooklyn,” he said. “I came fresh off the streets into a negative environment.”

He won’t say when or how much time he spent in prison because he doesn’t want to “try to think negative and put dates on it.”

Instead, he focuses on how being in prison renewed his appreciation of life. Becoming a father also caused Talib to reevaluate his priorities.

“When I had my kids, I started to man up,” he said. “I started to understand more about God.”

Today, Talib is a single father of two boys, ages 6 and 7, “doing it by myself.” He’s attended almost every parent session at Samara for the past six years, bringing his boys along for children’s sessions. He’s also a published poet, a literary advocate and a self-described activist, receiving the MLK Drum Major Award, a service award, from President Barack Obama in 2016.

“Samara has been like a safe haven for me,” Talib reflected. “It’s a positive attitude. Not only do I learn there, I teach. I give back because I know what it’s like not to have a mother and father. You can’t spell community without unity.”

Olivia Moore also started attending Samara’s intensive parent classes six years ago after voluntarily reaching out to Dauphin County Children and Youth for help with her son’s truancy issues. Although Samara no longer offered the truancy classes recommended by the county agency, Moore discovered much more there.

“I said, ‘Wow, is there anything else there?’” she said. “I went to the intensive parenting classes and never stopped going. You learn something new every time there.”

In fact, Moore learned so much at Samara that she later pursued leadership training and became a class instructor. Her son, now 19, enrolled in the Job Corps and became a certified auto mechanic.

“Once I took the (Samara) classes, I rebuilt my relationship with my son,” Moore said. “I think it’s about nurturing. Samara is very nurturing. They believe in people. I didn’t have that when I was growing up. My son would have ended up in the judicial system without Samara.”

To learn more about Samara, visit www.samarafamily.org.

Cry Fowl: It’s duck season in Harrisburg.

January 31, 2018 | by Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

In the early years of my marriage, which corresponded to the beginning of my life as a cook, I was drawn to French cooking. It seemed glamorous, I suppose, and very different from the humble Italian food on which I was raised.

Back in the early 1970s, French restaurants were very popular and considered the best places to find “gourmet food” or “haute cuisine.” With Julia Child, the famous French chef, as my guide, I tried my hand at many French favorites including:

Coquilles St. Jacques (tiny bay scallops bathed in a rich cream sauce)
Sole Meniere (crispy white fish filets cooked with lemon and butter)
Onion Soup (served in special crocks and smothered on top with melted Gruyere cheese)
Soufflés (puffy savory or sweet concoctions made with whole eggs and beaten egg whites—I tried lemon and cheese.)
Cassoulet (hearty casserole of sausages, beans and often duck)
Ratatouille (a tasty vegetable stew, not the movie!)
Coq a Vin (a slow cooked stew of chicken on the bone with white or red wine, mushrooms and bacon)
Quiche Lorraine (egg and bacon pie)
Boeuf Bourguignon (beef and red wine stew with carrots and potatoes)
Steak au Poivre (strip steak with crushed peppercorns, brandy and cream)

My husband loved snails (or escargot—and still does), but I refrained from trying those at home.

My favorite French food usually involved duck, especially “Duckling a l’Orange,” one of the best-loved dishes of French cuisine. It is duck roasted with butter, oranges and Grand Marnier, the wonderful cognac and orange liqueur.

I have been finding fresh duckling with increasing frequency at my local farmers’ market, both whole birds and breasts. And some of our favorite Harrisburg restaurants are currently offering several delectable duck entrees:

Mangia Qui: grilled Moulard duck breast with tawny port cherry sauce and saffron
Note Bistro and Wine Bar: pan-seared duck breast with spice butternut squash puree and pecan barley
Home 231: pan-seared duck breast with root vegetables and pickled apple

So, I decided it was time to re-visit “duck cooking” in my own kitchen. I searched through my stash of cookbooks and found one of my favorite old recipes: “Roast Duck with Sour Cherries,” a perfect choice to brighten a cold February night. It is from a 1968 version of The New York Times Cookbook and is worth a try (maybe to celebrate Valentine’s Day?). Cooking duck is no harder than roasting a chicken, but you just might find a new love.

Roast Duck with Sour Cherries

Ingredients

1 duck (5-6 pounds)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of thyme (dried)
2 small onions, sliced
I medium carrot, sliced
1 can pitted sour cherries (not drained)
½ cup port wine (ruby port is best)
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Season the inside of the duck with salt, pepper and half the onion slices. Remove the giblets if still in the bird.
Prick skin with a small knife or fork (this will allow some of the fat to drain from the bird).
Place the duck, breast-side up, in a heavy roasting pan and place the remaining sliced onion and carrot around it.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes at this higher heat to brown the duck. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees.
Roast for 1 to 1½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast registers 140 degrees (timing will depend on the size on the duck). Remove duck to a warm platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. You can use a spoon or pour all the pan juices into a fat-separator measuring cup. The sauce can be made right in the roasting pan or in a little saucepan.
Drain the juice from the canned cherries. Add it, along with the port wine, to the pan juices and bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the cornstarch, dissolved into a little cold water, and heat until thickened. Finally, add the cherries to the sauce and heat through.

Slice the duck just as you would a roast chicken and serve with the sauce. Duck is so good paired with wild or brown rice and a bright green vegetable like broccoli or broccoli rabe. And while you might be used to drinking white wine with “fowl,” you will find that, because duck is fatty, red wine such as pinot noir, merlot or Barolo are a much better match.

I remain a devotee of Italian cooking. But, every once in a while, I love to wander into the wonderful world of French cooking. Besides, Italians cook duck too!

On Thin Ice: “I Tonya” unveils tough lives in a beautiful sport.

January 31, 2018 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

Every artist—every painter, every filmmaker, every author or playwright, every actor, every sculptor or designer—will tell you the same thing: art uncovers truth.

What good is a piece of art if it doesn’t tell you something about the artist’s world, their perspective, their ideals? What good is art if it doesn’t express something that someone can grab hold of and keep as truth in their hearts?

But “I, Tonya” is a little different. The film takes several perspectives and mashes them together to uncover not the truth, but the characters’ hopes for the truth. The film follows the story of Tonya Harding, a competitive figure skater in the early 1990s whose career ended abruptly after the 1994 Olympics.

Tonya (Margot Robbie) is a redneck, rough-and-tumble kind of girl. She has stood out like a sore thumb since she was 4 years old, when her mother (Allison Janney) strong-armed her into a skating class meant for pre-teens. Dropping out of high school to compete, her life became a breeding ground for abuse, unfair judgment in competitions (she doesn’t have that wholesome look that the judges want) and desperation to be seen for the talent she possesses.

And finally, she is seen. But, unfortunately, her pinnacle moment is an incriminating connection to an attack on Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya’s skating rival. When a man breaks Kerrigan’s kneecap right before the Olympic competition, all evidence points to Tonya, her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt (Paul Walter Hauser).

The pieces of this story become clear as the film fans out, searching for details. But, honestly, it’s less a search than a piecemeal storytelling session, cutting back and forth between interviews with Tonya and crew and dramatized retellings in a more common cinematic structure. Each character tells a version of the story in which they come across as innocent—or at least better than the next guy—painting an intricately biased, contradicting picture of the order of events.

The significance of this event in figure skating history makes “I, Tonya” interesting enough. But, for anyone who spent their childhood trying to mimic the moves of the Olympic skaters on their living room floor, there are some visual perks to watching the film. In each event on the ice, the cinematography veers from the typical wide-shot, sweeping motions that encapsulate the entire performance, instead focusing on more up-close and personal shots of Tonya while skating. These action shots are much more intense than the footage you would actually see from the Olympics, reflecting Tonya’s spirited personality.

Robbie pierces through the screen with her performance, engaging you with Tonya’s tough exterior shell and flippant attitude, but slowly winning you over with her desperation. Janney’s performance is also heartbreakingly on point, as the turbulent relationship between mother and daughter only rises in tension over the span of the film.

The film does an excellent job of revitalizing the gray areas that this event left for the mouths of the feeding public. While they are still very much left gray, they will certainly force you to pause and think. “I, Tonya” is a film to bump to the top of your watching list this Oscars season. It plays soon at Midtown Cinema.

Midtown Cinema

February Special Events

Double Feature: “Groundhog Day” (1993)
Friday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Oscar Winners Series

“Glory” (1989)
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2:30 p.m.

“Precious” (2009)
Sunday, Feb. 11, 2:30 p.m.

“Monster’s Ball” (2001)
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2:30 p.m.

“Lilies of the Field” (1963)
Sunday, Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m.

Down in Front!

“The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies” (1963)
Friday, Feb. 9, 9:30 p.m.

