Harrisburg Magazine October 2022

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PRESIDENT/CEO Darwin Oordt doordt@harrisburgmagazine.com DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Darcy Oordt darcy@harrisburgmagazine.com DIRECTOR OF MARKETING / SIMPLY THE BEST Chris Aloia caloia@harrisburgmagazine.com

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ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Robert Baranow rbaranow@harrisburgmagazine.com Jo Ann Shover jshover@harrisburgmagazine.com MANAGING EDITOR Randy Gross rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com

IN THIS ISSUE ...

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INTROSPECTION THE CERCUS CARTOON BARTENDER’S OR BARISTA’S CHOICE

BY THE BOOK NOURISHING BITES THE FINANCE HOUND THEATRE THOUGHTS TAILBOARD TALK FOR THE LOVE OF PETS

14 16 17 18 22 24 28 32

VOLUME 28 NO. 10 OCTOBER 2022

CINEMATIC RAMBLINGS POSTCARDS FROM… POEM #HBGMAG INFLUENCER SHORT STORY FALL FOLIAGE VIEWING CARLISLE’S CREATE-A-PALOOZA HALLOWEEN FILMS FOR THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO BE HORRIFIED

34 STA - TWO LOCAL WOMEN ARTISTS 37 EQUESTRIAN FUN! 38 THE STORY OF THE UNDERGROUND BAND

40 41 42 46

ARTS ON THE SQUARE NEW BUSINESS OPENING! STA- THE CHEF AS ARTIST

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Laura Reich lreich@harrisburgmagazine.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Richard Eppinger reppinger@harrisburgmagazine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Barbara DeCesare Jack Gencavage Paul Hood Kevyn Knox Ryan McCauley Stephanie Kalina-Metzger Bill Roddey CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Brad Maurer Kyle McHenry CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Will Masters Paul Vasiliades SALES OFFICE 717.233.0109 4309 Linglestown Road, Suite 115 Harrisburg, PA 17112

SIMPLY THE BEST GALA RECAP

ON THE COVER

Jay & Nancy Krevsky: Local Theater Royalty.

See the story on page 18.

HARRISBURGMAGAZINE.COM @HARRISBURGMAGAZINE 2 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@harrisburgmagazine.com

Harrisburg Magazine® is published monthly at 4309 Linglestown Road, Suite 115, Harrisburg, PA 17112. Phone: 717.233.0109; harrisburgmagazine.com. Subscriptions available. Send change of address forms to Benchmark Group Media, 4309 Linglestown Road, Suite 115, Harrisburg, PA 17112. This issue or any part thereof may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from Harrisburg Magazine®, Inc. Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, photographs and disks if they are to be returned, and no responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All rights in letters sent to Harrisburg Magazine® will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and as such are subject to a right to edit and comment editorially. Name and contents ©2022, Harrisburg Magazine, Inc. Printed by Freeport Press, Freeport, Ohio.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 3

Introspection

PHOTO BY PAUL VASILIADES Photo Wall at the Krevsky Residence

“Halloween is a great holiday for any actor if you think about it. It’s all about dress-up and playing characters. So yeah, it’s always had a special place for me.” — Nicolas Cage

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ctober has long been a month when children and adults alike relish the idea of “playing dress-up” – whether it’s for soliciting treats door-to-door or gaining the adoration of an audience beneath stage lights. So, it’s only appropriate that we shine a spotlight this month on a couple who’ve stood on Harrisburg area stages more than 120 times during a six-decade theatre career and, in the process of receiving countless standing ovations, earned the undying respect of both the theatrical community, and the community at large. Jay and Nancy Krevsky, long married both to each other and the stage, are hence honored for their role as Influencers in Central PA. The “spirit” of the season is also evident (if you look closely enough) in a story by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger, who asked her friends at Ghost Ops Paranormal to investigate the friendly ghosts rumored to be residing at 11 East High Street in Carlisle, home to Jim & Karen 4 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

Griffith’s Create-A-Palooza, a haven for, among other things, pottery, ceramic, and glass painting – none of which were shattered during the ghost-busting mission. (According to my sources, it’s poltergeists who do the shattering, not ghosts).

For a friendlier take on horror movies, film buffs Paul Hood, Kevyn Knox, and yours truly drop a dozen non-horrifying film recommendations into your trick-or-treat bag. If you’re unafraid of a Vampire’s Kiss, read about that creative concoction – and others – served up by this month’s Bartender’s Choice selectee, HMAC’s Elena Rossetto, who is a star both behind the bar and, as a member of the band The After Hours, on the stage. And, if your idea of a “chill” is just chilling out this month, Arts & Entertainment Editor Christina Heintzelman offers a guide to some of the most scenic and serene locations for fall foliage viewing.

On the artistic side, Christina serves up the perfect October

trifecta. First, she meets up with – and allows us to meet – a pair of phenomenal local women: “warrior” artist Dionn Renee, and underground artist Reina 76; then, she profiles “chef as artist” Qui Musarra, co-owner of premiere restaurants Mangia Qui, Rubicon, and Suba; and, taking one more turn, toward music, Heintzelman previews the upcoming Arts on the Square season at Market Square Presbyterian Church. Speaking of music … get ready to take a trip down memory lane when local musician Jack Gencavage synopsizes his recently released book, “The Existence of the Poor and Unknown: The Story of the Underground Band in the 1980’s.”

On the literary side, writer Ryan McCauley’s “Excerpt From a Diary Found on Green Street” is a healthy helping of paranoia that combines elements of Poe and Kafka; poet Barbara DeCesare’s “Come October” paints an autumnal picture of loss and longing; cartoonist Brad Maurer’s latest The Cercus shines a Halloween light on statewide politics; and – scattered here and there like the fall leaves - satirist Bill Roddey returns with some more of his Off the Cuff one-liners.

Don’t forget our columns! In Postcards From … author Steven G. Williams chats with a TikTok influencer; film & TV historian Kevyn Knox asks “where have all the quality movies gone?” in Cinematic Ramblings; Alyssa Myer (filling in for Andrea Reed) offers healthy eating tips for the fall in Nourishing Bites; Michelle Haring’s By the Book profiles popular local bestselling author Maria V. Snyder (“Poison Study”); Bryson Roof provides help with decoding financial jargon in The Finance Hound; Barbara Trainin Blank previews some of the “thrills and chills” to be found on local stages this month in Theatre Thoughts; HACC’s Robert Stakem says there’s ways to help the people who strive to help us (namely, EMS, firefighters, and police officers) in Tailboard Talk; and Kristen Zellner tells some “mouse tales” in For the Love of Pets.

ADRIFT Curled up to sleep softly on a cloud, Till I become part of a thunderstorm.

Getting old is like IKEA furniture assembled by a couple breaking up.

The easiest thing in the world is to fool someone who already trusts you. And the hardest thing is to win that trust back. It’s like trying to turn vomit back into a Happy Meal.

Thought for food: chocolate covered cholesterol pills.

Remember, it’s the perfect month for playing “dress-up”! Which means, for a change, you might actually have fun wearing a mask.

RG

The Cercus reserves all reproduction rights, including the right to claim statutory copyright, in the above published Work. The Work may not be photographed, sketched, painted, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express, written consent of The Cercus.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 5

Bartender’s or Barista’s Choice

There’s a Certain Musicality to This Mixologist’s Mirthful Creations Story By Randy Gross rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com

Photos By Paul Vasiliades

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Vampire’s Kiss 6 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

icture your favorite bar for a moment.

Now, picture it with live music, if it doesn’t already showcase bands, or without music, if bands already play there.

Chances are, you’re thinking how much more enjoyable that favorite bar of yours is – or could be - with a live musical element.

Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (HMAC) has a bar. Actually, multiple bars, several of which are only in use during live entertainment. And there’s live entertainment a-plenty – from Indie bands to Sunday brunch drag shows. Without a doubt, it’s the combination of live music and a lively bar scene that makes HMAC such a popular destination for locals eager for an eclectic night on the town – and nobody brings more to the table (or rather, bar) than this month’s Bartender’s Choice selectee, Elena Rossetto.

Rossetto embodies the duality of HMAC. She is both a creative mixologist, and a talented musician. Simultaneously, she thrives as an amiable host who enjoys carrying on her father’s legacy (“my dad was a chef, and so I’ve always really enjoyed flavors, and how you can mix them together,” she explains), while getting an equal thrill from playing bass, guitar, and singing with her band The After Hours. The Mechanicsburg High School and Messiah College grad has only been working at HMAC since June of 2021, but the pairing seems like a match made in heaven.

“I’m very much involved with music, and I love music, and a music venue seems like the perfect place to work,” she says, dreamily.

“Because it’s so fun being able to just whip up cocktails and host and have people here just for the show, or to get a good drink, or for our restaurant [Zachary’s BBQ] … and you get exposed to so many different genres and so many different types of people and artists and performers, so it’s really cool.”

And also exciting. She continues, “We have two bars on the side upstairs, and sometimes, if you’re lucky enough, you get scheduled on the show you want to see. But you’re also right

Bartender, Elena Rossetto - Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (HMAC)

next to the stage, on the side, so it’s like you’ve gotta be serving drinks, making money, and getting a free show … it’s really, really exciting.”

As witnessed on a pleasant September afternoon, Rossetto’s musicality isn’t just restricted to her music. She also “dances to her own beat” when it comes to mixing drinks, her talents bleeding over (pun intended) into such fanciful concoctions as “The Vampire’s Kiss” – a spin-off of a Cosmopolitan and a perfect drink for Halloween with sanguine elements like grenadine and a red-sugar rim. “Which, I think is a joke in itself,” she muses, “because you’ll inevitably get red all over your mouth!”

Other drinks mixed up during our visit included “The Fall Delight,” a salted caramel vodka and apple cider drink garnished with thinly sliced apple wedges and a touch of maple syrup and cinnamon; and “The Campfire,” an amalgamation of double chocolate vodka cut with whipped vodka, merged with crème de cacao, Kahlua, and fresh coffee – with a tiny skewer of toasted marshmallows on top.

It goes without saying, Rossetto loves her bartending job – which comes with the fringe

benefit of meeting various musical icons. When asked who was the most interesting person she either got to meet or serve drinks to while on the job, without hesitation she chose singersongwriter Tiffany, the former teen idol who had a hit in the 80’s with a remake of “I Think I’m Alone Now,” who has since recorded five studio albums and continues to tour.

She elaborates, “We found out she was here doing an afternoon cabaret brunch, and then doing her main set later, so I was working a double for both of her shows, but she ended up being the sweetest, coolest, super super chill.

We all were like ‘is she gonna be a diva, is she gonna be dramatic,’ because some people are like ‘omigosh, don’t talk to me,’ but she was just like ‘oh my God, everyone come here, big hugs’ … and she was sipping her mimosas, and hanging out. And she just hung around and talked about her music, her tour, and what she’s writing.”

But what Rossetto loves even more than slinging creative drinks is creating original Indie rock/surf rock/post punk music with her bandmates – and so much so that her music

DRINK OF THE MONTH

Vampire’s Kiss 1.5 Oz Vodka 0.5 Oz Triple Sec 0.5 Oz Lime juice Grenadine Stemless cherry Red Sugar

Rim a martini glass with red sugar Add vodka, triple sec, and lime juice to shaker with ice.

Shake Strain into pre-rimmed martini glass Sink a small about of grenadine into bottom of glass Drop cherry into bottom Enjoy!

See HMAC on Page 8 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 7

L:R The Fall Delight, The Campfire, and The Vampire’s Kiss

HMAC, continued from Page 7

has, without a doubt, blossomed from hobby to career. “It takes up a lot of my time, but it’s something I really enjoy,” she beams, mentioning that not only have The After Hours performed at HMAC, but they also play at least once or twice a month in New York City or Philadelphia. “And it works with my bartending,” she says, “because I can request off whenever I want, and I have my days to write music.” 7 Check out The After Hours here: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Q3FjMGHqCrBvEHfROy HAt?si=YiCIOa8CS6aicwLX0kNaTQ YouTube - https://youtube.com/channel/UCwh3yjazZlGOMg-k_yNENpA Keep up with events and music at HMAC here: https://www.harrisburgarts.com/upcoming-events Elena’s Dossier Words of advice to home mixologists: Don’t be afraid of using citrus and a lot of it. Also, fresh press your citrus at home, it makes a world of difference in your cocktails. Cocktails like whiskey sours, gimlets, sidecars, and margaritas get taken up a notch when you use the perfect balance of fresh pressed citrus.

Inspirations: As funny as it sounds, I get a lot of inspiration from TikTok. I have favorite bartenders I follow that have such cool recipes and the best tips for creating your own. You can learn so much from those creators.

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Favorite spirit straight: My favorite spirit straight would have to be a chilled shot of tequila.

Recommendations of two or three spirits to try: 1800® Coconut Tequila. The flavor is perfect straight or in a cocktail. I enjoy Maker’s Mark Whiskey for sweeter whiskey cocktails, I recommend it all the time or a medium shelf whiskey. Ketel One Botanical Vodka collection creates light, flavorful spritzers. They have grapefruit & rose, cucumber & mint, and peach & orange blossom. Highly recommend using the grapefruit & rose in a cosmopolitan. It’s delightful.

Favorite spirit to mix: I enjoy turning people onto new gin cocktails. Gin pairs beautifully with citrus for a Tom Collins, or martinis with a twist. I love combining with equal parts Negroni as well. Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin are all such bold flavors, but mixed together they create one of the best staple cocktails.

Most commonly ordered drinks at your bar: Jameson & ginger ale, Malibu Bay Breeze, and green tea shots. For a high value bar, these drinks I make just about every night.

Philosophy on drinks: Philosophy on drinks is that they bring people together. It’s an experience like going out to eat. Cocktails can be so fun and playful to make and enjoy. I love trying a drink combination I’ve never tried while catching up with a friend. Having company over, I enjoy hosting

The After Hours

with drinks I think they’ll love. With so many sprints to mix and beers to try, you can always keep it a new and exciting experience.

though is making music with my band, The After Hours.

