Harrisburg Magazine April 2023

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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Ed Robinson Bill Roddey

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“It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.”

-Edna St. Vincent Millay

It’s always good to move swiftly past April 1st, stepping gingerly over the sprouting flowers while evading all the idiots who may plot to make you look foolish. So, it’s definitely a plus that the majority of you won’t be reading these words until it’s well after April Fool’s Day.

Appropriately, we begin things this month with an excerpt from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Spring.” It is National Poetry Month, after all, so we are excited to present a special profile of someone who needs no introduction within the local writing community:

Rick Kearns (pictured above), the longest-serving Poet Laurate of Harrisburg, whose home – or more specifically, The Kitchen – has been an improvisational Friday night hot spot for music, poetry (and more) for more than three decades. As a bonus, our featured poet for April, Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Gadsden, also needs no introduction, for he is both a former Harrisburg Poet Laureate, and has been mentoring young writers in his Writers Wordshop since 1977.

April also delivers another annual “rite”: the start of voting for our next “Simply the Best” campaign! Starting April 15th, you can view the many nominees at our website (www.harrisburgmagazine.com) and then vote for all your favorites! Good luck to everyone!

Winter took it easy on Central PA, so let’s hope that April showers will bring a bumper crop of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for local gardeners. In an informative piece by Christina Heintzelman, the Master Gardeners at Penn State provide some helpful garden-planning tips.

For those who recently awakened from a long hibernation – and have the bedhead to prove it! – Christina’s Artful Inspirations invites you to “Walk With

Scissors.” Or, actually, learn what it takes to be the person who trims and shapes all those bedheads at Walk With Scissors, A Nathan Walk Cosmetology Academy in Middletown.

If music puts some “spring in your step,” then don’t miss our profile of Linda Tedford, founder, artistic director, and conductor of Susquehanna Chorale, a forty-voice choir that has performed throughout the east coast plus Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Ireland (and, next month, at various venues in the greater Harrisburg area).

In this month’s Food & Fun Section, start your morning with our Compliments to the Chef profile of Nadia De La Cruz, who cooks up honest food from scratch at Your Kitchen restaurant in Enola.

In need of a few laughs? Our short story this month, by Ed Robinson, paints a picture of one man’s love-hate relationship with … well, painting; Brad Maurer’s The Cercus cartoon takes a bug’s eye view of climate change; and published poet & playwright Bill Roddey continues to jab and poke at modern conventions with more Off the Cuff one-liners.

Don’t forget our columns! Film & TV historian Kevyn Knox lists films to look forward to in 2023 in Cinematic Ramblings; Andrea Reed details how to stress less by eating better in Nourishing Bites; Kristen Zellner celebrates National Dog Appreciation Month by appreciating her own dogs in For the Love of Pets; Michelle Haring’s By the Book highlights the wealth of appearances by bestselling authors at local book stores and libraries; Bryson Roof provides tips on planning an inheritance in an inflationary environment in The Finance Hound; Barbara Trainin Blank previews spring musicals (and more) in Theatre Thoughts; and HACC’s Robert Stakem points out the dangers of texting while driving in Tailboard Talk.

Be sure to suffer no fools this month!

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

Poet of Witness: Rick Kearns

Approachable Musician & Poet is Easy to Find on a Friday Night

This is a story that needs to begin in the kitchen. Not just any kitchen, but one that’s as warm and comfortable as a favorite sweater or jacket. Not one that’s part of a fancy Harrisburg restaurant either. The kitchen you need to visualize is more inviting –and inspiring – than that, and it happens to be in the home of Rick Kearns, a writer whose first love was music, and a musician whose first calling was to serve as a beacon for a regular Friday-night gathering of some of the most talented and eclectic bohemians you’ll find in Central PA.

Yes, in The Kitchen. Inside a cozy townhouse on 5th Street. It’s where wine and words and Flamenco vibes have been flowing for over 30 years, and the necessary stepping off point for any story about one of the most notable n of Harrisburg’s famous The Paper Sword poetry group, and the capitol city’s longest-serving Poet Laureate. But stepping off points can also require a step (or two) back.

MANY INFLUENCES, ONE MUSE

Though a successful, widely published poet, Kearns first motivation was to be a musician, and hence was heavily influenced by his grandfathers, one American, the other Puerto Rican.

“My Grandpa Kearns and my Abuelo Morales were remarkable guys, who were very different in certain ways,” he recalls fondly, “but one thing they both had in common was music. They were both musicians. And, when we’d go down to Puerto Rico, especially during Christmas time, there is a tradition called Parranda, which involves groups of people coming together to play music in front of a friend’s house. And Puerto Rican Christmas music, right, is with guitars and bongos, and all little kinds of hand percussion and stuff – and singing. So, I grew up seeing my grandfather and my uncles playing music.”

For Kearns, a love of music would soon co-mingle with a sprouting love for poetry. “As I started reading, I became influenced by a number of writers,” he explains. “I’d say it was, maybe, by the time I was in the 6th or 7th grade I started noticing poetry. And it just (snaps his fingers) hit me. I said, ‘I like this.’”

Kearns other literary influences would come from James Joyce (“the first writer that set me ablaze,” he maintains); Beat writers like Allen Ginsburg, Michael McClure, and Diane di Prima; African-America authors like Ralph Ellison (“‘Invisible Man’ just knocked me out!”); and also Puerto Rican poets who were writing in English, including Martín Espada, Sandra Maria Esteves, and Magdalena Gómez. But it was his exposure to the culture of the radical 60’s that truly ignited his own storytelling style. “I was beginning to appreciate some of the music coming out of the 60’s, and I already knew some things about the Black Panthers, and I was beginning to hear about radical Puerto Rican organizations, including the Young Lords, who were similar to the Black Panthers. And that was inspiring me and getting me more and more curious.” That curiosity would lead to studying early 20thcentrury radical Spanish writers like Miguel Hernández and Federico García-Lorca, both of whom had to deal with the rise of their country’s brutal authoritarian regime. Garcia-Lorca was captured by the military and executed; Hernández died in prison.

“That there were poets and writers who were ending up either in jail or dead because of what they were doing, or what they were saying. I came to understand that what I was doing, even in my small way, had a larger meaning. And that’s part of what’s propelled me all along, was that even though I’ve written poems about …for instance, a tree? You know what I mean? I’ve written love poems, I’ve written goofy poems, but on a regular basis I’m writing about people and situations that are not in the mainstream.”

Story by Randy Gross, rgross@harrisburgmagazine.com New Photos by Will Masters; Other Photos Submitted

When you ask about Kearns’ love poems, his wife’s name leaps off the tip of his tongue without hesitation, saying “Ziza’s certainly my muse. And I think my love for her or our love for each other has fueled maybe everything, you know, about me. And certainly she has been an influence on me, as a person as well as a writer.” Married since 1989, one of his favorite “Ziza” poems (below) was written during their courtship days in 1987.

If you ask about Kearns’ “out of the mainstream” poetry, he proudly points out that his very first book, “A Street of Knives,” published in 1993, featured poems largely focusing on people outside the mainstream. “About the homeless in Harrisburg, specifically,” he asserts.

Kearns continues, “Those were the kinds of stories, along with stories about Puerto Ricans and Latinos, up here and on the island, and people of color, and working people, working class folks … they have been the subjects of many of my poems, because I feel so strongly about those stories, about those situations. For many of us in this category of ‘poetry of witness,’ we’ve all been in that situation where we thought ‘well, if I don’t do it, who’s gonna do it.’ That’s another aspect of it.”

through the door covered in light, call me safado, descarado

my smile, is a mirror.

I love you.

MANY MEANINGS OF ‘NATIVE’

The word “native” can have varying degrees of meaning, especially for Kearns. A native of Harrisburg, Kearns attended local Catholic schools and is a graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School. His mother, a native of Puerto Rico and professor of Spanish and Spanish literature, and his father, a prominent attorney and big fan of reading and history, instilled both a love of literature and inquisitiveness about heritage in Kearns at an early age. Not only would he eventually enter the academic arena himself, currently serving as an Adjunct Professor of English at HACC, where he is also Faculty Advisor to the student literary arts magazine, The Copper Quill, and a facilitator for the Wildwood Writer’s Festival, but his long-time romance with journalism would lead him to investigate the Taino culture of his mother’s homeland.

“On my Puerto Rican grandfather’s side of the family, we have indigenous heritage,” he says, “and that was also something I was interested in, and I wrote about as a journalist.” Citing a recent scientific study that shows that well over 60 percent of all Puerto Ricans had indigenous mitochondrial DNA –contradicting the normal historical narrative – Kearns details how he “started learning and becoming connected to people state-side, mostly Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, who were interested in Taino heritage.”

Kearns journalistic background blended well with his “poetry of witness” style of storytelling, and one of his most scathing pieces was a poem published by Indian Country Today Media Network, for whom he had been serving as a correspondent – a piece, which satirically attacked the misguided notion of “native” in the megaflop 2013 movie, “The Lone Ranger,” starring Johnny Depp.