3^rd in the Burg $3 Movie

“Get Out” (2016)
Friday, Feb. 16, 9:30 p.m.

January News Digest

January 31, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

Comprehensive Plan Draft Criticized, Defended

Harrisburg’s draft comprehensive plan faced a cool reception from business leaders and city administrators last month, as the city Planning Commission hosted its first hearing on the document following a months-long dispute between the city and the plan’s author.

During a hearing in City Council chambers, members of the business community said the plan stepped on the toes of property owners and private developers. They feared that the proposals for land use would restrict investment in the city.

Private citizens and representatives from neighborhood associations were more supportive. Those who spoke out commended the plan’s goals to connect parks and neighborhoods and to redesign roadways for pedestrians and cyclists.

The plan, developed by the Harrisburg-based Office of Planning and Architecture, aims to guide development and urban planning in the city for the next 20 years. The project was delayed more than a year after OPA’s principal, Bret Peters, feuded with the city about compensation, deadlines and proposals in the plan.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse wants the Planning Commission to discard the consultant’s draft entirely and adopt a new draft written by the city’s Planning Bureau. He said their in-house plan includes many of the best ideas from Peters’ draft, but is less specific and ideological.

“[Peters’] plan is a recipe for disaster,” Papenfuse said. “It’s unworkable and unsalvageable.”

Other business professionals offered more specific criticisms.

Attorney Charles Courtney spoke on behalf of his client, Adam Meinstein, who owns the former U.S. Postal Service building at 813 Market St. The draft comprehensive plan recommends dividing that property between commercial, residential and business uses. Courtney said that the specificity of the plan limited his client’s discretion for how to develop the property.

“We need to have a broader view,” Courtney said. “If and when that property is developed, all the stakeholders will want to work together and not have it hamstrung by language in the comprehensive plan.”

Kevin Kulp, president of the Harrisburg Senators, said that the plan would be catastrophic for businesses on City Island. It calls for the elimination of all surface parking on City Island and for parking to be relocated to a garage on the island and overflow lots in downtown Harrisburg.

“We don’t have enough parking as it is, and we need every bit of it,” Kulp said.

Geoffrey Knight, director of the city’s Planning Bureau, said that the plan Harrisburg adopts needs to guide development, not direct it. If an owner did not want to develop a property according to a mandate in the comprehensive plan, Knight said, the owner would have to seek a waiver from the Planning Commission, which is the first body to consider land use proposals.

Some residents came out in support. Joyce Gamble, leader of Camp Curtin Community Neighbors United, said her organization supported the plan and hoped to work with the city to shepherd it to approval. Zach Monnier, a North Street resident, said he appreciated proposals that would make renters stakeholders in their neighborhoods.

Peters later rejected the charge that he did not prioritize private business interests in his draft. Raising the aggregate real estate values in Harrisburg is central to the plan, he said, and will benefit property owners as well as residents. He also said that Harrisburg needed the kind of specific planning that made many attendees at the meeting balk.

“Laissez faire real estate and planning have been practiced in this city for 50 years, and it hasn’t worked,” Peters said.

Planning Commission members will consider the input from the meeting when they convene on Feb. 5.

Mayor’s Aide Loses Job

A senior mayoral aide who was found liable in civil court for threatening an Allison Hill resident is no longer employed with the city.

Communications Director Joyce Davis confirmed last month that Karl Singleton, former senior advisor to Mayor Eric Papenfuse, has not been employed with the city since Papenfuse learned about the court ruling. Davis could not say whether Singleton had resigned or been fired.

In December, Singleton appeared before Magisterial District Justice David O’Leary for a hearing on a civil suit filed last July by Allison Hill resident Timothy Rowbottom. Rowbottom said in court that Singleton threatened his life during a heated argument on May 9, a week before the primary municipal elections, following a debate between mayoral primary candidates at the Hilton Harrisburg.

“I’m from Hall Manor, you should be scared of me,” Singleton allegedly told Rowbottom, referring to Harrisburg’s largest public housing complex, according to the court ruling. “I know where you live; I can have you taken out.”

Rowbottom, who campaigned for Papenfuse challenger Jennie Jenkins during the mayoral primary, allegedly made racist remarks to Singleton prior to the argument. He admitted to calling Singleton “a sorry excuse for a black man” and that he (Rowbottom) “is blacker than [Singleton] ever will be,” stated the court ruling.

O’Leary found Singleton liable for making malicious threats. The judge also said that Singleton’s political position compounded his liability.

Since Rowbottom admitted in court that he was unapologetic for his racially inflammatory remarks and claimed he was unafraid of Singleton, O’Leary only awarded the plaintiff nominal damages.

Davis said she was unaware of any plans to replace Singleton, whose position was incidentally reduced to part-time in January. Papenfuse said during budget hearings in December that the recent addition of a full-time business advisor to his cabinet reduced the need for a full-time aide.

City Officials Sworn In

Harrisburg officials invoked a spirit of optimism and cooperation last month, as the city swore in its returning mayor and most of City Council.

In city hall, newly inaugurated District Justice Hanif Johnson administered the oath of office to Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Treasurer Dan Miller and council members Wanda Williams, Shamaine Daniels, Ben Allatt, Dave Madsen and Ausha Green.

At the ceremony, Papenfuse cited the progress Harrisburg has made during his first term following the financial crisis that nearly bankrupted the city and sent it into state receivership.

“Today, Harrisburg is not a symbol of failure,” he said. “In Pennsylvania and throughout the nation, Harrisburg is a glowing symbol of renaissance and renewal.”

He credited his fellow elected officials, city workers and residents for “the optimism and hope that is so palpable on our streets today.”

“Yes, we have achieved a lot working together these past four years, but much work lies ahead,” he said.

Following the ceremony, City Council held a brief reorganization meeting, unanimously re-electing Williams as council president. Allatt took over as vice president by a 4-3 vote over Councilman Westburn Majors. Daniels, who served previously as vice president, was not re-nominated.

Williams said that, for 2018, her principal goal is ensuring the construction of the police substation on Allison Hill. The city plans to raise a 1,600-square-foot modular building on S. 15^thStreet, with a planned opening in the late summer. Completion of the city’s comprehensive plan is another priority, she said.

Brewpub RFP Issued

Have you always dreamt of running your own brewpub? If so, you may want to give Harristown a call.

Harristown Enterprises last month issued a request for proposals (RFP) as it seeks a qualified entrepreneur to open a brewpub or full-service restaurant in a large space on Market Street long occupied by the Gingerbread Man.

CEO Brad Jones said Harristown went this route after several potential deals fell through for the space.

“We really want to get the word out,” Jones said. “We think there are a lot of people out there who will find this to be a really attractive deal.”

The 6,000-square-foot space, part of Strawberry Square in downtown Harrisburg, has been empty since the Gingerbread Man closed down in 2014.

The RFP lists several criteria:

Brewery or distillery with a full-service restaurant or a brewpub or restaurant with a liquor license
A lease of at least seven years
Operations seven days a week

Harristown plans to charge $10.50 per square foot of rentable space for the first year and is offering to help defray the cost of the build-out. If interested, Harristown requires a business plan, resumes and financial information by Feb. 5.

“We feel the downtown is underserved for breweries,” Jones said. “That’s the one thing we’re missing.”

U.S. Marshal Killed

A deputy U.S. marshal was killed and a York City police officer wounded last month after gunfire erupted in an Allison Hill residence, where members of a federal fugitive task force went to serve a warrant to a Harrisburg woman.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher David Hill, 45, of York County, an 11-year veteran of the Marshals Service, was killed in the gun battle.

Kevin Sturgis of Philadelphia, who opened fire at the officers, later succumbed to gunshot wounds, said law enforcement officials. The subject of the warrant, Shayla Lynette Towles Pierce, was taken into custody at the scene, charged with making terroristic threats with a weapon, officials said.

According to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed, officers in the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrived at the residence in the 1800-block of Mulberry Street just after 6 a.m. to serve Pierce an arrest warrant. After they announced their presence and entered, they apprehended her on the second floor of the dwelling.

After placing Pierce in handcuffs, Freed said, gunfire erupted from the second floor of the residence. Hill and York City police officer Kyle Pitts were both struck. Hill died of his wounds at UPMC Pinnacle Hospital, Freed said. Pitts underwent surgery and is expected to fully recover.

Sturgis fled to the first floor of the building and exited through the front door while firing his weapon, officials said. Officers returned fire and killed him.

School Board Vacancy

The Harrisburg school district is accepting applications for a vacancy on the school board.

Board member Matthew Krupp resigned his seat last month after assuming the elected office of Dauphin County prothonotary.

Applicants have until mid-February to submit their applications. The successful candidate will serve out the remainder of Krupp’s four-year term.

