Christmas City: Bethlehem shines brightly during the holiday season.

November 28, 2014 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner. Too often, we feel so rushed that we forget how important it is to take time out to enjoy the beauty of the season.

Sometimes, a short trip out of town is just what we need to recharge our batteries. While many opt for New York this time of year, I prefer Bethlehem for a less harried, more laid-back experience.

The small, walkable town of Bethlehem, also known as “Christmas City,” is all decked out in its Christmas finery this time of year, and there are plenty of activities scheduled for the weeks ahead.

Christmas—and More

Rich in history, Bethlehem is home to several excellent sites, some of which hold special events and exhibits during the holidays.

If you’ve never seen a “live advent calendar,” you’ll want to set your clocks for 5 p.m. and visit the John Sebastian Goundie House on Main Street. The restored, federal-style house dates to 1810 and was once home to the local brewer. Today, it is a house museum and, every evening through Dec. 23, a town crier will select a child from the crowd to knock on the door, which will open to some form of entertainment.

“It could be a quartet, Dickens-style carolers or even bagpipers,” said Kelly Ronalds, marketing director of the historic Hotel Bethlehem.

After the performance, merchants will hand out treats to the children.

Fans of crafts, local history and architecture should check out the Gemein Haus, located on Church Street. This log cabin, built without nails, once served as a Moravian church and is now a museum of Moravian history, featuring furniture, art, toys and crafts. At the same address, you’ll find the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem. Built in 1752, this structure was originally an apothecary. Today, guests visit to learn about the lifestyle of early settlers.

Nearby, the Moravian Book Shop, established in 1745, is known as the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world. Bethlehem native Marlena Sarunac said it’s a popular destination for bibliophiles and history lovers.

“The Moravian Book Shop is exactly the type of place where you can find yourself dreamily spending hours,” she said, adding that ornaments and gifts of every kind are also available this time of year.

Get Your Shop On

While you’re downtown, a variety of boutique shops, many of which have been there for years, are just a short walk away.

“You can smell the history as you step in and hear it in the creaks of the beautiful old floorboards,” Sarunac said.

Of course, no holiday visit would be complete without visiting the Christmas City Village downtown, where dozens of vendors set up shop in festively decorated, heated huts from Dec. 19 to 23. There, you’ll find a variety of items ranging from woodcarvings and pottery to homemade soap and Christmas decorations.

Drawing visitors from miles around, Bethlehem’s Christkindlmarkt has been recognized by Travel and Leisure Magazine as one of the top holiday markets in the world. This year, 125 artisans will showcase their wares. The family-friendly event will feature food, pictures with Santa, musical entertainment and demonstrations every Thursday through Sunday until Dec. 21.

Tours Galore

Bethlehem has no shortage of guides dressed in period garb to regale visitors with historic tidbits.

The “Christmas City Stroll” takes guests on a walking tour through downtown, where they will learn the story of the city’s unique beginning in 1741. Horse-drawn carriage tours are also available for those who prefer to sit back, relax and take in the city’s 18^th-century architecture, while learning about the area’s 300-year history.

After dark, holiday decorations light up the town. Book the “Bethlehem by Night” bus tour and stay warm and cozy while enjoying the festive holiday decorations and a trip to the Moravian star atop South Mountain.

Staying Over

The Hotel Bethlehem, perhaps the city’s best-known hotel, is a great choice if you want to be in the heart of the action. The decorations alone are sure to put a smile on any Scrooge’s face.

Ronalds said the hotel is already decorated for the season with 26 Christmas trees, 36 giant wreaths, six 7-foot toy soldiers and a large crèche.

“People come here from all over the mid-Atlantic region to get their Christmas spirit,” she said.

If you don’t mind staying a few blocks away, the 100-year-old Sayre Mansion Inn is another great choice. This elegant boutique hotel offers bright, spacious rooms and daily breakfast and is a quiet and luxurious respite from the hustle and bustle.

Many eateries are within walking distance of both hotels. The award-winning Apollo Grill is a good choice for lunch or dinner. Whether you’re in the mood for crab cakes, lamb shank, duck, veal, steaks or just a burger, this place has you covered.

If you’re a craft beer enthusiast, be sure stop in at the Bethlehem Brew Works on Main, which offers casual fare, along with a wide selection of craft brews.

There’s so much more to do and see in Bethlehem during the holidays. If you have yet to visit during this magical season, you might want to take time now to schedule a long weekend to see everything the area has to offer.

“The most wonderful thing about Bethlehem is that it doesn’t matter what religion you identify with, how old or young you are, or whether you’ve seen it all 100 times, or for the first time,” said Sarunac. “The spirit of the town will delight you every time, and each fresh snowfall brings with it a sense of peace that’s hard to capture elsewhere.”

For more information on Christmastime in Bethlehem, visit www.christmascity.org.

A Breath of Plein Air: Major show mounted for one of Harrisburg’s best-known artist groups.

November 28, 2014 | by Lori M. Myers

Pictured left to right: Jonathan Frazier, Dave Henry, and
Earl Blust painting in Cape Cod. Photo by Steve Wetzel.

When a friend introduced Steve Wetzel of Harrisburg to members of an artist collective called the Seven Lively Artists at an exhibit in Mechanicsburg, this former cartoonist and now-and-then landscape artist had found his calling—and his group of like-minded creators.