“I found out that Johnny heard about my poem,” mentions Kearns with amusement.

“And he wasn’t happy.”

The Drone Ranger Explains Manifest Destiny OK, OK

I think I get it now a little kid, a little white kid dressed as The Lone Ranger is drawn to the wax figure of the Ranger’s sidekick Tonto who comes alive to tell the epic tale of a folk hero, a white folk hero in cahoots with an Indian man with mystical powers Yes, an Indian man who mystically becomes a wax figure in a museum. Uh, huh, Heroic, yes, yes, heroic man who grunts one syllable replies dressed as well, dressed as how a multi-millionaire actor playing the role of the crafty Indian thinks it should be played to show dignity, yes, the dignity of assisting a white man in a cotillion masquerade mask fight greed?

Hundreds of millions of dollars of special effects to highlight a white man in a cotillion mask and an LSD version of an Indian fighting greed.

Fighting the greedy railroad scammer who would disenfranchise millions of white settlers who were called by destiny person to person unlimited minutes

Destiny manifest in their brutally effective war machines and centers of learning where they learn how to explain the rights of white people to take Indian land kill Indian people and attempt to erase Indian culture.

Hi yo Silver! Away!

Up in the air up in the sky it’s a bird it’s a plane

No it’s the Drone Ranger rides again off to fight the violent Al Qaeda but somehow historical memory banks not included in this app the ones where women and children are running for their lives at Wounded Knee as women and children are running for their lives in Pakistan, Afghanistan and now maybe Pine Ridge, Watts, Vieques?

The Drone Ranger is there to explain the humane war machine that is his destiny manifest in its ability to kill without brave soldiers dying while maneuvering the killing joystick of advanced technology that helps us create billion dollar images of how we honor our enemies by immortalizing them in wax after we take their land take their oil take their children.

Up, up and away

Hi yo Halliburton!

The Drone Ranger rides again!

Rick Kearns 2013

Harrisburg Poet Laureate Gene Hosey in the 1980’s, and whose membership over two decades included notables like the late poets Jack Veasey and Tom Bickman, iconic poetry host Marty Esworthy (profiled in Harrisburg Magazine, April 2022), and, in the early 90’s, Kearns. The group’s reach can sort of be likened to the parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, because it almost feels like on any given day, at any local poetry reading (including, or especially, The Blacklisted Poets readings at HMAC on Thursday evenings), almost any arbitrarily selected poet could be connected, in some remote way, to The Paper Sword.

“The Paper Sword had an influence on Marty, and the other people that Marty influenced, so that most of the reading series, maybe with the exception of Nate [Gadsden]’s, are descendants of The Paper Sword. I would refer to them as spawn of The Sword. (he laughs) And yeah, I think it influenced a lot of poets. And I’m real happy about participating there and helping make things happen there.”

He continues, “And that’s another tangent that I want to mention: Harrisburg has always had a poetry scene. And there is a creative ferment here. It’s in poetry, it’s in theater, it’s in music, the visual arts. And I’m not sure if it’s the river, or being at the crossroads, or whatever, but this town, for all its ups and downs, has always had an arts scene. There have always been writers or artists of some kind coming out of here.”

“TWO DOLLARS & A POEM WILL BUY YOU A SMALL SODA”

At the forefront of the local arts scene, serving as Harrisburg Poet Laureate since 2014, Kearns has not only earned himself entry in the National Database of Latino Poets Laureate but has served as a mentor to countless writers in Central PA, offering up sage, cautionary tidbits like the one quoted above. “There is a point 0001 percent of poets in this country that make enough money to survive because of their work,” he says, recalling how, at an early age he learned that poets and musicians have to do other things to make a living. “That’s just how it is. The vast majority of poets, and I would argue other kinds of writers, too, are also academics.”

SIX DEGREES OF THE PAPER SWORD

There is a certain reverence that’s still held for The Paper Sword, an influential poetry group co-founded by Tom Gianelli and former

As Poet Laureate, Kearns has been invited to read in various places, both inside and outside Harrisburg, and humbly proclaims “I’ve sort of represented the city in that sense”; but also feels he has some unfinished business, desiring

to further coalesce – and elevate – poets and writers in the local Latino community. “I’d love to find a way to make that happen,” he says.

As both a poet and musician, he has merged the two art forms masterfully, in live and lively performances, and on CD. “Maybe one of the best, if not the best thing I’ve ever done as a poet,” he says, “is a collaboration [around 2010] with these four really remarkable jazz musicians. It was called Rick Kearns and the Con Alma Quartet. And we did a bunch of gigs for about 4 years, and we recorded a CD in 2013, which was pretty nice. I’m real proud of that work.”

Kearns recalls one of the earliest gigs he had with Con Alma with humor. “Patrick Murphy [horns and percussion] said to me ‘hey Rick, why don’t you come over and read a couple of poems at the [Pride of the Susquehanna] riverboat. And I said, ‘sure, we’ll give it a shot … but do you think it’s a good setting?’ And he says, ‘well, by the time you’d be reading, most of the people there are pretty drunk. So, it’s the ideal audience. Even if they got pissed off, what are they gonna do? They can barely make it to the stage. (laughs) So, I inflicted a few poems on them. And we all enjoyed it.”

Over the years, Kearns has had other collaborations with musicians, especially late guitar virtuoso Paco; and his poetry has traveled across the globe, with pieces being published in Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Ireland. But he is far from finished with his artistic pursuits.

In addition to his goal of “putting together a solid book deal,” he is looking forward to the publication of a series of tiny chapbooks, including one (close to being released at press time) titled “Reflections on the Life of T. Morris Chester, Abolitionist, Freedom Fighter, Genius.” Says Kearns about the project, done in conjunction with the Commonwealth Monument Project and the Dauphin County Library System: “It’s about this amazing African American man from Harrisburg that did so many things that, once you get a handle on his story, one of the first questions you have to ask yourself is ‘why don’t I know about this?’ Because this black man that came out in the 19th century, he was brilliant, he was amazing, and he’s from Harrisburg.”

Perpetually ambitious, Kearns continues: “I still want to create some video oral histories … and at least one documentary. I’d like to get into doing some filming. Some real basic filming. That, and getting better at guitar. Those are the two for this last, I don’t know how many years. (laughs).”

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE KITCHEN

Out of necessity, any story about Kearns must come full circle, and end – you’ve guessed it– back in The Kitchen on 5th Street. But there truly is no end in sight to the Friday night gatherings that have reached “institution” status during the 3+ decades since the popular music and poetry salon had its humble beginnings.

“Paco and I started jamming, just the two of us, you know it was guitar and percussion, in 1992,” Kearns recalls. “And it was just the two of us for a while before he brought me into Danzante, which was the group with Camille Erice and a bunch of dancers, and I became their percussionist, and we also had a singer … and as a result of me being in that group, those dancers started showing up. And, as word got out that there were dancers here, that started bringing people, along with people who knew about Paco. Because Paco was a phenomenal musician. So, the word started getting out that Paco was here, and these dancers were here and that there was sort of a ‘scene’ here. And that’s how it blossomed into a ‘happening.’”

Favorite ‘happening’ moments are recalled with affection, including:

-The performance of a zambra with Paco. “A very Arabic, sort of North African style Flamenco piece. And I played this big frame drum, and there was one night there when we did that piece here and we had two dancers, and it was just … it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Just that particular night. And the music was just right in the pocket.” -A Petenera performed with singer Tanya Ortiz. “It was just one of those moments that was almost perfect. I mean, her voice was so powerful, it was chilling.”

And the memories continue to be made. “There was just in the last year,” says Kearns enthusiastically, “there was one night where it was – and I wrote a poem that sort of touches on this, and it’s called ‘In The Pocket,’ and that’s a jazz phrase that jazz players use to describe when the music is just right … you know, everything has come together, and everybody’s moving together, and it is a feeling that is … well, it’s impossible to describe.

See Poet of Witness on Page # 10

Also hard to describe: how proud Grandpa Kearns and Abuelo Morales must be looking down from the heavens.

In The Pocket

There is that moment when I find the right rhythm for a gypsy jazz or flamenco piece and the feeling of being one with other musicians moving together through sound and space in sync like wheels, cogs or not just cogs in a great machine, a clock maybe but we are in the pocket the jazz guys say. There is nothing like it. We are in the sound outside of ourselves and deeply inside at the same time. Traveling together in the sound machine beyond the seen and creating this energy with people who have become family is something I want to put into words but there are no words for that feeling. But I try anyway.

To discover more about Kearns’ poetry and music, visit www.rickearns.com

Poet of Witness, continued from Page #9

Planning an Inheritance during an Inflationary Environment

Inflation can have a profound impact on finances and financial decision making. Many clients are holding off on replacing vehicles while prices are high, or they are questioning whether it’s prudent to buy their dream vacation home with rising interest rates. Recently, parents have been asking me about the impact of inflation on their children’s inheritance. Let’s talk about ways to navigate inflation with an eye towards inheritance.