For more information, visit the school district’s website.

Major Gift for SAM

The Susquehanna Art Museum last month announced a $2 million donation from local art collectors, Marty and Tom Philips.

As a result of the donation, the museum building, located in Midtown Harrisburg, has been renamed the Susquehanna Art Museum at the Marty and Tom Philips Family Art Center. The gift is contingent on SAM raising at least $1 million in matching funds over the next two years.

In addition, SAM last month announced naming gifts from the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Foundation, which will lend its name to the Education Center Gallery, and Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, which will have its name above the museum’s entry portico.

So Noted

2K Networking announced a change of ownership last month, as Josh Hinkle, former director of business development, acquired the Harrisburg-based technology company. He took over from former CEO Glenn Pepo, who will stay on as a consultant.

Barley Snyder, which has locations throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania, last month opened its newest office in downtown Harrisburg. The office is staffed with 10 attorneys formerly of Rhoads & Sinon and is located in that firm’s former space at the M&T Bank building.

RSR Realtors last month named Jamie Berrier as president of the Lemoyne-based real estate company. She succeeds Greg Rothman, who will remain as a partner and board chairman, the company said. Moreover, RSR named Jim Koury as CEO, Garrett Rothman as vice president and broker of record and Bill Rothman as treasurer.

Smith Land & Improvement Corp., headquartered in Camp Hill, announced last month that Richard E. Jordan III, formerly chief operating officer, is now president and CEO. He replaced his father, Richard E. Jordan II, who will retain the role of chairman of the board.

The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC) announced last month the availability of more than 120 scholarship funds available to Pennsylvania students administered by its organization. For more information about scholarship opportunities or to apply, visit www.tfec.org.

Vista, a provider of autism services in eight counties in central PA, last month appointed Kirsten Yurich as chief executive officer. In this role, Yurich, previously the organization’s chief clinical officer, will oversee all operations of the Vista School, the Vista Foundation and Vista Adult Services.

Changing Hands

Balm St., 57: K. & R. Thames to C. & S. Epps, $50,000

Boas St., 318: M. Webb to C. Hughes, $144,000

Boas St., 1815: Harrisburg Rentals LLC to S. Henry, $64,000

Chestnut St., 2014 & 2015 Zarker St.: R. & B. Cielinski to T. Smallwood, $33,500

Croyden Rd., 2962: J. & R. Harle to M. Cabrera, $48,000

Cumberland St., 121: L. Williams to J. & K. Bowser, $59,000

Derry St., 1525: J. Rissler to M. & A. Mekhaiel, $40,000

Derry St., 2641: L. Knoll to E. Chandler, $79,900

Dunkle St., 631: B. Drake to A. Eubanks, $64,900

Emerald St., 521: N. Clelan to C. Gibbs, $84,900

Green St., 1509: R. Stare to A. & K. Tyson, $95,500

Green St., 1936: D. Marquette to G. Tsambas, $210,000

Green St., 2106: J. Evans to Segue Systems LLC, $39,010

Greenwood St., 2506: N. Hanna & J. Parisi to T. Davis & J. Martinez, $99,000

Hanna St., 106: S. Fahey to D. Frank, $174,000

Herr St., 1933: Bajwa & Rana LLC to N. & M. Gill, $250,000

Julia St., 1945: J. & S. Pagliaro to Kanta Estates LP, $230,000

Kelker St., 622: PA Deals LLC to End Properties LLC, $54,000

Lenox St., 1935: J. & K. Alvarez to B. McKinley, $72,500

Lewis St., 308: A. Dittman to C. Engvall & A. Bryant, $112,000

Lewis St., 322: J. Chelgren to K. Franklin, $60,000

Logan St., 2417: W. Blackway to Y. Aquayo & I. Class, $41,000

Market St., 810, 812 & 900 and 12, 21 & 23 N. 9^th St., and 24 & 26 N. 10^th St.: 812 Market Street LLC & Twenty Lake Holdings to 812 Market Inc. & L&B Realty Advisers LLP, $1,600,000

Market St., 1301: J. & S. Kim to 80 Second Street LLC, $180,000

Nagle St., 121: D. Gadel to P. Donohoe & J. Augustine, $182,000

North St., 1721: D. Hawkins to R. Scott, $40,000

N. 2^nd St., 1813: E. Pettis & C. Barker to J. Bailey, $81,500

N. 2^nd St., 2141: D. Kumpf to T. & J. Perla, $117,500

N. 2^nd St., 2838: S. & B. Blank to Diamond Real Estate Solutions Inc., $90,000

N. 2^nd St., 3224: K. Petrich to B. Najia Property LLC, $39,000

N. 3^rd St., 512: Genex Properties to RLJG Inc., $80,000

N. 3^rd St., 1209: N. Riess to R. Abel, $129,000

N. 3^rd St., 1616: W. Taylor & C. Pimentel to T. Breitsprecher, $100,000

N. 6^th St., 2470 & 2472: F. & E. Karnouskos & Sixth Street Holdings LLC to Rivas Property Investments LLC, $80,000

N. 17^th St., 94: S&S Property Management to N. Booth, $34,000

N. Front St., 1525, unit 402: R. & R. Fried to S. Anthony, $205,000

Penn St., 1930: J. McSurdy & J. Lentini to T. Holderman, $157,400

Penn St., 2139: Central Penn Properties to PA Capital Area Investments LLC, $30,000

Pennwood Rd., 3210: J. Clark to A. & G. Powell, $117,500

Reily St., 313: Judy Fisher 2004 Trust to E. Krokonko, $77,000

Rose St., 925: D. Niles to R. Ritchie, $80,000

Rumson Dr., 281: G. Burdsal to J. Runyan, $72,000

Seneca St., 226: R. Ralls to I. Billington, $127,000

S. 2^nd St., 316: Diamond Real Estate Solutions LLC to A. Radford & N. Towne, $110,000

S. 13^th St., 14: H. & L. Grajales to B. Crews, $67,000

S. 14^th St., 1414: A. & G. Evans to City of Harrisburg, $55,000

S. 14^th St., 1416: G. Evans to City of Harrisburg, $51,500

S. 14^th St., 1429: J. Newhouse to City of Harrisburg, $45,000

S. 25^th St., 638: PA Deals LLC to Mid-Atlantic IRA James Eshelman IRA, $60,000

S. 26^th St., 734: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development and Information Systems Networks Corp. to J. Gilpatrick, $41,000

S. 29^th St., 526: Kusic Capital Group LLC to R. Morris & A. Courtney, $150,000

S. Front St., 629: Harrisburg PA Properties LLC to J. Snyder, $50,000

S. Front St., 709: D. Smith to L. Foster, $182,900

State St., 1730: Mussani & Co. LP to Next Generation TC FBO Akhter Parvez IRA, $60,750

State St., 1911: JP Homes Inc. to G. & E. Varghese, $34,000

Susquehanna St., 1637: Harrisburg Rentals LLC to S. Henry, $83,900

Susquehanna St., 1716: L. Caro to S. Goodman, $98,500

Valley Rd., 2317: M. Thomas to G. & K. Kooiker, $144,000

Walnut St., 401: M. Tamanini to B. Kowalczyk, $100,000

Community Corner: Notable February Events

January 31, 2018 | by TheBurg Editor

February Community Corner

Blood Pressure Screenings
Feb. 1: Stop by the food court pavilion at Harrisburg Mall, 3501 Paxton St., 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., for free blood pressure screenings offered by UPMC Pinnacle. Visit shopharrisburgmall.com for more information.

Auto History
Feb. 1-19: The AACA Museum, 161 Museum Dr., Hershey, will host “Pioneers of African American Automotive History,” highlighting African Americans who contributed to the advancement of the automobile industry. These men and women laid the foundation for others to pursue careers in automobiles. For details, visit aacamuseum.org.

Comfort Food
Feb. 1-19: Cornerstone Coffeehouse, 2133 Market St., Camp Hill, will warm you up with a selection of comforting cooking classes from 6 to 9 p.m. The February schedule includes: Winter Warm Up, Feb. 1; Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14; and Weekend Warrior Breakfast, Feb. 19. Visit thecornerstonecoffeehouse.com.

Winter Story Times
Feb. 1-23: Join Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, in the Pollock Children’s Library for a young children’s program that promotes literacy and provides a fun library experience. A variety of days, times and age sessions are available. For complete details, visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Orchid Show
Feb. 2-4: Visit Hershey Gardens, 170 Hotel Rd., Hershey, for the Susquehanna Orchid Society’s 34th Annual Orchid Show and Sale in the Milton & Catherine Hershey Conservatory. More than 1,000 orchids will be on display, including rare species and unique hybrids. Included in admission and free for members. Visit HersheyGardens.org.