What days/times do you typically work at the bar:

Thoughts about your cocktails: I’ll reiterate that creating drinks for me is so playful. I have a great deal of fun encouraging my guests to try new drinks. We agree on a base liquor and agree on savory or sweet and go from there. The drink is at the end for the guest, and I love the challenge of creating something new for them. I also enjoy when garnishes are interactive or have specific purposes, like freezing cranberries in ice cubes with a fresh pine sprig for a Christmas drink.

Your day job: I bartend as my primary job then supplement that with working for the Pennsylvania State Museum part time in the gift shop. My career

I’m always behind the bar at least one weekday night and always can be found working on the weekends. Come visit us at HMAC! We play great movies and always have events going on from trivia, to live music, to comedy, poetry and so much more! It’s a fun place to be. 7 Editor’s note: because coffee has become as – if not more - popular than alcoholic beverages, Harrisburg Magazine decided several months ago to accept nominations for both worthy bartenders and baristas.

NOMINATE A BARTENDER OR BARISTA! harrisburgmagazine.com/submissions

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 9

By the Book/Michelle Haring

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Local Authors Are a Part of the Community

aria V. Snyder is a New York Times bestselling author and an integral part of the Central Pennsylvania community. In 2018, One Book One Community, a collaboration of local library systems, selected Poison Study as their book to read for the year. Maria spoke at many libraries and events to share her book and knowledge with the community. Currently, she attends several local book clubs and loves to discuss literature and interact with readers.

After graduating from Penn State, Maria began her career in the Harrisburg area as an Environmental Meteorologist. Weather plays an important role in several of Maria’s books. Her recently rereleased contemporary middle grade novel, Stormwatcher, contains themes about grief, coming of age, and the power of storms.

Her first book, Poison Study, debuted seventeen years ago to rave reviews. Twenty-one books later, she continues to impress readers with her strong characters and fantastic world building. She has written several fantasy series including the Chronicles of Ixia, the Healer Series, and Archives of the Invisible Sword. Her science fiction works include the Sentinels of the Galaxy trilogy and the Inside duology. Her latest new release, Up the Challenge, is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories.

In addition to her writing, Maria teaches and mentors for the Seton Hill University master’s in fine arts program for genre fiction writing. Maria’s an amazing instructor, and she occasionally offers classes through local organizations. She also loves to learn and has taken classes on everything from sword fighting to glass blowing to horseback riding.

Maria loves to travel around the United

States and the world. She has visited all seven continents and over seventy-one countries. She’s always thrilled to meet fans everywhere she goes and goes above and beyond to make herself accessible to her readers. Maria makes friends at the various conventions where she presents panels and signs books. I met her at the RT Convention in Pittsburgh over fifteen years ago. I loved her Study books and asked if she would do a book signing at Cupboard Maker Books. She shared that her first signing was at Readings and Greetings in Summerdale, so she’d enjoy coming to the West Shore for another signing.

At Cupboard Maker Books, the employees enjoy Maria’s works, and love hand selling her titles to readers. We carry all of Maria’s titles in store, and often ship signed copies to fans all over the United States.

For the past several years, Maria has celebrated her new book releases with fans at Cupboard Maker Books and makes regular appearances to sign her books throughout the year. Her next book, the highly anticipated, The Study of Poisons, will be released in Spring 2023. Maria Day, otherwise known as Small Business Saturday, has been a regular event for several years, where new and returning fans can meet and interact with Maria, and of course, get books signed. 7 Michelle Haring is the owner of Cupboard Maker Books, a 6,500 square foot store in Enola, Pennsylvania, with ample parking on Routes 11/15. The store is across the river from Harrisburg and contains over 120,000 curated, unique, previously loved paperback and hardback titles including Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Children’s, History, Art, Religion, and many other genres. The bookstore cats and foster cats from Castaway Critters roam freely and love visitors. Cupboard Maker Books hosts book signings and monthly book clubs and carries thousands of new titles including fiction and nonfiction by local traditionally published and independent authors.

Nourishing Bites/Alyssa Myer

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Comfort & Nutrition: Healthy Eating Tips for the Fall

omfort food does not necessarily mean unhealthy! With a few easy tips, we can turn our favorite comfort foods into nourishing dishes. By serving seasonal ingredients, prioritizing protein, and choosing whole grains we can make the most out of our favorite fall comfort foods.

Choosing fresh, in-season vegetables provides our bodies with a variety of essential nutrients. At peak freshness, in-season produce has its highest nutritional value and may even cost less! Squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, kale, broccoli, and brussels sprouts are all available in the fall. These vegetables are all great sources of vitamins A and C and are rich in potassium and magnesium. Together these powerful nutrients support eye health, immune function, collagen 10 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

formation, muscle contractions, and blood pressure. Kale also supplies our bodies with the vitamin K it needs to help with wound healing and bone density. Try roasting these veggies to make them tender on the inside with a lightly crisp outside. Roasting also gets rid of that bitter taste by bringing out their natural sweetness. Eating more vegetables doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your favorite foods. Blend pumpkin or squash into pasta sauce for a hidden source of veggies to satisfy even the pickiest eaters. Add kale

or shaved brussels sprouts to pizza and top with balsamic glaze for a sweet and tangy flavor. Focus on what you can add, not take away!

Prioritizing a source of protein with each meal will help us feel full and help regulate blood sugar. Protein is also important for muscle and bone development as well as immune function. Sources of lean protein include chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs. Try adding them to pasta, salads, and soups to make your meals more balanced. Other sources of protein include tofu, hummus, beans, nut butters, and seeds. Snacking on hummus and pretzels with veggies or adding pumpkin seeds to trail mix are great options to incorporate these plant-based foods.

Carbohydrates may often be looked at as “bad,” but there is no reason to avoid them! Carbohydrates contain many essential minerals such as B vitamins, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Whole grains contain the entire grain, which is made up of bran, germ, and endosperm.

When the bran and germ are removed, this is called a refined grain.

Whole grains contain more fiber, which can help to control blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Choose whole grains in place of more refined grains in your favorite recipes. Warm grains such as oats, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and quinoa are great options for cooler weather.

Pair them with a source of protein for a meal that will keep you full for hours.

Remember that the social aspect of food is just as important as the nutrition aspect. Football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other festivities not only bring delicious meals but also great memories with friends and family. These moments are meant to be enjoyed, not avoided because of stress around eating. With these tips, we can take advantage of what the fall season has to offer while still nourishing our bodies. 7 Alyssa Myer is a senior at Penn State majoring in nutritional sciences. She has a passion for cooking and finding ways to put a healthier spin on recipes.

She hopes to become a registered dietitian and work in sports nutrition.

The Finance Hound/Bryson Roof

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Decoding Financial Jargon

distinctly remember my first class during my sophomore year of college. I was in an accounting class and the professor was discussing Circuit City. I commented about the company’s earnings-per-share (EPS). All my friends in class looked at me like I had multiple heads. My best friend commented, “We can all tell who grew up with a father who’s a financial advisor and a stepfather who’s an accountant.”

On that day, it became clear that I had a distinct advantage over my friends. I was exposed to financial jargon my entire life, and if you’re not exposed to it, it can seem like a foreign language. But that’s not unique to just the finance industry, it’s a part of every profession and hobby. If you attend a field trial, terms like tallyho, tonguing and harkin are used. Beaglers understand the meaning, but to the outside world, many would ask if these are even real words.

If Jargon is Meant to Provide Clarity, Why Am I Confused?

While jargon can sound impressive and showcase expertise, unscrupulous advisors can use industry-specific terms to avoid answering direct questions. Beware of this misleading sales technique.

Make sure an advisor can address your question in terms you understand. If a strategy is too complex to be explained in simple terms, proceed with caution as you may be locking yourself into an expensive, non-traded, proprietary product.

While there are synonymous terms such as referring to a stock as an equity holding, calling a bond a fixed-income position, or referencing funds as capital, there are a few key terms to keep on your radar.

Red Flag Jargon Buzzwords, Proceed with Caution: • Guarantee: As we recently have experienced, the stock market is volatile. Investment advisors are precluded from guaranteeing investment returns. If an advisor is guaranteeing a return, they are likely offering a life insurance policy or an annuity. In this situation, ask clarifying questions about the product so you fully understand what you are buying. Do not sign anything until you have all your questions answered in writing.

• “A Share,” “B Share’’ & “C Share”. You may also see this referenced as A Load, B Load or C Load. This is the type of share class of a mutual fund. The share class indicates the type of compensation an advisor received for selling a mutual fund. “A Shares” are up frontloads, or commissions, received by an advisor, typically not exceeding 5.75%. “B Shares’’ are back-end loads or deferred commissions received upon selling the mutual fund. “C Shares’’ are level-loads or on-going commissions for as long as you own the investment. By law, these commissions must be disclosed to an investor; however, they are typically disclosed in a lengthy agreement and not verbally discussed.

Share classes are outlined on your monthly/quarterly statement. If you see any of the above share classes or “Class A, Class B or Class C”, know that your advisor is receiving commissions for selling you a financial product, potentially in addition to an investment management fee. To avoid this cost, seek an advisor who utilizes “No Load” mutual funds (i.e., the advisor does not receive commissions to sell a specific product).

Get it in Writing I try not to be too repetitive in this column, but you’ve heard me repeatedly state, “Get it in writing.” If an advisor is unwilling to put their fees or explanation in writing, alarm bells should be ringing. Proceed with caution. If an individual is unsure, I frequently advise them to get the proposal in writing and consult with a trusted contact: an attorney, an accountant, or your insurance agent.

Trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t hurt to have a second set of eyes look over something. 7 Bryson J. Roof, CFP®, is a financial advisor at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Harrisburg, and has been quoted nationally in various finance publications including CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, and Barron’s.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 11

Theatre Thoughts/Barbara Trainin Blank

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October’s stages hold thrills, chills – and much more!

f ever a theater presented two diametrically opposite shows in one month, it’s Hershey Area Playhouse. From October 14-16 its Youth Edition offers Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Originally shown on television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, the musicalized magical fairy tale offers warmth and humor. From October 27-November 6 it’s Sweeney Todd, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. In this dark musical, an unjustly exiled barber returns to 19th-century London seeking revenge against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. He joins forces with Mrs. Lovett, owner of a failing pie shop, whose fortunes take a turn for the better when her meat pies add a new ingredient. Hersheyareaplayhouse.com.

Coming to Ephrata Performing Arts Center, October 13-29, is The Color Purple. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and later turned into a film and this musical, it follows the journey of a young African American woman in the South who has the ability to adapt, survive, and bloom despite the tribulations of her life. Book by Marsha Norman, with music and lyrics by Allee Willis, Brenda Russell, and Stephen Bray. epactheatre.com.

Keystone Theatrics at The Playhouse presents The Addams Family.

The creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky family comes to life in this macabre new musical. Wednesday Addams, delightfully offbeat daughter of Gomez and Morticia, is in love, and the family is hosting a dinner for boyfriend and family. keystonetheatrics.com.

Continuing through October 8, by Gamut Theatre Group’s Popcorn Hat Players, is Rapunzel, about a couple whose child is stolen by a witch, locked away in a tower – and then rescued by a prince. The children from the audience use their own creativity to help tell this story and make sure everyone lives “happily ever after!” gamuttheatre.org.

Also continuing through October 16, at Fulton Theatre, is Kinky

Boots. It’s an inspiring story of an unlikely pair who discover that, when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world. thefulton.org.

Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre features Saturday Night Fever through November 12. In the show based on the 1977 film, streetwise Brooklyn kid Tony Manero lives for Saturday evening and his visit to the local disco.

Wanting to escape his dead-end life, he meets Stephanie Mangano, and the two decide to take part in a dance competition. The show is packed with disco classics including the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love” and “More Than A Woman.” dutchapple.com.

It’s Halloween time, and Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg is presenting Nightfall: with Edgar Allen Poe, by Eric Coble. Poe is considered the inventor of detective fiction. October 14-30. ltmpa.com.

Treasure Island, adapted by Bryony Lavery from the Robert Louis Stevenson adventure novel, comes to Open Stage’s Main Stage, October 8-29. This tale of murder, money, and mutiny thrills but may be unsuitable for young audiences. openstagehbg.org.

William Goldman wrote the stage play of Misery, from the novel by Stephen King. It’s the next offering at The Belmont Theatre, October 21-30. A successful romance novelist is rescued from a car crash by a fan who, holding him captive, forces him to alter his next novel. thebelmont.org. 7 Barbara Trainin Blank is a freelance journalist, book author, editor, and playwright. She grew up in New York City in a house rich in the arts, which are a major focus of her writing. She lived in Harrisburg for 24 years and continues to contribute to regional publications.

Tailboard Talk/Robert Stakem

How To Help Those Trying to Help Us Editor’s note: Public safety professionals often hold informal discussions on the back bumper or tailboard of an ambulance or fire truck. Hence, the column’s tagline, “Tailboard Talk.” mergency medical services (EMS), firefighters and police officers are trained to respond to emergencies at a moment’s notice.

However, when someone calls 9-1-1 for help, there may be obstacles that can delay the response, including weather, traffic and distance to the scene of the emergency.

In addition, avoidable obstacles and hazards sometimes inhibit first responders once they arrive on the scene. Taking the action below can help first responders reach the destination and handle the emergency in a timely manner.

• Ensure your home can easily be found. House numbers may be blocked by overgrown trees or shrubs or covered in decorations. Make your

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house number easily visible from the street and place numbers on your curbside mailbox or marker. Turn your front porch light on. If someone in your home is able, turn the light on and off repeatedly as help arrives, or go to the curb to flag down the emergency vehicle.

• Secure your pets. A leashed pet is not necessarily a secured pet, especially when strangers enter the home. Having pets secured in another room will allow the first responders to focus on the situation and will ensure pets do not escape as people enter and exit the area.

• Create a clear path. If someone needs medical attention, move any items that may be blocking the door, and make a clear path to the patient. This will also assist the

crews in removing the patient more easily from the property.

• Have medications readily available.

In many cases, ambulance crews will want to have medications the patient is taking. At the very least, have a list of the medications and the dosage of each ready to send with the patient. This list should also include any allergies the patient may have, as well as any hospitalizations, surgeries and medical conditions the patient suffers from.