After seeing their work, Wetzel traveled with them on their annual excursion to Cape Cod to paint, not within the warmth and comfort of a studio, but outdoors amid the area’s terrain and shorelines. Wetzel was hooked and has been a part of this group of artists for almost a dozen years.

Through Jan. 10, Wetzel is one of 16 artists from the Seven Lively Artists to show their work at Gallery at Second in downtown Harrisburg. The exhibition, entitled “7-Lively Artists 1956-2014,” includes more than 50 works on display covering a wide range of time and styles. Wetzel, for example, has four of his works in the show—all representational oil landscapes that were painted en plein air, meaning that they were painted in the open air and on location.

“Our group always tries to hold an annual holiday exhibit around November and December, and so this particular show coincides with that tradition,” Wetzel says. “This will be the first time we’ve had the opportunity to hold a group show at Gallery at Second, and so this will be a special event for us.”

The Seven Lively Artists trace their beginning to 1956, when seven friends brought a relatively novel concept—plein air painting—to the Harrisburg area. As the popularity of the form grew, membership increased, so that those original seven now number about 18.

This exhibit fits right in with what owners Ted and Linda Walke had in mind when they opened their gallery in May 2010 after an extensive renovation of their building on N. 2^nd Street.

“Our goal is pretty simple,” Ted Walke says. “To place artwork in a wide scope of collections while underscoring the artwork’s educational and cultural value to patrons and visitors.”

The beautiful gallery usually features two independent exhibits on the main floor, every five to six weeks. The Upstairs Gallery features another 200-plus pieces by more than 50 local artists.

“With the exhibition of the Seven Lively Artists, it’s the first time we’ve opened the main floor for one exhibition,” Walke adds. “With more than 50 works by this collective, the resulting viewing experience will be one of both high quality and a mixture of mediums that will satisfy even the most discriminating gallery viewer.”

This is the first time the gallery has hosted the group. However, it has shown works by a number of the individual artists within it.

Paul Gallo of Middletown is another of the Seven Lively Artists featured in the exhibit. Gallo worked in advertising as an art director for more than 30 years, but in the past 10 discovered a renewed interest in fine art.

“I paint in oils, in a representational manner of subjects that interest me,” he says. “My three pieces in the current show are an example of this—a plein air landscape and two paintings of animals.”

While he enjoys the painting process, Gallo truly loves exhibiting his art, adding that most artists want their work to be viewed and appreciated.

“I think paintings are a calming, contemplative experience—a nice contrast to today’s hectic, sensory-assaulting visual media—television, movies, Internet,” he says.

From landscapes to animals, Walke is thrilled and honored to include this esteemed group within his walls, conveying on canvas the elements they felt and sensed while out of doors.

“With the interest shown thus far,” Walke says, “the public’s eager anticipation is a good indicator that we are among many who regard this Harrisburg collective as a cultural treasure.”

“7-Lively Artists 1956-2014” runs through Jan. 10 at Gallery at Second, 608 N. 2^nd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.galleryatsecond.com. Please note that the gallery will be closed Dec. 25 to Jan. 3.

Christmas Mourning: The holidays often bring great joy. But for those suffering through grief, the season may magnify their loss.

November 28, 2014 | by Susan Ryder

Cooler, shorter days and falling leaves usher in the trifecta of holidays—Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Anticipation of friends, family, food and fun takes center stage. It’s not, however, the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for some folks.

Five years ago in November, then-fourth grader Cara Ford lost her father. Six weeks later, on New Year’s Day, Cara and her mother Theresa lost Kyle—15-year-old brother and son. To say that the holiday season is painful for them would be an understatement.

Theresa Ford said that, when November rolls around, they think, “Oh, it’s November; we wish it was February.”

We are “sold a picture of perfection, of what could be and should be,” said John Kajic, manager of the Highmark Caring Place, a Center for Grieving Children in Lemoyne. These expectations, he said, “reinforce a profound sense of grief.”

Indeed, the holidays can make mourning even more difficult, said Susan Resavy, director of family services at the Hospice of Central Pennsylvania, located in Susquehanna Township.

The holidays are filled with ritual, tradition and expectation. So, when a person who is a part of the tradition dies, the loss is magnified, she said.

What that heightened grief looks like “depends on how that person has coped all along,” said Resavy. If they have been quiet, they could be more quiet; if intensely sad, they could be more tearful; and if anxiety-filled, even more anxious.

Empty Seat

For Joy Gardner of Carlisle, husband Bob should have been with her this Thanksgiving, but she lost her beloved to cancer on Sept. 18, 2013.

“He was born on a Wednesday and died on a Wednesday,” she said, still reeling from the loss.

Seeing the empty seat at the table proved to be too much. The family chose to eat out for Thanksgiving this year.

Gardner suggests it’s a good idea to “change it up” to better cope over the holidays.

Part of that change involves having a plan. Resavy said that families should ask the question, “How do you want to deal with the holiday?”

Kajic echoes Resavy’s sentiment, saying that families need to have a discussion. While families talk, they also need to keep in mind that there is no rulebook—no right or wrong way to grieve.

Angela Mesceda of Linglestown had a strategy for the holidays. She lost her husband James in March 2012, so decided to make a plan to better cope. That, however, didn’t go as well as she hoped.

“My plan went to hell in a hand basket because I cried all day,” she said.

Nonetheless, she advises making a specific list of what you want to do. “Once you do it, you feel the accomplishment,” she said.

Part of that plan may include choosing not to participate in some traditions. Individuals and families may decide not to have a tree, light the menorah or have a Thanksgiving turkey.