Lifetime Inheritance vs. Bequeathing an Inheritance

When discussing inheritance, many people think of their Last Will and Testament for after they pass away. Assuming you are properly funded for retirement and live a lifestyle that allows your portfolio to maintain its principal, then the long-term impact of inflation will be that the future value of your portfolio may have a slightly lower purchasing power when your children ultimately inherit the funds. There will still be funds available for your children but if you want to potentially increase your inheritance, updating your financial plan will be a useful first step. Your new financial plan may uncover asset allocation opportunities to potentially increase future growth and the financial plan will help you define ideal spending behaviors to help maximize an inheritance.

When discussing inheritance planning with clients, I outline the importance of making certain you care for yourself first. In fact, the largest inheritance you can provide is to not be a financial burden to your children in your final years. Making certain you have funds available for health care and nursing home care is paramount. And having an estate plan, including a Last Will and Testament, will save your children hours of work, stress and uncertainty. Additionally, having funds available for final expenses such as funeral arrangements and burial costs is another outstanding gift to your children. I’m a huge advocate for pre-planned funerals. Not only does this eliminate financial burdens for your children, but it’s also one less stressor for your children when they are

grieving the loss of a loved one.

A financial plan will also help you outline what you can afford to gift as a lifetime inheritance. Gifts to your adult children, in their 20’s and 30’s, are often more impactful than inheritances during their retirement. Assistance with a down payment on a house or seed money for starting a business can have a longterm ripple effect on the quality of life your children live, especially when your children are navigating rising prices and increasing interest rates. The added benefit of gifting during your lifetime is that you can see your children enjoy the gift.

Back to the basics

Inflation impacts many financial decisions. All of the discussions outlined in this article are predicated on completing a financial plan and understanding your long-term financial security and making decisions with a trusted advisor, such as an estate planning attorney or a financial consultant. Your financial plan will help you determine your ideal gifting strategy and help you outline your financial priorities.

Bryson Roof, CEP, is a financial advisor at Fort Pitt Capitol Group in Harrisburg, and has been quoted nationally in various finance publications including CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, and Barron’s.

For The Love of Pets/Kristen Zellner

For the Love of (My) Dogs

April is National Dog Appreciation month, but what does it really mean to appreciate dogs? As a dog “mom,” I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of love I have for them. As I sit here staring at my two, geriatric canines snoring the afternoon away, I know that I’ve loved, adored, and cared for them but I haven’t really thought about how to “appreciate” them before now.

Too often, I get caught up in responsibilities and inconveniences and fail to notice the little things about my dogs that make them so lovable. When I observe my five-pound, deaf chihuahua, Simon, and even more deaf Cavalier King Charles, Darcy, it’s difficult because I see things in my aging, furry family members that makes me realize our time together is limited. Their movement is slower, stiffer, and more intentional. They don’t startle from noises, but now bark for seemingly no reason. Simon has taken to using the refrigerator as his urinal because he often can’t make it outside in time. Darcy can’t hear me when I call her to come inside and her shrill bark cuts through the calm of an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

Instead, I try to focus on all the positive things. For instance, Darcy makes the cutest snores when she sleeps. Her soft, wispy hairs make her head feel like velvet and her fuzzy toes look like slippers. Simon actually screams like a chimpanzee when I come home and acts like a pony, prancing sideways when he’s excited. He also still “plays” with the cats, though I’m not certain they understand it as play. They both love to go for walks and sniff every inch of our street, marking their territory along the way, but now they don’t bark at other dogs or attempt to chase squirrels. Lucky squirrels (and neighbors). I’ve gone from having a raucous band of weirdos to having the best-behaved dogs on the block.

The late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Mary Oliver, was a keen observer and lover of dogs. In her book, Dog Songs, Oliver shared, “Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

I, for one, couldn’t imagine a world without dogs, as I have lived with them and loved them all the years of my life. I have been there for adoptions, training, adventures, snuggles, vet visits, surgeries, and goodbyes. My current senior dogs have me wrapped around their little paws. I hope to better appreciate all the things that make them Darcy and Simon, even if it means stocking up on paper towels and floor cleaner. The joy that they bring is no small gift, indeed!

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.

By the Book/Michelle Haring

Central PA: a Hub for Author Appearances this Spring!

Bookstores and libraries are wonderful places to meet award-winning and bestselling authors. The dynamic friends of the library groups and fabulous librarians spend hours researching and contacting bestselling authors. Many of the local libraries present successful authors who are also amazing speakers.

Hershey Public Library and the Friends of the Hershey Public Library have hosted bestselling authors including Fiona Davis, Kate Baer, and Nnedi Okorafor in the past twelve months. Fiona Davis writes historical fiction set in New York City including The Magnolia Palace, The Chelsea Girls, and The Address Kate Baer is a Central Pennsylvania poet with multiple New York Times bestselling collections. Baer is active on Instagram and her books are What Kind Of Woman, I Hope This Finds You Well, and her most recent release, And Yet Nnedi Okorafor has won multiple awards for her bestselling speculative fiction including the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, and Lodestar awards. Some of Okorafor’s books for adults are Who Fears Death, the Binti trilogy, and the Book of Phoenix. Okorafor also writes for younger readers, with titles such as Ikenga, Akata Witch, Zahrah the Windseeker, and Chicken in the Kitchen.

There are several exciting upcoming events in the Central Pennsylvania area including a visit from historian and bestselling author, Erik Larson, as part of the York County History Center Distinguished Speaker Series on April 18, 2023, at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts. On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, The Elizabethville Area Friends of Library will host Sarah Albee for a meet and greet with a book signing. Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred and fifty children’s books like Fairy Tale Science, Accidental Archaeologists, and Poop Happened! The Council of Friends of Public Libraries, which supports all of the Lancaster County Libraries, is bringing bestselling mystery author Robert Dugoni to the Lancaster area on Thursday, April 13, at 11:00 am. Dugoni writes thrillers like A Cold Trail, Murder One, and The Silent

Sisters

The Friends of the Hershey Public Library will be hosting a Distinguished Author Visit with Kevin Wilson on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 2:00 in the afternoon at the Hershey Public Library. Wilson is an award-winning short story and fiction author. His short story collections include Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, which received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Shirley Jackson Award, and Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine. Some of his novels are The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Nothing to See Here, a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna book club selection. Wilson’s latest book is Now Is Not the Time to Panic. This coming-of-age book has received rave reviews since its release in late 2022.

These are a sampling of some of the Central Pennsylvania author appearances at libraries this Spring. Many of these events are fundraisers for the libraries and the friends of the library organizations. Prior to the events, readers and fans who want to meet these incredible authors should check the library web pages for registration information and more details. These authors draw crowds, so make sure to check with the organizers.

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.

Films to Look Forward to in 2023

Now that the Oscars have happened, after about a seven-and-a-halfmonth awards season preceding it, we can now move onto the films of 2023. Sure, we’ve technically had three months of films so far this year, but aside from the brilliant Infinity Pool (and maybe Cocaine Bear, to a lesser extent), those three months consisted of movies the studios had no faith in (and after seeing many of them, I can see why) and holdovers from 2022 looking to win awards and money by going wide. But now the cinematic year of 2023 is officially here. So, without further ado, here are some of the movies I am looking forward to in the coming months.

Showing Up – Directed by Kelly Reichardt (Wendy & Lucy, Old Joy, First Cow, Meek’s Cutoff), one of my favorite filmmakers working today, and starring the director’s longtime collaborator Michelle Williams. A small film that will probably not get much press, but it is sure to be one of the best of the year. (April 7)

Renfield – Nicholas Hoult as the titular undead handyman, and Nicolas Cage as Dracula himself! Do I really need to say any more? Howzabout Awkwafina, too? Yeah, this is gonna be lit, as the kids are saying. (April 14)

Beau is Afraid - This third film from Ari Aster, the man who gave us Hereditary and Midsommar, stars probably the greatest actor working today, Joaquin Phoenix. Just judging from the trailer (and the director’s first two works) this is gonna be one batshit crazy movie – and I cannot wait! (April 21)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – James Gunn’s third and apparently final film in the space heroes (or anti-heroes) story. Yeah, I know, it’s just another comic book movie, and we have been inundated with those things this past decade, but the first two Guardians films were two of the better in the genre, so this one should not disappoint. (May 5)

No Hard Feelings – Jennifer Lawrence produced this film and stars in it as a woman hired by a couple to date their socially awkward nineteen-year-old son.