• Provide identification. In some cases, a family member may be able to accompany the patient to the hospital. If this is not the case, give the patient’s identification to the ambulance personnel. This will allow the patient to be registered at the hospital and previous health records accessed.

• Be ready to leave. If you will be leaving when the ambulance does, see if a neighbor or family member can secure your belongings.

This will allow the ambulance to begin transport to the hospital without delay.

Following these steps will help our first responders as they help us. 7 Robert Stakem is executive director of the Senator John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 13

For The Love of Pets/Kristen Zellner

Mouse Tales

W

hen you’re an animal lover, it’s stressful when nature bestows pests upon you. We spend a lot of time ridding our environments of flying, crawling, stinging, and destructive creatures. Mice are some of the most offensive intruders, due to their habit of leaving behind copious amounts of droppings and ransacking everything you own.

Growing up in an 18th century farmhouse, I was accustomed to living alongside the critters and horrified to see them dead in a trap. As a kid, I secretly crept around the house and set off the traps. Now, in my own home, my first mouse problem occurred last winter. One of our cats alerted us to some “activity” under the stove and for several weeks we live trapped and released them into the forest. Clearing every inch of every closet, drawer, shelf, and cabinet, we hoped not to resort to killing them. The cats always told us where mice were hiding, and we caught 14 until they were all gone. The worst part of the mouse issue was when our kitten, Spencer, dropped a live one on the bed in the middle of the night.

A mouse infestation is a pretty harrowing experience and I understand why people use exterminators. For me, it was important to try to get rid of them without causing harm to our child, our pets, or the mice.

Through experimenting with different repellants and traps, luckily, we found success.

Mice can squeeze into a crack as small as a quarter of an inch. They often enter around pipes and wires. Inside, you can fill small cracks and holes with steel wool and/or caulk. Outdoors, rake away debris from the perimeter of the house and fill cracks with steel wool, foam sealer or caulk, where appropriate.

Inside, I use Havahart® traps. I load them with peanut butter and set

them close to the walls. Mice can’t see well, so they tend to run along the perimeter of a room or along the edges of furniture. I then release mice in a wooded location where there are places to hide, giving them the best chance for survival. Then, I wash the used trap in hot, soapy water before setting it again.

For repelling mice, I use Tomcat® spray, from Tomcatbrand.com and Fresh Cab balsam fir oil sachets, from earthkind.com. Tomcat® spray is an excellent repellent for indoor and outdoor use. It is weather resistant and safe to use around pets and people. Fresh Cab is great for pantries, sheds, basements, campers, playhouses, attics, and closets. Both have a very strong odor that mice hate but they aren’t offensive to humans.

Mice like to nest near consistent food sources because they eat 15-20 times a day. For this reason, never leave pet food out. Shut all cabinets tightly, keep food in sealed containers and take the garbage out regularly. If you make your home smell uninviting and take away convenient food sources, mice will view your home as less desirable.

This may seem like a lot of work, but I feel better knowing the mice didn’t suffer from poisoning or starve to death on a sticky trap.

No matter what method you choose, make sure that it is safe for your whole family. 7 Kristen Zellner owns Abrams & Weakley General Store for Animals, est. 1986, Central PA’s first health food store for pets. She helps customers keep their pets healthy through better nutrition.

Cinematic Ramblings/Kevyn Knox

I

Where, oh where, have all the quality movies gone?

know I complain a lot in this column about how they just don’t make movies like they used to. And ya know what? They don’t. And ya know what else? I’m going to complain some more about it right now.

Now don’t get me wrong. There is still quality cinema being made.

P.T. Anderson. Quentin Tarantino. David Fincher. Chloe Zhao. Jane Campion. David Cronenberg. Jordan Peele. The list goes on. But these filmmakers are just not doing enough to compete with what cinema was putting out in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, the heyday of world cinema.

Today, I am hard pressed to come up with enough movies each year to form a proper top ten list. Meanwhile, in a year like 1957, there are enough films to fill a top ten – all of which would be number one or two in any top ten list made in the last ten or twenty or even thirty years.

Take for instance 1960. More specifically, take March through June of 1960. In that four-month span, we saw the releases of Hitchcock’s Psycho, Wilder’s The Apartment, Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Antonioni’s L’Avventura, Powell’s Peeping Tom, and Godard’s Breathless. Six of the 14 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

greatest films of all-time (and not just my opinion) all released within a 13-week period. We are lucky to get one of those a year, if even then.

But back in the day, this was actually quite a common occurrence.

The reason for this? Probably the same reason people talk about the dumbing down of society. Attention spans have shortened to the point of a fifteen second TikTok being the epitome of entertainment these days. That, along with movie studios (and the mega billion corporations that own them) being all about getting product out there that will make them the best bang for their buck.

Franchises. Sequels, Remakes. The same old, same old. No one is brave enough to take a chance anymore. A cinematic classic such as Fellini’s 8½, or even something like Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, would not

be greenlit today. Why? Because they are challenging films and would not succeed in the multiplex of 2022 alongside the latest tentpole theme park extravaganza.

Yes, I know. There is still Indie Cinema out there – and there are many good films being made out-of-pocket and with little, if any, distribution. Though to be fair, some of the streaming services do help out the little film now and again, but they just want easy money, too. “Give the people what they want” is the old adage. Well, with low attention spans and even lower expectations, what the people want is safe and sound cinema. Something they know. Another superhero movie. Another Fast & Furious (seriously!?). Another Star Wars retrospect. Don’t get me wrong – many of these theme park movies are enjoyable. Just don’t act as if they are real cinema – because they are not.

I’ll shut up now and go watch a Bergman double feature by myself. 7 Kevyn Knox is a Writer, Artist, Pop Photographer, Film & TV Historian, Pez Collector, and Pop Culturist.

He has written film reviews for FilmSpeak, Central PA Voice, and The Burg. His reviews & other ramblings can be found on his blog, www.allthingskevyn.com.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 15

Postcards From…/Steven G. Williams

Postcards From…

A

A TikTok Travel Influencer

few months ago, I wrote about Travel YouTubers – folks who share their travels via the online video platform that’s been infamously hijacked by Liberty Mutual ads. Since then, I had the pleasure of meeting – and interviewing - a woman named Isabelle, who is a travel influencer. However, her platform of choice is not YouTube, but rather, TikTok, and she managed to do what so many of us 9-5ers dream about during Zoom meetings – be paid to travel.

1. First, tell me a little about yourself.

I’m finishing up my first year of grad school. I work part-time for an elementary school and I’m a nanny. One of my passions is planning cheap trips and traveling whenever I can!

2. So, what is a travel influencer and what do you like about it?

I promote destinations and travel products. I started sharing details on my cheap trips a year ago on TikTok. One video went viral, and I gained thousands of followers. I continued making travel content and have since worked with numerous companies promoting and sharing travel related products and resources. My dream job for years was to be a travel blogger/influencer but that didn’t seem feasible until recently. It’s been so thrilling to have brands want to partner on content. I absolutely love getting paid to travel, try

products, and record the journey. In a way, it feels like fulfilling a lifelong goal.

3. How has travel influencing impacted your travel?

Having to record my trips has changed the dynamic a bit. Normally I would stay off my phone and enjoy the moment(s). Having to record more is new to me and something I must remind myself to do.

4. You say you look for cheap trips; what sort of deals have you found?

Not all my travel is comped. The cheapest trip I went on was an eight-day adventure to the Azores that included my flight, hotel, transportation, and breakfast. I found it on Groupon. It was $499.

5. What destination was the most impactful to you?

I spent six weeks with one of my best friends exploring the South Pacific. We had a limited agenda and found ourselves visiting untouched beaches, quaint cafes, and glow worm caves. We took boats through deserted islands and swam with sharks in Fiji. I even traveled alone to Australia. I learned about visas, how to navigate the US Embassy and even had to get an emergency passport. I grew a lot from this trip.

6. What is some travel advice you would give?

Talk to locals and try anything once! Also make sure the expiration date on your passport is dated for AFTER you return home.

7. Where can people find you online?

TikTok is where I share how I book cheap trips. Both my TikTok and Instagram handles are @itsa_isabelle.

8. What is your next destination?

A company is sending three friends and myself to Cabo, so I am in the planning for that. My bucket list includes Bali, Japan, Tanzania, and Iceland. 7 Steven Williams is an avid traveler, amateur cook, and fantasy author. He serves on the Harrisburg School Board and is the Associate Director for the Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with his wife Danielle.

16 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

Poem/Barbara DeCesare

Come October

By Barbara DeCesare

When the disaster was fresh, before the sirens, while heat still rose, we felt we might summon some god or magic from our own wild desperation and reach back, only a minute, to make any imperceptible change, throw the flow of future.

What power could we find to fix, then take each other’s hands with gratitude and go together forward?

What power did we have in our moments of safety to predict the danger of distraction, of ambivalence?

The night is full of plangent echo, hunger, crazy-making deals with myself, with you, the devil, for one day in May to have it back in my hands like a lost letter and swear on it an oath that come October I could keep.

Barbara DeCesare lives in York, PA. She is the author of the poetry collections Jigsaweyesore, Adrift, and Silent Type.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 17

#hbgmag Influencer

The One and Only Romance of Jay and Nancy Krevsky Story By Randy Gross rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com

Photos By Paul Vasiliades

L

ights up. A YOUNG MAN enters the stage, begins to sing the following lyrics from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Mattinata,” only in Italian.

“Put on your white dress too, and open the door to your minstrel!

Where you are not, sunlight is missing; where you are, love dawns.”

RALPH BELLINI, described as an eighty-year-old man who is “vigorous and full of life,” enters, is tempted to speak to the young man, but instead sits down on a park bench. Little does Ralph know, he’ll soon be meeting 75-year-old CAROL REYNOLDS who, as the play title hints, will become Ralph’s final romance.

That opening scene from Joe DiPietro’s “The Last Romance,” a heartwarming comedy about the transformative power of love, was reenacted

by Jay and Nancy Krevsky in 2013, at a time, ironically, they were the exact ages of characters Ralph and Carol. Though having appeared on stage, separately, in more than 120 shows in a career spanning more than six decades, it’s the only time the couple has ever acted together.

18 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

With hindsight, and the permission of the author, it might be more accurate to retitle the play “The Only Romance.” Keeping in mind that the Krevskys have been married nearly as long as their involvement with theatre, it becomes clear that their enduring romance hasn’t just been with each other, but also with the stage – and, moreover, the entire Harrisburg community. It is for those reasons, and also because the entire Harrisburg community has loved Jay and Nancy back (as supported by the glowing quotes that follow this article) that the Krevskys have been selected as this month’s Influencers.

Greasepaint in their blood Nancy Conway may have not done any acting as a child, but her father, Tim (of no relation to the late comedian with the same name) was an instrumental force in the early development of Harrisburg Community Theatre, the forerunner to Theatre Harrisburg. Even so, many of her earliest childhood memories revolve around the stage, including a humorous one involving her father.

“When I was 4 years old, I would go to rehearsals with my dad. And, he had a scene with Lavinia Buckwalter, who was our prima donna at that time,” she recalls with a grin. “And he kissed her, on stage, and I

PHOTO SUBMITTED Young Nancy

PHOTO SUBMITTED Young Jay

yelled at the top of my lungs ‘I’m gonna tell my mommy!’”

Jay Krevsky, on the other hand, grew up in Allentown and was already taking on stage roles as a teenager. “I did shows at the Jewish Community Center, and I just found it to be great fun,” he says. “And I did a couple of plays in high school, which I enjoyed very much.” One of his early memories is of actor Billy Sands, who came to Allentown as a guest director in those days and directed Jay in a play. “If you ever watch the ‘Bilko’ show [which was part of ‘The Phil Silvers Show’],” he reminisces, “he was one of Bilko’s guys.”

Nancy developed a love for theater at an early age but was too shy to perform on stage herself. As an adult, in the late 1950’s, she enrolled at the Harrisburg Institute of Medical Arts for a two-year program that would eventually land her a job as a lab technician at Harrisburg Hospital.

By this time, Jay already had a college degree himself, but was floundering. “I didn’t know what I was going to do … I was a biology major at Muhlenberg, and I got out of the Army, uncertain about what to do, and somebody said, ‘why don’t you try teaching?’”

The lives of the lab technician and aspiring teacher – both theatre enthusiasts – were about to intersect.

I came here said ‘why don’t you look up Harrisburg Community Theater?’ And I did, and I went to their opening show, which was ‘The King and I,’ and I was blown away by the quality of production,” says Jay. “And the next show was called ‘The Happiest Millionaire,’ and they had a role in there, and I auditioned, and I got a part, and I made all kinds of new friends, and it was wonderful.”

That chance casting in “The Happiest Millionaire” would also lead to a chance introduction to Nancy. Jay elaborates: “Every night after rehearsal, everybody would go to Abe’s Tavern at Third and Seneca. Hang out and have beers, snacks, whatever. And not only the cast and crew, but theater hangeronners. You know, people who loved the theater. And one night I was there, and I was sitting next to Nancy’s father – I didn’t know who he was, except that he was a good guy named Tim - and I happened to mention to no one in general that I needed a date for opening night. And somebody at the table said ‘Tim, why don’t you tell him about Nancy?’ And Tim took out Nancy’s picture, and she was very attractive, and I called her, and we went out. We went to the closing night party, and then we started dating, dated for two years, during which time she got cast as Anne Frank in her first audition ever. We got married in June of ’60.”

Adds Nancy, “we had a great time … we were at the theater all the time, including after hours. We just loved it! A wonderful courtship!”

After the Anne Frank role, Nancy’s “acting bug” would end up rivaling the size of Jay’s passion for theatre. Says Jay, “Nancy’s had, in my opinion, all the great roles in women’s theater. She played Daisy in ‘Driving Miss Daisy.’ She played Maggie in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ She played Stella in ‘Streetcar.’ I mean, the list is endless.”

