Trick, Trap, Trump: The Harrisburg Bridge Club—Still Thriving after All These Years

May 16, 2013 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

Driving down 21^st Street in Camp Hill, you may have noticed that the parking lot at the Harrisburg Bridge Club often seems to be filled to capacity.

Is the card game that enjoyed its heyday in the era of “Mad Men” still that popular? The answer, according to Harrisburg resident and Club Manager Bob Priest, is simply “yes,” and so much so that they recently tore down the old structure and built a new one, with a larger parking lot.

Dating back to 1948, the club has the distinction of being the first member-owned bridge club in the country, holding its kickoff tournament at the William Penn Hotel in Harrisburg. A year later, the club organized its first charity event, a community bridge party at the old Penn Harris Hotel benefiting the Harrisburg Council of Girl Scouts. Charles Goren, the late world champion American bridge player and best-selling author, came to town to address the group.

As the years passed and more individuals developed an interest in the game, the facilities at the William Penn Hotel became inadequate. So, in 1951, the club moved to its current home at 349 N. 21^st Street in Camp Hill.

Referred to by members as “The House of Bridge That Friendship Built,” the club has grown from a mere five members to more than 400 enthusiastic competitors who cultivate their game skills, as well as their friendships, at the newly modernized facility.

Priest, who manages operations, said his love of the game goes back to his childhood.

“I was in the hospital for a month with a kidney infection when I was 9, and my mother caught me teaching poker to the nuns and thought I needed a more respectable game,” he said with a laugh.

Young Bob looked forward to the rare nights as a child when he was allowed to stay up late and play bridge with the family. He explains that he didn’t learn duplicate bridge until college.

“I joined a bridge club on campus and the bug bit,” he said.

Duplicate bridge is the only game played at the Harrisburg Bridge Club and is widely used in tournament play. It’s called “duplicate” because the same set of cards is played at each table, forcing players to rely on skills, rather than chance.

“You can’t pick up a book and learn it within an hour. I’ve been playing bridge since 1958, and I’m still learning the game. It’s relatively easy to learn, but extremely difficult to master,” said Priest.

For an afternoon or an evening out, however, it’s a bargain at a mere $5 for a three-hour session for members, who pay $15 a year to join. Non-members who want to “try before they buy” can play for $6.

Mechanicsburg resident Tim Trissler and his wife Judy play bridge several times a week, often as partners.

“I’ve played duplicate bridge for 15 years,” said Trissler, who said he enjoys the camaraderie and competition. “I wanted to continue to be competitive and stimulated after I retired. Bridge is a game of reasoning and calculating odds.”

For those who find all this daunting, but are nonetheless intrigued, the club offers 20 hours of lessons for $60.

As time passes and members grow older, Priest is hoping that new generations will “catch the bridge bug.”

“When kids play bridge, their grades improve in every single course they take. It’s applied knowledge and includes the math of evaluating the hand, the psychology traits of reading your partner and a foreign language in learning the terms,” he said.

To learn more about the Harrisburg Bridge Club and to view the game schedule, you can visit the website at https://mysite.verizon.net/vzeq5ujk/harrisburgbridgeclub, the Facebook page or call 717-737-4461.

Ten’s a Crowd: Crime, trash, recovery are top concerns among packed field for City Council.

May 16, 2013 | by Lawrance Binda

Ten candidates; four seats; one stage.

The dais at Midtown Scholar Bookstore was so packed with City Council hopefuls that incumbent Kelly Summerford was forced to hover behind challenger Ron Chapel, leaning into the microphone from the rear of the stage whenever his turn came to address the crowd.

Harrisburg may have a lot of problems, but lack of civic involvement wasn’t one of them on this night.

The 10-candidate/two-hour debate, sponsored last month by Harrisburg Hope, probably didn’t change many minds in the packed-to-the-gills bookstore, as the candidates agreed on many of the issues.

Better crime-fighting, yes.

More youth involvement, yup.

Cleaner streets, you bet.

But, if nothing else, the debate did provide a fascinating glimpse into the changing priorities of the Harrisburg body politic.

Two years ago, during the last council election, the debate focused almost entirely on the city’s financial crisis. Did you support municipal bankruptcy? Were you willing to risk a state takeover? Would you go to jail for refusing to follow the mandates of a receiver?

This year, moderator Alan Kennedy-Shaffer did ask the candidates about the still-unresolved financial catastrophe, but their answers hinted that official Harrisburg is preparing to move beyond it.

“The first three years of my job on the council were working on the financial difficulties in this city,” said incumbent Eugenia Smith. “Hopefully, we’ve laid a foundation now that we can move forward.”

Two years ago, Smith had vehemently opposed imposition of the receivership. She was among the council majority that attempted to declare municipal bankruptcy to prevent a state-appointed receiver from forcing a solution on Harrisburg. However, these opponents now are believers, having warmed to the receiver’s financial recovery plan.

According to the incumbents at the debate, receiver William Lynch is about to unveil a comprehensive solution to the financial crisis, which has buried the city under some $350 million in incinerator debt and led to three straight defaults on its general obligation bond payments.

“This receiver is willing to work with us,” said incumbent and council President Wanda Williams. “We assure you that revenue will come into the city of Harrisburg. In the next six or seven months, we will be financially stable so we cay pay our creditors.”

