The Spark

Harrisburg-based A Miracle 4 Sure is an organization which provides services to formally incarcerated individuals, mainly women of color, to allow them the opportunity to resume their lives as productive members of society.

Marsha Curry-Nixon, Executive Director of A Miracle 4 Sure, founded the non-profit organization in 2010.

“I was really looking to find a way in which I give back. I am a formerly incarcerated mother of eight and I paroled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after serving time in a state prison. And I struggled tremendously.”

Marsha realized there needed to be a structured program that would help woman who were just released from prison. One of the main services the organization provides is mentorship.

“That whole idea of assisting someone who is not familiar with our area and guiding them through their journey and becoming self-sufficient was very important to us. So, we guide individuals on a very individual level to connecting the dots for them and their families so that they could be successful in their journeys.”

Since its inception in 2010, a lot has changed. Marsha realized there was a huge need for urgent essential services like transportation, housing, education, recovery support, and communication with family members.

“We are noticing younger participants coming into our office for assistance. Many elderly people are looking for supportive services, so we've had to tweak a lot of what we learned. I always say we are as strong as our resources, so we make sure that we are conscious of what's available as it pertains to support.”

Thank you so much Lois Saylor, for recommending this topic to The Spark.

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Charles Stewart is the Host and producer for the podcast, Itsnothistory.com. Stewart was always fascinated by history and worked on numerous documentary films. He began his journey with a podcast series called Conestoga Town.

“I'm from Lancaster County. And growing up there, I was always fascinated by the Conestoga and subsequent rivers. And so, I thought, you know, hey, let's you know, and what happened to the people who those rivers are named after.”

He began his podcast by asking one question.

“What happened to the people the rivers are named after. And, you know, the people being the kind of stoker and Susquehanna Indian tribe. And, you know, so I thought this would be a nice, easy way to start a podcast because I naively thought I pretty much knew about what the answer to this question was, which was that the, you know, the last of the kind of stoker and systematic people were tragically massacred in the mid-1700s by a in Lancaster by a group of vigilantes from what's now the Harrisburg area called the Paxton Boys, or the Paxton Rangers.”

Stewart interviewed historians and native Americans for his podcast series, and realized he didn’t know as much as he thought he did. The Conestoga Town series was supposed to be one episode, but as he completed more interviews, he realized there was so much more to the topic.

“And so when I started to dig deeper into this and to talk to, you know, historians and Native American activists, I discovered that this was a very, very far reaching topic with, you know, very, very deep roots in the area. And it had a broad impact, not just in, you know, central Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County, what's now Dauphin County and Lancaster County, but really had far reaching impact on American history as well. And that this was actually a very, very active topic among both professional historians and Native American to Native American communities as well.”

The Conestoga Town series currently has 22 episodes.

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The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County is a non-profit organization that advocates for the preservation of architecturally and historically significant buildings in Lancaster County. Danielle Keperling, Executive Director of The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County has been working with the trust since 2001.

“We are a county wide organization that advocates and educates about the importance of historic preservation. It was founded in the late 60s as a response to the urban renewal, where all the buildings in town, in the downtown center and then also in the southeast portion of town were being torn down in the name of progress.”

For Keperling, historic preservation is important for Lancaster County due to it’s history attached to the buildings.

“It has, you know, over 300 years of agriculture or that agriculture architecture. So, there's, you know, there's, you know, from the very early 1700s all the way to modern times. And there's a variety of architecture that you can see just in a one block span downtown.”

The trust has saved many buildings. They also work with property owners to protect historic sites.

“So we do have easements on a little bit over 30 properties. So those are properties that we actually monitor and and work with the homeowners to maintain that go. That goes with the deed. And, you know, its input into perpetuity so it goes with the deed. No regardless of who the owner is. But if people call us and need advice on, you know, this is what we want to do the contractors recommend. We will definitely, you know, send information or, you know, I've even gone out to look at different projects just to help because that's what we're here for. We're here to educate and help people make good choices.”