He continues, “And, over the years, I was lucky to get so many great men’s roles. I did Tevye in ‘Fiddler on the Roof” – at York Little Theatre in the early 70’s. And Sancho in ‘Man of La Mancha.’ And I did Harold See Krevsky on Page 20

Pure kismet Fate. Destiny. No matter how you describe it, the stars and planets must have been aligning for both Jay and Nancy in 1958, the year when Jay moved to Harrisburg.

“Timing is everything,” Jay recalls, “I went to Susquehanna Township, a week before school started, the third week of August, and their one Biology teacher retired the day before I got there.

So, they hired me on the spot, and said ‘you better go get certified.’” It would be the start of a long career for Jay, as both a teacher and administrator at William Penn High School, and a principal at the city’s one-time Arts Magnet School.

By September of that same year, Jay was already being lured back to the theatre – and ultimately, into Nancy’s arms.

“Some guy that I was friendly with when OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 19

Theatre Harrisburg

Krevsky, continued from Page 19

Hill in ‘The Music Man.’” Though neither of the Krevskys have ever had the desire to take their talents to bigger stages in New York City, Jay likes to lay claim to having performed in the Big Apple. “I’ve sung on Broadway,” he muses.

“8th Avenue and 57th Street. There’s a little bar there called Don’t Tell Momma. I was there with my daughter, a jam-packed little bar with a piano where you can get up and sing, and Mona and I went up there and I sang ‘If I Were a Rich Man.’ When I finished, I sat down, the audience gave me a nice response, and some guy comes by my table and says ‘if you can do it, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna get my music, I live right up the street. I’ll be right back.” That mystery singer turned out to be Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The importance of theatre The importance of local theatre and the importance of the Krevskys to the local theatrical community are pretty much synonymous.

“It’s very important to keep a community looking at itself,” says Nancy.

“For me, I think the importance of live theatre is that it reflects society.”

Adds Jay, “I’m a strong believer in the Arts in general. And the fact that people can appreciate the arts in every form, it’s such a blessing to society.”

Jay and Nancy’s combined 120-plus stage roles not only have contributed to the local fabric of Harrisburg’s stage community, but they are the very thread that has stitched together the quilt. Countless actors, directors, dramaturgs, and stage managers – everyone in local 20 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

theatre who has followed in their stead – have benefitted from the Krevskys dedication to the craft of, as Nancy puts it, “seeing something that is going on at the same time and having a chance to look at it through a different perspective.” And they continue to be involved, spearheading such fundraising initiatives as Theatre Harrisburg’s Angel Campaign, with Jay actually hand-signing the marketing letters.

With children and grandchildren who have also connected themselves with the theatre, including their son, Solomon, who currently sits on the Theatre Harrisburg board of directors, the Krevsky family is now a 4th generation stage family – so it should come as no surprise that Jay and Nancy share the same hope and vision for their beloved theatre’s future.

“It’s been 97 years, and we want it to continue,” beams Nancy. “That would be a wonderful legacy.”

“There are very few theatres that are older than Harrisburg Community Theatre,” adds Jay. “And we want to see its survival, we want to see it continue thriving.”

Stop by the Jay & Nancy Krevsky Production Center of Theatre Harrisburg some afternoon or evening and witness for yourself just how well things are thriving. While you’re there, you very well may hear that young man again from “The Last Romance” repeating his refrain about what can still best be classified as an only romance …

“Where you are not, sunlight is missing; where you are, love dawns.”

Praise for Jay & Nancy …

“For years, my late husband, Jay Miffoluf, was very active in the Central Pennsylvania theater community. Ironically, there were many occasions when people would mistake him for Jay Krevsky and vice versa even though they looked nothing alike. Yet my Jay and I could think of no greater compliment than being called ‘Jay Krevsky.’ Jay and Nancy are stellar human beings. They have been the heart and soul of theater in Harrisburg, giving of themselves both on stage and behind the scenes and making sure that theater thrives in the area.” — Lori M. Myers, author/playwright “I’ve known Nancy and Jay Krevsky through Theatre Harrisburg for many

years. They have had a tremendously positive impact on the community’s cultural life, and are well respected, admired, and held in deep affection by all who have met them.” — Carrie Wissler-Thomas, President, Art Association of Harrisburg “I have known at least three generations of the Krevsky family, and they are true pillars of the Harrisburg community. In the world of local theater, Jay and Nancy top the list! As talented performers, as tireless volunteers, and as generous benefactors, they warrant a standing ovation from everyone who knows them!” — David J. Morrison, Executive Director, Historic Harrisburg Association

“Just say ‘Jay and Nancy’ and everyone will know it’s the Krevskys! They are Harrisburg-area theater royalty and beloved members of the Jewish Community. Jay and Nancy’s hearts are as big as their talents, which is why their influence is felt in the best of all possible ways and why they are held in such high regard.” — Mike Greenwald, Senior Advisor, WITF-FM “Jay and Nancy Krevsky are the living, breathing Mom and Dad of Harrisburg Theatre; nothing less.

They have been fixtures at Theater Harrisburg for over half a century, and their performing space on Hurlock Street is very rightly named after them.

I speak from a different perspective, however. I’m

the Artistic Director of Gamut Classic Theatre in Harrisburg, now celebrating nearly 3 decades in our lovely city. It would have been easy for Jay and Nancy, as scions of Theater Harrisburg, to have regarded myself and my wife (and cofounder) Melissa Nicholson as rivals in such a small community. But they welcomed us unconditionally.

And, in many cases, joined in our endeavors.” — Clark Nicholson, Founding Artistic Director, Gamut Classic Theatre 7 To find out more about Theatre Harrisburg’s 2022-2023 Season (their 97th!) or to donate to their Angel Campaign, visit theatreharrisburg.com.

“My first show at Theatre Harrisburg - when it was still HCT - was Guys and Dolls. I was cast as a member of the Salvation Army Band and Jay Krevsky was playing Nicely-Nicely Johnson. I was new in town and a stranger to everyone in the cast.

Jay made sure I felt welcome and included right from the very first day. Over and over again, he and Nancy made sure my husband Ed and I were included as part of the Central PA theater community. The two of them are a terrific couple and such assets to the community.” — Marjorie Bicknell, Playwright “Jay and Nancy are two of the most genuine, kind-hearted people you could ever meet – they are treasures who enrich the fabric of our communities.

Their contributions to the performance arts arena, and the community as a whole, cannot be overstated.

Salt of the earth people with servant hearts, Jay and Nancy lead by actions and example, not boasting.”

— Mike Pries, Chad Saylor, and George P. Hartwick, III, Dauphin County Commissioners “When I was a student at The Harrisburg Arts Magnet school, I recall Jay Krevsky - the principal at the time - walking the halls and offering support to each student. He knew students by name and made them feel welcomed - as though they belonged. Throughout my adult life the same warm reception is what I received while finding my voice as a playwright. Mr. Krevsky - as well as his wonderful wife Nancy - are an integral part of the local regional theater scene. I am absolutely thrilled to have my play Pieces premiere at the Krevsky Center next year! It is my full-circle moment.” — Paul Hood, Playwright/Author/Actor “Jay and Nancy are pillars of the Harrisburg arts community. They are generous and gracious and brilliant. My favorite Jay memory - aside from all his wonderful performances of ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ - was a party at the Hilton years ago.

The birthday celebration turned into a fantastic sing-along around the piano. There’s nothing quite like singing through the score of ‘1776’ with Jay Krevsky.” — Stuart Landon, Producing Artistic Director, Open Stage Harrisburg OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 21

Short Story/Excerpt From a Diary Found on Green Street

Excerpt From a Diary Found on Green Street Story By Ryan McCauley Illustration by Kyle McHenry

“It Cometh” March 15, 2013 I was walking my usual path to work, down Susquehanna Street, behind the old stone church, around the parking garage, and past the homeless shelter, approximately halfway to the office, when I saw It next to the dumpster in the bank parking lot. I’ve had many realizations over the four years of walking that path, but this morning’s was more like an awakening.

How could I have missed what was so clearly before me? All these mornings, lost in my head, the stresses of yet another day, I had carelessly strolled by my soul’s redemption. With this revelation, a door, that I didn’t know existed 30 seconds earlier, was sprung open. The great mystery of the cosmos – resolved. My life heretofore – a disorienting, haphazard search for Purpose sandwiched by half-hearted routine. My nerve endings were still doing calisthenics when I stepped into the dimly lit world of committee approvals, managerial pontifications, and client to-dos that I was salaried to endure. Morning reports, emails, and memos were left unattended by the monopolizing thought of what I saw in the bank parking lot. As anyone suddenly reaching a life-altering, illusion-shattering plane of consciousness would do, I took an early lunch and never went back to the office. When It comes to you, selects you out of billions, the daily routines of your life seem pretty insignificant.

I returned to the bank parking lot around 11:30 am hoping to see It again. Pregnant with excitement, I paced the parking lot, bending 30 degrees at the hip, my chin extending over my toes, never taking my gaze off the dumpster, waiting for It. The frenzied cadence of my 22 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

pacing was unabated by the bitter March wind.

I savored the taste of late winter mixing with blood from my nervously nibbled chapped lips. How do I greet It? Surely, It is fluent in the common languages and mannerisms of humankind. What if I’m just misinterpreting the look It gave me? No, our eyes met for far too long to be accidental. Our eyes were locked the entire time I crossed the parking lot – unmistakably intentional. Ok, well why me?

What does It want with me? Not my place to wonder – It clearly works in mysterious ways.

I probably spent upwards of an hour pacing the parking lot before a few bank employees came out on their lunch break. Staring at me with bewilderment emanating from their stupid faces as they fumbled keys, phones,

and cigarettes from their coat pockets and entered their planet-destroying death traps.

The arrogance of the ignorant is enough to make someone go insane; no wonder It hasn’t come back yet. Imagine your creation rejecting you and turning your masterpiece into the universe’s largest dump. Like Mona Lisa burping up a beer and tossing the empty over her shoulder or The Blue Boy urinating and defecating in his trousers. I needed to show the Creator that I still cared.

With my mustache damp from an hour of absorbing snot, my usually kept hair disheveled, my glasses positioned diagonally across my face, and my unzipped jacket flailing in the wind, I leaned further over my toes and accelerated my march. I was hoping It

would appreciate the display of dedication and discipline. Keeping my eyes on the dumpster, I marched, back and forth, roughly parallel, about 30 feet away. After some time, the bank employees returned from their breaks and once again watched me with a combination of smugness and confusion. Listen, I don’t mean to come off as holier-than-thou, I wasn’t even a believer five hours earlier, but the cluelessness of my observers deeply troubled me. Those folks looked at me like I was some madman. A MADMAN?! I thought my first recommendation to the Creator would be to have those rat scum burn in eternal hellfire, and, in my fervor, I lost myself in other recommendations I could make. The fundamental problem, it seemed to me, is that we are faced with three choices: fool yourself into finding purpose in a meaningless world, refuse to trick yourself and embrace the inevitable suffering of that choice, or, lastly, kill yourself. It solved this cosmic puzzle. So, I thought I should recommend that It make an announcement to the world explaining why we were created. With that knowledge, knowing what we’re supposed to be doing here, I suspected that the world would become a much kinder place. I mean, like, that knowledge could relieve the anxieties and insecurities that drive people to cruelty or self-harm. I just want the world to be a better place.

A bank security guard shook me back to reality, asking me what in the hell I thought I was doing exactly. I didn’t even see the bastard come out of the bank until he opened his hambone mouth. My pacing stopped but I kept my eyes focused on the dumpster. Peripherally, I could tell he stood about 20 feet in front and to the left of me so between the two of us and the dumpster we made something like a scalene triangle. Without turning to look at the over-plump guard, I firmly told him I was anticipating the arrival of our Creator, who had revealed Itself to me only five hours earlier. He scoffed, muttered something into his walkietalkie, and told me the Creator of the Universe wouldn’t choose a dumpster behind a small bank in some rusty old town like Harrisburg.

I suppose that line of thinking appeals to an unimaginative mind poisoned by human conceptions of significance – have mercy on this armchair theologian! Whether the Creator chooses a dumpster or the Pantheon is really a choice beyond human understanding.

What matters is that the Creator is ready to tell us something, and I was chosen, for whatever reason, to have this conversation.

The halfwit, comfortable in his unknowing, seemed impatient, only half-listening to my

sermon, his eyes darting across the parking lot. Apparently, maintaining a watchful eye over the bank’s pot-holed parking surface superseded answering the cosmic mystery at the root of all human suffering. I was actually starting to pity that poor man until I heard the gritty boot-pebble-asphalt of his partner approaching on my right.

The long-striding partner, much taller and far less horizontal than the red-faced fatso on my left, approached with a gait powered by intention. These men wanted me to leave and were prepared to use violent means. The gun-toting scum had me outmanned and virtually surrounded. Without diverting my eyes from the dumpster, I began to preach once more about the importance of the Moment.

Persuading the newcomer to view this day in a Big Picture context proved futile. It’s hard work convincing swine that the meals they’re being fed eventually lead to their slaughter.

How would the Creator view this? Am I tasked with evangelism by virtue of my knowing? Do I leave, risking being seen as weak and unworthy in the eyes of the Creator? Do I persist, risking being seen as a man of violence? Rendered dumb by the heat of the moment, I had no answers to these questions – my salvation was at the whim of animal instinct. The guards, now maybe 5 feet

from me, were blabbing something about their safety and the safety of bank customers. The flagpole-shaped guard on my right was closing in with his bony hands on his hips, disguising his violent intentions. The uniformed pork chop waddled to within 2 feet of me – his mouthy breath smelled of chili. I exploded into a sprint towards the dumpster. The guards, shocked by the suddenness of my move, were unreactive as I turned the corner of the bank, down the alley, past the homeless shelter and parking garage, finally stopping at the old stone church. Oh, forgive me for fleeing! I promised, right then, that I would return to that dumpster every day, dedicating my life to the Creator.