Photo Contest Display
Feb. 2-7: Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation will display winning photographs from its 2017 “Through the Seasons” photo contest in the state Capitol, East Wing Rotunda, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit paparksandforests.org for more information.

Family Fun
Feb. 3: Take the family to Harrisburg Mall, 3501 Paxton St., for the 15th annual free Family Fun Fair, running 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the center court. Look for Elmo, the Eastland alpacas and many more vendors. For details, visit shopharrisburgmall.com.

HBG Flea
Feb. 3: Explore the HBG Flea, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Strawberry Square, 320 Market St., Harrisburg. Shop for local art, handmade gifts and vintage wares. Visit hbgflea.com.

Cardiologist Cooking
Feb. 3: UPMC Health will host “Cooking with a Cardiologist” at Giant Food Store, 3301 Trindle Rd., Camp Hill, 6 p.m. Join cardiologists Michael Bosak and Jason Stuck for a fun, interactive event with heart-healthy comfort dishes for winter. Cost is $10 per person. Visit pinnaclehealth.org.

Mindfulness Hike
Feb. 4: Go for a guided, 3.1-mile walk with yoga instructor Traci Wolfe around Wildwood Park, 10 to 11:30 a.m. The pace will be brisk enough to keep the body warm, with some stops to observe nature and a silent walking session to wrap up. Dress in layers and assume the walk is cancelled if it is raining. For details, visit wildwoodlake.org.

Jazz Concert
Feb. 4: Myers-Buhrig Funeral Home and Crematory, 37 E. Main St., Mechanicsburg, will host a jazz concert at 4 p.m. featuring Mary McClain on oboe, Molly Shortridge on flute, Nick Werner on piano, Raymond Irving on the double bass, Sabine Tate-Mezzo on vocals and John Tuzza and drums. Visit buhrig.com.

Decisions 2018
Feb. 5, 19: The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg will host “Great Decisions,” a program on world affairs organized by the Foreign Policy Association. Sessions are held every other Monday at 1 p.m. at Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, through May 14. Cost is $10 per session, $50 for all eight. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org for additional information.

Annual Meeting
Feb. 6: Harrisburg Young Professionals will host its Annual Meeting in the atrium in Strawberry Square, 320 Market St., Harrisburg, 5:30 to 8 p.m. HYP leaders will share a recap of 2017 and goals for 2018. The meeting will be followed by a reception of drinks and hors d’oeuvres. For more details, visit hyp.org.

Food Safety
Feb. 6: Penn State Extension will host “Cooking for Crowds: A Volunteer’s Guide to Food Safety” at its Cumberland County office, 310 Allen Rd., Suite 601, Carlisle, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The curriculum is designed to show non-profit groups the food safety risks that develop when cooking large volumes of food and how to reduce those risks. Visit extension.psu.edu.

Camera Club
Feb. 6: Harrisburg Camera Club will host nature photographer Irene Hinke-Sacilotto in a presentation, “Life in the Chesapeake Bay—Tangier Island, a Visual Journey,” at Giant Community Room, 3300 Trindle Rd, Camp Hill, 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit harrisburgcameraclub.org.

Public Tour
Feb. 7: The Susquehanna Resource Management Complex, 1670 S. 19th St., Harrisburg, will host a public tour, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free tour lasts about one hour. Children must be at least 8 years old and accompanied by an adult. Visit lcswma.org for details.

Nature Therapy
Feb. 8: Manada Conservancy hosts “Nature Therapy” at the South Hanover Township Building, 161 Patriot Way, Hershey, 7 p.m. In this free event, Dr. Matt Silvis will discuss the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in nature. Get more information at manada.org.

Foreign Film Friday
Feb. 9: In celebration of the Chinese New Year, join Fredricksen Library for “The Nightingale,” a heartfelt story about an aging farmer who treks across rural China to his home while transforming the life of his companion, his spoiled granddaughter. Two showings are scheduled for 2 and 7 p.m. Rate PG. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Ice Art Fest
Feb. 9-11: Spend a weekend amid snowflake lights and ice sculptures at Carlisle’s Ice Art Festival and enjoy an indoor art show, carriage rides, glass blowing demonstrations, chili cook-off, dessert bake-off and more. The event also features food vendors and extended merchant hours. For a full lineup of events, visit lovecarlisle.com.

Truffles for Couples
Feb. 9-17: Hershey Story’s Chocolate Lab, 63 W. Chocolate Ave., will offer an evening of truffle making for Valentine’s Day, 6 to 7 p.m. Participants will hand roll and coat rich, dark chocolate ganache in milk and white chocolate, finishing with sweet toppings. Tickets are $20 per person. Visit hersheystory.org.

Kids Club
Feb. 10: Take the kids to a fun show or kid-friendly activities at Harrisburg Mall, 3501 Paxton St., Harrisburg. Kids Club events are held with free admission on the second Saturday of each month, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For details, visit shopharrisburgmall.com.

River Romance
Feb. 10: Enjoy a romantic evening at the “Romance by the River” concert with Sofeya and the Puffins beginning at Gary Lysaght’s River House, 5258 N. Front St., 6 p.m. Admission is $20 online, or $25 at the door, and includes the concert, wine, chocolate finger food and a chance to win stained glass by Sofeya. Visit sofeyaandthepuffins.com.

Animal Tracking
Feb. 11: Kids ages 5 to 10 can learn the art of tracking with a naturalist at Wildwood Park, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Kids will learn track identification and walking patterns and will explore park trails in search of animal tracks. Fee is $5 per child, parents are free; pre-registration is required. Visit wildwoodlake.org for details.

Soup & a Bowl
Feb. 12: The 25th annual Soup & a Bowl fundraising event will be held at the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg, with seatings at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Enjoy soup, bread, dessert, live music, pottery throwing and a raffle. Locally crafted commemorative Central PA Food Bank bowls can be ordered in advance. Tickets are $25. Visit centralpafoodbank.org.

FOM Winter Social
Feb. 12: Friends of Midtown will host its Winter Social and Annual Meeting at Zeroday Brewing Co., 250 Reily St., Harrisburg, 6 to 8 p.m. Socialize with neighbors and learn about FOM’s 2017 successes and 2018 goals. Complimentary appetizers and cash bar. Visit FriendsOfMidtown.org.

Trolley Talk
Feb. 13: National Railway Historical Society Harrisburg Chapter will host “Penn Central in the Northeast,” an illustrated talk with Tom Nemeth, at Hoss’s Restaurant, 743 Wertzville Rd., Enola. The speaker starts at 7 p.m., dinner begins as early as 5 p.m. Call 717-439-9744 or email [email protected].

Singing Valentine
Feb. 14: Barbershop quartets from the Keystone Capital Chorus will deliver singing Valentines to loved ones in the greater Harrisburg area. A tuxedo-clad quartet will sing a song and present a long-stemmed red rose, Hershey’s Kisses and a ticket to the chorus’ 70th annual spring show. More details can be found at kccsing.com.

CEO Roundtable
Feb. 16: Harrisburg Young Professionals hosts a discussion with Dr. Eric Darr, president of Harrisburg University of Science & Technology, at Ad Lib, Hilton Harrisburg, 1 N. 2nd St., 7:30 to 9 a.m., as part of it CEO Roundtable Series. For more details, visit hyp.org.

3rd in The Burg
Feb. 16: Enjoy the best of Harrisburg during 3rd in the Burg, the monthly arts and culture event, at galleries, restaurants and art spaces throughout downtown and Midtown. Check out all the action at thirdintheburg.org.

Community Free Day
Feb. 17: Join the National Civil War Museum, 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, for its free admission day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in honor of Black History Month. Find more information visit nationalcivilwarmuseum.org.

Senators Job Fair
Feb. 17: The Harrisburg Senators hosts its annual job fair at FNB Field, 245 Championship Way, Harrisburg, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Senators and their food service partners are hiring part-time and game-day seasonal employees. For those who can’t make the Feb. 17 job fair, there is a second one scheduled for Feb. 22, 5 to 7 p.m. Visit harrisburgsenators.com.

Legislators Forum
Feb. 22: Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC, with the West Shore and Perry County chambers of commerce, hosts the 2017 Legislators Forum breakfast at the Hilton Harrisburg, 1 N. 2nd St., 8 to 10 a.m. Members can hear from state officials on issues that affect the business community. Cost is $70, $45 for members. Visit harrisburgregionalchamber.org.

Basics of Glass-Blowing
Feb. 22: Go on a fun and creative date to learn the basics of glass blowing, shaping and blowing a small vase or shot glass at Michael Peluso’s art studio in Elizabethtown, 6 to 8 p.m. No prior glass-working experience is required. Workshop cost is $190 per couple or $200 for non-members. For more information, visit carlislearts.org.