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The Lafayette Bicentennial Tour planning committee in Lancaster County is preparing for a tour this summer. Kathleen Hood, Coordinator of the Lafayette200 Bicentennial in Lancaster and Western Chester Counties, says this is part of the nationwide commemoration that is the brainchild of the nonprofit, The American Friends of Lafayette.

“The whole goal of this commemoration is to celebrate, commemorate Lafayette's triumphant farewell tour of America in 1824 and ’25. This nonprofit reached into various communities that Lafayette actually visited to identify coordinators who would assemble planning committees. Hundreds of events are being planned nationwide to trace Lafayette's footsteps and the exact dates in the exact order in the 24 states Lafayette visited on his tour here in Lancaster County.”

The commemoration will take place July 27-29. The committee will host multiple events showcasing Lafayette’s journey through Lancaster.

“Well, our committee has been planning for the past three years the events that will basically be walking in the footprints of Lafayette by mirroring where he went, with whom he met, what he did while visiting our very area in 1825.”

Hood shared the importance of remembering and honoring the history of Maquis de Lafayette and his moments in Lancaster.

“I would say that it's absolutely no wonder that Lafayette's 13 month farewell tour of the then 24 states in 1824 and 1825 has become called the Triumphal Tour. Wherever he went, his journey along the Lafayette Trail, he was treated like the biggest celebrity that this country had ever seen. He was a true rock star in 1825 here in Lancaster County. And we're looking to recreate that excitement, that passion and that true understanding of what this American hero actually gave to each and every one of us.”

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PEW Research Center conducted a study to explore if college was worth it in 2024. Richard Fry was the Senior researcher on that project. As costs are rising, the college debate is always a huge discussion.

Also, on the program Asia speaks with David T. Miller about a Martin Luther King Jr. Event taking place January 20th, and the importance of Dr. Kings work.

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Our Journalist Roundtable segment for January 17 included WVIA’s Rural Government Reporter Isabela Weiss and WPSU Sydney Roach.  The roundtable segment focused on Sydney’s reporting on schools and hospitals in rural communities struggling to remain financially solvent. Isabela shared about her report on the newly formed rural population revitalization commission working to address those problems.

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The Interdenominational Minister’s Conference (IMC) of Greater Harrisburg is preparing to host their 47th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast. The event is sold out, however IMC President and Pastor of Wesley Union AME Zion Church in Harrisburg, David T. Miller sat down with us on The Spark to share the impact of this event.

“The things that we do to really make it effective is when we come together, we go across denominational lines just like Dr. King there. We have individuals who are Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostal, Jewish, Protestant, Presbyterians all come together for this breakfast. And by doing that, we show the community, according to the Greek word, that how we can all come together no matter our religious background. Dr. King even once said the most segregated hour of the day is Sunday morning because people go to their respective churches and the nominations.”

Breakfast brings the community together regardless of their denominations, while showcasing local non-profit organizations in our area. This year, IMC will also honor educators in our community.

“As we come together, we recognize people in all their faiths. We have rabbis pray during our breakfast, speak during our breakfast and communicate and connect with other nonprofits. Now, here's the great thing about how we get together with other nonprofits. Have them come and set up booths and tables to let other people know how they can get involved with outreach in the local area, in the community and abroad.”

Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation with The Spark Host Asia Tabb and David T. Miller.

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The Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre is a beloved Lancaster experience. The theatre opened in 1967 by Deborah and Thomas Prather. Deborah and her husband Thomas, always dreamed to own a theatre in Lancaster instead of going to Hazleton, Lancaster, and Harrisburg.

“So, we designed it, built it off of Route 30 in Lancaster. We wanted to go to Lancaster address because of the tourism industry. And so, after the answer to prayers and lots of wishes from friends and contractors, we opened on April 3rd, 1987, with a production of A Chorus Line, “said Debroah.