I know I will sleep well tonight, the wildfire of the day’s devotion burning to a peaceful ember of righteous satisfaction. It chose me and I submitted to It – absolutely. I quit the safety of a steady job and gave the rest of my life to serving It. In return, It will ease the anxieties of life. In selflessness, the world makes sense. 7 Ryan McCauley is a hobbyist, following his hobbies wherever they go. Originally from the Mountain West, his interests brought him to Harrisburg where he lives with his dog, Zuko.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 23

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DCNR Caledonia Pike

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DCNR Bald Eagle State Forest 2

Autumn… the Year’s Last, Loveliest Smile Story By Christina Heintzelman

W

cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

illiam Cullen Bryant must have been thinking of Pennsylvania when he penned the statement used as the title for this story, as Pennsylvania has a longer and more varied fall foliage season than any other state.

Ryan Reed, the Natural Resource Program Specialist for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Bureau of Forestry, of Pennsylvania has this to say, “We are blessed with a wonderfully long and varied fall foliage season in Pennsylvania. This is primarily due to our state’s high forest diversity and forest coverage.

PA is the ‘meeting ground’ of both northern and southern forests northern hardwoods and oak-hickory, respectively.”

He further explained that northern hardwoods - maples, cherries, and birches - typically give fall color first, followed by hickories and oaks. And occasionally, when the weather is right, both forest types will 24 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

overlap in their peak times producing a particularly vibrant year.

Reed then went on to say, “We are blessed with an abundance of places to enjoy fall color, with roughly five million acres of publicly accessible forest lands, 2.5 million of which are managed by DCNR, Bureau of Forestry and Bureau of State Parks. There is a state park or state forest within half an hour drive of every Pennsylvanian. The key is timing, which can be learned by viewing our annual fall foliage reports.”

See the website listed at the end of this article.

There are three factors that influence autumn color: leaf pigment, length of night, and weather.

The most abundant pigment in trees is chlorophyll, which gives trees their green color. Carotenoids reflect orange, yellow, and brown colors and produce the yellow of a tulip tree and the russet colors of oaks. These two pigments are present in leaf cells during most of the

growing season but as nights grow cooler and longer chlorophyll production slows and eventually stops. Anthocyanins are usually produced in autumn and are responsible for the brilliant shades of red that we see in foliage. But only certain tree species produce anthocyanins such as red oak, dogwood, red maple, black gum, and sumac, all of which are abundant in PA. Weather has the largest effect on the production of fall foliage. Warm, sunny fall days with cool and crisp nights seem to bring out the best of the colors. The sun during the days helps to produce the sugar for pigmentation and the cool evenings assist in the gradual closing of the leaf veins which prevent the sugars from moving out. But, in addition to sunny days and crisp evenings, the amount of rainfall also affects the coloration of the leaves as a severe summer drought will most STOCK PHOTO - DIGITAL PICTURE often produce a low intensity of fall colors. So, in order to have Swift Run Waterfall Tall Timbers Nature Area an autumn of brilliant fall foliage we need to have a warm wet spring, favorable summer weather with sufficient rain, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights. bike riding, or just contemplating life along the upper riverwalk or the But enough of the science! Let’s talk about all the places in lower esplanade. And a quick trip to City Island offers even more with the Pennsylvania we can travel to in order to have our fill of leaf peeping Pennsylvania Senators ballfield; Pride of the Susquehanna Riverboat, throughout the state. which does fall foliage cruises; miniature golf; and the newly opened Since every fall foliage season is different due to the variations in Harrisburg Beach Club located at the 101-year-old restored bathhouse. rainfall and temperatures, your best bet for this season is to use Any time of year is a delight on City Island, but the fall offers an even the PA Foliage Tracking Map on the DCNR website. more vibrant back drop for a relaxing stroll.

PA fall foliage season is usually seven to eight weeks long Negley Park, located in Lemoyne, has a picturesque view of the and, as expected, begins with our northern most counties. Harrisburg skyline and the Susquehanna River. It also offers two While the scenic byways are available to you all during the miles of walking trail for those who want to explore the scenic fall foliage season, PA is also home to many fall festivals beauty in any season. where you can enjoy the colorful foliage and share in Gifford Pinchot State Park is another close by resource located about arts, crafts, fantastic food, and loads of fun. an hour away in Lewisberry, York County. It is a 2,338-acre full-service It is necessary to check with websites to find the park with 340-acre Pinchot Lake as its prime attraction. It has one of exact dates for various fall festivals such as Bedford Fall the largest state park campgrounds in Pennsylvania with 339 campsites Foliage Festival – Bedford, PA (approximately 100 miles available. There are also cottage houses available and yurts for those west of Harrisburg); Autumn Leaf Festival - Clarion, PA who want to have a new camping experience. (approximately 5 hours west of Harrisburg); Bethlehem As we move further afield from the Harrisburg area and our local parks, Harvest Festival – Bethlehem, PA (approximately 1.5 the Bald Eagle State Forest, named for the Native American Chief Bald hours north of Harrisburg); Pennsylvania State Flaming Eagle, who was a member of the Lenape (Delaware) tribe in the mid-18th Foliage Festival – Renovo, PA (approximately 4 hours north century, has 194,602 acres to explore through miles of trails and drivable of Harrisburg); Laurel Highlands Fall Craft Days - at least eight roads. The forest spreads various festivals located along the 50 mile Laurel Highlands through Snyder, Union, Scenic Byway (approximately 4 hours west of Harrisburg); Jim Centre, Mifflin, and Clinton Thorpe Fall Foliage Weekends – Jim Thorpe, PA (approximately 2 counties and is only an hourhours north of Harrisburg); Fields of Adventure in Adams County - near long drive to the area passing Gettysburg, PA (approximately 1.5 hours south of Harrisburg); Franklin through Union County.

Apple Fest – Franklin, PA (approximately 3.5 hours west of Harrisburg); While touring this area, Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest – Adams-Ricci Park in Enola, PA; Conneaut Lake take a break at Raymond B. Fall Pumpkin Festival – Conneaut Lake, PA (approximately 4 hours west Winter State Park located of Harrisburg); Country Fall Festival – Zelienople, PA (approximately 3.5 within the boundaries of the SPOT THE PROBLEM hours west of Harrisburg); Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad Fall Foliage forest near Mifflinburg, PA. The spotted lanternfly is an Tours – Meadville, PA (approximately 4 hours NW of Harrisburg); and The focal point of the park invasive insect that poses a serious Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival – Lehighton, PA (approximately 1.5 hours is Halfway Lake, which is threat to Pennsylvania’s resources, NE of Harrisburg). filled by spring-fed mountain businesses, and economy. On For those who want to enjoy leisurely drives, either on a day trip streams and provides a chilly your trips throughout our parks or a weekend getaway, Pennsylvania has you covered. With one dip any time of the year. The and forests please learn how to national forest (Allegheny), 20 state forests, 121 state parks, and park also contains miles of identify it and report it. Please 6,000 local parks, most Pennsylvanians are only half an hour or less well-marked hiking trails. inspect your vehicle or hiking from colorful fall vistas.

Located near the town of gear when traveling to and from Many Harrisburg residents have spent leisurely hours along Troxelville, PA, are the Tall various regions.

Harrisburg Riverfront Park, which is beautiful any time of year, walking, See Astumn on Page 26 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 25

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DCNR Penns View Vista Pine Swamp Road

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DCNR RB Winter State Park

Autumn, continued from Page 25

Timbers and Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Areas, home to some of the tallest trees in the state, the eastern hemlock. There is a 3.4-mile hiking loop complete with picnic areas. This area has lost its state park status but is still maintained by Snyder County and considered one of the county’s best kept secrets.

Within an easy day trip is the town of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg National Military Park. The park can be a walking or driving trip of approximately 6,000 acres which has been separated into various monument tracts to commemorate the various Civil War battles fought there. Some of the most beautiful foliage can be seen at Seminary Ridge, Confederate Avenue, and Little Round Top. When you leave the park, continue onto Buchanan Valley and the Sachs Bridge area for additional leaf peeping, ghost tours, and apple picking throughout Adams County.

26 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

Pennsylvania’s Route 6 has been hailed as Pennsylvania’s Best Touring Route by Harley Davidson, and the title is well deserved. This northeast to northwest route is a mostly two-lane rural road running from the Delaware River near Port Jervis, NY, to the Ohio state line at Pymatuning Reservoir. The journey along this beautiful stretch is interspersed with lovely small towns and year-round festivals. Pine Creek Gorge, known as The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, is in this area slightly off Route 6 in Tioga County.

The Poconos form a 2,400 square foot escarpment overlooking the Delaware River and the Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, Wyoming Valley to the West, and Lehigh Valley to the south. Its name is derived from the Munsee Tribe word meaning ‘creek between two hills’.

Big Pocono State Park lies in Monroe County in the northeastern portion and consists of 1,306 acres of rugged terrain, which includes Camelback Mountain and, at the summit, a view of three states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

If you’d like to go south towards Bucks County, stop and visit Washington Crossing Historic Park located on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, commemorating Washington’s Delaware crossing.

It is a 500-acre park and contains the 125-foot-tall Bowman’s Hill Tower offering a 14-mile view on a clear day. Although this tower did not exist in George Washington’s day, it was built in 1929-31 to commemorate what was thought to be a lookout point for Washington’s troops.

For those of you who like a little shoreline with their foliage, consider taking a trip to Presque Isle State Park located in Erie County. Presque Isle State Park is a 3,200-acre sandy peninsula that arches into Lake Erie. As Pennsylvania’s only “seashore,” Presque Isle offers its visitors a beautiful coastline but also a beautiful area of colorful fall foliage.

The driving length, one way, is approximately seven hours so plan on making this an overnight or weekend adventure.

In the western part of the state is the only national forest in Pennsylvania, Allegheny Forest. The forest covers over 513,000 acres with 200 miles of hiking trails and 50 miles of ski trails. The Allegheny Forest is home to the Kinzua Sky Walk, listed as one of the world’s most beautiful skywalks and viewpoints in the world. The sky walk extends

PHOTO FROM PA BUCKETLIST Jim Thorpe, PA

out 624 feet into the Kinzua Gorge. It features a walkway with a set of railroad tracks leading to the end of the overlook which has a partial glass floor. At a height of 225 feet above the valley floor, this is not a sightseeing trip for the faint of heart!

In the southwestern county of Fayette, approximately 3 hours from Harrisburg, Ohiopyle State Park encompasses about 20,500 acres of rugged natural beauty and is the gateway to the Laurel Highlands. The area is known for some of the best whitewater rafting in the eastern United States. A not to be missed hike is the Baughman Rock Vista Overlook perched along the Laurel Ridge and approximately 1,700 feet from the river bottom to the top, making it an exquisite view featuring the Youghiogheny River Gorge.

So, from Riverfront Park in Harrisburg all the way west across the state and to our north and south, Pennsylvania is filled with an abundance of short walks, daytrips, and weekend meanderings for the leaf lovers amongst us. Happy Autumn Viewing!

More information on Pennsylvania’s fall festivals and fall foliage viewing can be found on the DCNR website https://www. dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/ForestsAndTrees/ FallFoliageReports/Pages/default.aspx Other sites are visitpa.com, uncoveringpa.com, and onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania 7

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 27

Exercise that Creative Itch at Carlisle’s Create-A-Palooza

(And Maybe Meet Some Spirits Too!) Story By Stephanie Kalina-Metzger Photos Submitted

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t’s that time of year again, when the weather turns brisk and thoughts turn to inside activities. If you’re the creative type, then Carlisle’s Create-A-Palooza is the place to be. Customers of all ages are welcome and can choose from an array of creative endeavors ranging from pottery, ceramic and glass painting to anime illustration, gourd projects and more. Guests are even invited to bring snacks and drinks to enjoy while they work.

When Jim Griffith and his wife Karen moved Create-A-Palooza into one of the oldest buildings in Carlisle in 2016, they knew that they had their work cut out for them. The mansion, which dates back to 1780 and is located at 11 E. High Street, was rundown and totally neglected. “We rescued it,” said Jim. 28 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

Judging by the condition of the property, they knew it would take a herculean effort to remodel the mansion that included three apartments above what would eventually be the shop. What they didn’t count on, however, was the extra tenants that they’d inherit.

Jim works in health IT consulting and teaches at HACC as an adjunct professor, while Karen teaches art at St. Patrick School in Carlisle. They also both volunteer for non-profits, so the couple is constantly on the go, yet they always try to engage in a few do-it-yourself projects at the mansion. It was during this time that they noticed that something was amiss. “I was there one night and heard an older woman moaning in our vestibule,” said Jim. As time went on, the odd occurrences continued. Jim describes an instance early on when he took on a

project which required shaving down a door with a planer. “Well, sometimes when you use a planer, you run the risk of shaving a bit too much off,” he said. What happened next was extraordinary. Jim believes the “residents” may have bristled at the home improvement mistake. “For a while, we’d go to bed and wake up in the morning and the planer would be totally disassembled,” he said.

A second incident occurred one night when he and his crew accidentally left a radio, a heater and lights turned on in an area where they were remodeling. When Jim returned that evening at midnight and shut everything down, something blew cigar smoke in his face. “It’s like inheriting an additional set of parents,” Jim said, with a chuckle. Another notable instance occurred when cameras picked up an orb climbing the stairs at 2 a.m.

“It was nice to catch something on camera,” said Jim. These few incidents would be enough to unnerve anyone, but over time, the couple learned to live with the strange anomalies occurring at the property. During COVID-19, when businesses were shut down, Jim and Karen took advantage of the downtime to do additional renovating. They decided to paint the floor and were met with what they believed was consternation over their choice.

“At 10 a.m. on a Saturday, all of the paint cans started rattling and at one point they took Karen’s expensive glue that she uses. To make matters worse, she got smacked in the rearend by something,” Jim said, which caused him to address the riled spirits to inform them that the mess was only temporary.

See Create-A-Palooza on Page 30 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 29

Create-A-Palooza, continued from Page 29

Whatever was having a temper tantrum soon cooled down enough to return the glue to its rightful place.

