TheBurg • 30th September 2021

Thriving, Striving: A new program brings together diverse congregations to dive deep into race, justice.

There’s an old saying that states, “The most segregated places in the world is church on Sunday morning.” So says Rev. Dr. David T. Miller, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. Miller pastors Wesley Union AME Zion Church in Harrisburg, the oldest African American congregation in the city.

TheBurg • 26th February 2021

Pandemic Perspectives: Four Burg writers share insights on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic

Friday, March 13 is the date that many people pinpoint as “the day” that the pandemic started affecting their lives. It was that afternoon that Gov. Tom Wolf announced the first lockdown that would change every aspect of our lives—our jobs, schools, businesses and everyday habits. Friday, March 13 was also the date that four writers for TheBurg gathered at the Broad Street Market for lunch.

TheBurg • 22nd December 2020

Christmas Coping: Experts advise patience, compassion during this pandemic-infused holiday

I lost it at work two weeks ago. Not a few tears running down my face, but an ugly, bawling meltdown. The conversation that precipitated this scene was innocent enough. I was talking about my mother-in-law, who recently entered assisted living, and how I wrapped 12 Christmas packages for her—one to open each day, since we weren’t able to visit her. Then this wave of emotion that I’d been bottling up for months—well, it came out. Thankfully, I work at a place where tears aren’t seen as unprofes

TheBurg • 30th November 2020

A Time to Give: Nonprofits depend on special holiday fundraisers and volunteers. What will they do this year?

Families, businesses and organizations will need to adapt this Christmas, putting aside long-held traditions, festivities and gatherings. Local nonprofits also need to adjust, not allowing COVID-19 to eradicate what makes the season so special. And the community can play a big part in helping them.

TheBurg • 14th August 2020

D.C.-Bound: Harrisburg area residents explain why they will "March on Washington"

“I was devastated by George Floyd,” said Karla DeJesus. Through her livestream radio station BWM (Because We Matter) Radio, she described why she’s hosting an event that will take two buses down to the March on Washington on Aug. 28. “That was a real impetus,” she said. “When Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King Jr. III, made the call, at that funeral, to commemorate the 1963 march… I knew there was no way I wasn’t going to be there.” Gathered in the DeJesus home in Susquehanna Township, surrou

TheBurg • 31st July 2020

Something Special: New program helps children navigate the foster case system in Dauphin County

There are some 400 children in the Dauphin County foster care system. They may find themselves in front of a judge with an attorney they just met and an unfamiliar caseworker, already traumatized in a system that is overwhelmed. But these children now have a supporter in Court Appointed Special Advocates of Dauphin County (CASA). “The CASA brings consistency and constancy of commitment,” and stays with a child through their foster care journey, said Lori Serratelli, a former Dauphin County jud

TheBurg • 31st July 2020

Different Lives, Different Narratives: Messiah College Professor Drew Hart on the divisions between Black, white America

“There is more support than any time in our history, in this moment,” said Dr. Drew Hart, author, professor, activist and Harrisburg resident about the current attention on racist policies in this country. He hopes that this interest and activism are not superficial. “There is the potential that something really meaningful could flourish from this,” he said. How do we move from this cursory concern to profound change? Not in the way one might think, according to Hart. We must start at the ro

theBurg • 29th May 2020

Rockin' on the River: Friends have become pioneers in bouldering the Susquehanna.

Fishing, kayaking, boating—there’s plenty of summertime fun to be had on the Susquehanna River. But climbing boulders smack dab in the center of the waterway? Enter a group of “bouldering” enthusiasts. To them, the river affords a new way to find the perfect rock.

TheBurg • 14th May 2020

Mourning in America: Pandemic has changed how we grieve, hold funerals

Funerals, once a time of gathering with family and friends, sharing memories and comforting, familiar foods, has become another way of life upended by COVID-19. People are feeling this loss of community, with funerals now relegated to 10 in attendance in the Harrisburg area. The “yellow” phase, which allows for 25 attendees, still will create hard decisions for families.

theBurg • 30th April 2020

Artistic Vision: Emily Shifflet translates eye movements into paintings.

She has Rett Syndrome, which prevents her from any useful movement of her body, except for her eye muscles. According to the website Reverserett.org, “Rett Syndrome is like autism, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and anxiety disorder…all in one little girl.” (Girls are most often afflicted.) “Add chronic lung disease and major digestive disorders, and you have a body that doesn’t allow her to live her life in this world,” added Jenny Murphy Shifflet, Emily’s mom. Emily has, however, fou

theBurg • 26th November 2019

Thanksgiving under the Bridge: Many occupants of a former homeless camp haven't moved very far.