Director Gene Stupnitsky’s only solid credits are writing the screenplay for Bad Teacher and writing 15 episodes of The Office, but the trailer looks fun, and Lawrence looks fun in it, so we’ll see. (June 23)

Barbie – A live action Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie as the titular dream doll, and Ryan Gosling as her boy toy, Ken, written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, and directed by Gerwig! I cannot articulate just how excited I am about this movie! (July 21)

Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s latest movie stars Cillian Murphy as the man behind the original atom bomb. I am kinda hit and miss on Nolan (loved Memento & his Batman trilogy but am rather lukewarm on Inception & Interstellar) but this looks like it could be quite good. (July 21)

Well, I’m out of space, so let’s stop there. We’ll talk about the second half of the year, and new movies from the likes of Martin Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos, on another day. See you at the movies.

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.

Cinematic Ramblings/Kevyn Knox

Serving all of Eastern and Central PA

PLEASE VOTE SIMPLY THE BEST BEST ROOFING BEST SIDING

Tailboard Talk: Put Down Your Phone and Just Drive!

Have you ever taken your eyes off the road for just five seconds to read a text message or see who is calling you? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that if you were driving 55 miles per hour, that is like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. In those five seconds, how many innocent lives have you potentially put in jeopardy?

In 2020, the NHTSA reported that 3,142 people were killed because of vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. In the year prior, 424,000 people were injured because of distracted drivers, and of those injured, one in five were not even in the vehicle – they were walking, enjoying the outdoors or riding a bike nearby.

Cell phones are not the only cause of distracted driving. Changing the radio station, lighting a cigarette, looking for lip gloss and reaching for your morning coffee are all actions that cause drivers to lose focus on the road ahead. Other distractions can be unseen – running late for a meeting, anticipating a busy day, replaying an argument or thinking about a phone call you forgot to return – any of these can distract you from driving safely.

Driving defensively, obeying speed limits and using caution while driving are excellent tactics. However, these strategies are only entirely effective if practiced by everyone on the road. We owe it to one another to recognize the responsibility we all have when we sit behind the wheel.

Join me this month in recognizing National Distracted Driving Awareness Month by doing one thing while behind the wheel - just drive.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was unique – the only  musical written for  television by the famed composerlyricist team. Originally broadcast live in color in 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, the musical was largely based on the French version of Cinderella by  Charles Perrault and later played onstage. The new Broadway adaptation of the classic musical will be presented by Keystone Theatrics at Allenberry Playhouse – with such beloved songs as “Ten Minutes Ago” and an up-to-date libretto. New characters and new songs by R&H are included in a family-friendly show for all ages. April 21-May 7. Keystonetheatrics.com.

Gamut Theatre Group’s The Jungle Book, based on the Rudyard Kipling story and adapted by Sean Adams for the theatre’s Young Acting Company, runs through April 2. Gamut follows with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed by Melissa Nicholson. It traces the terrifying rise and fall of a Scottish lord and lady – turned a ruthless king and queen through unquenchable ambition. Recommended for ages 12 and up, the production is highly accessible, combining The Bard’s original text with modern narrations. Each performance is followed by a talkback discussion with the audience. Student matinee performances are available at deeply discounted rates for school groups. April 14-16. Gamuttheatre.org.

Next at Theatre Harrisburg is the 2014 Broadway revival of Side Show Based on the true story of conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, who became stars during the Great Depression, it’s a moving portrait of two women joined at the hip whose extraordinary connection brings them fame but denies them love. Told almost entirely in song. At Whitaker Center. Recommended age is 11+. April 28-May 14. Theatreharrisburg. com.

Doubt, a Parable. In this brilliant and powerful award-winning drama by

John Patrick Shanley, Sister Aloysius, a Bronx school principal, takes matters into her own hands when she suspects the young Father Flynn of improper relations with one of the male students. This 2004 drama, to be presented by Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg, was described by NY Newsday as “blunt but manipulative but full of empathy for all sides” and, though set in 1964, very timely. April 21-May 7. Ltmpa.com.

One of Stephen Sondheim’s lesser known, yet both highly esteemed and polarizing works, Passion tells the story of a young soldier stationed at a Milan outpost in 1863 who finds himself entangled between two women. This dynamic forces him to examine the true nature of passion and its difference from obsession -- aided by a beautiful, deliriously romantic score. Book by James Lapine. At Ephrata Performing Arts Center. April 27-May 13. Ephrataperformingartscenter.com.

Footloose: The Musical, based on the 1984 movie with Kevin Bacon, tells the story of a teenager moving from Chicago to small-town Bomont, where the Reverend has convinced the town to ban dancing. Ren must teach the town the wisdom of listening to young people, to have fun … and dance. Hit songs include the title song and “Almost Paradise.” Rated PG-13. At Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, April 7-May 20. Dutchapple.com.

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.

Robert Stakem is executive director of the Senator John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.

Theatre Thoughts/Barbara Trainin Black

From wearing glass slippers to dancing “Footloose”

Stress Less, Eat Better

Stress Awareness Month aims to increase awareness about the negative impacts stress can have on a person. Long-term stress, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional, can have impacts on the physical body. The phrase “stress eating” has quite a bit of truth behind it. The hormone cortisol is released when the body is consistently experiencing stress. This hormone can increase appetite leading to emotional eating or overeating. Additionally, stress eating often pairs with cravings for comfort foods that are usually high in added fats or sugars. Managing our stress can help improve our diet quality. As our diet quality improves, we may also find that nourishing our bodies can help improve some of our symptoms of stress. There are a few basic strategies to start with when attempting to improve our stress levels.

Getting enough sleep ensures our bodies and minds have time to rest and recharge. The National Sleep Foundation recommends between 7 and 9 hours of sleep. Habits to improve sleep include having a consistent bedtime schedule, putting down electronics, and ensuring our bedrooms are quiet, dark, and ready for relaxation. Avoiding large meals, and caffeine, before bedtime can

The QR code is taking over the world. It’s everywhere! it’s everywhere! Just like the 60’s Chickenman radio show where He’s Everywhere! He’s Everywhere!

The QR code stands for Quick Response. The last time I had a quick response was when I spilled a super-hot cup of McDonald’s coffee in my lap at the drive thru. Just sayin’.

Someone got mad at me then told me to take a hike, which is why I’m now on the Appalachian trail.

Pickup line: Is that a pocket fishing rod or are you just happy to see me? My danger zone is Dunkin’ Donuts because it crashes my diet.

help our bodies settle in for the night. If you do find yourself hungry before bed, seek out a light snack that has both a complex carbohydrate and a protein, such as a small apple and a handful of nuts or Greek yogurt. If you are frequently sleep deprived, start by creating a bedtime routine that allows you to get a bit more sleep each night and build up to your goal. In general, those who are well-rested have lower levels of cortisol. You will likely find as you become better rested, you aren’t reaching for those midday sweet snacks as often.

Practicing mindfulness, such as meditation, can help alleviate stress and create awareness of hunger and fullness. Find a quiet place to take a few moments for yourself. Spend that time feeling your breath and your body. If you are new to meditating, try one of the many phone apps that will help guide you through the process. Choose a time of day, such as before lunch, for you to devote just a few minutes to mindfulness. When we connect with our bodies, we can bring our full attention to food choices and the experience of eating. This helps us connect with our bodies’ needs, such as hunger, and know when our bodies are full. This helps us make wise food choices to nourish our bodies while

preventing us from reaching for those mindful cravings or overeating.

By starting with these two simple principles, we can start to stress less and eat better. Stress and poor food choices are cyclic, meaning they continuously impact each other. Therefore, by focusing on breaking this cycle with small, positive changes, we can create a new cycle of favorable impacts on both our stress and diet quality.

Andrea Reed, MPS, RDN, LDN, is a freelance dietitian with a background in agricultural sciences. Growing up in the outdoors of Pennsylvania inspired her to include agricultural education in her nutrition counseling and is the focus of her writing. To find out more about Reed Nutrition visit https://reedrdn.com.

Crushing Ambitions Through House Painting

Story by Ed Robinson; Illustration by Kyle McHenry

In every man there is potential. In every man there is the possibility for greatness. For, from the moment of conception, every man is imbued with a certain spark, a certain drive to create, a certain call to look upward and marvel at the mystical and fantastic, to seek out the causes of the unknown and to make the earth his moulding. For, in every man there is a spark of the divine.

The quickest and by far the easiest way to destroy this spark, is to ask a man to paint a house. For there is no task more singularly infuriating than the painting of a house.

No challenge on earth - from the first men deciphering the conjuring of fire to the great scientists of the twentieth century dissecting the atom - is more arduous, painful, and self-deceiving than the painting of a house.

It could be wagered that some of the most destructive moments in history stemmed from a house painting gone awry. The burning of the library in Alexandria? Simply a homeowner pushed to madness. The siege of Tyre? A father of four at his poor wits end. Or the cave wars of the Modoc’s? Just a group of friends whose plan for a simple, bonding, Saturday activity had spiraled madly into uproar. House painting is a job for the mentally iron.

And, to touch on this, let’s ask some fundamental questions about wood.