The details of that solution were left unmentioned, though it’s widely believed to be some combination of asset sales, union concessions and maybe a creditor haircut. The incumbents, who have been thoroughly briefed by Lynch, are under orders not to reveal specifics, they said.

The challengers have not been privy to Lynch’s behind-the-scenes moves, so they mostly gave ground on the issue. To a person, they said they wanted to avoid bankruptcy if possible and would like to keep the defined pension plan for existing city workers. They further agreed that any solution must address both the incinerator debt and the city’s recurring structural deficit.

“We have to look at how we spend our money,” said challenger Shamaine Daniels. “We have to look at all of the budget items, put them on the table and examine the debit side and the revenue side. Until we address this, these issues will keep coming up.”

For much of the rest of the debate, the candidates knocked around the issues of crime and trash.

Challenger Chapel said both problems were symptomatic of greater societal dysfunction. Some people, he said, stop caring because they feel alienated from the larger community.

“They feel despair and unemployment,” he said.

Challenger Ellis “Rick” Roy, a former city policeman, seemed surprised at the sudden focus on trash and dumping, which has been the subject of several recent community meetings and mayoral press conferences.

“Illegal dumping has been going on for as long as I can remember,” he said, advocating a return to the “Adopt-a-Block” program.

Other suggestions included paying youth to pick up trash (Williams); improving communication between residents and sanitation workers (challenger Robert Drum); razing houses after three warnings if landlords don’t act to fix blighted properties (Roy); working to get empty houses reoccupied (Daniels); and instituting better bulk trash pickup (challenger Ben Allatt, among others).

As per crime – the candidates mostly argued that the city needed to provide more opportunities for youth involvement and for the re-integration into society of ex-offenders.

“We need to get people re-acclimated into our communities,” said challenger Pat Stringer, who served on council previously. “Residents and businesses won’t want to come here until they believe that crime is under control.”

Both incumbents and challengers were reluctant to criticize Mayor Linda Thompson, even after Kennedy-Shaffer asked the group about the relationship between council and the mayor’s office, which has been rocky under both Thompson and former Mayor Steve Reed.

“I know very well all the people running for mayor, and I believe I will be able to communicate with all of them, no matter who wins,” said challenger Camille Erice in a typical response.

Only Allatt offered a somewhat different answer, saying, “you got to stand tall, fight for what you want.”

Allatt also was an exception as, unlike the other candidates, he repeatedly returned to the issue of how the Harrisburg government functions. He advocated the reform of government processes and an upgrade to the city’s embarrassingly inadequate website to improve service delivery and communication with residents.

“We have to get these basic city processes down to address issues like crime and trash,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re operating behind the eight ball.”

Don’t Dump Here: New coalition fights for a cleaner, greener Harrisburg.

May 16, 2013 | by Tara Leo Auchey

At the Dauphin County State of the County Address on April 9, Commissioner Mike Pries stated there are 137 illegal dump sites throughout the county—off of rural roads, down the side of Peter’s Mountain, on vacant lots in the city.

“Enough is enough,” said Pries.

Two weeks before, he had proclaimed a similar message when he spoke at the launch of the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition.

That day, he announced the formation of the Illegal Dumping Task Force, a seven-member group charged with collecting and reviewing information, and making suggestions on ways the county can combat this very serious issue. “We’re not messing around,” Pries proclaimed, explaining Dauphin County’s intention to be strict with fines and imprisonment. “You gotta hit them in the pockets. Lock ’em up. Because we’ve had enough, you’ve had enough and we’re going to do something about it.”

This unexpected announcement couldn’t have been a better bestowal for the kickoff event.

The problem of illegal dumping is what started the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition. In September of 2012, representatives from a variety of organizations and agencies came together in South Allison Hill, one of the worst illegal dumping locations in the county. This neighborhood in the city of Harrisburg has several sad and dangerous sites of garbage heaped about. The trash includes anything and everything that can be imagined—broken furniture and electronics, tires, rolls of carpet, construction waste such as chunks of plaster and ceramic tiles, bags of rubbish torn and strewn about by animals. In some cases, whole lots are filled this way where a house once stood. In other cases, it’s dumped in alleyways behind houses when no one was looking.

Chris Fegley, revitalization manager for Community Action Commission (CAC), pointed to the worst of the worst located a couple of blocks in any direction from CAC’s front door at 1514 Derry St. This is how the conversation started at that first meeting. For those around the table who lived outside of the city, it was unbelievable such sites existed. However, representatives of the Harrisburg’s Public Works Department confirmed it. So did both a city police officer and the single county enforcement officer. For anyone who was still incredulous, Fegley offered a tour. Those who took him up on it realized that seeing is believing.

Information and suggestions began to pour out of those who gathered every other week at CAC. Questions were posed and brainstorming began. Over the next few months, the group grew as more people came to the table. A deputy district attorney from the Dauphin County D.A.’s Office attended to answer questions and listen to concerns. Representatives from Keep America Beautiful and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful visited to discuss proven methods. Specific people were brought in as the talk moved from illegal dumping to non-compliance with sanitation ordinances to littering to individual responsibility to community engagement to schools and youth to best practices.

Before long, a structure was sketched and a three-pronged approach was adopted—Education, Empowerment and Enforcement. The idea is that any trash problem must be confronted with these three “E’s” at the same time. If one prong is removed, the structure wobbles and solutions won’t be effective or sustainable.