The Ford family discusses every year how they will celebrate. The first Christmas after Kyle died, they decided to forgo a tree, then, gradually, over the next five years, began decorating again.

Because tree decorating was a family affair, they don’t dig into the old Christmas ornaments. Instead, they have a new theme each year and remember Kyle by buying an ornament for him.

While this works for them, Theresa Ford wouldn’t insist that people handle their grief exactly the same way.

“Grief is so different for everybody,” she said. “Do what you feel is right at the moment.”

Gardner acknowledged that her family showed a great deal of variety in how they grieved.

Family members spent a lot of time crying last year, but noted that, “sometimes we weren’t crying all together.” Also, since her husband died just a few months before the holidays, she didn’t change the ritual much the first year.

Often, families are in such shock that the first holidays go by in a blur, so “don’t be alarmed if year two is harder than year one,” said Resavy.

Real Meaning

Traditions can still hold a place in grieving.

The stability and familiarity of an old tradition may be great comfort to a grieving family. In addition, new traditions can be created that include the deceased in the holiday. This can happen through making a toast at dinner, buying an ornament for the tree or preparing a favorite meal.

“If you find comfort in traditions, hold on to them,” said Kajic.

Finding ways to include the deceased family member also provides segue for discussion. People often don’t know how to bring up the deceased person and aren’t sure if they should say their name for fear of upsetting others.

“It gives people an opportunity to reminisce,” said Resavy.

She recounted a story of how the grandchildren of a deceased hospice client took it upon themselves to put pictures they created of their grandpa on “his” chair at Thanksgiving. That then became the family’s new Thanksgiving ritual.

Luckily, these families didn’t have to traverse the road of grief alone. Both Hospice of Central Pennsylvania and Highmark Caring Place helped. “Hospice people are wonderful people— angels,” said Mesceda.

“It was like we were all a big family,” said Cara Ford, who twice participated in Highmark Caring Place’s program.

Although much help is available, families still may acutely feel grief, but often there is hope mixed in. Theresa Ford said that her family discusses how to handle the holidays.

“But, mostly importantly, we try to focus on what Christmas really means and how truly blessed we are in so many ways,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong—there is still a lot of crying that goes on in our house. I don’t think this will ever go away.”

Seeking Help

Resources are available if you or someone you know needs help getting through the holiday due to the death of a loved one.

Highmark Caring Place offers grief services for families with children. Its website, www.highmarkcaringplace.com, contains information specific to coping with the holidays.

Hospice of Central Pennsylvania also offers grief services, which are available to everyone, not just those served by the hospice. Information can be found at www.hospiceofcentralpa.org.

Both organizations provide services free of charge.

Geek Love: Science gets sentimental in “The Theory of Everything.”

November 28, 2014 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

Everyone has some knowledge of Stephen Hawking, whether it’s through reading his book, “A Brief History of Time,” watching a TV special on him, or even just hearing his name in passing.

Hawking is arguably the best-known theoretical physicist and cosmologist of today, and his name has permeated pop culture for decades. But though you may know who he is and what he does, there’s a good chance that you know little about his personal life. Here is where director James Marsh steps in with his most recent film, a little biopic called “The Theory of Everything.”

If you’re interested in Hawking’s celebrated career, you’ll have to look elsewhere. The story breezes over the details of his work, including just enough to convey that it is him that we’re seeing on the screen. Instead, it focuses on the relationship between him and his first wife, Jane, and on the effects of his ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

We first see Hawking (played by Eddie Redmayne) as a young man working towards a doctorate in physics at Cambridge University, inattentive to his studies but still managing to surpass his fellow students with little effort. His interest in cosmology greatly contrasts with the Christian faith that fellow student, Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones), has, but that isn’t enough to keep the two apart, and they quickly find themselves in a serious relationship. When Hawking discovers he has a motor neuron disease and has been given two years to live, he tells Jane to move on, but she sticks with him. Spanning a timeframe that is much longer than two years, the rest of the film follows their marriage as Hawking’s motor skills slowly deteriorate.

Make no mistake: “Theory” is a very romanticized take on Hawking’s life. Unfortunately, for a story that already has half the work done (all that writer Anthony McCarten had to do was take a life lived and lay it out in a succinct fashion), the result is less than satisfactory.

Many scenes are overly cinematic, and there is plenty of dialogue that makes it painfully clear that you’re watching a film. The film also gives a biased portrayal of Hawking, an oddity in itself given that McCarten adapted the screenplay from Jane Wilde Hawkings’ memoirs, which are brutally honest. Yet numerous scenes conflict with her stories in order to romanticize his character, especially toward the end of their relationship (this is a love story, folks—accuracy be damned).

However, this is a rare case in which a film, despite having a script suited for the Hallmark channel, manages to stand proudly. The director and actors join forces to breathe life into characters that may have otherwise fallen flat on the page. It’s a fascinating lesson in reading between the lines. If you can focus on the way the characters say the lines instead of the lines themselves, you’ll fall in love with them.

Redmayne gives a performance that is nothing short of captivating. Perhaps no one could have done a better job in the role, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his name comes up on the Oscar ballots. Jones also holds her own as Jane. There is one scene near the end of the film in which the two make some weighty confessions to each other that is especially powerful.