Trees, you see, have played on us one of the greatest acts of revenge known to humanity. A tree in the woods can weather decades, if not centuries, of hardship and strain. A tree can survive frost, driving winds, pounding rain and the wrath of whatever other Job-esque disasters are thrown its way. Trees survived Hiroshima. Trees survive earthquakes. Some trees span lives greater than well-established countries, but cut those trees down and what happens to them? They become fragile, demanding, and intolerable. Like a wealthy old dowager, they insist they be treated, sealed, waxed, and varnished. They become insufferable.

When one starts to paint the outside of a wooden or wood paneled house, the first thing you’ll notice is the primary coat is sucked away, drained into the grain never to be seen again. The wood’s spent sixty years resisting rain, but as soon as paint touches it it’s gone. And where does it go? Where all such things go that cause middle aged men fury: the land of outdated Rand McNally’s, worn out white Nikes, snapped lawn mower cords, unwound VHS tapes, and that hat you found which you swear had nothing wrong with it, but your wife always hated and now you think she probably threw it away when you weren’t looking. Where IS that hat?

Maybe that’s why early settlers just kept the damn logs as they were. Lincoln was always going on about how he was born in a log cabin; could be that’s why he was always so calm and collected, cause he’d never had to paint the thing.

Still, on you press. Sanding, painting, sanding, painting, on and on until you finish one wall, take a step back and think, was that really the color I picked in the store? It had all been such a mass of confusion at the time as you were bombarded with walls of shade samples, thicknesses of brushes, and a jovial crowd of hardware store men to whom you could afford to show no sign you were a stranger in their land. Anyway, you sigh, let it go and realize the job you’d set aside to take six hours has already taken you five to make a quarter way.

And what’s more remarkable still is the chasmic distance between the painting of a canvas and the painting of a house. Artistic painting seems always to be received with awe, with reverence, with philosophical dissection and the curious expounding of motives and passions. What you wouldn’t give at this stage to be painting the ceiling of a chapel over the back wall of a two story and turret. Gosh that turret looks silly doesn’t it? Remember when the realtor said it would be great for a reading nook? What kind of monster reads in a nook?

Though, having thought on all of that, it seems simply a matter of ‘there but for the grace of God’.

After all, those artistic painters are only doing so out of circumstance, the opportunity availed them to study, train, and spend time in areas begging to be interpreted in oils. Do you think if, instead of lakeside sojourns and months in Parisian lofts, Seurat had been forced to spend days layering the walls of Minnesotan Dutch Colonials he’d still have had the passion? No, instead what he’d have would be a small array of miniature souvenir whiskey bottles, too paltry to really call a collection, sitting on a homemade shelf next to a ceramic bong in the shape of Santa.

I watched Bob Ross once, the calmest man in painting, try to whitewash a house. All it took was a good two hours in the sun for the Sawyer nostalgia to wear away. One hour more and he would’ve decided his most sensible course of action was to give up, burn down the house, and start again from scratch. Now how’s that for a happy accident.

Ed Robinson is a Writer and Voice

Over Actor originally from Sydney, Australia. His writing can be seen on television via The Hallmark Channel in the US, and his voice can be heard on over 250 commercials and TV Series worldwide.

Perspective: You Don’t See What I See

By Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Gadsden

I see the Dry Eyes of Myrlie Evers enduring the unspeakable with dignity, “so those who wished him dead (Medgar Evers, Her courageous husband) would not see weakness in her eyes.”

I see the photos of Ernie Sisto recording the 1971 protest of NEGRO the National Economic Growth and Reconstruction Organization, outside of the New York Times building. There, in the midst, of this rainbow coalition of united, unwavering, voices of protest stood Thomas W. Matthew, a neurosurgeon, atop a car, proclaiming to all who could hear him, that the New York Times was more interested in reporting on black violence than on black productivity.

I see Rev. A. Kendall Smith, in 1967, gleefully burning the symbol of enduring racism, the confederate flag, in City Hall Park, Manhattan, New York. Rev. Smith was “protesting the Southern treatment of black residents in New York City.” He was later arrested even though no law was broken.

This is the history you don’t see. The untold history of people who look like me.

I see the heart of Tyrone Dukes, the Times photographer, who had an eye for black excellence. There, walking the sidewalks of Harlem, white skirts and blouses, white head coverings, sisters from the Nation of Islam, escorting young sisters in training to their Muslim school and mosque. Respect, intelligence, dignity, and purpose on full display for all to see. Dukes saw what you can’t see, because you want to squint at history, when it comes to people that look like me.

I see Bessie Wright of Benedict College and Mary Leach of New York City, workers in a pilot program called Domestic Peace Corps. In 1963, they were among 27 volunteers dispatched to Harlem that summer to work in a number of different roles, at hospitals, schools, churches, and senior centers. This program led to the creation of a national service program called Volunteers in Service to America or VISTA.

American History, World History, Black History, call it what you want, because it’s just history I see, the history of a people that look like me.

Oh Yes, People that you don’t seem to see, unless you are talking about poverty or slavery!

And the greater tragedy just may be, there are too many people who look like me, who only can see what you can see. Determined to deny their identity, they pretend that they don’t look like me, and they don’t even know it’s a tragedy.

My God! They don’t know that not knowing their own beauty and history is a tragedy.

This has been the reality, in plan sight for all to see. A matter of perspective it must be, that the teller of the story creates history. So, I guess it’s left up to me to speak truth to power from the perspective I see. My question will always be, will you listen?

Nathaniel Gadsden is the former Poet Laureate of Harrisburg, PA (1998 - 2002).  He is the founder and Director of Nathaniel Gadsden’s Writers Wordshop, since 1977.  He and his wife are the Host of “Life Esteem,” a weekly talk show that airs on WHP TV-21 on Sunday mornings.  He is also Host of The Writers Wordshop internet TV Show that airs on Facebook Live - The Voice 17104 Harrisburg every Friday evening from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Rev. Gadsden is Pastor of Life Esteem Ministries Redeemed Christian Church of God, Harrisburg, PA.  He is a published author and public speaker.

When someone says, “I must say,” I want to say, “No you don’t. Who says you must? The little voices in your head?” I must say, if you must say, just add an “old chap,” afterwards. I decided to move on. So I went from the kitchen table to my rocker recliner.

Layovers, leftovers, do overs and combovers. Get over it!

S

M M E R S E N S A T I O N S

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The Right Plant in the Right Place

Tips from Penn State’s Master Gardeners Program

Story by Christina Heintzelman, cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

The spring equinox has passed, the days are getting longer, and the sun is getting stronger; the chirping of birds can be heard as they begin building their spring nests. Time has come for the planning and planting of gardens: vegetables, flowers - both perennials and annuals - shrubs, trees, and ornamental grasses. And just in time for garden planning are tips from two members of the Dauphin County Master Gardeners Program.

If you are new to gardening or are an old hand who has a green thumb, the Dauphin County Master Gardeners Program through the Penn State Extension has all the information you need to grow a beautiful garden. Catherine Scott, Extension Educator/Horticulture Master Gardener Coordinator for the Penn State Extension Program, states that the Master Gardener Program has volunteers ready and willing to assist you with any questions ranging from what type of plants will grow well in your garden to questions regarding garden pests - some of which may not really be pesty after all.

The process to become a Master Gardener includes class time, reading assignments, tests, and presentations. The Master Gardener Program is administered at the county level where recruitment, training, and volunteer service occur. Master Gardener trainees are required to participate in a minimum of 40 hours of classroom training, score 80 percent on the midterm and final exam, and fulfill 50 hours of volunteer service. Dauphin County has slightly over thirty Master Gardeners in its midst with Pennsylvania having more than 3,500 Master Gardeners volunteering over all sixtyseven counties. Master Gardeners help Penn State Extension Services serve the home gardening public by answering questions, speaking to groups, writing gardening articles, working with youth, gardening in the demonstration gardens, participating in the Penn State pollinator research program, and many other ways.

Nancy Avolese is a trainee in the Master Gardeners yearlong class and is fulfilling her necessary classroom time and the fifty volunteer hours to graduate. “Although I only need fifty volunteer hours I have over eighty in already,” she says.

Avolese states that this is the perfect time for pruning fall flowering shrubs and trees and if you didn’t already test your soil last fall you can do that now. Yes, soil testing is a yearly part of your gardening routine. “You can begin direct sowing your cold weather vegetable seeds now – things such as radishes, carrots, peas, onions, lettuces, parsley, kohlrabi, and many more.” She adds that shrubs and trees that are spring flowering such as dogwood, lilacs, and chokeberries, should have been planted the past fall and, once the blooming cycles of these trees and shrubs are over, you should prune them before winter. Summer or fall flowering trees and shrubs are

the ones that you should be pruning now.

Avolese has already started her annual plantings. “I started the seeds in plastic milk jugs over the winter, watered them, and am waiting for the ground to get warm enough to transplant the seedlings into my garden.” She notes that pansies are very tolerant of the cold and often pop up through light snow. Hellebores, also known as Lenten Roses, are already blooming in gardens around the area as are pussy willows, daisies, and daffodils. Avolese’s herbs are planted in large, galvanized tin containers, that are located near her kitchen for easy gathering before a meal. Many herbs can be planted in the fall, if they are perennial or biannual, but again, always check on the proper time for planting according to the local climate.