India-Pakistan Relations
Feb. 22: Two Army War College experts on India and Pakistan, Patrick Bratton and Larry Goodson, will discuss the tensions that divide the two countries at the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg, Camp Hill, 7 p.m. The event is hosted by the Foreign Policy Association of Harrisburg. A dinner precedes the free talk. Visit fpa-harrisburg.org for more details.

Music Conference
Feb. 22-25: The 22nd annual Millennium Music Conference will showcase more than 300 artists at 30 Harrisburg-area venues, with additional programs like a trade show, industry panels and workshops at The Park Inn by Radisson Harrisburg West, 5401 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. Admission to shows is free. Visit MusicConference.net.

Oscar Nominated Shorts
Feb. 23-24: Join Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, to view this year’s Oscar-nominated short films before the awards are given. Nominees will be shown in documentary short film, live action short film and animated short film categories. Not recommended for children under 17 without parental permission. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Happenings: Our February Calendar of Events

January 31, 2018 | by TheBurg Editor

Happenings

Museums & Art Spaces

3rd Street Studio
1725 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-385-3315; Facebook: 3^rd Street Studio

“World Beyond,” featuring the work of Alex Garos, through Feb. 11.

Works by Ann Benton Yeager, Feb. 16-March 12; reception: Feb. 16, 6-9 p.m.

“Wine & Whimsy,” a collection of illustrated nursery rhymes by Amy Powell, through Feb. 14 (at Café 1500).

“Theoretical Science Meets Art—The Life Poem,” works by Katie Trainer, Feb. 12-March 12 (at Café 1500).

AACA Museum
161 Museum Dr., Hershey
717-566-7100; aacamuseum.org

“Getting the Job Done—Vehicles that Earned Their Keep,” through April 23.

National Corvette Restorers Society Exhibit, through April 23.

“DeLorean Prototype & Production,” through April 30.

Art Association of Harrisburg
21 N. Front St., Harrisburg
717-236-1432; artassocofhbg.com

“Figuratively Speaking,” the human form in a variety of art pieces, through Feb. 15.

BrainVessel Gallery
4707 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg
717-350-2306; bvcargo.com

“Nothing Pretty,” featuring the art of Ted Walke, Sean Arce, Rance Shepstone, Aron Rook and Tina Berrier, Feb. 16-March 23.

Carlisle Arts Learning Center
38 W. Pomfret St., Carlisle
717-249-6973; carlislearts.org

“Juried Exhibit: Square One,” featuring juried artwork prompted by the concept of “square one,” through Feb. 3.

“Annual Members’ Exhibit: Silver 25,” a members’ showing of art to celebrate CALC’s 25^th anniversary, Feb. 9-March 10; reception: Feb. 9, 6:30 p.m.

The Cornerstone Coffeehouse
2133 Market St., Camp Hill
717-737-5026; thecornerstonecoffeehouse.com

Artist of the Month: Lori Sweet

Gallery@Second
608 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg
galleryatsecond.com

“Nothing Pretty,” featuring works by Tristan Bond, Tina Berrier, Aron Rook, Rance Shepstone, Sean Arce and Ted Walke, through Feb. 10.

Landis House
Perry County Council of the Arts
67 N. 4th St., Newport
717-567-7023; perrycountyarts.org

“In Stitches,” an exhibition of traditional and modern quilted wall hangings and other quilted items created by regional artists, Feb. 9-May 5; reception: Feb. 9, 6-8:30 p.m.

Metropolis Collective
17 W. Main St., Mechanicsburg
717-458-8245; Facebook: Metropolis Collective

“Losing All Meaning, The Art of Kevyn Knox,” showing works from the local pop artist, Feb. 9-March 30; opening reception, Feb. 9, 7-11 p.m.

“A Wintry Mix IV,” an open theme group exhibition, through Feb. 25.

“Three Graces,” vintage found photography by Nicole Dube and paintings by Angela Rubinic and Dreon Olivetti (at Capital Joe, Mechanicsburg), Feb. 23-April 27.

The Millworks
340 Verbeke St., Harrisburg
717-695-4888; millworksharrisburg.com

New works by Lauren Castillo, John Davis, Bob McCloskey, Marsha Souders, Paul Vasiliades, Ann Beton Yeager, through Feb. 11.

New works by Susan Bailey, Erin Buckwalter, Jenna Carls, Mary Kandray Gelenser, P.D. Murray, Feb. 13-March 11.

National Civil War Museum
One Lincoln Circle, Harrisburg
717-260-1861; nationalcivilwarmuseum.org

“Honored Veterans: Fraternal Organizations Borne of the Civil War,” through June 2.

Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art
176 Water Company Rd., Millersburg
717-692-3699; nedsmithcenter.org

The Kopp Collection, featuring 30,000 species of butterflies and moths, through April.

PCCA Gallery
Perry County Council of the Arts
1 S. 2nd St., Newport
717-567-7023; perrycountyarts.org

“SVC Moving FOuRTH,” Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the PA Guild of Craftsmen celebrates its fourth year with a group showing, Feb. 9-March 24; opening reception: Feb. 9, 6-8:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania National Fire Museum
1820 N. 4th St., Harrisburg
717-232-8915; pnfm.org

Exhibits dedicated to Pennsylvania firefighting history.

Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
717-236-7644; paparksandforests.org

“Through the Seasons” a photography contest featuring images taken in Pennsylvania state parks or forests, Feb. 2-27, at the PA Capitol, East Wing Rotunda.

Rose Lehrman Art Gallery
One HACC Drive, Harrisburg
717-780-2435; hacc.edu

“Flesh and Spirit,” sculptures by Ted Prescott, through Feb. 16.

HACC Faculty Exhibition, Feb. 26-March 23; reception: March 15, 5:30-7 p.m.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania
300 North St., Harrisburg
717-787-4980; statemuseumpa.org

“The Art of the State Purchase Award Collection,” showcasing Art of the State works that were purchased by the museum, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the juried exhibition, through Feb. 18.

“Every Thing of Interest Show: T.M. Fowler’s Pennsylvania Bird’s-Eye View, 1885-1905,” showcasing Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler’s lithographic prints with bird’s eye views of American towns and cities, through May 6.

Susquehanna Art Museum
1401 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-233-8668; sqart.org

“Looking In: Portraits and Their Stories,” featuring a curated selection of significant 20th and 21st century works from regional museums and private collections that express stories of the artists and their subjects, Feb. 10-May 20; members’ preview: Feb. 9, 5-7 p.m.

“Memory and Invention,” landscape and cityscape paintings by Robert Andriulli, through Feb. 11.

“Tropical Wasteland,” abstracted landscapes by Vu Nguyen, through Feb. 25.

Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery
Lebanon Valley College
101 College Ave., Annville
717-233-8668; lvc.edu/gallery

“Sacred: Image, Text, Ritual,” exploring the sacred art of five major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, through March 18.

Yellow Bird Café
1320 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-635-8991; yellowbird-cafe.com

Works by Peg Belcastro, through Feb. 11.

Works by Tahlia Smith, Feb. 15-March 14.

Zeroday Brewing Co.
250 Reily St., Harrisburg
717-745-6218; zerodaybrewing.com

“Eclectics,” art by Keegan Beinhower, though Feb. 15

“Urban Zodiac,” by Steven Zerbe, Feb. 16-March 15.

Read, Make, Learn

Carlisle Arts Learning Center
38 W. Pomfret St., Carlisle
717-249-6973; carlislearts.org

Feb. 2: Porcelain Pendants, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 6-27: Beginning Knitting, Tuesdays, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 7: Love Mugs, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 7, 21: Try It Glassblowing, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 7-March 7: Portrait Drawing, Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 7-March 14: Ceramics Hand Building, Mondays, 6-9:30 p.m.
Feb. 10: Saturday Morning DRAW Group, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 13: S.E.E. Art Salon, 1 p.m.
Feb. 15: Figure Drawing Group, 7-9 p.m.
Feb. 22: Glassblowing Date Night, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 28: Slab Planter, 6-8 p.m.

The Cornerstone Coffeehouse
2133 Market St., Camp Hill
717-737-5026; thecornerstonecoffeehouse.com

Feb. 1: Winter Warm Up, 6-9 p.m.
Feb. 14: Valentine’s Day, 6-9 p.m.
Feb. 19: Weekend Warrior Breakfast, 6-9 p.m.