It’s a great film for the purpose of sentimentality, and, while I wouldn’t say that you’ll know the ins and outs of Stephen Hawking’s biography by the end, I will venture to say that you will enjoy yourself. “The Theory of Everything” will be playing this month at Midtown Cinema. Come check it out!

Sammi Leigh Melville is a staff member and film reviewer at Midtown Cinema.

Midtown Cinema December Events

National Theatre Live Series

Broadway production “Of Mice and Men”

Sunday, Nov. 30, 4pm & Tuesday, Dec. 2, 7pm

“It’s a Wonderful Life”

Frank Capra’s classic holiday film

Sunday, Dec. 7, 7pm; Sunday, Dec 21, 7pm; & Wednesday, Dec. 24, 7pm

Down in Front!

Improv crew skewers “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”

Friday, Dec. 12, 9:30ish

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Classic cartoons on the big screen

Saturday, Dec. 13, 9:30-11:30am

Mommy & Me Matinees

Early matinees every second Saturday!

Saturday, Dec. 13

“The Search for Animal Chin”

Cult skateboarding film w/Tsunami Experiment playing live soundtrack

Saturday, Dec. 13, 9pm

Foreign & Classic Series

“The Bishop’s Wife” w/Cary Grant

Sunday, Dec. 14, 6pm

3^rd in The Burg $3 Movie

“Back to the Future”

Friday, Dec. 19, 9:30ish

Family Film Series

“The Muppet Christmas Carol”

Saturday, Dec. 20, 12:15pm; Sunday, Dec. 21, 1:30pm; & Monday, Dec. 22, 2:30pm

“White Christmas”

Classic Christmas musical

Saturday, Dec. 20, 12:15pm & 7pm; Monday, Dec. 22, 7pm; & Thursday, Dec. 25, 7pm

New Year’s Pajama Party

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 7pm

Christmas in the Country: Looking for an old-time holiday? Pack up your sleigh and head north.

November 28, 2014 | by Admin

Remember how amazing it was as a youngster to experience the music, colorful lights and tasty food of the holidays—and then those presents waiting under the tree?

This season, you can rekindle those memories and share some of that lost excitement with your own family. Not too far from Harrisburg, you can enjoy an ice festival, a traditional German Christmas, a walk with holiday lights and special, handcrafted presents.

An old-time Christmas is just a short drive away.

Magical Evening.

For the past 18 years, the State College Ice Sculptors have wowed audiences in Lewistown, and this year will be no different. On Dec. 4 and 5, your family can watch professional ice carvers turn solid blocks of ice into works of art using chisels, chainsaws and blow torches.

“Our theme this year will be a ‘Vintage Christmas,’ and we begin with our annual crazy parade,” said festival coordinator Jenny Landis of the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau. “The procession kicks off at 6 o’clock sharp from St. John’s Church, and we’ll walk/march/hop/skip down N. Main Street with noisemakers, dancing ribbons and papier mache puppets on sticks. It’s fun!”

The Festival of Ice is held in Monument Square directly in front of the historic Mifflin County Courthouse. In addition to the sculptors and power tools, there’s entertainment, a holiday market, crafts and food.

“With the holiday music and the lights reflecting from the ice sculptures, it’s truly a magical evening,” said Landis.

Pony rides and a petting zoo will entertain the younger set, as will cookie decorating, carnival games and letter-writing to Santa. The empty lot near the courthouse will be transformed into a live nativity scene, including an ancient market with activities in each of the stalls. To help set the mood, the Beth-El choir from the Mennonite Church in Belleville will perform holiday music each evening.

For a unique memory, you can treat your family to a tour of downtown Lewistown from the back of a horse-drawn carriage. Rides are $3 per person, free for children five and under. All money raised will be donated to local charities. For model train buffs, the Mifflin County Model Railroad Club train display will set up in the lower level of the building next to the courthouse.

Of course, no Christmas festival would be complete without an opportunity to meet Santa, who will greet visitors and take gift requests at the West Side Gallery. Be sure to stop in and exchange a ho-ho-ho.

Artistic Twist

Later that weekend, the Perry County Council of the Arts (PCCA) will offer holiday fun at both of its locations in Newport—the Landis House and the PCCA Gallery.

“It’s a great time to be in a small town with all of the cute shops and holiday decorations,” said PCCA Creative Programs Director Jasmine Colbert. “A shopping day here is like an adventure to seek out one-of-a-kind gifts. And you can support local businesses at the same time.”

First, visit the newly remodeled Landis House (67 N. 4^th St., Newport) for a special holiday family outing. Local music teachers will feature their students in a holiday piano recital, and Santa will visit to share cookies.

At the PCCA Gallery on the square (1 S. 2^nd St., Newport), you can shop the Artisan Marketplace, where you will find unique and locally made holiday gifts. While in the gallery, you can visit with demonstrating artists, get signed copies of local authors’ books and enjoy light refreshments.

Be sure to fortify yourself with a warm beverage and a snack at Espresso Yourself before checking out the annual Newport tree lighting at 5 p.m. on the square.

German Christmas

Your next adventure, the following weekend, is to downtown Mifflinburg, which will be lined with festive huts featuring unique handmade crafts and traditional treats for Christkindl Market, a traditional German holiday celebration.

Founders Joannah Skucek and her late husband Rudi lived in Germany for 20 years before returning to her hometown, where she opened a business. One day, at a meeting of town merchants, the conversation turned to how to draw visitors to Mifflinburg.

“How about a Christkindl market?” Joannah suggested. “Everyone looked at Rudi and me and asked, ‘A what?’”