Avolese also speaks about mistakes she has made in the past with her garden, such as planting butterfly bushes, which are bad for butterflies and other pollinators, planting trees too deeply or close together, causing stress and leading to disease, and planting invasive plants. Pennsylvania has a list of invasive plants that are often used as ground covering or hedge growing that should be avoided as they are not helpful for pollinators, nor are they controllable. She also mentions the need to leave your leaves and other plant droppings in place over the winter and early spring as they provide nourishment for the soil and homes for tiny necessary insects and birds. She adds, “I am a big proponent of nature having rights and I want to turn my three acres into an area that is good for pollinators as well as a bird friendly environment.”

She says that Googling is a great way for getting immediate information if you are already out in your garden and need an answer and adds, “There are lots of free apps you can download and have immediately at hand to answer your various questions. You can also call the Master Gardeners hotline which is a free service available to all gardeners.” She laughingly says that it is important to always remember this saying: ‘The right plant in the right place.’

Anyone can have a garden, even if you don’t have a yard. If you have a terrace or outdoor patio, large container gardening allows you to grow flowers and various vegetables. “Once you taste the carrot or tomato that you have grown, there is no turning back,” Avolese says. She mentions the research done on gardening and its ability to reduce stress and increase happiness and wellbeing.

She adds that the new Penn State Extension Course called “Seed to Supper” is a comprehensive beginning gardening program to provide gardeners with the information they will need to learn how to successfully grow a portion of their own food on a limited budget. Information for this program is available online at the websites listed at the end of this article.

She suggests borrowing gardening implements from a neighbor, if you are new to gardening and on a budget, to test out your gardening desire.

Kevin Kelly has been a Master Gardener since 2020. He says, “I’ve been a gardener for many, many years and also a photographer, so the educational component of being a Master Gardener excited me as I can work these two things in together.” He acts as a teacher of webinars for online classes all over the country and writes articles for various gardening publications. He takes part in the program “Walk and Talk with a Master Gardener,” which takes place in various locations such as Wildwood Park, Harrisburg Cemetery, Fort Hunter, and the Five Senses Garden. People get together for an hour ‘walk and talk,’ talking about gardening techniques and plant identification and getting in a little exercise as well. Kelly mentions a program he and Catherine Scott put together, ‘The Home Garden Series,” a six-part program done from Wildwood, which is a hybrid production (in person and online) so people from across the country can tune in and learn about gardening throughout the year. “I had one on April 1,” he says, “discussing how to create healthy soil.” Kelly states that there are many programs, all of which are listed on the Penn State Extension website, to assist and educate gardeners with many different stages of the gardening experience.

Kelly says that many people do not remember to sharpen their tools at the beginning of a season, “This can lead to emergency room visits because you must use too much force trying to get your tools to cut through the soil.” Kelly also reminds gardeners that soil composition is the most important thing in growing a successful garden. “Soil is not dirt; dirt is just minerals, but soil is alive! It is filled with all those wonderful bacteria and fungi; protozoans, nematodes, and arthropods. They are all living in there and are breaking down chemicals and releasing nutrients to the plants. They are doing all the work to make our job easier and helping the environment.” He mentions that soil tests along with organic matter content information can be provided through Penn State for $15.00. “The best way to improve your soil is through composting and, since I have been doing that, I no longer use any fertilizer or chemicals in my garden - for over fifteen years.” He states that tilling usually isn’t necessary unless the ground is rock hard and needs to be broken apart to help it absorb the water. Too much tilling will actually break up the fungi relationships that are happening in your soil that are interacting with each other to make the soil healthy.

Waiting until spring to cut down ornamental grasses assists birds in finding material for their nests. Kelly states, “I actually cut the grasses into six-inch-long strips and scatter them around the area to assist the birds in finding suitable nesting materials.” He notes that insects winter in many hollow stemmed perennial plants and by leaving at least eighteen inches of a stem base when trimming you’ll help save the eggs that have been deposited.

That additional old growth which is left also assists in propping up the new growth as it begins to grow in the spring and summer. “And, by saving these cuttings, I am providing all the organic materials my garden needs for the season. It is important to remember that it is actually very beneficial to your soil and plantings to be a bit messy and leave these materials in your garden. Think of this as chop and drop.” He does state that it is important not to shred your materials or put them in a compost pile until the end of June because there are still beneficial insects living in them that don’t appear because the temperature has been at 50° for more than a few days.

Kelly warns about too much walking through the garden beds and suggests sticking to specific paths in your garden to assist in keeping wet spring soil from compacting down and squeezing insects and plant roots.

Planting ground cover plants is much better than using mulch if you use the right ground covers. Mulch that is placed too early prevents the good bugs from coming out of the ground and it sometimes holds in too much moisture, keeping the underlying ground too cold and wet. Golden ragwort is a beautiful perennial plant with a golden bloom, and barrenwort and white wood aster are other ground covers that work well and attract pollinators. He suggests using the Manada Conservancy website to pick native ground covers that will work well in this area. The website also provides information for those that want to garden for nature and provide habitats needed for conserving biodiversity. He mentions that ivy and vinca

See The Right Plant in the Right Place on Page # 27

are terrible for groundcover as they tend to take over rather than grow around other plantings.

Insects in your garden? Kelly states that 95% of all insects are good; we just need to get this all into perspective. It has more to do with balance in nature. “Our bodies are loaded with bacteria; some are good, and some are bad but usually the good bacteria can fight off the bad. Think of it this way: if you take a particular antibiotic to fend off bad bacteria in your system, sometimes you end up with other intestinal issues as the good bacteria which helps you are also being destroyed. It is the same with our gardens. Rather than reacting immediately, observe this for a bit.” He adds that, although aphids are a destructive bug, if you watch closely, you may notice that now lady beetles are laying their eggs on the leaves too, and for them aphids are a source of food. “If I would have immediately sprayed, I would have killed the aphids, but I would also have killed the beneficial lady beetles who would have eaten the aphids.” Plants that are weak are more likely to be unhealthy due to stress. “As an example, hybrid azaleas are not a good plant to grow around here; the soil, climate, and sunlight are just not right. The plants become weak and are prone to disease and insect activity because of their weakened state.”

Another important tip from Kelly is to never be afraid to make mistakes. “Observe your plants; when they are in a good location, they will not need a lot of attention from you, they will thrive on their own. Your plants will tell you a lot if you just observe them, if you’ve made a mistake that is not fixable, they can always become useful in your compost bed. Most of all, have fun with gardening!”

Both Master Gardeners stress the importance of talking with other gardeners who have admirable gardens, checking out all the resources online through Penn State Extension and Manada Conservancy and, most of all, learning how to grow the right plant in the right place.

Information for Dauphin County Master Gardeners can be found at the website https:// www.extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/ counties/dauphin. You will find a complete list of available programs, services provided, seasonal garden tips and phone information for the hotline. You can also find them on Facebook: DauphinCountyExtension.

Manada Conservancy information can be found at the website https://www.manada.org, or on their Facebook page: manadaconservancy.

Robert delRosario, MD

Rose N. Eskin, MD

Amanda L. Powell, DO

Scott M. Readence, MD

Thomas E. Wallin, MD

Lindsey J. Wegrzyniak, DO

Susquehanna Chorale Enriching Lives

and

Communities Through Song

As the Susquehanna Chorale works on the completion of it’s forty-first year of choral beauty and artistic interpretation, it is necessary to give a much-deserved acknowledgment to Linda Tedford, founder, artistic director, and conductor, for her time and passion in creating this chorale, which is recognized as one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

The forty voice choir has performed throughout the east coast in addition to tours in Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Ireland. In addition, Tedford’s work is featured on over sixteen professionally produced CDs.

“I grew up in a musical family, my father was an opera singer with a beautiful bass baritone voice. He had a day job but on the weekends he performed. I love music and was given voice and piano lessons starting at an early age.” At college age she had to make a choice between pursuing music or English. Fortunately for the Susquehanna Valley her decision was to work toward her degree in music, ultimately garnering a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Temple University, where she studied with internationally renowned conductor, Robert Page. “I have never regretted that decision for a moment,” Tedford adds.

“I am a native of the Philadelphia area but moved here with my husband in order for us to start a church. I had my master’s degree in choral conducting but found myself with no choir to conduct so I thought I should start one,” Tedford states. She put an ad in the local

Linda Tedford, Founder, Artistic Director, and Conductor

paper and came up with eleven singers in 1981 and this became the humble beginning of the now renowned Susquehanna Chorale. The first concert was held in St. Peter’s Kierch, an Evangelical Lutheran church located in Middletown, PA. The church is a Georgian architectural wonder which dates to 1767. The church opened in 1769 and was dedicated by Henry Muhlenberg.