This attitude became the point of departure for the group as goals were laid out and tasks were assigned. What soon became apparent is that a coalition was forming. A quick headcount showed that about 30 different entities were now working together to deal with trash in Dauphin County and, specifically, in the city of Harrisburg.

With that the name came—Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition.

The name brought a new objective to the table, one that naturally formed and emphasized the true purpose of the group. That purpose is to work together to overcome the great challenge at hand, which is ultimately to make the capital region cleaner and greener.

It’s not an easy mission and not one that can be tackled by one program, initiative or person. Collaboration is the key. Rather than work independently of each other, for the first time, the capital region and the city of Harrisburg have a coalition to exchange data and knowledge, to overlap projects, to support one another, to share resources and to each do our part to stop the piles of trash from growing.

Of course, programs, initiatives and people are integral to the mission, and that’s why Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition gathered as many of these that could be found. Amongst them are Camp Curtin Community Neighbors United, The Harrisburg Authority, City Beautiful 2.0, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, tree plantings, storm water management, rain barrels, Green Urban Initiative, Harrisburg Young Professionals, 2 Minute Tuesday Business Club, The Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, the Environmental Advisory Council, the city’s elected officials and the county’s newly formed task force on illegal dumping.

The issue of illegal dumping is how it all started. It’s why so many people and projects were brought together. The commissioner’s decision to honor the Clean and Green Harrisburg Coalition’s kickoff with such an important pronouncement is surely a good omen.

It’s indicative of the positive impact this coalition will have on the capital region.

Tara Leo Auchey is creator and editor of today’s the day Harrisburg at www.todaysthedayhbg.com.

May News Digest

May 16, 2013 | by Admin

Receiver Provides Update

Harrisburg is inching closer to resolving its financial crisis, even as the city’s red ink continues to flow, says receiver William Lynch.

In his court-mandated quarterly update, Lynch states that:

“Active negotiations” continue “towards a closing” of the sale of the city’s troubled incinerator to the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority and the long-term lease of the city’s parking facilities to Harrisburg First, an entity of financial services giant Guggenheim Partners.
The receiver has changed course on the proposal to hire professional managers for the city’s water and sewer system. The plan now is to create a regional operating authority for Harrisburg and surrounding jurisdictions. Part of this proposal “involves a resolution with the suburban municipalities on the overcharges for sewer system operation.”
Contract negotiations continue with the city’s three unions with the hope that agreements will be reached “as early in 2013 as possible.” In the meantime, Lynch has directed the city not to implement salary increases that were part of contract extensions.
The hiring last year of Chief Operating Officer Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia has “greatly strengthened the city’s administrative capacity” and helped it complete its 2010 audit. The 2011 audit should be finalized in mid-May.
The city’s financial picture remains troubled. Harrisburg ended 2012 with a two-year cumulative deficit of $13 million, most from two missed general obligation bond payments. In March, Lynch ordered the city to skip another $5.2 million general obligation payment. In all, Harrisburg expects revenue this year of $51.4 million and expenses of $58.4 million.

Lynch’s next quarterly update is slated for June 30.

Private Trash Collection on Tap

Come next year, Harrisburg residents may have their trash picked up by a private hauler.

The city has issued a request for proposals to privatize its trash and recyclable collections, which long has been the duty of the city’s Public Works Department.

Turning over trash collection to the private sector is part of the receiver’s financial recovery plan to cut the cost and improve the service of trash removal in the city.

Interested haulers have until June 14 to submit their proposals to the city, which would award the contract on July 12. Under the plan, private collection would begin Jan. 1.

Harrisburg collects trash and recyclables from about 15,330 residences and about 1,400 commercial sites.

The full request for proposal is available at the city’s website, www.harrisburgpa.gov.

New Uptown Garden for GUI

Green Urban Initiative last month took the first steps towards creating a new community garden in Uptown Harrisburg.

Volunteers cleared debris, constructed gardening beds and tilled soil to prepare the ground for planting at 2257 Atlas St. Previously, the property was overgrown and blighted, filled with litter and debris.

GUI plans 15 gardening beds, providing participating residents with the opportunity to grow healthy, local food.

Last year, GUI planted an Uptown garden nearby at N. 6^th and Curtin streets. However, that garden was bulldozed by the city at the direction of City Council President Wanda Williams, who said she had received complaints that the garden had attracted illicit activities.

Millworks to Host Restaurant, Art Space

Chalk up another renovation for Harrisburg, as the dilapidated Stokes Millworks building is set to become a farm-to-plate restaurant and artist studios.

City businessman Joshua Kesler announced last month that he purchased the historic, Art Deco-style building on the 300 block of Verbeke Street across from the Broad Street Market.

Part of the 15,720-square-foot building will house a full-service restaurant featuring locally sourced goods, including items bought directly from vendors at the Broad Street Market, said Kesler. The restaurant’s interior will be faithful to the building’s original form and function with brick-and-timber construction. It will be open Tuesday to Sunday.

The studio space will give local artists a “low-cost production center,” said Kesler, a former partial owner of Savannah’s on Hanna.

The conversion of Stokes Millworks, which has sat empty for years, will require an extensive renovation, which should be complete in late 2014, said Kesler. The project’s architect is David McIlnay.

“Other development projects in the area, happening in spite of a sluggish economy, have inspired me to take on the project and are convincing me that the Midtown resurgence is underway,” Kesler said in a press release. “The Susquehanna Art Museum’s new project will be the centerpiece and could be, in my opinion, the most important cultural development in the city in a generation.”