East Shore Area Library
4501 Ethel St., Harrisburg
717-652-9380; dcls.org

Feb. 3: Cocoa and Snowflakes, 11:30 a.m.
Feb. 9: Basic Email I, 11 a.m.
Feb. 11: Crazy for Coloring, 2 p.m.
Feb. 12: Kindness Week, 11:30 a.m.
Feb. 17: Random Act of Kindness Day, 1 p.m.
Feb. 18: Oils for Dudes, 1 p.m.
Feb. 23: Basic Email II, 11 a.m.
Feb. 24: Chinese New Year Celebration, 1 p.m.
Feb. 26: Paws2Read, 6 p.m.

Fredricksen Library
100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill
717-761-3900; fredricksenlibrary.org

Feb. 1: Never Too Old—Young Adult Book Club for Adults, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 2: Youth Chess Night, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 6: Curl Up with the Classics—“A Passage to India,” 10 a.m.
Feb. 9: Artist Alley, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 10: Lincoln’s Highlights, 7 p.m.
Feb. 10: Trivia After Hours—Game of Thrones (BYOB), 7 p.m.
Feb. 11: Intro to Traditional Chinese Fashion, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 11: Teen Sweet Shoppe DIY, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 12: Philosophers’ Roundtable, 2 p.m.
Feb. 12: Twisted Stitchers, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 14, 16: Library for Lunch—Chinese New Year, 12 p.m.
Feb. 16: Family Movie Night, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 18: Daddies Do Hair, 2 p.m.
Feb. 20: Fredricksen Reads—“Love and Other Consolation Prizes,” 7 p.m.
Feb. 25: Intro to Chinese Language, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 26: LEGO Club, 4:30 p.m.

Harrisburg Improv Theatre
1633 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-798-6973; hbgimprov.com

Feb. 16: Free Class, 7 p.m.

Hershey Area Art Association (HAAA)
Hershey Derry Township Historical Society Building
40 Northeast Drive, Hershey
hersheyareaartassociation.com

Feb. 7-March 28: Realistic Oil Painting, 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Feb. 12-March 5: Paint Together

Joseph T. Simpson Public Library
16 N. Walnut St, Mechanicsburg
717-766-0171; simpsonlibrary.org

Feb. 1: Learn to Knit, 7-8 p.m.
Feb. 2: Coloring for Adults, 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Feb. 6: Tabletop Games, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 6, 13, 20: Tea & Stitches, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 7: Intro to Apple MacBook, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 8, 22: Mah Jongg, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Feb. 12: iPad/iPhone Beginners, 1-3 p.m.
Feb. 14: Mad About Mysteries, 7-8 p.m.
Feb. 15: Thursday Morning Book Club, 10-11 a.m.
Feb. 19: Monday Night Book Club, 7-8 p.m.
Feb. 21: Genealogy—Why Do We Care?, 7-8:30 p.m.
Feb. 23: Tax Advice, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Feb. 26: English Conversation Group, 6:30-8 p.m.
Feb. 27: Tea & Stitches Extended, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Feb. 28: Apple Users Group, 1-3 p.m.
Feb. 28: Yoga for Beginners, 7-8 p.m.

Kline Library
530 S. 29th St., Harrisburg
717-234-3934; dcls.org

Feb. 1, 8, 22: LEGO Robotics Club, 4:15 p.m.
Feb. 13: Kindness Week, 6 p.m.
Feb. 21: Friends and Readers Book Club, 2 p.m.
Feb. 22: Knit 1, Crochet Too!, 6 p.m.

Landis House
Perry County Council of the Arts
67 N. 4th St., Newport
717-567-7023; perrycountyarts.org

Feb. 1, 8: Two-Day Penny Rugging Workshop, 1-4 p.m.
Feb. 3: Drop-in Art, 1-4 p.m.

The LBGT Center of Central PA
1306 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-920-9534; centralpalgbtcenter.org

Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24: Queer People of Color, 2-4 p.m.
Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25: Common Roads Young Adults, 4 p.m.
Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28: Common Roads Youth, 6 p.m.
Feb. 8: Aging with Pride Lunchtime, 12-2 p.m.

Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library
2410 North 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-232-7286; dcls.org

Feb. 13: Resume Writing, 1 p.m.
Feb. 26: Cookbook Book Club, 6 p.m.

McCormick Riverfront Library
101 Walnut St., Harrisburg
717-234-4976; dcls.org

Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28: Mid-Day Getaway, 11:30 a.m.

Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Café
1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-236-1680; midtownscholar.com

Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22: Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel, 7-9 p.m.
Feb. 2, 23: Nathaniel Gadsden’s Spoken Word Café, 7-9 p.m.
Feb. 6, 13, 20: Coffee, Cake and True Islam, 5-7 p.m.
Feb. 8, 15: Camp Curtin Toastmasters, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Feb. 9: An Evening w/George Saunders, 7-9 p.m.
Feb. 10: Storytime w/June Bates, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 17: Andrea Pitzer, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Feb. 18: Midtown Writers Group, 1-3 p.m.
Feb. 21: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club, 7-9 p.m.
Feb. 24: Storytime and Crafts at the Scholar, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 25: Harrisburg Young Professionals Book Cub, 2-4 p.m.
Feb. 27: An Evening w/Vegas Tenold, 7-9 p.m.

The Millworks
340 Verbeke St., Harrisburg
717-695-4888; millworksharrisburg.com

Feb. 10: Cold Wax Workshop, 8 a.m-5 p.m.

New Cumberland Public Library
1 Benjamin Plaza, New Cumberland
717-774-7820; newcumberlandlibrary.org

Feb. 1: Ruth’s Mystery Discussion Group, 10:15 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 5, 14, 19, 28: Great Books Discussion Group, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Feb. 8: Zentangle, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 9: Valentine Makerspace, 1-5 p.m.
Feb. 10: Write-On Writer’s Workshop, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Feb. 12: Block Party, 10:15-11:45 a.m.
Feb. 13: Book Review Program, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Feb. 13: Frozen Sing Along, 1 p.m.
Feb. 15: STEM Club, 3:45-4:45 p.m.
Feb. 17: Couponing for Extreme Saving, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb. 23: Baby Open Play, 11-12:30 p.m.
Feb. 24: Tape Town, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Feb. 28: PennWriters Writing Group, 6-9 p.m.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania
300 North St., Harrisburg
717-787-4980; statemuseumpa.org

Feb. 2: Storytime, 10 a.m.
Feb. 8: Nature Lab—Magnets (ages 3-5), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Feb. 22: Nature Lab—The Great Blue Heron, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Susquehanna Art Museum
1401 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg
717-233-8668; sqart.org

Feb. 7: Life Drawing, 6-9 p.m.

Wildwood Park
100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg
717-221-0292; wildwoodlake.org

Feb. 1: Fly-Tying Classes, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 4: Mindfulness Hike, 10-11:30 a.m.
Feb. 10: Photography Workshop, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Feb. 11: Kids Discover—Animals and Their Tracks, 1-2:30 p.m.
Feb. 13: Winter Lecture Series—Native Pollinators, 7-8:30 p.m.
Feb. 17: The Great Backyard Bird Count, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Feb. 27: Winter Lecture Series—Regal Fritillary Butterflies, 7-8:30 p.m.

Yoga at Simply Well
28 S. Pitt St. Carlisle, PA.
717-968-0167; yogaatsimplywell.com

Feb. 3: Mindfulness and Smart Phones, 2-4 p.m.
Feb. 10: Creative Arm Balancing for Beginners, 12-1:30 p.m.
Feb. 15-18: Kripalu Winter Retreat

Live Music

American Music Theatre
2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster
717-397-7700; amtshows.com

Feb. 7: Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
Feb. 11: Tommy James and the Shondells, Herman’s Hermits, Peter Noone
Feb. 15: The Tenors
Feb. 16: Three Dog Night
Feb. 18: The Carpenters Tribute w/Michelle Whited
Feb. 22: John Mueller’s 50s Dance Party
Feb. 23: Fleetwood Mask

Appalachian Brewing Co./Abbey Bar
50 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg
717-221-1083; abcbrew.com

Feb. 2: Jerry Joseph and Jackmormons
Feb. 3: Switch Fu and Bushmaster
Feb. 5: J. Roddy Walston & The Business
Feb. 10: Splintered Sunlight
Feb. 16: Black Masala
Feb. 17: Midnight Spaghetti & The Chocolate G-Strings
Feb. 23-24: Millennium Music Conference
Feb. 28: Suzy Bogguss

Appel Center for the Performing Arts
50 N. George St., York
717-846-1111; mystrandcapitol.org

Feb. 3: Todd Snider
Feb. 17: York Symphony Orchestra

Carley’s Ristorante and Piano Bar
204 Locust St., Harrisburg
717-909-9191; carleysristorante.com

Feb. 1, 10, 15: Roy Lefevre
Feb. 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20: Noel Gevers
Feb. 3, 8: Daniel Sheahan
Feb. 7, 22: Chris Purcell
Feb. 9, 21, 27: Corinna Joy
Feb. 28: Deb Anderson