A Visit from Ghost Ops Paranormal Eventually the couple decided that they wanted to learn more about the things that went bump in the night at their property, so they allowed an outside organization to come in to try to make contact with whatever was lingering there. Unfortunately, the first visit didn’t go too well. “We weren’t looking to provoke the ghosts, but rather to perhaps learn more about them,” said Jim. It took some time before the couple was willing to permit another team to come in on the condition that whatever was there be treated with respect. That’s where Ghost Ops Paranormal came in. The team, run by Robert Brandt, agreed to the terms. “That’s how we tackle these jobs anyway,” said Brandt, as he set up his equipment at the property, with the intent to observe their surroundings from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Brandt, who has his master’s degree in Forensic Psychology, said he first became interested in the field due to his own experience with the paranormal. “When I was a teen, my nanny died of cancer, right after I turned 16. I was sleeping in her room and a ball of light appeared at the foot of my bed before disappearing. After that, I decided that I wanted answers,” he said.

Brandt and his team bring various pieces of equipment to help them detect and communicate with the paranormal: an Ovilus, which contains a database of words and syllables that the ghosts can use to communicate, a spirit box, which scans radio Judge For Yourself! frequencies, a humidity reader Here’s video of the 2 a.m. Orb to detect thickness in the air, a Incident: tinyurl.com/2p8sw4p4 REM pod to detect interference 30 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

around a 12-inch radius, a milligauss meter to detect electromagnetic disturbances, and a K2 meter to look for electromagnetic frequencies.

A medium was also present to help supplement that which could be picked up electronically.

Brandt reports that the team had an interesting evening at the mansion, starting with the medium who tapped into an entity by the name of Philip. This information was corroborated later by the Ovilus.

Philip introduced himself and asked to speak with Jim the owner.

Philip popped in a lot during that session and the team later learned that he previously owned the property.

The Ovilus was quite active throughout the evening, naming various members of the team, uttering the word “lawsuit,” and mentioning penguins that the couple had painted. Most intriguing, was when the team asked if Ben Franklin had visited the property and the Ovilus replied, “Ben Franklin.”

Before the team ended the session, the “residents” had one last message for Jim and the investigators: “You’re doing a good job,”

came the phrase from the Ovilus, stunning the investigators. Overall, the team was so impressed that they are discussing a return visit in the future.

Jim, Karen and their 16-year-old son, Aedan, said that the Ghost Ops Paranormal experience was a positive and interesting one.

“I get the idea we’re almost like the spirit’s employees,” said Jim, adding that they must want to keep the couple on their game, which is alright with them and so far, no customers have been scared off. “We work hard to provide a fun and memorable destination for all ages to socialize and enjoy being creative and think that we might share our work ethic with some of the 270-years’ worth of people who were here before us,” he said.

Create-A-Palooza not only offers art workshops, but also offers a space for private parties as well. To learn more, visit their website at https://create-a-palooza.square.site 7

If you’re born again this life is a sequel.

If you’re a Buddhist this life is a prequel.

So happy Hanukkah everyone!

The moon is my nightlight I shall not want.

For it leadeth me to the bathroom Beside the flushing waters.

It restoreth my bladder To empty size.

Surely goodness and Drake cakes Will follow me The rest of my life.

Amen A vacation on the sun is no fun.

While a stay in the Milky Way, Round the rim of the solar system, Is really a fling on the wing, Just for social distancing.

The light at the end of the tunnel just went out. Damn budget cuts.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 31

MOVIES THAT BUST GUTS INSTEAD OF SPILLING THEM Story By Randy Gross, Paul Hood, & Kevyn Knox

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t’s a given; people like to be scared. Whether it’s riding your favorite roller coaster at Hersheypark or watching the latest teenagersin-peril slasher flick in a darkened theater, people young and old thrill to the chills (or is it “get chilled by the thrills?”) of imagined danger. For those who prefer a scary movie, there were dozens of new horror films released theatrically or on streaming services in 2022 – from repetitive sequels like “Scream 5,” to the highly-original “Nope.”

So, there will be no shortages of curdled blood or tingling spines this Halloween season.

But what about the people who don’t like to be scared? Don’t they deserve to dim the lights – just a little – in their living rooms and be entertained just as much as their Creature Feature-watching neighbors?

Doesn’t it ring hollow to think that All Hallows’ Eve is only a holiday for those who enjoy having the hairs on their necks stand up, when there are just as many Halloween revelers who enjoy being “treated” to a good laugh or two?

If you prefer movies that are non-horrifying – or maybe even downright hilarious – then dig out that trick or treat bag (or, if you’re a Baby Boomer, that old, frayed pillow slip) and get ready for a few “fun size” recommendations from our recurring panel of Harrisburg-area 32 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

film buffs: Paul Hood, Kevyn Knox, and your friendly neighborhood Editor. The following films probably won’t cause you to spill your popcorn, but hey, that just means less vacuuming in the morning.

Kevyn Knox’s Choices:

I MARRIED A WITCH (1942) Directed by French filmmaker Rene Clair, this fun-loving and irreverent look at a witch falling in love with a mortal was the inspiration for the hit TV series Bewitched. The beautiful and talented rising star Veronica Lake played the titular witch while Fredric March, already an Oscar winner at this point (and eventually a two-time Oscar winner) played the hapless mortal. The movie was a moderate hit when it was released but would later become a cult favorite.

Where to watch: Amazon and/or HBO. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) The ultimate cult classic of all cult classics, this adaptation of Richard O’Brien’s hit London musical was a flop at first but then when theatres began playing it at midnight, and people started acting the movie out in front of the screen, it became one of the most successful movies of all-time.

This critic has been part of multiple casts and has, at one time or another, portrayed every character – and in full costume. Don’t dream it. Be it.

Where to watch: Apple TV. CLUE (1985) Who would have thought that a movie based on a classic board game could be as funny and as entertaining as Clue was – and still is upon repeat viewings. Madeline Kahn. Christopher Lloyd. Michael McKean.

Eileen Brennan. Martin Mull. Lesley Ann Warren. Tim Curry. Each and every one of them kills in this movie. See what I did there? Anyhoo.

Where to watch: Hulu.

WARM BODIES (2013) A zombie movie? A love story? A romantic comedy? Why not all three.

“Warm Bodies” is the cutest movie about zombies you will ever see. None of that pesky darkness that usually comes (and rightfully so, I suppose) with zombie apocalypse movies. Nicholas Hoult plays his zombie, who learns to think and talk and even love, to a pitch perfect brilliance. It’s basically Romeo & Juliet with zombies. What more could you ask for?

Where to watch: Hulu.

Paul Hood’s Choices:

BETTER OFF DEAD (1985) Remember those teen years filled with confusion, heartbreak, and general overall angst? In “Better off Dead,” Lane Meyer (John Cusack) gives us a glimpse into the absurdity of consistent failure after his girlfriend dumps him for a popular ski-jock. Distraught, Lane’s various attempts at suicide offer laughs and take us on an adventure of the most ridiculous teenage-life imaginable. Complete with a younger sibling clearly having better luck in all facets of life, a demented newspaper delivery boy, and clueless parents, “Better off Dead” is sure to entertain and offer thrills and laughter. Because, as the tagline for this eighty’s classic says: “insanity doesn’t run in the family, it gallops.”

Where to watch: Hulu.

THE MONEY PIT (1986) Oh, the horrors of home ownership! Yes, the horror on top of horrors, mixed with horror and drywall and flying turkeys and gaping holes on second floors. As in the comedy “The Money Pit,” which stars Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a loving couple driven to madness as their dream home soon becomes a complete nightmare. “The Money Pit “is a comedy of errors sure to cause couples to rent. Hanks and Long are side-splitting in this classic directed by Richard Benjamin.

Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV, Redbox., VUDU or Vudu Movie & TV Store.

SO, I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER (1993) When a poet (Charlie Mackenzie) in San Francisco meets the woman of his dreams, (Harriet Michaels, portrayed by Nancy Travis) all is not as it seems as he soon begins to suspect she may have offed a few of her past lovers. With more laughs than the trolley cars and fog synonymous with America’s most cluttered peninsula, Mike Myers is haplessly hilarious in this dark, romantic comedy that leaves audiences wondering if Charlie is paranoid or on to something harrowing.

Directed by Thomas Schlamme, known for more serious work such as “The West Wing” and “Snowfall,” humor and circumstance shine in this classic that leaves one both disturbed and snickering.

Where to watch: Hulu.

KNIVES OUT (2019) This fun, all out “whodunnit” with an all-star cast that includes Daniel Craig, Lakeisha Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the late Christopher Plummer along with other A-List actors, offers a nice dose of humor wrapped around a mysterious death. The story twists and bends and does an ample job of not straying too far into a muddled, plot-heavy mess that leaves you confused more than thrilled and sore from full belly laughs. Director Rian Johnson, the mind behind the impressive film, “Brick,” shows he still has chops in this genre, and it is one where fun is not as elusive as its multi-layered storyline.

Where to watch: Netflix.

Randy Gross’s Choices:

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1944) Charles Laughton was certainly responsible for his share of chills.

Though unrecognizable in the role, who can forget his performance as Quasimodo in 1939’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” And the sole movie he directed, the atmospheric thriller “The Night of the Hunter,” is recognized today as a film classic. But humor (and a touch of poignancy) take center stage in this adaptation of an Oscar Wilde short story about cowardly Sir Simon of Canterville (Laughton), imprisoned by his ashamed father and doomed to life as a ghost – until one of his descendants (in this case, visiting American Robert Young) can perform a brave deed.

Where to watch: UP Faith & Family, Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU or Vudu Movie & TV Store.

BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE (1958) No doubt Kim Novak was bewitching in her on-and-off-again movie career. But she is literally so in her role as a modern-day witch who, taken with her neighbor (Jimmy Stewart), decides to lure him away from his fiancé by casting a spell. Based on the Broadway play by the same name, the story has a novel Christmas Eve setting, so could in fact be categorized as an Xmas movie by some. Fun fact: a few months prior to filming “Bell, Book and Candle,” Novak and Stewart had teamed up in Alfred Hitchcock’s critically acclaimed “Vertigo.”

Where to watch: Movieland.Tv or The Criterion Channel.

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN (1966) I know what you’re thinking. “Don Knotts? That jittery, google-eyed Barney Fife guy, attempting to give us the jitters in a movie about a haunted house?” Well, actually, this is a very entertaining and sweetnatured film, one that today’s parents can feel safe in watching with their kids, without any danger of senseless violence or foul bathroom humor. I can still remember watching it when I was a kid, and I confess: seeing Knotts as smalltown newspaper man Luther Heggs “bravely” sleeping for one night in a haunted manor still makes me laugh.

Where to watch: Movieland.Tv, VUDU, Vudu Movie & TV Store, Prime Video, Apple TV, or Redbox.

COCO (2017) By uttering two words – Disney and Pixar – you can usually catch any movie watcher’s attention. But this animated tale about young Miguel and his extraordinary journey to figure out his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, offers up far more than vivid visuals – it’s also quite enlightening, shedding new light on the Mexican holiday Dia De Los Muertos. Though it may not be suitable for the very young (after all, Miguel does visit the Land of the Dead) it’s still what you would call prime family viewing – and perfect for Halloween.

Where to watch: Disney +. 7 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 33

Artful Inspirations

Dionn Renee

Reina 76

Dionn Renee

Two Local Women Artists Reach for the Stars

And Those Stars Have Landed in Their Hands Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos Supplied By The Artists

“Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman Harrisburg is filled with amazing artists making their mark in our community and beyond. Reina 76 and Dionn Renee both recently exceeded their local recognition and have moved on to national and international renown. They have reached for the stars, and, after much work, those stars have landed in their hands.

Dionn Renee and Reina 76 met six years ago at HMAC and began a friendship. Dionn Renee already having an established following and Reina 76 just beginning to come into her own. Although their stories differ, they both offer compelling narratives and exhibit the strength, patience, and passion necessary to succeed in the creative world.

Along with nine other world-wide contestants, including three from the United States, Dion Renee’s art has been chosen to create theatrical release posters for the movie, The Woman King, based on a true story about the Agojie, an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey from colonization and the slave trade in the 19th century. The movie was co-produced by and stars Viola Davis, the only African American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting – Oscar, Primetime Emmy, and Tony Awards. The movie premiered at the International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, in early September 2022 and was released shortly after in the United States.

A friend would often send her info on what was happening in the art world and what kind of art competitions were going on. “I never looked into any of them but when he sent me the info on the poster 34 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

competition for The Woman King, I decided to go for it. At the time I was studying for my blue belt in kick boxing and learning jiu-jitsu – doing all these strong woman things and I found this contest to speak to who I had become – a whole different person to who I was while growing up as I now have confidence in my physical abilities.” This was the first competition that she ever entered. “It was a global competition – open to everyone on the planet. I wasn’t worried about winning, I just wanted to do the art,” she states.

Within days of her winning the competition her poster rendition was sent all over the world to outlets who would be screening the film.

“After I won, it finally began to register with me what I had won...it is mind blowing with Viola Davis mentioning me on social media and different cast members now following me on Instagram. Everything is happening really fast.” She adds that she has also met the Editor in Chief of Ebony Magazine who wants a copy of the poster. “I’ve even spoken on social media with my favorite boxer, Hanna Gabriels, world champion in four weight classes. I want to paint her!”

Dionn Renee started drawing at the age of four at the kitchen table with her mother. But even with this early beginning in art, she went through school with the idea that she would become a doctor “a cardiologist or anesthesiologist,” she says - adding that she often created her own small sculptures of the human body and its organs, then dissected them so she could study anatomy, not thinking that her work in creating anatomy was really a move forward in her art. It was only when she was voted ‘most artistic’ in her high school and asked by fellow students what art school she was going to attend that she realized she might have a career ahead of her in the field of art. “Up to

that point the only career artists I was aware of were dead Europeans,” she laughs. She decided to attend Temple University and graduated with a degree in fine art and graphic design.

Dionn Renee, herself, could be viewed as a warrior, overcoming earlier in life the diagnosis of the auto-immune disease Lupus. “The diagnosis was like a huge obstacle distracting me from life, telling me to try to do everything perfect because I might not be alive too long.

The doctors never told me anything because I was a child, but I heard them talk when they thought I was asleep, saying how sick I was and that I would probably only have a short life. I was just 13 years old, and I began thinking in sick-kid ways.”

She states that the illness fueled her into making every act in her life a positive one, so as to have a life that was as full as possible even if it was a short life. She adds that, at that time in her life, “I was seeing more of hospitals than I was of galleries.”