Stokes Millworks was constructed in 1938 and once housed a plant that manufactured a variety of wood products. Owner Robert Stokes sold it in 1995, after which it passed through several different owners.

Homegrown Market Coming to Harrisburg

The MakeSpace, the burgeoning artist community in Olde Uptown, is making more space for a venture called Homegrown Market.

Run out of the first floor of 1423 N. 3rd St. (which also houses the Papenfuse for Mayor campaign headquarters on the second floor), the market will take place every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of November. Its opening will coincide with the Friends of Midtown Community Yard Sale on May 11.

Liz Laribee, director of The MakeSpace, said the market will feature local vendors and artisans, with a capacity for 15 sellers. The cost of a booth is $20 per week.

To create a sustaining presence throughout the week, Laribee hopes to highlight start-up ventures and their products in a display window—what she calls a rotational storefront. This is to create positive awareness about entrepreneurs in Harrisburg and provide small businesses with the opportunity to sell from physical space.

You can find out more information by visiting homegrown-market.com or e-mailing [email protected].

Who’s Riding the Bus?

The typical Harrisburg-area commuter bus rider is a Caucasian female, college educated, 45 to 54 years old, with Internet access and an income of $50,000 or more, according to a survey released last month by Capital Area Transit (CAT).

“There’s a popular misconception that many bus riders are at or below poverty income levels,” said Robert Philbin, CAT marketing and communications officer. “But this survey found that 37.5 percent of CAT commuter riders earn $23,000 to $50,000 annually and 25 percent earn from $50 to 75,000; while a surprising 29.3 percent of CAT commuters earn more than $75,000 per year.”

About 8.2 percent of respondents reported income levels below $23,000 per year, stated CAT’s first in-house Commuter Demographic Survey.

The survey further found that more than 46 percent had college degrees, 14.3 percent reported post-graduate degrees and 23 percent had some college education. Only 2.2 percent said they had less than a high school diploma or GED.

“Another surprise, at least for me, is that almost 50 percent of commuter riders use Ride and Park locations around the region to access a CAT bus versus 46.6 percent who walk from home to their bus stop,” said Philbin.

Of respondents, 65.1 percent were female, versus 35 percent male. About 97 percent reported speaking fluent English. A similar number said they have Internet access, not a surprise since the survey was conducted electronically.

Separately, CAT also announced it had purchased 10 new ADA-complaint paratransit buses to serve elderly and disabled riders.

Harrisburg Restaurant Roundup

A large 1,700-square-foot Subway sandwich shop opened last month on the ground floor of the new Market View Place apartments at S. 3^rd and Market streets, Harrisburg. In addition to the restaurant, developer Brickbox Enterprises has renovated the former Kunkel Building into a residence hall for Harrisburg University students. The building most recently housed the Susquehanna Art Museum, which will relocate to a new facility in Midtown.

BullBQ’s Burger Café debuted last month at the back of the stone building in the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. Owner Greg Troup offers Angus beef burgers, pork barbecue, gourmet fries and sodas made the old-fashioned way, with real cane sugar. The eatery is open during regular Market hours.

Ciervo’s reopened last month after a complete renovation of the interior. The Midtown pizza, pasta and sandwich shop is located at N. 2^nd and Reily streets in Harrisburg.

Café di Luna shut its Midtown location last month after relocating to downtown New Cumberland. The coffee house began in downtown Harrisburg before moving to 1004 N. 3^rd St. more than three years ago.

Changing Hands

March Property Sales

Berryhill St., 2406: J. Lukas & L. Nuraini to R. Alonso, $80,000

Boyd St., 640: J. Taylor to U.S. GSA, $99,000

Cumberland St., 257: J. Pearl Solutions LLC to 717 Properties LLC, $105,000

Cumberland St., 259: J. Pearl Solutions LLC to 717 Properties LLC, $105,000

Duke St., 2432: D. Smith to L. Peiffer, $65,000

Dunkle St., 637: PA Deals LLC to J. Vergis, $59,000

Forster St., 1840: J. & C. Cook to M. Escalante, $60,000

Forster St., 2025: PA Deals LLC to Laurel Associates LLC, $64,900

Green St., 706: J. Fritts to J. Choi & J. Crumbly, $140,000

Green St., 2003: J. Lisko to S. Biray, $210,000

Hale Ave., 431: D. Duong & K. Le to I. Yolov, $53,000

Herr St., 260: K. White to D. Leaman, $47,000

Herr St., 1724: W. Morrison to A. Horne Sr., $55,000

Market St., 1216: B. Lewis to D. Lewis, $60,000

North St., 1852: C. Fields to B&W Corner Store Inc., $120,000

N. 2^nd St., 107: CNR Property Management LLC to Shree Bhavani Infra Space, $411,000

N. 2^nd St., 1317: A. Petsinis & D. Parson Jr. to 717 Properties LLC, $99,000

N. 5^th St., 1736: J. & N. Chambers to A. & K. Abraham, $142,000

N. 6^th St., 1501, 1505, 1507, 1509, 1511: Bethesda Mission of Harrisburg to U.S. GSA, $325,000

N. 13^th St., 114: C. Castegneto to W. Pina, $35,000

S. 25^th St., 450: B. & D. Yingst to J. & M. Grant, $107,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 312: J. Rados to P. Lafferty, $164,000

Pennwood Rd., 3220: K. Fansler to K. Udit, $60,000

Rudy Rd., 1930: T. Pham to N. Pham, $48,000

S. Cameron St., 819: V. & L. Worona & American Quick Print to Boas Street LLC, $240,000

Resolution Awaits: Harrisburg’s receiver is expected to unveil a solution soon to the financial crisis—but will all parties accept it?