Carlisle Theatre
44 West High St., Carlisle
717-258-0666; carlisletheatre.org

Feb. 2: ZoSo, Led Zeppelin Tribute
Feb. 10: “Let’s Hang On!” Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons Tribute
Feb. 16: TUSK, Fleetwood Mac Tribute

Chameleon Club
223 N. Water St., Lancaster
717-299-9684; chameleonclub.net

Feb. 3: Don’t Sleep
Feb. 7: High on Fire
Feb. 9: Lex the Hex Master, Scum, Amb
Feb. 9: Dwayne Gretzky
Feb. 16: Flux Capacitor
Feb. 22: Futurebirds
Feb. 23, 24: KIX

The Cornerstone Coffeehouse
2133 Market St., Camp Hill
717-737-5026; thecornerstonecoffeehouse.com

Feb. 2: Antonio Andrade
Feb. 3: Hard Travelin
Feb. 4: Dominick Cicco
Feb. 9: Kevin Kline
Feb. 10: Emily Wilkins
Feb. 16: Sweet Maple Singers
Feb. 17: Michael Arthur
Feb. 18: Shelba Purtle
Feb. 23-24: Millennium Music Conference

Fort Hunter
5300 N. Front St., Harrisburg
717-599-5751; forthunter.org

Feb. 10: Kristyn Harris & Hailey Sandoz
Feb. 11: Susquehanna Folk Music Jam
Feb. 17: Susquehanna Folk Music Coffeehouse

Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (H*MAC)
1110 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-441-7506; harrisburgarts.com

Feb. 2: Jeffrey Gaines, Alow w/Adam Kowalczyk
Feb. 3: The Jellybricks, Grumpy Old Men, Lead Foot, Nine D, Can’t B Saved
Feb. 9: The Dirty Sweet
Feb. 10: Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones, The High Divers
Feb. 13: Al Di Meola
Feb. 14: Los Monstros
Feb. 16: Abi Khan
Feb. 17: Shrimp Ryan’s Jig Band, Marty Willson-Piper, Edward Rogers
Feb. 17: Marty Willson-Piper
Feb. 24: Tigers Jaw, Yowler, Looming
Feb. 25: Shelby Lynne

Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
The Forum at 5th and Walnut St., Harrisburg
717-545-5527; harrisburgsymphony.org

Feb. 10-11: Masterworks
Feb. 12: Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestra

Hollywood Casino
777 Hollywood Blvd., Grantville
717-469-2211; hollywoodpnrc.com

Feb. 2: Ostrich Hat
Feb. 3: DJ Magic, The Luv Gods
Feb. 8: Soul Solution
Feb. 9: The Famous
Feb. 10: Smooth Like Clyde
Feb. 10, 24: DJ Dave Styles
Feb. 17: DJ Ray Rossi, Vinyl Groov
Feb. 23: Uptown Band
Feb. 24: Sapphire

Little Amps Coffee Roasters, Downtown
133 State St., Harrisburg
717-635-9870; littleampscoffee.com

Feb. 16: Lucy Isabel

Luhrs Performing Arts Center
1871 Old Main Dr., Shippensburg
717-477-7469; luhrscenter.com

Feb. 10: So Good For the Soul—A Tribute to the Music of Motown
Feb. 17: America

Majestic Theater
25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg
717-337-8200; gettysburgmajestic.org

Feb. 16: Wind Symphony Family Concert
Feb. 18: Darlene Love
Feb. 23: Jazz Ensemble Concert

Market Square Concerts
marketsquareconcerts.org

Feb. 25: Escher String Quartet (at Temple Ohev Sholom)

Messiah College School of Arts
One College Ave., Mechanicsburg
717-766-2511; messiah.edu

Feb. 9: Kathryn Lewek
Feb. 23: Piano Times Two
Feb. 25: Tromba Mundi

Metropolis Collective
17 W. Main St., Mechanicsburg
717-458-8245; Facebook: Metropolis Collective

Feb. 2: Kayla Keating Jazz Orchestra

Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Cafe
1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-236-1680; midtownscholar.com

Feb. 16: The Flat Wheels

The Mill in Hershey
810 Old W. Chocolate Ave., Hershey
717-256-9965; themillinhershey.com

Feb. 3: Erica Lyn Everest Duo
Feb. 10: Keith Goldstein
Feb. 17: Lucas Gienow
Feb. 24: Tony Catalano

River City Blues Club & Dart Room
819 S. Cameron St., Harrisburg
rivercityhbg.com

Feb. 3: Dwayne Dolphin Trio

Rusty Rail Brewing Company
5 N. 8th North St., Mifflinburg
570-966-7878; rustyrailbrewing.com

Feb. 16: John Nemeth

St. Thomas Roasters
5951 Linglestown Rd., Harrisburg
717-526-4171; stthomasroasters.com

Feb. 2: Paul Zavinsky
Feb. 9: Rhoads and Putt Trio
Feb. 10: Craig Bonner, Steve Geib
Feb. 16: Cotolo
Feb. 23: Amber Nadine
Feb. 24: Just Dave

Stock’s on 2nd
211 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg
717-233-6699; stocksonsecond.com

Feb. 2: Cruise Control Trio
Feb. 3: Swisher Sweets
Feb. 9: Visitors Duo
Feb. 10: Erica Lyn Everest and Friends
Feb. 16: DJ Ray Rossi
Feb. 17: Music Thru Science Lite
Feb. 23: Keith Goldstein
Feb. 24: Shea Quinn and Friends

The Susquehanna Folk Music Society
717-745-6577; sfmsfolk.org

Feb. 1: Open Mic
Feb. 10: Jim Hurst
Feb. 11: Jam
Feb. 17: Winter Coffeehouse
Feb. 28: Suzy Bogguss

The Ware Center
42 N. Prince St., Lancaster
717-871-2308; millersville.edu/muarts

Feb. 3: Jazz in the Sky—Milton Suggs
Feb. 16: Velvet Caravan w/ Jessica Best
Feb. 18: Allegretto Winter Concert

Zeroday Brewing Co.
250 Reily St., Harrisburg
717-745-6218; zerodaybrewing.com

Feb. 2: Jr. Wolf
Feb. 10: Hold Fast
Feb. 16: Aaron Daniel Gail

The Stage Door

American Music Theatre
2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster
717-397-7700; amtshows.com

Feb. 8-9: “Riverdance”
Feb. 10: “Masters Illusion”
Feb. 17: Peking Acrobats
Feb. 19: Tape Face

Appel Center for the Performing Arts
50 N. George St., York
717-846-1111; mystrandcapitol.org

Feb. 3: Paula Poundstone
Feb. 9: David Beck, James Hodge

The Belmont Theatre
27 S. Belmont St., York
717-854-3894; thebelmont.org

Feb. 16-25: “Into the Woods”

Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre
510 Centerville Rd., Lancaster
717-898-1900; DutchApple.com

Through Feb. 3: “Something’s Afoot”
Feb. 8-March 17: “Ring of Fire”

Gamut Theatre Group
15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg
717-238-4111; gamuttheatre.org

Feb. 10: “Our Town”
Feb. 22: TMI Improv February Show

Harrisburg Christian Performing Arts Center
1000 S. Eisenhower Blvd, Middletown
717-939-9333; hbg-cpac.org

Feb. 16-18: “Twelfth Night”

Harrisburg Comedy Zone
110 Limekiln Rd., New Cumberland
717-920-5653; harrisburgcomedyzone.com

Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22: Open Mic
Feb. 2, 3: Tim Kidd, John Consoli
Feb. 9, 10: Kevin McCaffrey, Jimmy Merrit
Feb. 11, 18: Oxymorons Improv Comedy
Feb. 16-18: Basile
Feb. 23, 24: Rich Vos

Harrisburg Improv Theatre
1633 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-798-6973; hbgimprov.com

Feb. 2: Oppositional Defiants/Hawkward, Name That Tune/Ferd Majelly, Jam
Feb. 3: Love Triangle, Last Resort, Bandito/Fours Company 2: In Addition Too
Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24: Improv Mixer
Feb. 9: What’s the Matter With Henry?, HAI/Brainwave Aftershave, Phlegminism
Feb. 10: Zesty!/Bandjob, Spacework, Ferret Prom/Solo Sleepover
Feb. 16: Oppositional Defiants/Hawkward, Images, Jam
Feb. 17: TBA, JohNathan, Spank’d, Tony Stanza
Feb. 23: What’s the Matter With Henry?, Tiny Town, Hit Bits
Feb. 24: Zesty!/The Fourest, Introduce A Self, The Actor’s Craft/Pillow Talk