Although Lupus is thought of as a life-long disease, Dionn Renee believes she overcame it through her power of positive thinking.

“While in California, I met Davetta Sherwood, a star in the series The Young and the Restless, and when I told her I had Lupus she said, ‘don’t say that - don’t give it words.”

In 1999 she started a series of paintings, The Upgrade Theory, in which she put all her energy into creating works focusing only on her positive feelings regarding her future, understanding that what she truly believed would begin to come true. “I wanted to make my life the best it could be – the diagnosis fueled me into becoming the best I could be…

It got me on the road to doing quality stuff.

Imagine, if you think you only have a short life span, you want to do everything good that you possibly can. As I got happier and happier, I became less sick and no longer had to take medicine” Fast forward to 2006. Dionn Renee was reading The Secret, a book by Rhonda Byrne whose message is that positive energy attracts positive things into your life, governs your thinking and actions, enabling you to use the power of positive thinking to achieve anything you can imagine. She feels that by the age of thirty-seven she cured her Lupus through positivity in attitude, creativity, and lifestyle.

Even though this new-found Hollywood fame is a heady thing, it is driving Dionn Renee back to her roots so that she can become a part of her family’s business, Full Circle Music Inc., located in Harrisburg. “My father has a record label, Strait Jacket Records, and along with my See Two Local Women Artists on Page 36

BACKGROUND MURAL BY KING PROLIFIC Dionn Renee & Reina 76 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 35

Reina 76

Dionn Renee

Two Local Women Artists, continued from Page 35

cousin owns a radio station, WHBI 93.1 FM. My uncle owns a recording studio, and I own an advertising business. So, we will be a one stop shop for the entertainment industry, and an event destination location for any type of gathering imaginable.”

She then closes, saying, “So many artistic people think of Harrisburg as being a crab in the barrel place - they can’t get out. They are trying to get out, but they don’t have the resources - we are hoping to assist them as part of our goal in helping others.” She invites artists to reach out to her for branding and artistic growth discussions.

Very shortly, Reina 76 will be jetting to the U.S. Embassy in Moldova for an opening of the Art in Embassies exhibition, featuring her work, being exhibited at the residence of Ambassador Kent D. Logsdon in Chisinau, Moldova.

Not only will she attend the opening, but she will participate in outreach activities with the arts Dionn Renee community in Chisinau.

This came about through a few sources. The Ambassador of Moldova is from Pittsburgh, PA, and he had asked his staff to assist him in finding some PA artists for the Art in the Embassies program. Her art often contains the keystone symbol of PA, and the match was perfect. “I received an email from the embassy and my first reaction was, yeah – this is spam. I didn’t respond and two weeks later I got another email and realized this might be real,” Reina 76 says.

Reina 76 also has a piece of art in the office of Timothy DeFoor, Auditor General of Pennsylvania, 36 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

US Ambassador Kent D Logsdon and staff with Genevieve Fitzgibbons in front of painting done by Reina 76.

which may have also provided a connection to the Ambassador’s office.

DeFoor and Reina 76 met at various functions when he was Controller of Dauphin County, and she was donating art for the events. He became a fan of her work, and she created a piece entitled “The Keystone King” for his office.

In addition, TheBurg did a story about her painting now residing in the Auditor General’s office. “The story ran and Genevieve Fitzgibbon, Deputy Director of Keystone Human Services, came into my studio afterwards and explained to me that they had a contract with Moldova to provide services for disabled Moldovans and she would work toward getting some photos sent to me of my work in the Ambassador’s home and office.” And the rest is history with a bit of synchronicity thrown in.

Reina 76 has aways considered herself an underground or outsider artist, mostly due to style and self-training. She was a graduate of Howard University and worked in Washington D.C. for ten years as a business consultant, working in the hotel industry while involving herself with politics. She realized this was not for her. “It was destroying a part of me and the only way I can explain it was that it felt just like a parasite. I lost my job and my mom suggested that I come back to Harrisburg to regroup. That was about seventeen years ago.”

She came back to a job as a secretary for a Catholic Church, and then moved on to a job with Giant supermarkets, still not making that move to art. She began meeting various artists in the area and attended the first meeting held at Midtown Scholar for the formation of 3rd in The Burg, because of her interest in the developing artistic community.

What moved Reina 76 to art was a domestic violence situation, which hospitalized her. “My emotions were so mixed and at times I didn’t know if I wanted to live or die. A co-worker knew I was suffering. She bought me a gift certificate to A.C. Moore and told me to get a canvas and start expressing myself through creativity. This is what started the Reina 76 brand and I’ve been painting ever since.”

Both of these artists are fixtures in the Harrisburg art community and can be reached through social media – Dionn Renee, on Facebook at The Dionn Renee Studios, Instagram @dionn_renee and on YouTube.

She will also be available at Full Circle Music, Inc. at 2201 Woodlawn Street, Harrisburg.

Reina 76, on Facebook reina76artist, Instagram @reina76artist, her website www.reina76artist.com, at The Millworks in studio 318, and on YouTube. 7

Thrill to Affordable Equestrian Fun!

W

hether it’s inside or outside the ring, you’ll feel like you’re “in the saddle” yourself, during the 76th annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show, October 13 through 22 at the historic Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex!

Recognized as a U.S. Equestrian (USEF) Heritage Competition, the PNHS is one of the largest, prestigious – and most exciting – horse shows in the U.S. Inside the ring, this year’s featured classes include … the Neue Schule/USEF National Junior Jumper Individual and Team Championships, presented by Turnham Green, Friday, October 14 & Saturday, October 15; the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final, on Sunday, October 16; the all-new USEF/ National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) Medal Final on Saturday, October 22nd; and the $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National, presented by Forrester Farm Equipment, on Saturday, October 22. Meanwhile, outside the show ring, be sure to take the kids to the PNHS Educational Fair, presented by the Plaid Horse, Friday, October 14 through Sunday, October 16, and

Family Fun Day from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday, October 22nd.

The entire family will thrill to affordable equestrian fun!

General spectator admission is FREE for nine days of the 10day horse show, with tickets for the finale Grand Prix de Penn National available for purchase here: http://panational.org/ subpage.php?link=TicketMap Established in 1946, the first Pennsylvania National Horse Show was held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in 1946.

It was a 4 day show with 226 horses entered and benefited the Harrisburg Kiwanis Youth Foundation. International teams competed at Harrisburg from 1948 until 1972. In 1950 the show was lengthened to 7 days, in 1962 to 8 days, in 1970 to 9 days and in 1982 to 10 days - which it is today.

Proceeds benefit the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation. Learn more by visiting www.panational.org.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 37

The Existence of the Poor and Unknown

The Story of the Underground Band in the 1980’s Story By Jack Gencavage

F

or years, approximately twenty-five, the story burned in my mind.

It was the story of roughly eight years of my life that significantly contributed to the development of my character and growth as a human being. It was a story I always wanted to write about yet did not.

Finally, in 2019, my procrastination ended after I began interviewing close friend and guitar virtuoso John Fischer one day when we finished a jam session in my basement. Utilizing and exercising our long-term memories, the recollection of our eight year “odyssey” in both Central Pennsylvania and Los Angeles, California, became chronicled and detailed in a factual account of The Underground Band.

It all began in 1975 when I missed a late activity bus at Lower Dauphin High School in Hummelstown and met John and his brother, Joe. At that time, the brothers had a fledgling upstart band called Full Moon. What I quickly learned was that Full Moon was no ordinary high school band; in time, through constant rehearsals, discipline, and blind dedication, they delivered substantive, original, hard rock music professionally performed, and in a period of seven years established themselves as a force to be noticed and appreciated, performing all along the eastern seaboard. In time, they received representation from one of the most reputable and established entertainment law firms in the country.

But as Emerson wrote, “events are in the saddle and ride mankind” …

Sometime in 1982 when I was matriculating at Penn State’s Harrisburg campus, John suggested we assemble for a late-night jam after Full Moon finished rehearsing. “We” would be John on lead guitar, myself playing rhythm guitar, Joe behind the drums, and Tim McClure, who obtained the moniker “Simon Barr,” on bass guitar. We “enlightened ourselves” in a musical state of mind, consumed imported beer, and with the colored lights or “pars” lit up, John and I improvised whatever vocals came to us at the moment, with much of the material having a social connotation that presciently defined controversies of the time. We recorded these jams to entertain ourselves and eventually ended up with about fifty ninety-minute cassette tapes. (Cassettes - remember those?)

Full Moon played their last gig in November of 1984 while the now named “Underground Band” or “UGB” emerged from the Fischer basement. What began as guys having “fun” with zero intention of forming a band became serious; after playing gigs at Harrisburg’s Thompson Institute, and the old River City Inn on Progress Avenue, The Underground Band melded their socially constructive jams into actual songs that John and I wrote, and which John formally arranged.

The audience’s reaction was resoundingly positive as the new, original 38 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

music was enthusiastically received.

We had created something very special, and we now knew for sure seeing the material tried and tested.

John, Simon, and I hatched the plan to take our commercial yet substantive music three thousand miles to Los Angeles, one of the key music centers in the country.

Eventually, we would audition drummers there for a fourth member. (Joseph Paul Fischer, the UGB’s original drummer and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and front man from the former Full Moon, is a multi-talented singer/songwriter who moved to Long Island, NY, where he began a career as a solo artist).

So it was that, in February of 85, we loaded our newly acquired semiconditioned school bus with our PA, stage equipment, food supply, and about two thousand dollars, and took the journey across the country to

our new home in Los Angeles. We had no idea what awaited us, only that we believed in our music and had a vision and a strategy.

The book, The Existence of the Poor and Unknown - title derived as the antithesis of the popular 80’s show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” - currently available on Amazon in both print and eBook format, is the story of our trials, tribulations, progress, and survival in Los Angeles.

Though many books have been written about rich and famous rock bands, this is the story of a band that put forth enormous time and energy in their quest for success in LA’s music industry.

It begins with and chronicles the story of Full Moon, a band that some Harrisburg Magazine subscribers will remember from their days of enthralling crowds at The Metron on Cameron Street where they regularly performed in the 80’s, as did The Sharks, another heavyweight band of the period.

The Existence of the Poor and Unknown is replete with true stories and anecdotes of our time before, during, and after LA; it is about determination, ambition, sacrifice, humor and the character development that confronting disappointment and rejection brings forth. The definition of success is multifaceted and cannot always be defined with a dollar sign in front of a number. If having a vision and pursuing a goal and seeing it through to the end is the definition, then I suppose we broke the bank.

We played heart-felt, danceable, commercial yet substantive music to a largely approving audience that loved us and felt our impact; in the end we left our imprint upon them.

John and I still get together and jam Underground Band songs and others that come to us, as often as time permits. We then sit together over a drink and reflect about the LA days and before, philosophically putting it all in perspective and having a great laugh in the process. John, who still only puts down his guitar to perform “vital functions,” carries the torch forward with his new band currently playing in the Central Pennsylvania area, Vertigo Vultures. Look at their schedule and spend a night out with “the flock” - you won’t be disappointed!

You’ve read about the rich and famous; join The Underground Band in our 1980’s odyssey and learn why this became an experience of our lifetime. Pick up a copy of The Existence of the Poor and Unknown and read about the trials, tribulations, progress and struggles of The UGB! Order on Amazon: The Existence of the Poor and Unknown 7

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 39

Carols by Candlelight

Andrew Sords, Romance of the Violin

Arts on the Square: Music, Arts and Ministry Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Arts on the Square Musical Events: Saturday, Oct 15 – 7:00 p.m.

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace Friday, Nov 18 – 7:30 p.m.

Romance of the Violin Sunday, Dec 11 – 4:00 p.m.

Carols by Candlelight Saturday, Feb 18 – 7:00 p.m.

An Evening with Beethoven Sundays at Four: Four renowned organists perform varied programs on the new four manual 83-rank J. Nedra Schilling pipe organ March 5 – 4:00 p.m.

March 12 – 4:00 p.m.

March 19 – 4:00 p.m.

March 26 – 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 21 – 4:00 p.m.

Choral Masterworks Saturday, June 17 – 7:00 p.m.

Scotland Bound Concert Parking for these concerts is provided free to the public (through Market Square Church) in the Market Square Parking Garage.

For more information regarding these concerts and to determine if there is a charge for tickets for a particular performance, please visit the website www.marketsquarechurch.org/concerts.

40 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

J

Photos Contributed By Market Square Presbyterian Church

apanese philosopher and essayist D.T. Suzuki once said that “the greatest productions of art - whether painting, music, sculpture or poetry, have invariably the quality of something approaching the work of God.” How fitting then is it to have an art gallery and a yearly musical series be an integral part of the historic Market Square Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg. The church was founded in 1794 and the current building, dating from 1860, makes it the oldest building on Market Square.

John Robinson, Communications Manager for Arts on the Square says “The seeds for this program began in 2019 with an invitation to the Vienna Boys Choir to sing at the church.

The response was overwhelming. This told us that there was a need for more music that could feature local, regional, and international talent. We decided then to create a yearly series called Arts on the Square to feature music and fine arts.” The church formed a committee of volunteers from the church who would be led by Artistic Director and Minister of Music, Tyler Canonico. Robinson goes on to say, “We see this as a gift back to our community. Market Square Church has been blessed by our community for many years.” Covid caused this project to be put to the side shortly thereafter, but the 20222023 series is set to begin on October 15 with the presentation of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace written by Sir Karl Jenkins, a composer from the U.K. This piece was written in 2000 and dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis. This piece is one of the most performed and poignant contemporary choral works of our time and includes text from Tennyson, Kipling,

Sankichi Tōge, the Koran, the New Testament, the Mahabharata, and the Tanakh, all within the framework of a Christian mass.