May 16, 2013 | by J. Alex Hartzler

Sometime this spring, if events proceed as planned, receiver Gen. William Lynch, we all hope, will announce a comprehensive resolution to the ongoing municipal debt crisis in Harrisburg. There has been much public and private speculation about the details, but the broad outlines are well known.

Each of the major stakeholders will be called upon to make sacrifices as part of a settlement: the City of Harrisburg and its taxpayers; city employees and their unions; and Dauphin County and the bondholders (and particularly the insurer of the bonds).

Participants and observers have noted that there are four broad categories to tap for any resolution: the sale of city assets including the parking garages and incinerator; changes to city employee union contracts to more closely reflect the city’s ability to pay; Dauphin County participation as guarantor of the bonds; and debt concessions by the bondholders. In theory, at least, if the required sacrifice is shared relatively evenly among the stakeholders, a negotiated resolution can be reached.

While it is clearly impossible to comment on details prior to a settlement being completed and released, it’s equally clear that everyone in the greater Harrisburg community has a tremendous stake in seeing (and supporting) a resolution. Any resolution will require great courage among our elected officials as it is never easy to tell employees that they will be paid less, taxpayers that they will pay more and bondholders/insurance companies that they will receive less. But that is the action they must take, for the sake of all of us.

Nearly any settlement that combines a roughly equal measure of sacrifice from all the parties will be, by definition, difficult for those parties to swallow. But they must. For, in absence of such a resolution, the prospect of bankruptcy looms large and ominously over the city and region—and over the bondholders, as well.

As Gen. Lynch has said repeatedly, the prospect of bankruptcy is a lose-lose-lose for all involved. Municipal bankruptcy is a very uncertain area of the law. No one can predict how it will turn out, who will benefit and who will hurt. Municipal bankruptcy is also inherently undemocratic as a bankruptcy judge has final authority with the potential to sweep aside local elected officials and others—such as the receiver—who have been put in place by elected state officials.

The most important reason to avoid bankruptcy, however, is the time it would take to reach a resolution and the continued uncertainty throughout that period. Harrisburg can begin its recovery, but only after we know the path forward. Delaying this day of reckoning for several years or more—as bankruptcy would no doubt require—will only make things worse for all of us. If we delay, the overall debt that must be overcome only gets larger, making all parties collectively worse off and the eventual resolution that much more harmful. Only a naïve party under a mistaken belief that its faction will gain at the expense of the other parties would selfishly wish to go down such a path, perhaps ironically to their own detriment. Imagine what would happen if a judge ordered the burden to fall completely on Harrisburg taxpayers, causing already high tax rates to skyrocket, to get a feel for the “scary” side of bankruptcy. Fortunately, all the other parties have equally scary scenarios to contemplate as they consider compromise.

If and when the settlement does happen, we can all get back to the good work of building and improving our capital city (and reporting all of those great stories to our readers) instead of waiting for what “might” happen.

I happen to believe that the receiver is providing the leadership necessary to pull together a settlement that, while difficult for all, will allow our city and region to move forward on much more solid financial footing. If and when he does, we will all owe him—and the many folks who worked with him to craft a solution—a large debt of gratitude, for helping us put our collective debt, and some of our darker fiscal days, mostly behind us.

J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.

A Grappling Great: A college champion, wrestler Ed Ruth now sets his sights on the World Championships—and the Olympics.

May 16, 2013 | by Cory Mull

Ed Ruth’s arms should be getting tired. Every time the Penn State University junior wins a wrestling match for the Nittany Lions, an official raises the chiseled arm of the 184-pounder in victory.

Ruth hasn’t lost since March 18, 2011, making it 70 straight matches since his last defeat. In that time, Ruth, who just captured his second straight NCAA Division I wrestling championship in March — defeating Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin 12-4 in a major decision — has bumped up a weight class and has contributed to three straight team titles for Penn State.

More than a month later, it still hasn’t truly sunk in for the gregarious talker with a toothy smile and hulking muscles.

“It didn’t settle in until the last match [in Des Moines, Iowa],” Ruth, a Harrisburg native, said recently by phone. “It took a week and people are looking at you as this national champion. After a while, it becomes a patch to your name, it’s an introduction to who you are. No one can take that way from you. You just really learn to enjoy it.”

While physically gifted and talented as a youth, Ruth didn’t always win. From his freshman until junior years at Susquehanna Township High, he learned the craft, including his patented “crossface cradle,” but never won a PIAA state championship. That accolade eluded him until he transferred to Blair Academy in New Jersey as a senior, where he claimed his first state championship, became an all-American and ultimately earned a scholarship to Penn State University.

Three years later, Ruth has become one of the nation’s best wrestlers, a physical specimen whose aggressive and engaging style has entertained fans — at University Park, spectators chant “Ruuuuuth” during matches — and been lauded by wrestling pundits. In late April, he wrestled at the 2013 Grappling World Team Trials, which was a USA team qualifier for the World Championships.