Hershey Area Playhouse
830 Cherry Dr., Hershey
717-533-8525; hersheyareaplayhouse.com

Feb. 8-18: “The Secret Garden”

Hershey Theatre
15 E. Caracas Ave., Hershey
717-534-3405; hersheytheatre.com

Feb. 3: “Sleeping Beauty”
Feb. 16: “Gypsy Passion”
Feb. 20-25: “Beautiful—The Carole King Musical”

Messiah College School of Arts
One College Ave., Mechanicsburg
717-766-2511; messiah.edu

Feb. 8-18: “The Boy Friend”

Midtown Scholar Bookstore-Café
1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
717-236-1680; midtownscholar.com

Feb. 16: Comedy Night

Open Stage of Harrisburg
223 Walnut St., Harrisburg
717-232-OPEN; openstagehbg.com

Feb. 2-4: “Vagina Monologues”
Feb. 16-March 11: “Akeelah and the Bee”

Oyster Mill Playhouse
1001 Oyster Mill Rd., Camp Hill
717-737-6768; oystermill.com

Through Feb. 11: “Go Back For Murder”

The Playhouse at Allenberry
1559 Boiling Springs Rd., Boiling Springs
717-258-3211; allenberry.com

Feb. 16-March 3: “Seussical The Musical”

Rose Lehrman Arts Center
One HACC Dr., Harrisburg
717-780-2435; hacc.edu

Feb. 15: “The Mountaintop” w/LA Theatre Works

The Ware Center
42 N. Prince St., Lancaster
717-871-2308; millersville.edu/muarts

Feb. 8-11: “The Merchant of Venice”

Zembo Shrine sold to out-of-state buyer with entertainment plans.

January 29, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Zembo Shrine.

The historic Zembo Mosque and Shrine is set to sell after almost one year on the market, according to a city spokesperson.

The 65,000-square-foot property at Division and N. 3rd streets will be sold to Arkansas-based TempleLive LLC, which plans to operate the building as a meeting, gathering and performing arts venue, city communications director Joyce Davis confirmed on Monday.

“The goal is to make it a more culturally active space,” Davis said on Monday.

TempleLive currently owns two Masonic temples similar to Zembo, one in Cleveland and one in Fort Smith, Ark. They run both properties as a multi-purpose event spaces, according to the venues’ websites.

Mike Brown, vice president of acquisitions for Beaty Capital Group, TempleLive’s parent company, expects the sale to close at the end of March or beginning of April. He hopes the site will be operational by the fall.

“The sooner, the better,” Brown said.

Brown said it was too early to tell if the building would require extensive renovations, but he did say that the shrine’s main auditorium would need air conditioning. He claimed that TempleLive representatives visited the site three or four times before entering the sale agreement.

Brown declined to disclose the final sale price and did not know if the buyers would take advantage of a tax abatement.

The Zembo shrine went on the market in February 2017 with a $950,000 asking price. Davis could not confirm the property’s final sale price, which was reportedly reached at a special meeting on Jan. 11.

The deal was brokered by the Bill Gladstone Group of NAI CIR, a commercial real estate agency in Lemoyne, and includes 396 parking spaces adjacent to the building.

Since its opening, Zembo has been home to the Shriners, a fraternal organization affiliated with the Free Masons. The Shriners continue to meet there today, but the group’s declining membership, coupled with the building’s high operating costs, forced them to sell the historic property.

Zembo was constructed in 1930 in a Moorish Revival architectural style. The building features interior arches, hand-painted motifs, and ornate stone detailing. It houses large meeting rooms and a theater with a 2,500-seat capacity.

The building faces Italian Lake and former William Penn High School. That vacant campus is also currently for sale.

In a statement issued on Monday, Mayor Eric Papenfuse praised the sale of the historic Zembo building and the plans to make it a touristic attraction within the city.

“This is a truly wonderful development for our city,” Papenfuse said.

This article was updated to include comments from Mike Brown.

TheBurg Podcast: “G-Word” Edition

January 26, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

In this week’s episode of TheBurg podcast, editor in chief Larry Binda and city reporter Lizzy Hardison consider recent building projects downtown that have some people crying “gentrification.” They also dig into two statewide news developments and their effects on Harrisburg: the supreme court ruling against gerrymandering, and the approval of a new statewide education plan.

Stream the episode here via Soundcloud, or subscribe to TheBurg Podcast in the Apple or Android podcast apps.

Read more about this week’s topics in TheBurg:

Yes, But: Council OKs apartment plan, but approval comes with a warning.

Wide-Ranging Discussion: Harrisburg officials tackle multitude of issues at community forum.

A new state system puts less emphasis on standardized tests. How will Harrisburg schools fare?

Capital Redistrict: What will the gerrymander ruling mean for Harrisburg?

TheBurg Podcast is released biweekly by TheBurg Magazine. It is recorded in the offices of StartUp Harrisburg and produced by Lizzy Hardison. Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme music.

Capital Redistrict: What will the gerrymander ruling mean for Harrisburg?

January 26, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The congressional map that Pennsylvania’s supreme court recently struck down as unconstitutional. Click to enlarge.

If you’re a Democrat in Harrisburg with high hopes for Pennsylvania’s new congressional map, we may have some bad news for you.

A recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court may mean that Harrisburg could find itself in a single congressional district. However, the majority-Democrat city will probably remain under Republican representation in upcoming elections, said Chris Borick, political science professor and director of the Institute for Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College.

“Harrisburg is trickier than some places because it’s largely surrounded by quite conservative areas,” Borick said. “I think in many configurations with Harrisburg kept intact, you’d probably still find the residents in a Republican-leaning district.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the state’s congressional map “plainly, clearly and palpably” violated the state’s constitution. They ordered the state legislature to redraw the districts by Feb. 9, just three months ahead of the May 15 primaries.

The ruling was a historical rebuke of gerrymandering—the bipartisan political practice of redrawing congressional maps to disadvantage a minority party. In the United States, congressional maps need to be redrawn every 10 years based on census data. But since majority parties get to approve the final districts, they cherry pick the voters in each one to protect their party in future elections.

Gerrymandered districts make elections less competitive and often protect incumbent candidates and parties. They don’t, however, create elegant maps. Congressional borders in Pennsylvania zig, zag, and meander their way around favorable voting blocs, slicing through county and town lines as they go.

When state districts were redrawn by a Republican-controlled legislature in 2011, Harrisburg and Dauphin County fell victim to “cracking”—a gerrymandering technique that splits one locality between two congressional districts to diminish its voting power. Most of Harrisburg was incorporated into the state’s 4^th congressional district, but South Harrisburg and Shipoke lie in the 11^th. Dauphin County is split between the 4^th, 11^th and 15^th, all of which are currently represented by Republicans.

According to the highest court in Pennsylvania, these distorted districts are now unlawful under the state constitution. The new districts must be compact, contiguous and roughly equal in population, according to the ruling. The court also said that new districts must respect existing jurisdictions, which means that cracked cities might be unified under a new map.

In fairly drawn districts, one major city or county can determine the outcome of an election. But Borick thinks that Harrisburg and Dauphin County are too small to flip a district in favor of Democrats.

It all comes down to numbers. With a population of 12.7 million people, Pennsylvania is entitled to 18 seats in congress. Congressional districts that are roughly even in population will comprise about 700,000 people each.

That means that Dauphin County’s 270,000 residents will constitute less than half of a congressional district. Even though registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a small margin in Dauphin, Republicans make up a larger share of the vote in every single surrounding county – including Perry, Lebanon, Lancaster, York and Cumberland.

“If Dauphin County was the heart of the district, you’d still probably have a pretty competitive district that would lean Republican,” Borick said.

Indeed, redrawing a district like Pennsylvania’s 4^th would at least lead to more interesting races. The last election in the 4^th district saw incumbent Scott Perry face a young opponent with no political experience, who won an uncontested Democratic primary as a write-in candidate. Perry won easily. Reducing the partisan advantage of gerrymandered districts might encourage more qualified candidates to enter the fray.

“When you have a gerrymandered district, the desire for the minority party candidates to get in the race is often quite limited,” Borick said. “In many cases you don’t get the best-qualified candidate that would be most competitive, since they usually know the probabilities of winning are very slim.”

State Republicans have said they will seek a stay in the court’s ruling until after the May primaries. They also intend to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme court. Borick said the ruling is probably safe because it was backed by Pennsylvania’s state constitution.

It’s possible, however, that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the timeline attached to the ruling, since a new map would affect congressional races that are already underway.

“I can see the most likely challenge being procedural,” Borick said. “In other words, the Supreme Court could say the timeline doesn’t give due process to the parties involved and doesn’t give them enough time to reasonably act to adjust their campaigns.”

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