Christkindl markets began in Germany in 1434. Local craftsmen and food vendors found that, if they set up their wares around the town’s churches during Christmas activities, the public would buy their goods to eat and give as gifts.

The first year, the Mifflinburg Christkindl Market had about 20 vendors located around the many local churches.

“Through our volunteers’ hard work and Rudi’s charismatic leadership, our market is now the oldest authentic outdoor German Christkindl market in the United States,” explained Joannah. “Last year was our silver anniversary, and the market had an estimated 12,000 visitors to our 100 vendors.”

The celebration opens with a parade featuring St. Nicholas riding his white horse. Then, over three days, people browse through picturesque huts filled with Christkindl treats and unique handmade crafts.

Be sure to dress warmly. Last year, my wife and I visited on an extremely cold day, which marred our ability to spend much time outdoors. Fortunately, there’s a pub where you can warm up with a glass of Glühwein (glow wine) in a specially designed collector’s mug. You also can enjoy hearty German beer along with Hungarian goulash and a variety of German sausages.

For treats, there are gourmet coffees and hot mulled cider to drink with Christmas cookies and the traditional German lebkuchen (gingerbread) hearts. An outdoor stage is located across from the Christkindl Pub, where you’ll see continuous entertainment, including dancers, school musical groups and jugglers.

There is plenty of fun for little ones, too. In Kinder World, children can visit the Elf School to solve puzzles and meet Mrs. Claus. Inside the Gingerbread House, they’ll see the “Gingerbread Family” decorating the Christmas tree and watch “Mother Gingerbread” make cookies. At the Peek-A-Boo Doll House, kids can watch dolls and teddy bears having a tea party around the Christmas tree as they hang stockings to the music of the holidays.

Planners work to balance tradition with new ideas.

“Our criterion is simple,” Joannah said. “If we want to add something new, we ask ourselves, ‘Would they do it in Germany?’ For example, I was asked one year where visitors can find a traditional German breakfast. I thought, ‘Now that’s a good idea.’ So, we worked with one of the local churches to sponsor a German breakfast.”

Don’t forget to bring your holiday greeting cards.

“It’s an Austrian tradition,” Joannah said. “Visitors can make their greetings unique by having a Christkindl cancellation stamp placed on holiday cards at the Christkindl Corner.”

The special, pictorial cancellation stamp, designed by a local artist, changes each year. So, you can start your collection this season.

Christmas Trail

Rounding out the season, Little Buffalo State Park will open its weeklong Christmas Trail on Dec. 17. There, children can meet Santa, see thousands of lights and enjoy handcrafted wooden figures.

“The Christmas Trail is at least 30 years old and has become a tradition for many families,” said Ben Ranney, who coordinates the program.

Local school districts participate by bringing their choirs or vocal groups to perform on the Moore Pavilion stage. 4-H clubs will sell hot chocolate and treats at the warming station“The lights along the wooded trails, the holiday music, the excitement of the children all meld together to create a beautiful and festive mood,” said Ranney. “It’s very special.”

There you have it—four celebrations over three weekends, all a relatively short drive out of the city. This holiday season, it will be easy to enjoy Christmas in the country.

GOING THERE

The Festival of Ice is located on Monument Square in downtown Lewistown on Thursday, Dec. 4, 6 to 9 p.m., and Friday, Dec. 5, 6 to 10 p.m. For more information, visit www.juniatarivervalley.org or call 717-248-6713.

PCCA’s holiday shopping and music takes place in downtown Newport on Saturday, Dec. 6. For more information, visit www.perrycountyarts.org or call 717-567-7023.

The Mifflinburg Christkindl Market hours are Thursday, Dec. 11, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 13, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The market is located on Market Street between 4^th and 6^th streets in Mifflinburg. For more information, visit www.MifflinburgChristkindlMarket.com.

The Little Buffalo Christmas Trail will be open from Dec. 17 to Dec. 23, 6 to 9 p.m., in the park’s East Picnic area. The program is free and flashlights are helpful in some areas of the trail. Contact the park at 717-567-9255 or email [email protected].

Don Helin published his first thriller, “Thy Kingdom Come,” in 2009. His recently published novel, “Devil’s Den,” has been selected as a finalist in the Indie Book Awards. His latest thriller, “Secret Assault,” was published in November. Contact Don on his website, www.donhelin.com.

Student Scribes: “3 Poems”

November 28, 2014 | by Cindy Withjack

Rotisserie

Do you ever think of us

of what we could be

Such a stupid girl I am

with pixie stick dreams

Saccharine decaying teeth

chattering

Always near me

but never truly

Who am I

to say such things

Eyes rolling

like dripping rotisserie

Charred

yet baby pink

We kid ourselves

lips spreading

Hearts heavy in our skulls

Throbbing truths

into finger plugged ears

Warmth

I’ll never be warm again

Warm again

I feel hollow

Knock on me

fist to forehead

fingers bent

And you will hear

the echo

vibrating off my skull

buzzing

You are puzzled

Oh poor girl

slithers out of your mouth

I wince

for all the ways I adore you

eyelashes dipping into my pupils

broken

A cracked ornament

on a discarded Christmas tree

slowly rotating on its string

Salt

Some days you go

The doorbell is broken

Sadness comes

tap, tap, tapping

Politely pressing

hard and heavy on each temple

It steals you

Fingertips tracing

My eyes fill with salt

when you leave

I have never been patient

The breeze goes right through me

when you go

I will learn

Cindy Withjack is a senior English major and writing minor at Penn State Harrisburg.