Canonico states, “Normally in October we have our annual organ spectacular, which is a huge draw. But this year we wanted to do something about peace, and we will be performing Jenkins’ work The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. We are partnering with Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence for this performance. I was drawn to this piece after the inception of the Russian attack on the Ukraine, which unfortunately still exists. But also, I was drawn by the rising gun violence affecting our community and the entire country.” Accompanied by a chamber orchestra, the Sanctuary Choir of Market Square Church, and the Market Square Singers, the audience will be led through a mass written as a powerful piece using liturgical and popular text guiding you through the horrors of war, the dreadful aftermath, and finally the hope that all can be overcome in the future. After the performance, the audience will be led in the singing of songs including Amazing Grace, We Shall Overcome and another piece using parts of the Martin Luther King speech I have a Dream. Canonico states, “The concert is about world peace and the audience participation in singing will be directed more towards gun violence in our community.”

Heeding God’s Call will have an area set up to provide information on their organization.

The art gallery, located in historic Geneva Hall (1882), has regular exhibits of art by local and regional artists, both professional and amateur. Each two-month exhibit, November through June, is opened with an artists’

NEW BUSINESS OPENING!

Art Gallery Attendees

reception, held on a Sunday following the church service. The reception introduces the individual artists and features an “Artist of the Day” demonstrating various crafts. Many of the exhibitions are open for 3rd in The Burg, a Harrisburg art scene tradition. Lori Sweet is the Art Gallery Coordinator and handles the requests of artists for inclusion in the exhibits.

Robinson explains that many of these events are underwritten and sponsored by various individuals and foundations such as the Carole Desoto Foundation, UPMC Foundation, The Joseph T. and Helen H. Simpson Foundation, David W. Volkman, and John K. Robinson.

Some musical events are free to the public and only a free will donation is suggested. Other concerts do require a ticket for admission. Please check out the MSPC website for this information.

More information is available at: www. marketsquarechurch.org (sign up on their webpage to receive email newsletters for various happenings). Facebook page is artsonthesquareMSPC. For more information on Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence: www.heedinggodscall.org. A local Facebook page for this group can be found at @heedingharrisburg and the local website is www.heedinggodscall.org/harrisburg-pa. 7

Your Kitchen

1098 2nd Street (Across from Grotto Pub) Enola, PA 717-216-8801 Mon-Fri 10 am – 8 pm Saturday 8 am – 8 pm Sunday 8 am – 4 pm Smoothies, Shakes, Soups, Tacos, Empanadas, Paninis & Melts, Sandwiches & Wraps, Salads, Rice & Quinoa Bowls, Desserts Breakfast items (limited by days/hours) Photos by Will Masters

Arts on the Square Gallery Exhibits: October 9-December 11, 2022 Kelly Curran, paintings January 15-March 12, 2023 Jim Whetstone, photography, and Carol Mayer, paintings March 19-May 20, 2023 Irene Appleyard, paintings Arts on the Gallery exhibits are announced at facebook.com/artsonthesquareMSPC and marketsquarechurch.org/mspc-art-gallery.

OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 41

Artful Inspirations

The Chef as Artist Creating Edible Art to Satisfy All the Senses Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

A

Photos Submitted By Qui Musarra

ll artists are not craftsmen, and all craftsmen are not artists; however, a successful chef straddles both lines, and creates a beautiful and harmonious piece of work that appeals to all five senses and takes a world of technical understanding to execute.” This quote is by Executive Chef and owner of The Essex, Colt Taylor, and without a doubt he must have been talking about Harrisburg’s Qui Musarra.

Musarra, co-owner and chef of Mangia Qui, Rubicon, and Suba, premiere restaurants in Harrisburg, has been a fixture for fine and unique dining experiences for a total of twenty-two years, beginning with Mangia Qui, the first of these three. But it wasn’t a direct path that brought her to culinary distinction here in Harrisburg, PA. Born in Hoboken, NJ – the birthplace of Frank Sinatra - Musarra was raised for her first eight years in a home on the hill overlooking the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. “My home corner was homebase for wiffleball, which was great!” She laughs and adds, “I was a very sporty little kid, and I could never be found. Much like Pippi Longstocking, my family would call out ‘where is Qui, where in the world is Qui?’ I had wanderlust when I was young.”

After early years of grade school in Hoboken, in the fourth grade Musarra was transferred to the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts in NYC. This wasn’t a stretch because family summers were often spent in San Juan and Musarra attended summer classes starting at age four at the Ballets de San Juan school, considered to be the best ballet school in San Juan. “While in San Juan one summer, the daughter of the general manager of the Hilton brought a ballet troupe from the National Academy in NYC. It caught my mother’s fancy, and the die was cast as to where I would be attending school the next year.”

With a class size of six students, scholars had individual attention in many fields such as introduction to languages (the main language being French), pantomime, drama, and ballet - every day. It was an immersive experience for Musarra.

“I was there for a few years but then the family moved to San Juan, and I was enrolled again in Ballets de San Juan.” That didn’t last long as Musarra laughingly explains, “the weather was so hot and those Capezios – well you know! – I switched to the swimming team at the Hilton as it was so much more refreshing.”

Returning to the U.S. in her early teens, Musarra enrolled in the Oakwood Friends School, New York’s oldest co-educational boarding and day school founded in 1796. This is where the story now switches to Musarra’s fascination and excellence in the culinary arts. At Oakwood, students were given various tasks to help prepare them for the future and give them a sense of responsibility. Musarra was assigned to the kitchen of Oakwood. “My instructor was a Spanish women named Loli, and this is where things started to come together for me and my future in the culinary arts.” This all occurred for Musarra at the young 42 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

Pacific sea urchin, lime avocado whip, heirloom tomatoes with Colatura de Alici, lotus chips

Qui Musarra

age of sixteen. She graduated from high school a year early and moved onward to college.

Musarra began her college career at Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, and then transferred to Marymount University in Manhattan. While at Marymount, Musarra landed a job at the original Dean and DeLuca on Prince St in SOHO at the ripe old age of eighteen. Jokingly she says, “Their uniforms were white pants and all I could think about was being able to wear white leather jeans every day. This worked for me!” She was hired to work in the cheese department and by some strange fate the woman who was the buyer decided to retire and Joel Dean, co-founder of Dean and Deluca, asked Musarra if she would entertain the idea of becoming his dry goods and produce buyer. She adds, “I took a walk around SOHO and realized how fortunate I had been being raised in a family where fine food, the arts, cultural experiences, and education

Elide Hower, Qui Musarra, Staci Basore

were important and how I had been given such an incredible learning experience all through my young life. I walked back to the store and accepted the opportunity, and it was an incredible experience.” Laughingly she says, “At this time my brother was a student at Xavier in NYC, so I hired him and his buddies as my stock boys!”

After this world class experience, at the age of twenty, Musarra contacted the executive chef at the Hilton in San Juan and asked if she could do an apprenticeship as a chef, which she did. Following this, she was quickly accepted as a student at CIA (Culinary Institute of America), in Hyde Park, NY, and as part of her experience there she did a Progressive Learning Year in Madrid, Spain.

In 1983, after graduating from CIA, Musarra moved to Spain. “It took a bit to get a job. I had a contact from a friend of my father for a premiere restaurant in Madrid, but I was told that they didn’t even have a place for a woman chef to change her clothing. I ended up in Ibiza working at Las Dos Lunas and then was asked to help open a restaurant, Archie, in Madrid, by the same chef who had closed the door to me originally in Madrid.” While there, Musarra worked in The New Yorker, Armstrong, and Archie Restaurants.

Seven years later, Musarra returned to the U.S., moving to Washington, D.C. “Through friends of my brother, I met Roberto Donna, the darling of Washington Post food critic Phyllis Richman, and the owner of I Matti. I was there briefly and then moved to his DuPont Circle premiere restaurant, Galileo.” She adds laughingly, “I was there for a while and then took a little vacation to Mexico, Central, and

South America, which lasted a few years.”

Returning to the U.S., Musarra looked for her friend of 15 years, Staci Basore, whom she met while living in D.C. Musarra found her in Harrisburg and came here for a short visit and ended up never leaving. Musarra says, “As fortune may have it, my roots are here. I have lived here longer than anywhere else.”

In that time period, Basore, along with Donnie Brown, were planning on opening The Firehouse Restaurant and Musarra fit in as the co-chef. Musarra says, “The Phoenician trout, a recipe from the Mediterranean, became quite the hit in this Harrisburg restaurant.”

She worked briefly for Paper Moon Restaurant and in addition had a small spot at Broad Street Market. Barbara Skelly was the ‘market master’ for Broad Street Market at that time and convinced Musarra to name the spot Pasta Art. Musarra recalls, “All the cooking for Pasta Art was being done using the kitchen of Paper Moon Restaurant. This restaurant was in the process of going out of business, so Elide and I began buying all the fixtures and furniture and finally the building itself, which became Mangia Qui.” The cleaning and refurbishing began and on Valentine’s Day 2001, Mangia Qui opened with a simple market table like that of Pasta Art, and the culinary delights followed. Elide Hower, co-owner, artist, pastry chef, and most importantly Musarra’s life partner, began painting walls and hanging her beautiful art.

The magical triumvirate of Musarra, Hower, and Basore was formed.

When the Neptune bar closed, which was next door to Mangia Qui, the time became See Chef as Artist on Page 44 OCTOBER 2022 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE 43

Truffled foie gras medallion with Mostarda Di Cremona

Qui Musarra

Chef as Artist, continued from Page 43

ripe for the purchase of that building and massive renovations to create the home for Rubicon, which celebrated its eighth anniversary in September. Suba, located above Mangia Qui, has been part of the 3rd Street restaurant trio since 2007.

In addition to maintaining these three restaurant sites, Musarra is well known for her uncanny pop-up one night dining experiences for New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Mardi Gras, Bastille Day, fundraisers for Katrina flood victims and the Ukraine, and many more. “I come up with the idea, followed by a menu, and then Basore, Ashlyn Hawkins, our general manager, and Hower, begin to discuss wine, spirits, music, décor, uniforms and logistics and the staff gets to work to make sure each of these overblown productions comes off without a hitch. It is a huge commitment for a one-day affair, but it is well worth it to host these very special events in the city.”

Streatery was a lovely return to Broad Street Market but with hand surgery for carpel tunnel on Hower’s menu, it was necessary to take a hiatus from this fourth location. “Streatery was the greatest thing for me as I was able to get the exact location where I had launched Pasta Art – it was like returning to my Harrisburg roots,” says Musarra.

Covid was a difficult time for restaurants in the city, but Musarra notes, “We started with three restaurants, three kitchens and three menus before the mandatory shut down. It is like a family with three kids, it’s all the same family but there are three different personalities.

We didn’t know what would happen.” But within two days, Basore flipped the script and came up with the plan, paring down to one menu designed for take-out, which was a totally new phenomenon for their business. It made the most sense for Rubicon to be the headquarters for preparing takeout meals mainly because of the kitchen size, an easy 44 HARRISBURG MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2022

to clean wood floor, and a large bar for getting the take-out packages in order. A small kitchen staff with a few waitstaff and even a delivery team began to handle this new curveball in fine dining. “The public was incredibly supportive throughout all of this and, although we were operating on a shoestring, we were able to stay viable, because of the goodness of our customers. Even more than this we were able to set up a small fund to help employees with emergency cash needs such as rent and health issues.” Part of the reason for the backing received from local people is, of course, the quality of the food but, just as importantly, Musarra and her team’s very simple blueprint for success of being an important part of the community in which they live and work. There is always a smiling face, in fact many smiling faces, and a willingness to lend a helping hand within the community.

When asked if a chef should be considered an artist Musarra says, “I believe that the chef can be an artist,” adding “I’m thinking of Dominique Crenn. She is currently the only woman chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco, California. Also, Pim Techamuanvivit, another female chef in San Francisco who later received a Michelin star for her Kin Khao restaurants.”

“For myself, what makes it an art form is how you develop it, much the same as a musician or a painter develops their work through technique.

Technique is what frees you up to become an artist. And it must come from your soul.” She adds, “At times I develop chef’s block – just like writer’s block – and I need more exterior stimulus to create.” She adds, “Then I journey to the farmer’s market and see all the gorgeous produce overflowing the shelves.” After a pause she adds, “The hardest part with cooking is that you get one shot at it. With the art that is on the walls here, people come in many times and can view and study it over and over and it remains the same, but my creations go on a plate and are served and even if the same dish is served many times, I must re-create it each time with the same consistency in order to create the memory for my clientele. Memories which are often shared with me by returning clientele and it is necessary for me to be able to pull this back and hopefully recreate the memory again. You have one opportunity to make it or break it for one person or a group of people coming into the restaurant. I must work on always maintaining relevancy in my creations. It isn’t like a one hundred and fifty-year-old Van Gogh which may be admired many times over – I get one shot at it.” Musarra does say that, with the inception of the smart phone, she now has a photo bank of dishes she has created, which provide great references for past dishes.

There is a Mediterranean influence in most of the dishes prepared.

Although the dishes may look complicated, Musarra tries to keep things simple in order to create a true flavor experience that allows

each ingredient to shine through as a cohesive part of the whole. Color and texture are very important to the dish. Musarra says there may not always be a masterplan as things may evolve in a moment. Musarra purchases as much as possible from local sources and often bases menus on what is available from providers. “I often get up early and go into a stream of consciousness that assists me in planning the menu. I love procuring items from wherever I can to give my dishes a worldwide flavor and destination appeal and I try to be true to the flavors when I am representing a dish. It must be the best it can be.” She mentions the Toscano steak which has appeared on the menu since the inception of Mangia Qui, stating that approximately eighty thousand – yes that would be 80,000 - of these steaks have been sold over twentytwo years in business.

When not working overtime creating menus and delectable dishes, you may find Musarra skiing at Ski Round Top in winter, kayaking various rivers and lakes in summer, and spending as much time out of doors as possible. “My mother called me a pinwheel – never being able to be at rest for more than a minute,” she laughs.

Musarra believes in the ‘good karma bank’ and doing good turns throughout the city, not only with various businesses but also with employees who remember their training and experience many years later.

As parting wisdom, Musarra states, “You gotta love what you do if you are going to be doing it for your entire lifetime and I love this … and I’ve built something I can take anywhere.”

Find Musarra and staff at the following websites: www.rubiconhbg.com, mangiaqui.com, subahbg.com. Rubicon is located at 270 North St in Harrisburg. 7

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