With a year left at Penn State, this is proving to be a critical time for Ruth. He has the potential to win his third NCAA championship and wrestle for Team USA in World Championships, but, ultimately, the long-term plan is to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It may be his only chance, since the International Olympic Committee dropped wrestling from the 2020 games.

“He’s at a level now where he’s training to go to the Olympics,” Ruth’s mother, Thanayi, said recently.

That includes his introduction to freestyle wrestling, the primary style of Olympic wrestling, as compared to folkstyle wrestling, which is practiced in college. The difference in freestyle, Ruth said, is how it emphasizes over-the-shoulder tosses and pins and doesn’t diminish stalling tactics.

Ruth, who has long been viewed as an aggressive wrestler with offensive-minded tactics, believes he can transition well to freestyle. Confidence is a variable he can claim. “Definitely,” Ruth said of his ability to transition to freestyle wrestling. “One of the biggest things is that you must trust what you do in training and know it’s going to push you past your boundaries.”

But it will not be a cake walk. In April of 2012, transitioning off his first NCAA title, Ruth was among four Penn State wrestlers who earned the opportunity to wrestle at the U.S. Trials. The experience proved to be a learning one, as Ruth won one match — against a collegiate wrestler — but lost the next two against professionals.

“It was an eye opener,” Thanayi said. “Before he went, a lot of people were telling him he could win it. When he went there, his coaches wanted him to get a feel for what it was like and what the competition would be like. When he was on the mat against kids in college, he did well, but once he got on the mat with the pros, he didn’t know what to do.”

“There’s a sense of urgency to reach the 2016 Olympics,” Ed’s father, Ed Ruth Sr., said of his training. “He might not get a chance to do it if they stop wrestling in 2020.”

Ruth first has to look what’s right in front of him. He’s concentrating on one more tournament in the summer, then will refocus for his senior season at Penn State, where he says he‘s “being targeted on the mat” as the man to beat at 184 pounds. Ruth is taking the pressure in full stride.

“I enjoy having that competition and that extra edge going against my opponent,“ he said. “They have to come after me now.”

Consider the River: The choices you make impact the Susquehanna, the Chesapeake.

May 16, 2013 | by Kermit G. Henning

We’ve heard so much lately about the problems with the Susquehanna River – water quality, sediment, pesticides, hormones and the smallmouth bass. Our river runs 464 miles from its source in Lake Otsego in New York to the Chesapeake Bay. It is the longest non-commercial river in the country, and the largest source of water for the largest estuary in the United States, providing more than half the freshwater that flows into the bay.

The Susquehanna flows through three states and drains more than 27,500 square miles in Pennsylvania, nearly half the state. Imagine the runoff!

The river is important recreationally here in the Susquehanna Valley, but it goes way beyond us. The condition of the river and what we put in it affects millions of folks all along its entire course. Every time you turn on your faucet, flush your toilet, wash your car or fertilize your lawn, it reaches the river. Every time we convert a field to a parking lot, we create more runoff.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, created in 1967 and headquartered in Annapolis, Md., is a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. In 1964, a group of Baltimore businessmen, all sailors, waterfowl hunters and fishermen, had lunch with Rogers C.B Morton, who was then a congressman from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. They wanted his help with problems they saw looming on the Chesapeake: more boats, more people, more houses, poor sewage treatment, dirty industrial discharges.

Morton responded by saying that they could not expect government to fix all the bay’s problems. “There is a great need,” he said, “for a private-sector organization that can represent the best interests of the Chesapeake Bay. It should build public concern and then encourage government and private citizens to deal with these problems together.”

The answer was not what the group had expected, but the words struck home to several of them. By 1967, the group, led by the late Arthur Sherwood, had formed and chartered the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to be that private sector voice working on behalf of the bay. They recruited a board of trustees that represented a variety of interests from throughout the Chesapeake watershed.

CBF’s beginnings were modest. Early in 1970, with membership at 2,000 and a staff of three, Arthur Sherwood took over as executive director and settled on two programs, Environmental Education and Resource Protection, with land conservation an integral part of the protection effort.

Every year, the foundation prepares its State of the Bay Report, measuring gains and losses in pollution, habitat and fisheries in the bay. The report for 2012 is encouraging. Gains have been made in five of the 13 indicators; seven remained the same and only one dropped.

The bay and its tributaries are still not out of danger. Pollutants levels are still way too high; toxins (including those from personal care products, pharmaceuticals, septic systems and agriculture) have not declined. The report said 72 percent of the bay and its tributaries are fully or partially impaired as a result of these toxins.

Surely, one of the major sources of pollution to the river and the bay is the use of lawn chemicals and pesticides. Spring has finally sprung, and we can’t wait to get outside and tend to the lawn and garden. We’ll do anything to bring the dead brown grass back to its lush summer green, including the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, all claimed to be “safe when used as directed.” We fertilize and treat our lawn, our neighbor does his, his neighbor, the whole neighborhood.

Our lawns are immaculate on the surface, but what is the cumulative effect on the environment? Questions have arisen regarding the safety hazards and environmental consequences of using so many chemicals in our landscapes.

Contrary to what lawn care companies advertise, herbicides and pesticides are not magic. While they may work on our lawns, by their very nature they can harm organisms other than the targeted species. This includes homeowners and their families, neighbors, pets and all other forms of life. Some of these chemicals remain active for years after application and accumulate over time in our bodies, and exceedingly high levels are washed into our storm water system, ending up in the river and, eventually, in the Chesapeake – producing algal blooms that negatively affect water clarity.