Holiday Wishes: Here’s what I hope for Harrisburg in 2015.

November 28, 2014 | by J. Alex Hartzler

The holidays offer time for reflection and giving thanks. They also are a time for thinking ahead about change and progress in the coming year.

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving for its low-key, non-commercial nature, Mom’s home cooking, football and the promise of a four-day weekend. Since I don’t participate in “Black Friday,” opting for the couch and/or some walks instead, it is always the low-stress holiday in our home. Of course, I also greatly enjoy Christmas and New Year’s for their symbols of birth, re-birth and the promise of a brighter future for those who choose to believe.

Whereas last year I took stock of all the people and things I am thankful for in Harrisburg (December 2013, p. 7), this year I’m putting together my wish list for 2015. Thus, in the American spirit of renewal and on the premise that things that cannot be imagined cannot be achieved, here are some things, both big and small, I’d like to see happen in the coming year.

Our new Gov. Tom Wolf, new Senate Majority Leader Corman and House leaders Turzai and Smith work together, across the aisle, to move our state and city forward on such things as education funding formulas, pension reform, liquor privatization, extraction taxes and so forth.
N. Second Street, between Forster and Division streets, is finally restored to two-way traffic and an important neighborhood is reclaimed for the residents who live there—a mere 60 years after the street and neighborhood were ruined in the name of progress and suburban flight.
Front Street installs one new lane for bikes and one fewer lane for cars, as we have been promised.
Entrepreneurs and restaurateurs continue to find Harrisburg a viable and vibrant place for business.
Non-profit organizations of all stripes in Harrisburg realize that paying their municipal real estate taxes for police and fire protection is simply the right and moral thing to do and that the failure to do so makes them “free-riders” and “takers” from the rest of us who pay for them.
People who own property in the city care enough and have pride enough to maintain their property or sell it to others who will.
City Council works with the mayor in a spirit of cooperation for all residents and dispenses with the “us vs. them” references that divide us.
That we find some new voices on City Council after our elections next year.
Our suburban paper of record goes one year (OK, one month) without a sensational headline or article that disparages our city.
No new sinkholes open around the city.
The “land bank” gets implemented and the city and county are able to sell vacant land for productive use.
All Harrisburg streetlights receive new energy efficient bulbs, those bulbs work and the city saves money, as we have been promised.
The state of Pennsylvania realizes that it must invest in its capital city in much the same way and at a similar scale as the federal government has invested in Washington, D.C.
All of our Community Publishers and advertisers in TheBurg renew for 2015.
Many new Community Publishers and advertisers choose to work with TheBurg in 2015.
Hundreds of new residents and dozens of new businesses decide to live and/or locate in Harrisburg in 2015.
There is no “polar vortex” this winter.
Penn State wins a bowl game, any bowl game.
Local playwright Paul Hood gets his play “Brighton’s Green Street” produced.
The Broad Street Market is fully leased to fresh food vendors.
People stop walking across the beautiful new landscaping on State Street in front of the Capitol (paid for in part by private donations) and instead use the convenient crosswalks.
Standard Parking reduces parking rates by half between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and thus potentially increases its overall revenue by attracting additional parking in the evening.

Lastly, I’d like to make the most important holiday wish of all. I wish all of our readers a happy and healthy new year.

J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.

Not Another Necktie: Instead of traditional gift-giving, some decide to contribute to charity.

November 28, 2014 | by Rebecca Hanlon

It was November 2007, and Jenn Knepper started to dread the approaching cycle of shopping, gift wrapping and handing off another unneeded trinket in the spirit of Christmas.

The Hershey Medical Center nurse took a break from a long shift to browse the local newspaper when she read a story about a giving circle in Harrisburg. This small group of women would gather each holiday season to purchase items for charities in the name of a loved one.

“It seemed like the perfect way to give meaning to a holiday that had, sadly, started to lose that for me,” Knepper said.

She contacted the group, and, over the next several years, it soon would join forces with Gifts that Give Hope, an umbrella organization that provides the tools for people to organize gift fairs during the season.

Knepper’s desire to make the holidays more meaningful isn’t a new concept.

Nonprofit organizations throughout the region have been noticing a trend in charitable donations being made in place of the purchase of a physical gift.

“A lot of us feel like, ‘Oh, what do you get the person who has everything?’” Knepper said. “Your mom doesn’t need another sweater. Your dad doesn’t need another tie. My family is always telling me they don’t need more stuff.”

While the Gifts that Give Hope Fair is hosted in Lancaster County the week before Thanksgiving, there are still many opportunities for people to find local organizations to which they can contribute.

Hands-On Gifts

For people who want to do more than donate money, there are several organizations that ask people to be more hands-on.

Kat Prickett, 31, of Mount Joy has been a volunteer with Operation Christmas Child, a charity run by Samaritan’s Purse, since she was 11 years old. Her mom became a project leader at the family’s church, and, together, they’d fill shoeboxes with toothbrushes, school supplies and coloring pages to send to children in need.

Today, Operation Christmas Child has 19 drop-off locations in central Pennsylvania where people can take their stocked shoeboxes to be shipped to boys and girls around the world.

Last year, 31,571 boxes were collected in this area alone, said Prickett, who now works as an area spokesperson for the organization.