In 1994 Tedford began her twenty-four-year tenure at Messiah University and in 2009 the Susquehanna Chorale became the ensemblein-residence at Messiah. While at Messiah, she taught conducting and voice and conducted the Messiah Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Men’s Ensemble, and Choral Arts Society. In recognition of her achievements and meritorious contributions, she now has the designation of Professor Emeritus from the university.

Tedford’s background is rich in experience as she pursued additional study doing workshops at Westminster Choir College, as well as working with prominent conductors such as Robert Shaw, Gregg Smith, and Dale Warland, and with voice teachers Robert Grooters and Thomas Houser. As a member of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, she has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of such conductors as Eugene Ormandy, Ricardo Muti, and Claudio Abbado. She has served as a member of the Choral/Opera Panel for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Community Choruses Repertoire and Standards Committee Chairperson for ACDA in Pennsylvania and in the Eastern Division. She is an active member of Chorus America and

Story by Christina Heintzelman: cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos submitted by Linda Tedford

the American Choral Directors Association.

Her numerous awards include the Elaine Brown Award for lifelong commitment to excellence and leadership in choral art, and Theatre Harrisburg’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts in the Capital Region. Plus, under her leadership, the Chorale was the first volunteer choir to receive Chorus America’s highest national lifetime award, the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence.

In addition to the Susquehanna Chorale, Tedford is the driving force behind the Educational Outreach Program of the Susquehanna Chorale, offering these opportunities for young singers to experience a high level of choral instruction and performance: The Susquehanna Children’s Chorale for children grades four through eight; The Susquehanna Youth Chorale open for singers in grades nine through the first year of college; The Susquehanna Young Women’s Chorale specifically for female singers in grades nine through the first year of college; and The Susquehanna Preparatory Choir which is offered for young singers in third and fourth grades. All these programs require an audition to be considered for membership. Although these organizations are based in the Harrisburg area, talent is drawn from throughout south-central Pennsylvania. The season for these groups begins in August and culminates with The Youth Choral Festival in November. There is also a conducting internship awarded each season with one of the choirs for college juniors and seniors in the local area. The interns are chosen based on application and recommendations from their college music directors.

The way Tedford plans a musical season is to begin by making decisions about the works that she would like to present and then, as these pieces come together, she discovers the theme that exists within the various pieces. Tedford’s huge library of single copies of music, her attendance at choral conferences, listening to CDs, and watching YouTube videos all inform her ultimate decision on what pieces will become the framework for a season. “I love the music of our times and living composers and we have commissioned fifteen pieces that have been created just for our chorale,” Tedford adds.

The chorale has forty volunteer members from various backgrounds, some even working full time in other professions. This exhibits the passion that all these choir members maintain

as the season begins in November and ends in June, with rehearsals taking place every Monday evening during the season. Tedford uses a data base of instrumentalists that she can reach into at the start of a season and, if she needs additional available instrumentalists, she will reach out to trusted friends within her circle for other recommendations.

The Candlelight Christmas event takes place every year in mid-month December. “This three-location, three-night event is often sold-out with many people exclaiming that the Christmas season for them can only begin after attending this beautiful evening of music. We start with a candlelight procession and the concert ends with Silent Night being sung by the choir as they begin their recessional and border the audience,” Tedford exclaims.

The spring concert will take place this year on May 12, 13, and 14 with the theme Songs for the Journey. Please see the sidebar created for these performances. The artwork used to advertise this event is of a cairn, a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark. Tedford explains, “For me the meaning of this is that a person has been to this place or something monumental has happened here.” This fits perfectly with the idea of being on a journey.

Again, as in past years, the chorale will also perform in Mt Gretna during the month of August at the Tabernacle. The group also supplies various church choirs with quartets when needed.

As a non-profit organization, the Chorale depends on grants, corporate sponsors, ticket sales, and generous donations from the public. The website provides information for on-line donations as well as a mailing address for those who wish to donate by check.

You can find out more about the Susquehanna Chorale at their website: susquehannachorale. org.

If you have two left feet then you’d just keep going in circles.

If I were as good as our dog Roxy (Good girl! Good girl!) then I’d be up for a Nobel Peace Prize instead of being in the doghouse so much. I keep having the same nightmare. I accidentally point my smart phone at a QR code and end up buying Ecuador. I wake up shouting and sweating.

I was standing with the other deli meats at the Giant when a man behind me wanted to straighten my collar. Before saying, “Sure,” he’d already fixed it. As he disappeared into the cupcakes I shouted, “You’ll make a wonderful wife someday!”

“Dilbert” has turned into “illbert” with a disease that can’t be cured.

My weather forecast: It was a mild green grass winter for us. Now begins a busy bumblebee spring.

The pit bull has a vicious reputation that could produce this headline: Dog puts owner down.

If you want to give your lover something forever that’s less expensive than a diamond, how ‘bout a forever stamp?

Please don’t follow me on Facebook ‘cause I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll arrest you for stalking.

In life, attendance is everything. We’re deluged by cheerful online gambling commercials that seem to say keep gambling till you win, with gleeful winners. They should say keep on gambling till you lose…everything from the comfort of your own recliner.

Food & Fun

Your Next Delicious Meal is at Your Kitchen!

Chef and co-owner Nadia De La Cruz (pictured at the grill) invites you to get out of your kitchen and into hers! Featuring a varied menu, including paninis and grill melts, healthy and delicious rice and quinoa bowls, sandwiches, soups, milk shakes, and more, read all about Your Kitchen restaurant in this month’s Compliments to the Chef. Your Kitchen is located at 1100 Second Street, Enola, across from the Grotto Pub.

Photo by Will Masters.

“Not worth a hill of beans” denotes something insignificant. Whereas a mountain of mangoes would be significant. Just keeping it real in a fake ad world.

There’s a new Ant-Man Marvel movie out about a superhero who can conquer evil and save the universe but is most afraid of a blast of Raid.

My doctor said I was lactose intolerant. I said, “no I’m not!” I don’t even know any lactose’s to be intolerant of.

Part of my exercise program is driving to McDonald’s for a Big Mac. But now there’s an app out where McDonalds delivers.

So what to do?

Burger King here I come!

Your Kitchen

Nadia De La Cruz, Chef and Co-Owner

Honest Taste from Scratch

Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos By Will Masters

Nadia De La Cruz, chef and co-owner of Your Kitchen, was searching for a motto for her new restaurant when one day a return customer came in and said, “Your food is so honest.” She knew that would be the motto when her restaurant opened in September 2022 in Enola.

De La Cruz and Emmanuel Genao, her husband of thirty years and business partner, are brand new to the food industry, immigrating to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as teenagers. She says, “Even a year ago if you had told me that I would open a restaurant, I wouldn’t have believed it.” She had spent the last thirteen years of her life working with a company that has a contract for services with the Department of Human Services providing Medicaid program assistance, acting as the head trainer coordinator for customer service and assistance.

She realized that she wanted to change career course and try her hand at a creative process. “I knew I wanted to move on and have my own business, maybe a gift shop, maybe become a cosmetologist … but my passion is cooking and has been for many years. I love to cook for friends and family and my cooking has always been praised,” she adds.

De La Cruz knew that she wanted a menu which would provide a wide variety of choices to customers while maintaining the vibe of a European Café. “My culture is Hispanic, but I wanted to move beyond just that type of food.” She goes on to say, “Even though I honor my Latina heritage in my seasonings, I make sure I provide many different flavors and options.” She says that in choosing her restaurant menu, she made a wide variety of dishes and invited friends and family in to sample them and critique the various flavor combinations.

De La Cruz makes sure that her food is always fresh and delicious by buying in small batches that are prepared when they are ordered. “I do think my past work experience has prepared me well for being a chef as I am very organized. When you are a trainer, you must always be prepared and have your materials assembled. It is the same way with cooking, I pre-prep and weigh out everything into portions so that my dishes always maintain the same flavors.” Everything is prepared personally by De La Cruz, using the freshest ingredients possible.

The menu at Your Kitchen is quite varied with paninis and grill melts; healthy and delicious rice and quinoa bowls which are served with various meats, or meatless for vegetarians; sandwiches and wraps; soups; a wide variety of salads, available with meat or shrimp; empanadas; tacos; and quesadillas. Desserts – absolutely! Tres Leche, FlanCocho, and CochoFlan; three varieties of a cake prepared with a vanilla custard or a creamy milk.

There are a variety of milkshakes including papaya or sapodilla tropical fruit, along with the regular variety of chocolate, vanilla caramel, cookies and cream, and strawberry. The juice bar offerings are fresh squeezed and juiced as ordered. Also, on the menu are four flavors of lemonades made with real fruit puree, for your healthy enjoyment.

