The Spark

On this week's edition of The Spark Weekly...

Theatre Harrisburg, Central Pennsylvania’s oldest performing arts organization, is celebrating its 100th season.

also on the program...

The world is facing a chocolate shortage due to climate change, supply chain issues, and rising production costs.

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Breaking news never stops, and staying informed is more important than ever. Jenna Wise, breaking news reporter for PennLive, has covered some of the biggest stories unfolding across our region. From developing events to in-depth reporting, Jenna is on the front lines bringing the latest news to Central Pennsylvania. Jenna was a guest on the Spark Feb 21, and shared some of her latest reporters from this past week. Her reports included a District Attorneys decision on a fatal crash, Harrisburg Police Shooting of an Armed suspect update, and an overcrowded mini van crash.

Listen to the podcast to hear the entire conversation.

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National Bird Feeding month is a month to help birds survive the winter by providing food, water, and shelter. February is one of the most difficult months for birds to survive because of limited food and cold temperatures. This month is meant to educate people about wild bird feeding and watching. Dan Brauning and Brian Byrns made an appearance on The Spark to share more information about Bird watching. Dan Bruaning is a leading Ornithologist who has dedicated his life to studying and protecting birds in Pennsylvania. He’s worked with the Game Commission for over 30 years, lead major bird atlas projects, and even co-authored The Birds of Pennsylvania.

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Theatre Harrisburg, Central Pennsylvania’s oldest performing arts organization, is celebrating its 100th season. It was originally founded as Harrisburg Community Theatre in 1926 during the “little theatre” movement.

“And really what that was where groups of amateurs or community members wanting to theater into their communities. So primarily theater was happening, you know, on Broadway and in the big cities, “said Executive Director, Lorien Reese-Mahay.

In 1952 the theatre was moved to its current home uptown at Sixth & Hurlock Streets and in 1999 was officially named Theatre Harrisburg. This Fall, the theatre will mark its 100th season, which is a huge milestone for the organization.

“Harrisburg itself, looking at 100 years of Harrisburg history, just to think how dynamic this city has been over that period of time. And yet there is something fundamental about what this organization brings to Harrisburg that throughout those decades and almost a century and well, next year, a century, that the community decides that this is important and continues to make that decision, “said Sydney Kyler, Board Chair.

To mark their centennial, there will be productions to mark this historic milestone.

“So, we are going to be opening our season with A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. That's going to be at the Krebsky Center in September. We are going to be doing Guys and Dolls in the Whittaker Center in November. The last five years in February at the Krebsky Center, we're doing Godspell at the Whittaker Center in April and May. And then I Love You, Your Perfect Now Change at the Krebsky Production Center as our sort of closing show for the season, “said Reese-Mahay.

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Gretna Music is celebrating 50 seasons this fall. Executive Director, Suzanne Stewart, reflects on his milestone.

“Wow, so this is my 13th summer as executive to Greta executive director of Gretna music and I've seen so many different things in the in the 13 years, but even before that I was involved back in 2000, “said Stewart

Mika Cook is the Director of Operations and Patron Services at Gretna Music. She began at the theatre as a intern.

“I mean I haven't I think this is my eighth summer that I'm going into and I have worked in various different capacities intern box office manager What have you but even over the past like eight years I've seen a lot of New things coming onto the stage and new faces coming into the playhouse Which I think is great. I think we've become a yeah, just a place known for presenting various different things and Welcoming different groups of people that will always find something that they enjoy, “said Cook.

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The Fulton Theatre isn’t just one of the most historic and iconic theatres in Pennsylvania – it’s also a place where community engagement plays a huge role in creating an unforgettable experience for audiences. A key part of that effort is the Ambassador Program, which helps connect volunteers with the theater in a meaningful way.

The Ambassador Program is a volunteer program at the Fulton Theatre. According to Donna Lascoskie, Hose Manager at the Fulton, there’s currently 750 volunteers.

“They take your tickets. They greet you. They get you to your seats. They help with any needs you have. They just bring their joy to the theater with them every day and every time they're here. So, it's great seeing interactions with them and the guests, but it's really just a way for people who love the theater to be involved. And we have training. It's a two-hour training. We ask them to do every two years, keep them up to date, “said Lascoskie.

The program has been around for decades. Those who are interested in volunteering have many departments to chose from.