“Usually, the children who receive a box are getting the first gift they’ve ever received in their whole life,” she said. “For a child to know someone across the world is thinking of them, cares about them and loves them, that’s amazing.”

A lot of families make filling the boxes an annual tradition, getting their kids to buy items for children their own age and explaining how not everyone has the same comforts in life, Prickett said.

David LoBianco, children’s ministry director at Devonshire Church in Lower Paxton Township, has helped host a shoebox-packing party the past two years.

Stations are set up in the church for families to take part in the project, whether it’s wrapping the boxes in gift paper, sorting items based on age group or writing a note to the recipient.

“Part of the goal is showing God’s love in a tangible way,” LoBianco said. “We feel that we can reach people through actions, and that’s what this is about.”

The church put together 78 boxes last year and hoped to do the same in 2014.

“It shows our children that they can serve the community, or help people around the world, just by being little members of the church,” he said. “You can see how much it means to them to help out.”

Donating Directly

Those who want to see their donation dollars go directly to work in the local community can take part in a new holiday program offered by Harrisburg’s Habitat for Humanity.

Executive Director Bill Wood said the organization usually does a drive to ask for cash donations during the holiday season, but he came up with a different idea this year so that people can do so in the name of a loved one.

During November and December, those who wish to give to the Greater Harrisburg Area’s ReStore can make a cash donation or purchase a gift card for future construction items in honor of friends or family.

Donors of $25 or $50 are provided with a tile on which they can write the name of a loved one along with a brief message. ReStore will then collect the tiles and apply them to a backboard that will go on display within the store the third week of December.

Donors also can request a photo of the tile be posted on Facebook, so they can tag their loved one, Wood said.

Those who give $100 will be given a clean, 2-by-4-foot stud on which they can write a similar message. The stud will then be used in a new build or remodeled home in 2015. The larger of the three donation amounts also comes with a donor Facebook post, a Habitat for Humanity water bottle and a three-pack of mechanic’s gloves to use as a stocking stuffer.

Gifts cards to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Staples or other hardware or office supply stores also will be accepted, Wood added.

“Gift cards are awesome because they subsidize our budget,” Wood said. “We might be working on a home and find we need more trim. Being able to make a run to the hardware store to buy that, and not worry about where the money is coming from, is a huge help.”

Volunteering with the organization, either as a family or individual, is also a great way to do a service project in someone’s honor, he said.

“Many people don’t realize we have needs outside of construction work,” Wood said. “I’ve been looking for someone to come in here and hook up a fax machine. Sometimes, we have simple things like that, where someone with basic IT skills can come in and provide a big service to us.”

Wood hopes the display of tiles and construction studs in future projects will help encourage people to reach out to the community.

“It’s nice to see people who live in the Harrisburg area helping their neighbors,” Wood said. “Even if they can’t directly be on-site or physically do much for us, there’s satisfaction in doing whatever you can for the people around you.”

Student Scribes: “Changing the Caption”

November 28, 2014 | by Taylor Melhorn

Chemicals. Molecules. Experiments. The smile on my face broadened as I examined myself in the full-length mirror of my dorm room, trying on my brand-new, crisp-white lab coat. Just the thought of what the next five years would bring added to my excitement as I snapped a picture of myself to post on Facebook, along with the caption, “Chemist in the Making.”

It was really happening. This dream that I had been harboring since I was 6 years old was finally starting to come true. I was an undergrad at Drexel University, earning my bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and there was nothing that would prevent me from achieving my goals.

However, my plan did not unfold exactly as I had anticipated.

It started out perfectly. There I was in Philadelphia, excited as can be, ready to conduct experiments and write up lab reports. Even the mundane aspects of the field, such as balancing equations and calculating mole conversions, roused my interest. It wasn’t until my A’s morphed into C’s and I found myself constantly staying up all hours of the night that the fear set in and threatened to transform my lifelong dreams into distant memories. Then midterms rolled around, and I knew I was finished.

I spent the majority of that week in tears. Phone calls home were more frequent than ever. My mom was trying to make sense of the situation, my sister told me that all I needed to do was join a sorority and make friends, and my dad, being his usual quiet self, offered no help whatsoever. I was in full-on panic mode. I made rash decisions just to ease my anxiety, including returning home at the end of the semester to enroll in a two-year program at my local community college to become an assistant district attorney, just like Alex Cabot on “Law and Order: SVU.” My mother insisted that I finish the year at Drexel and stop watching so much television.

Despite what I thought was my better judgment, I relented and agreed to remain at Drexel until my final semester ended in June. I still didn’t have a plan, though, and that had me worried just as much as I had been for the previous three weeks. I knew I had to change my major, because there was no way I was going to take the next course in Chemistry, let alone Calculus II and Physics. The damage that would have caused to my GPA would have prevented me from getting accepted into Clown College.

Trying to figure out my future in a matter of days is no easy task, and I wasn’t having much success on my own. I enlisted the help of my family once again, and the vote was unanimous. I printed out the form online and took it directly to my advisor to change my major to English.

Being in the seventh week of 10-week long classes, there weren’t many courses with seats available for me to choose from for my second semester. I must have had a little bit of luck on my side, however, because I was able to enroll in five classes in the Humanities to begin after winter break. With that knowledge, I was finally able to focus on my current schedule and devote all of my strength and willpower to passing my final exams.