Nadia De La Cruz and Emmanuel Genao

Your Restaurant is known for its wide variety of smoothies, some of which are dairy free, such as the Tropical Breeze. All are made with fresh fruit and various other ingredients including chia seeds, flax seeds, oat milk, and almond milk. There is a Green Goddess smoothie available for those who like to get a portion of greens along with their delicious and healthy smooth, cold drink. One of the secrets in the strawberry smoothie is a portion of sour cream – just enough to make it extra creamy and lend a small tang to the sweet berries. Everything is measured for every drink so that customers will always get the same taste sensation in every smoothie they order.

When asked about customer favorites she states that the Cuban Panini is very popular. It is made with slowly roasted (for nine hours) pork shoulder, Swiss cheese, Virginia ham, pickle, house sauce, and served on a Portuguese roll. “I have customers who live in Florida, and they have said that even with the choices from their many Cuban restaurants there, mine, here in Enola, are the best!”

Currently lunch and dinner are served but De La Cruz already has a breakfast menu ready to go, so keep tuned in for an update!

Your Restaurant is located at 1100 Second St, Enola. The hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Dine in or take out is available. Find them on Facebook: YourKitchenRestaurant;and Instagram @Your_ Kitchen_22.

Walk With Scissors

A Nathan Walk Cosmetology Academy

Because Life is Too Short to Have Bad Hair

Story By Christina Heintzelman cheintzelman@benchmarkmediallc.com

Photos By Christina Heintzelman

Walk With Scissors, A Nathan Walk Cosmetology Academy, is getting ready to reach a milestone in their new business. After opening in September of 2022, the graduation of the first class of cosmetology students will take place in May 2023. Graduates will leave as licensed professionals in haircare, skincare, makeup artistry, and nailcare.

Nathan Walk, Director and Educator at the academy states, “I had been in Philadelphia for the past twenty years educating and teaching with premiere schools such as The Beauty Institute/Schwarzkopf Professional. Schwarzkopf gave me the freedom to grow creatively in my own direction and I ran with it.” He has worked and taught in other schools as well, such as Aveda, Toni & Guy, and Paul Mitchell. Over the years he has had the opportunity to mentor and train hundreds of Philadelphia’s aspiring hairstylists. Nathan has also received advanced education and certifications with companies such as Goldwell, Wella, Framesi, Joico, and Tigi.

Nathan can add to his skill set the skills of being a licensed barber. When asked to explain the difference between a cosmetologist and a barber, he stated that a barber would need to take a crossover curriculum of 695 additional hours of education to become a cosmetologist, but a barber is the only one who can use a straight blade razor without a guard. A cosmetologist can use a straight blade razor, but it must have a guard on it, so if a cosmetologist wants to become a barber, he or she must also take some extra training.

Asking what brought about Nathan’s desire to return to his native town of Enola, he explained that Covid was bringing changes and closures to so many things he thought it was time to come back to this area and try some new things here. As luck would have it a location at 135 E. Emaus St, Middletown, which is owned by Nathan’s sister-in-law, Erin Walk, was vacant. One of her Discovery Kids Daycare Centers had been operating in that location but, with Covid taking a toll on the area

with the shutdown of businesses and the aftereffects of this, a decision was made to consolidate the children and staff to other locations, thus leaving the building vacant and available for Nathan to begin his dream of creating his own vision of a cosmetology academy. “I never thought I’d move back to Central PA, but Erin brought me to the building and it looked like a daycare – dropped ceilings – kid size furnishings. I didn’t see the vision immediately, but I stewed on it for a minute and said, ‘I’m gonna do this.’ So, there it was, I made the decision to leave Philadelphia, come back to this area and work on my goal. The process took almost two years until the building was ready.”

In the early inception of this pursuit, Nathan’s brother, Ryan Walk, joined in on the vision, bringing his expertise in operations leadership and customer service to the table. His vast background in operations at multiple locations with a heavy equipment dealership and rental company paved the way for him to become the behind-the-scenes guru on the financial and operations management side of the business, becoming the Director of Admissions and Operations. Earlier in the process, he played an important role in the renovations of the daycare for it to become the academy, working endless hours into the night, filling out paperwork for township codes, studying building plans, and later filing the paperwork with the state board to become a school of cosmetology. “Nathan showed me his vision and I realized that I wanted to be part of it. I feel so much better in life with so much renewed passion since I’ve made this decision,” says Ryan. Another job that Ryan takes care of in his role as Admissions Director is to assist students with setting up payment plans and finding loans. “Right now, we are a private school but once our first-class graduates and receives placement in salons we will receive accreditation, and we will be able to work with our students to help them find financial aid as well. This process usually takes eighteen months from the original opening of the school,” he states.

The brothers are slowly building their staff so the school can grow

Ryan and Nathan Walk

to larger levels. Ryan states that Isabella Knisely is a part-time student attending the academy in the evening and is their first hire. She works thirty hours a week during the weekdays as their Academy Associate. Ryan states, “She is only twenty-one but is a remarkable asset for us and she plans to get her teacher license when she graduates.” Makayla Miller-Stahl is currently attending the academy in the Teacher Program. She will become an educator at their facility once she receives her teacher certification. Ryan adds, “She currently works at Down Street Salon in Hershey and is a long-time family friend. Her passion for the industry is amazing.”

Nathan’s vision is unique as he wants each student to learn and grow in the direction that is the best for that student’s personality by customizing their teaching experience to build their selfconfidence and move onward in their profession after graduation from the 1250-hour course. “I believe that the passion for what one is doing is the driving force for success.” He points out that there is so much more than just learning about various hair services. “Professionalism, communication, customer service, business and interpersonal skills are a major part of our curriculum and students will be fully equipped with all the necessary skill sets, not to mention the self-confidence and passion, to begin a successful career as a licensed cosmetologist in the state of Pennsylvania,” he adds.

Walk With Scissors has built up a network of relationships with local salon and spa owners who assist in various ways with the school. Legion Hair Studio, owned by Marcy and Michael Lawler and located in Harrisburg, has only praise for Walk With Scissors, stating, “We are so thrilled to have Walk With Scissors in our area. They have a beautiful, modern, and exciting school where students are learning the most advanced and newest techniques available.” Legion sends their service providers to Walk With Scissors to give demonstrations to students in various areas of cosmetology. Legion also has an inhouse program where newly graduated cosmetologists can come into their salon and continue their learning program while building clientele. Marcy Lawler adds, “As a family-owned business, we are thrilled to work with another family-owned business for the benefit of all.”

Tina Siders, owner of Rise Hair Studio in Harrisburg, had this to say about Walk With Scissors: “The owners are amazing and wonderful to work with. My team and I went in to present some new techniques in eyelash lifting and the conversation morphed into what it is like to be a hairstylist, how to find your group of people to work with while receiving support and growing in the profession.” She adds, “Nathan is like a firefly

– his energy is amazing, and he shines so brightly. He makes you feel better just by being in the same room. My daughter, Amelia is a student in the academy, and I can’t imagine having a better mentor for her. Nathan is a beam of positive light.”

Walk With Scissors also has supportive relationships with other various salons in the area: Market Hair Experience in Lemoyne, owned by Kelly and John O’Connor; Wild Beauty Salon in Elizabethtown, owned by Bridgette Welker; The Hair Lab in Highspire, owned by Morgan Turner; and Lavish Salon in Harrisburg, owned by Ashley Lavish. Red Salon in Mechanicsburg will soon be coming onboard as another supportive salon. Nathan and Ryan pride themselves in building these strong relationships with local salons and the connections they have with salons in major cities should a student wish to relocate upon graduation. Ryan adds, “Placement will be one of our top priorities in assisting our students with finding employment in a salon upon graduation.”

“This is about so much more than hair; it’s about self-confidence, client interaction, and passion,” Ryan says. Nathan adds, “Covid changed the way we interact, and it is so important for our students to get back to that one-on-one interaction with people, from greeting them at the door all the way through to the completion of their services.”

One of the goals of Walk With Scissors is to help build a client base for their learners by offering on-site haircuts and styling, hair coloring services, hair treatments, and skin services. Complementary services are offered once a student has a specific number of hours training as set by the PA State Board of Cosmetology. Once students have advanced beyond that level, services are offered which only include the price of the products used. A full list of services is available on their website with an easily accessible website appointment scheduling service. All services are provided by students who are supervised by an expert licensed instructor. An assortment of topof-the-line brands is used so that students can have experience working with a variety of products from various companies.

Stop by their beautiful academy, perfectly decorated for your comfort and enjoyment, and have fun meeting the instructors, learners/students, and staff. And remember, great hair doesn’t happen by chance – it happens by appointment!

Find out more about Walking With Scissors, located at 135 E. Emaus St, Middletown, at their website walkwithscissors.com; on TikTok @ walkwithscissors; or on Facebook, walkwithscissors. They also have a LinkedIn page, Walk With Scissors, A Nathan Walk Cosmetology Academy.

Walk With Scissors continued from Page 39

Ryan and Nathan Walk

Life changing is... having a trusted partner

“The first thing I want my patients to know is that I am there for them. I can guarantee that.”

- Lori, RN Professional Care Manager