Editor’s Note: In September, a long-time homeless encampment dissolved when property was sold near the Mulberry Street Bridge in Harrisburg. In part 2 of our story, our writer catches up with several of the former occupants two months later. “It is what it is,” said John*. “You got to keep moving forward. Just a bump in the road.”

theBurg • 31st October 2019

Be My Neighbor: Four popular Camp Hill businesses now share a roof at the new Neighbors & Smith development.

Four businesses once a stone’s throw away from one another now share the same, new digs—the Neighbors & Smith building on Market Street. “I’m thrilled to be a part of this project, said Kim Over, owner of Underneath it All, a 35-year Camp Hill business. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

theBurg • 30th September 2019

Mission Accomplished: Each year, packed buses leave central PA and head out of town on the summer mission trip.

“Nana, papa, what happened to your house?” asked Kelli Williams’ grandson, when he saw the devastation Hurricane Florence had unleashed on her North Carolina home. Williams recounted this story to me as we stood in her kitchen amidst the sound of impact drivers, the smell of spackle, and the chatter of 20 people working to restore her home. I thought to myself, “This is why people go on mission trips!”

theBurg • 31st July 2019

Technically Speaking: Vocational education makes students job-ready, often debt-free.

“The world needs people who can do things.” So said David Wright, principal of Dauphin County Technical School. Wright bristles when he hears people use the term, “Vo Tech,” which he believes implies that vocational school is for students who can’t cut it academically. “The old idea of Vo Tech is it’s a lesser institution,” he said. “We fight against that.”

theBurg • 29th March 2019

Teacher, Coach, Author: In retirement, Emery Cook finds another way to educate.

Growing up in Florida in the 1960s, Emery Cook had a tough childhood, marked by oppressive racism, poverty and bullying. That could have created a hardened, cynical adult. Instead, Cook chose another path. He made it his mission to educate and mentor countless students during his decades of teaching and coaching, particularly at Susquehanna Township High School. “My parents treated people the way they wanted to be treated and always instilled that in us,” he said. He received a basketball sc

theBurg • 31st January 2019

A Medal, A Mystery: A century-old keepsake finds its way back home.

Arlene Waters contemplated giving her father’s World War I medal to her children, but then she had a second thought. “What do boys do with medals that were their grandfather’s?” she asked herself, wondering what to do with it. Before she made a decision, she decided to find out about the medal, since she knew little about it. The medal referenced the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce, so she picked up the phone and gave that organization a call. It also was a mystery to them. “We were questioni

theBurg • 31st May 2018

Time Passages: Clock collectors reflect on 25 years gone by.

Time may be tickin’ away, may not be on your side and might not even be your friend. But, recently, time was the guest of honor as Chapter 158 of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors (NAWCC) gathered at Messiah Village in Mechanicsburg to mark 25 years of honoring time and the devices that keep it. James Kreiser came from Palmyra to mark the occasion. Many years ago, he started collecting and fixing clocks as an inexpensive hobby. “Clocks are amazing little machines,” he said.

theBurg • 6th March 2018

Ready to Read: "500 Men" pours into classrooms to read, listen.

“I’m probably a journalist today because of a book I read when I was 6 years old,” said “Good Morning America’s” Ron Claiborne this morning at Camp Curtin Middle School.

theBurg • 29th December 2017

Refuge from the Storm: Hurricane survivors have poured into Harrisburg-and their needs are immense.

Lillian Vazquez rode out Hurricane Maria in her mother’s cement house in Puerto Rico, concerned that her own coastal Vega Baja home would not survive the onslaught of wind and rain. “It was terrible,” she said. “I could see everything flying, you know, the roofs of the houses flying.”

theBurg • 30th November 2017

Circular Motion: Settled in a new facility, the Circle School continues its educational mission.

Yellow buses line the cul–de-sac to usher students home after a long day of learning at the Circle School. Though the building resembles other public schools, the students at this private institution experience a very different kind of school day. They are engaged in “self-directed” learning, in charge of their own education. The school is also democratic, in that all students participate in its rules and how it operates. “It’s a scaled-down version of the real world,” said Jim Rietmulder, one