With my newfound success, I packed up my suitcases and left Philadelphia in the rearview mirror. My head was now clear enough to allow me to thoroughly think through a decision, and I enrolled in Penn State Harrisburg to finish my degree. Many factors contributed to my decision, including my change of major and the realization that I could save some much-needed cash if I stayed at home and commuted to school. I started my journey thinking that I needed Drexel to make my dreams come true; I am continuing it with the knowledge that the school doesn’t make me triumphant. I alone make that happen.

A year-and-a-half later, I’m preparing for finals once again. Even though I am no longer studying at Drexel, I am still working on a degree in English, and I am confident that I made the right choice. It was difficult for me to realize that the dream I had spent over a decade striving for was no longer a reality, and, although I have a new dream and new goals, I still sometimes wonder if I would have been able to push through and become the chemist that I always imagined myself to be. I try to push those thoughts out of my head. I know I can’t go back; I have to keep moving forward.

Standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom at home, I run my brush through my hair one more time and apply another coat of mascara to my eyelashes. I am not wearing a lab coat. I am not going to school today to dissect gaseous mixtures or combine ionic compounds. I’m dressed in jeans and a soft cotton tee shirt, and I decide I’m ready for another day of analyzing “The Maid’s Tragedy” and learning about ethics in creative writing. Before I head out the door, I take my cell phone out of my back pocket. I pull up the camera and aim it at the mirror. When the focus sharpens, I smile and press the circular icon on the touchscreen. I slip on a light jacket as I log onto my Facebook account, and I upload the picture I just took. I can no longer caption it with the phrase “Chemist in the Making,” so I come up with a better set of words.

When I arrive at school 20 minutes later, I tap the icon on my phone that is alerting me to the fact that there has been some activity on my profile. The information brings a smile to my face again. Seven people have “liked” the photo I posted, the photo with the caption, “Author in Progress.”

Taylor Melhorn is an English major at Penn State Harrisburg.

Student Scribes: “The People’s Bridge”

November 28, 2014 | by Alexander Clark

I served as crew on the Pride of the Susquehanna for three months in 2013. Never much a people person, I happily accepted the extra hours cleaning the engine room instead of serving in my proper capacity as water-bound customer service.

I spent days cleaning, often hanging from the I-beams comprising the ceiling until my inner ear had started to forget the right way round and my up and down began to run crooked to gravity, long after my fingers had gone numb.

Each day, I’d scour and clean and take my breaks on the top deck, enjoying the sweat and oil on my perforated “work” clothes as something so different from the clean white of my cruise uniform.

On one of the indeterminate nights of that fall, six hours after I’d left Capt. Richard with the paddleboat and biked home, past the mostly empty island and over the open grate bridge that used to scare me, I sat, still in those work clothes, staring at the bridge and the darkened outline of a tree that hid from me the lighted dock of the Pride but left the brighter outline of the bridge unobstructed.

Acrophobia not gone but subdued, crossing the bridge on my bike had taken less than a minute. It might have taken two if I’d been battling pedestrians.

City Island seems too close to Harrisburg proper to really be an island, the bridge too solid to allow one to overlook the connection between the two. The separation seems ineffable.

I’d learned, through inescapable repetitions of the Pride’s tour disc, that the mode depth of the river is 3.5 feet and that, save for a few deep spots that hit 8 or 12, even someone my height could walk from shore to shore.

On the bridge, I’d looked straight and over my handlebars, slightly down to 10 feet in front of me, peripheral vision handling the farther off. The rails of the bridge didn’t call me toward the air and the water below as much as they had once, but, even after 22 years of living within 60 feet of one of the East coast’s largest rivers, 464 miles long and nearly a mile wide, I couldn’t swim.

The horse crap from the previous week had finally washed through the bridge’s walkway. The horses really needed diapers or the waste catches like the carriages in Philadelphia and New York have. Every time the Pride passed under while riders went over, I expected to hear a splash followed by screaming and disgusted passengers.

The river was still low, but not as low as it was before the rain. The pylons of Walnut Street, the over-river portion, this bridge, were really exposed, like the teeth of an overzealous brusher. The rain washed away most of the logs built up against the steel prow bar caps on the upriver side, so no broccoli in the braces or further dental analogies available.

No cruise that day. No horses that last cruise. It had been safe to stand on the foredeck and really look at the bridge. Giant brown stones, black-painted and comfortably rusted I-beams, same blackened grating. This was the cleanest of the bridges we passed under, its design such that it got a wash every time it rained, while the others just formed silt and filth stalactites.

The eroding roots of the intermediate supports still firmly anchored through the mud into the underlying river-bottom stone. One wonders why, when looking up at the bridge from below, he doesn’t get the same fear sense of height as when he looks down on the spot from above.

Eight hours since the engine room.

The problem is always how to tell time passing when you know the reader doesn’t take so long to turn a page.

My fingers still stink. The bridge is different in the dark. From here, from my window, it’s an inverse outline, pretty lights dotting the frame of a prosaic and antiquated pass. Quaint and calm. Solid like a memorial, never mind that half out of view, the half that would connect the far side of the island to the farther shore washed away 15 years ago. From here, it’s just a frame.

It was always just a frame. The bridge doesn’t make me afraid of heights or want to jump, doesn’t tease me with the fantasy of scandalized and be-scatted Pride passengers. The bridge is a quarter-mile span of steel and stone on which to hang memories accrued through 20 years of Harrisburg citizenship. Something to give boundary to my self-reflections. A sedentary place for transient thought.

Alexander Clark is an English major at Penn State Harrisburg.

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