“We also now have volunteers who work in our shop. We have shop volunteers. We've got volunteers who work specifically with our development team and their events. We have an amazing team of volunteers who come in before every main stage show and clean the theater. I mean, on their hands and knees, vacuuming and cleaning woodwork and polishing brass, “said Andrea Wright, Front House Manager.

Listen to the podcast to hear more about the Ambassador Program.

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The world is facing a chocolate shortage due to climate change, supply chain issues, and rising production costs. Bill Yoder with Dutch Valley Food Distributors says this has been an issue for a few years.

“The main reason behind the shortage is cocoa beans, the weather has impacted it. Also, the yield they're getting out of the crops isn't what they want, “said Yoder.

Nicole and Isaac Bucher, owners of Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium had to get creative to combat the shortage. They also began utilized compound chocolate.

“I would say, chocolate -covered Peeps is a good example of that. Peeps, marshmallow covered in lots of sugar. We, as an industry, lots of retailers would dip that in real chocolate and put sprinkles on it then. Is it worth covering that in real chocolate, or is maybe that something we should transition to a compound chocolate? Compound chocolate is just replacing the fat in the chocolate, which would be cocoa butter with a vegetable oil or substitute, and it's a lot more affordable, “said Nicole Bucher.

Yoder says the shortage has impacted operations at Dutch Valley Food Distributors by creating more manual work.

“We actually are allocating orders for our customers based off of volume from the past years. To explain it best, if a customer comes into us and wants to pull 10 ,000 pounds of chocolate, what they didn't buy from us last year, we're most likely going to turn that customer away, because we need that inventory to supply our current customers. Same goes for if a customer ordered 5 ,000 pounds last year in Q1, and now they want 15 ,000 pounds, we're going to hold them to that 5 ,000 pounds. We might be a little flexible, maybe an extra thousand or two to help them, but we really have to manage our inventory closely and keep it tight to make sure that we can supply all of our existing customers, “said Yoder.

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Strawberry Square in Harrisburg has announced the launch of it’s all new music series. The music series is in partnership with the Harristown Development Corporation. Sara Bozich produced the series and has been working with Harristown for about 10 years. She believes Strawberry Square is the perfect venue for the series, especially during the Third in the Burg event.

“So it is you know essentially a mall. And so, you have this beautiful open atrium. We actually decorate it for Third in the Burg. So, we have some black sheer panels that go around the atrium it encloses it a little bit gives it a little bit of intimacy. And of course it's dark.”

Here is a list of the lineup:

• February 21: Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen
• March 21: The Super High-Tech Jet Fighters with special guest TBA 
• May 16: Tanjo & Crow with special guest Virginia Masland
• June 20: Le Ghast with special guest TBA 
• July 18: Barkley Cove with special guest TBA
• August 15: Meaghan Farrell
• September 19: The Jeremy Edge Project
• October 17: Public Disco Porch
• November 21: Aortic Valve
• December 19: Special Guest TBA

The shows are free to attend and runs from 6 – 9 p.m.

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Callahan Walsh is an advocate for the cause of Missing and Exploited Children and is the leading voice in the fight to protect children and support families. He’s also the Executive Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 1981, Callahan’s brother Adam was kidnapped in South Florida and his remains were found two weeks after his abduction.

“It's a sad story, but Adam's disappearance changed the way we look for missing kids in America. I've come to realize over time that, unfortunately, it oftentimes does take a tragedy to bring about meaningful change.”

Callahan’s parents realized there was no support system or organization that aided help in distributing missing children’s posters or even searches other than local law enforcement.

“They didn't know how. You know, they didn't have the training and the protocol around missing children's cases like we do now. A lot has changed since 1981.”

Adam’s case captured nationwide attention, and his parents realized something needed to be done so this won’t happen to other families. They created the Adam Walsh Resource Center in Florida shortly after Adam’s death.

“It started off with just a card table and a landline telephone, which has grown to become the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an organization that's helped recover over 460 ,000 missing kids since its inception.”

Listen to the podcast to hear how the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children works to prevent child exploitation, how families can protect their kids online, and what to do if the child goes missing.

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Coming Up on The Spark Weekly:

Asia speaks with two journalists about Govenor Shapiro's Budget address.

also, on the program:

A preview of the 2025 Economic Forecast for the Harrisburg area. 

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