These pesticides and fertilizers are becoming some of the worst water pollutants in our watershed, indeed, in America. But people can protect our streams and rivers, as well as themselves and their families by knowing the facts. If having grass that looks more like Astroturf than living plants still seems important, it doesn’t have to come with pesticides, but rather products that are organic or natural. The list of alternatives continues to grow, and they are safer, cheaper and often work better.

Consider the state of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay each time you take drink of water or take dip in your local swimming hole. Think about what you are adding to the environment when you flush outdated medicines down your toilet or remove some habitat. Together, you, me and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation can make a difference and bring the bay back to its former health.

Kermit G. Henning is host of abc27 Outdoors TV and a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

From “hava” to the “Gaza Sea”: Eight days of fun, thought, tragedy at the Jewish Film Festival

May 15, 2013 | by Daniel Smyth

The annual Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival opens this month for its 19th season, bringing cinema from across the globe into town.

The eight-day festival features movies from Israel, Poland, France, Ukraine, Austria, Canada and the United States. This wide variety of films is united in the recurring celebration of Jewish culture, something the festival organizers have emphasized from the start.

Founded in 1994 by Francine Feinerman and Lorri Bernstein, the festival has become a cultural slow burn. Organizers started by screening Holocaust documentaries, explained Ayelet Shanken, co-chair of the festival. “Not really artistic, not really entertaining, but educating.”

“The [original] idea was to bring artistic views and education to our community and the broader community” said Shanken, co-chair of the festival, recalling the purpose of the festival’s creation almost two decades ago. Its roots in historical movies have evolved into a showcase of wide-ranging motion pictures and events.

Last year’s festival attracted an audience 600 to 800, with a similarly strong showing expected this year.

“First and foremost, we want wonderful films,” said Julie Sherman, co-chair of the festival. “The films are of Jewish culture, Israeli culture, Jewish history, Israeli history”but are “accessible to anybody.These are films that are really successful in the mainstream.They have either won or been nominated for Academy Awards. They have won different awards at Berlin, Sundance, Toronto and Cannes film festivals.”

This year’s festival features guest speaker Judith Manassen-Ramon, producer of the Israeli documentary, “Dolphin Boy,” a story of a man’s amazing recovery from post-traumatic stress; a live drag show at Stallions Night Club following the screening of the acclaimed Israeli musical miniseries “Mary Lou: A Night of Dreams and Music”; and the Academy Award-nominated film, “Footnote,” among many other films.

Sherman and Shanken were also clear that controversial movies are part of the line-up to prompt dialogue, and they pointed to “A Bottle in the Gaza Sea” as a potential catalyst. The film, adapted from an epistolary novel, seeks to personalize the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict through an e-mail relationship started by a young French woman, newly immigrated to Jerusalem, with a 20-year-old Palestinian man. Her motivation was to find understanding after witnessing a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv café.

Much less solemn is the opening film, “Hava Nagila (The Movie).”

“As Jewish people, you’re brought up with it. It’s funny, you know, you sing it right out of the womb,” laughed Sherman. The documentary is a romp through the history and meaning of the universally recognized song.

The festival will run from May 5 to 12. The opening screening of “Hava Nagila (The Movie)”will be held at the Jewish Community Center. All other screenings will be at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit hbgjff.wordpress.com.

Musical Notes: Coming to HBG

May 15, 2013 | by Dan Webster

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry: Singer-songwriters take the stage in May.

Singer-songwriters are my thematic recommendations for the month of May. A hometown heroine, a troubadour with a heart for Harrisburg and a rising country star with two first names will strum guitars and hopefully flicker our stoic Pennsylvanian hearts.

REBECCA MARIE MILLER, ABBEY BAR, MAY 11, 9 P.M.

Rebecca Marie Miller, a native of Harrisburg, launches her solo album this month at the ABC’s Abbey Bar on May 11. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2011, she is ready to release her vocal and lyrical potency. Following this solo debut, she teams up with her old bandmates, Brave the Day, to headline this show.

Miller has been honing her craft over the past few years as a back-up vocalist and percussionist with the Mynabirds, a Saddle Creek signee, which have toured the United States extensively the past three years. Though she’s relegated to sidekick role with the Mynabirds, she’s more than able to hold the spotlight, doing so for11 years with Brave the Day and now through this solo album. She’s especially on cue with songs “Dead Flowers” (Track 6) and “The World” (Track 10), exhibiting her angel clear and commanding voice and her succinct and moving narratives about searching, regretting and hoping. What more could you ask for from a singer-songwriter?

JOSH RITTER, THE STRAND CAPITOL, MAY 21, 8 P.M.

Josh Ritter and his Royal City Band play the Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center in York on May 21. He is my favorite singer-songwriter and, while the greatest living one is an after-dinner debate (or debacle), Ritter ranks somewhere in the Top 5 of those under 40. And perhaps, like all intrepid lyricists, he is an evolving human. In his first album, “Golden Age of Radio,” he is flat and dense, but produced enough hits like “Harrisburg” (which is about our beloved train station) and “Me & Jiggs” to create a U.K.-cult following waiting for more. In his third album, “The Animals Years” (2006), he delivered clean vocals and a well-trained band, which temper his extended metaphors and allusions that make you think he’s vying for a tenured position at a liberal arts college. The songs are more powerful due to the band support, and he gained more domestic fans through tracks like “Girl in the War” and “Wolves.”

Now, Ritter has eschewed some of his Dylanesque lyrical ambitions and responds with a forgiving, hopeful album in “The Beast in Its Tracks,” slated for release on May 5. Written in direct response to his divorce, the album is essentially, as NPR puts it, “about processing a breakup as the necessary catalyst for a new reality.” At once forgiving in “Joy to You Baby” and less sympathetic and more mocking toward his ex-lover in “New Lover,” Ritter has again shown his mental and emotional resiliency.

His concert presence is exceptional—telling quirky, humorous, ad-libbed narratives between songs—and his general improvisation is authentic. But you’ll only know that if you take the short hop down I-83S.

CASEY JAMES, FED LIVE, MAY 26, 7 P.M.

Casey James graces the FED LIVE stage on May 26. A 2010 American Idol finalist, he is a guitar guru with a smooth and conventional country twang. His eponymously entitled album landed him on the No. 2 slot for the Billboard Country Chart in 2012. Listen to “Crying on a Suitcase,” a crowd favorite, a mainstream country song if you’re into the Top 40 types. But, if you want the more soulful, original side of James, opt for “Let’s Don’t Call it a Night” or find some picking mastery in “Drive.”

Singer-songwriters are underrated, so I’m underwriting these incredible wordsmiths and musicians with full confidence.

Showing Their Roots: The Abbey Bar resonates with Red Molly.

May 15, 2013 | by Jess Hayden

Gorgeous three-part harmony, stellar musicianship and a warm, engaging stage presence have earned Red Molly a place among elite female trios such as the Dixie Chicks and the Wailin’ Jennys. After pulling in packed houses for past performances in Harrisburg, these three talented ladies will be returning for a concert at the Abbey Bar on May 19.

Red Molly formed nine years ago and, since then, has brought their repertoire of rootsy Americana music to venues across the United States, including major festivals such as the Philadelphia and Falcon Ridge folk festivals and Merlefest, a huge roots music event where they have played three times. The band includes Laurie MacAllister (bass, banjo), Abbie Gardner (dobro, banjo) and Molly Venter (guitar).

Since they played Harrisburg last, Red Molly has been busy working in Venter, the newest member of the group.

“Molly had just joined the band when we did that gig at Stage on Herr back in 2010,” recalled Laurie MacAllister. “It was a challenging time for us because we weren’t really sure how our fans would react to the idea of having a new band mate.”

As it turned out, the group needn’t have worried. “Our fans were as nice about this as they are about everything,” MacAllister said. “They accepted Molly wholeheartedly, and everyone agrees that she’s the perfect fit. “

During the past several years, the trio has been able to check off quite a few things on their “wish list.” They played the RockyGrass Festival in Colorado, which is something they’ve always wanted to do, and they also got the chance to perform for some huge crowds by opening several times for Willie Nelson. They even made their first overseas foray, a month a long tour of Australia.

“We were there during festival season, which was just at the right time,” said MacAllister. “We played four different festivals and lots of smaller shows. All told, I think we played for at least 25,000 people, which is a lot to do in a month.”

The upcoming summer and fall months bring a heavy tour schedule for Red Molly. “We have a bunch of really enjoyable shows,” said MacAllister. “We’ve played many of them before so we know that we are going to have a good time.”

In August, they will be returning to the main stage of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, where they had met nine years ago and decided to form a band. Later in the month, they will play at Denmark’s Tønder Festival, which will be their first gig in Europe. In the fall, they will play at several large, soft seat venues, which is moving up to a new level for the band. “We’re really looking forward to visiting old friends and playing some of the places that we’ve played at before,” said MacAllister. “But branching out to performing arts centers will allow us to really expand our audience.”

Those not familiar with Red Molly should expect to hear a sound that is reminiscent of country music, but with more of a rootsy feel. The group writes some of their own songs, but they also do covers recorded by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, Doc Watson and Dolly Parton.

“One thing that really distinguishes us is our three-part harmony vocals,” said MacAllister. “Plus Abby plays the Dobro, the resonator guitar, and that’s been sort of our signature sound from the beginning.”

The three ladies are really good friends and like to have a lot of fun on the stage. “We all love each other, and we love good music and love to play it,” said MacAllister. “Basically, people can expect to have a really nice evening, a lot better than if they stayed home and watched TV.”

The Red Molly show is sponsored by the Susquehanna Folk Music Society and Greenbelt Events and is one of several shows that these two organizations have presented in recent months. Both look at working together as a way to broaden an audience for folk music.

“Susquehanna Folk has brought a wide variety of Celtic, folk and world music to The Abbey Bar,” said Sarah Staub, manager of Greenbelt Events. ”While Greenbelt Events tries to diversify its music as much as possible, Susquehanna Folk has helped by breathing new life into the Abbey Bar’s folk scene by providing such acts as Le Vent Du Nord, John Hammond and Red Molly.”

To learn more about the band, visit www.redmolly.com and check out the
official video of the Red Molly original, “Hello Goodbye.” The concert with
Red Molly will be held on May 19 at 4 p.m. at the Abbey Bar of the Appalachian Brewing Co., 50 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg. For tickets and information, visit susquehannafolk.org.

Jess Hayden is executive director of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

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