Will Prather is the son of Thomas and Deborah, and now the Executive Producer of Prather Productions. Initially, he said he did not want to go into the family theater business.

“I wanted to do I wanted to go in the hospitality industry. I was very fortunate that I was accepted at Cornell University's hotel school, and I got a great education and learned a lot about business. And then I took a job in the corporate world, and that didn't last very long, “said Will.

Shortly after, Debroah asked Will if he wanted to return to the business and take over while she retired in 1993.

“36 years later, I'm still here, still running the business, managing growth, managing 300 employees and lots of various challenges that we've encountered as a business. But I've always had the support of my parents. My mom has been incredibly supportive through some really challenging times. But the future is bright for the industry, and I'm just honored to be a second-generation business owner and entrepreneur, “said Will.

According to Will, the overall guest experience is what sets the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre apart from other venues in the area.

“You know, everything from free parking, which is plentiful to a really terrific meal, very Pennsylvania Dutch local flavors, and then a professional production that is on the caliber of anything else you will see in this community. So, when you bring all those things together and offer them at a valuable price and we also are also really known for our service. We have employees that have been with us from the very, very beginning. We're a very caring operation. We take care of our people and in turn, they take care of our guests who really make the magic happen, “said Will.

CLICK HERE to see the upcoming shows from the theatre.

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World Braille Day celebrates the awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication for people who are blind or visually impaired. Vision Resources of Central Pennsylvania has been providing services to people with vision impairment for more than 100 years.

The organization offers support to the communities in Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, and Perry Counties. Cheryl Cuddy, CEO of Vision Resources of Central PA, has been involved with the agency for 20 years.

“I have family members with low vision diseases that stole their vision. So, I became more and more involved and had a hand in starting our eye clinic and in our low vision center and did a lot of community relations, events, fundraising, and this position became available, “said Cuddy.

Londa Peterson is the Access Technology Specialist at Vision Resources of Central PA. Being blind herself, she wanted to make a difference for other people living with visual impairments.

“A lot of the particular challenges that I had, and that made me very passionate about it and about what it could do and its potential for people to successfully get through school, to successfully get a job, and maybe to do it with fewer challenges, with needing less help from sighted individuals to get things done, “said Peterson.

Since college, Londa has been invested in learning about ways technology would compliment the use of Braille. She now uses a device that has the keys of a keyboard of a Braille keyboard.

“So now they are actually working on displays that can do multi-line and can-do graphics raised up so that blind people can participate more fully in science, technology, engineering and math, also called Stem and anything else that's graphical. So, Braille is. Not really changing with technology, but technology is making use of Braille, “said Peterson.

Even though technology is emerging, Londa says for the visually impaired, braille literacy is extremely important.

“Not everything can be done easily with technology and audio labels, for instance. It's much easier to run your finger over a Braille label on something just like it is to look at a print label rather than have to have a device find where the barcode is or find the digital label that you put on something or the NFC tag, whatever you're using, “said Peterson.

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January is National Blood Donation Month. BluePearl is the largest veterinary emergency and specialty provider, and is using the month to raise awareness about blood donations for pets. BluePearl has over 100 hospitals in 30 different states. Dr. Meghan Respess, National Blood Bank Director, has been trying to raise awareness since 2012.

“It's been around for decades because in people, the need in the winter months is even greater than the rest of the year for a variety of reasons. But we capitalize on this opportunity to also highlight the need and celebrate our blood donor heroes through our blue pearl, but also the entire veterinary community. And we recruit both dogs and cats.”

The need for donations is dire, as pets can find themselves in a variety of conditions are trauma, especially in bigger cities. Sometimes cats fall out of windows, dogs run out and get hit by vehicles, while some pets are cancer patients.

“So, in Blue Pearl, we did about 7500 blood transfusions last year between both red blood cells and plasma. Because each donation, you can separate the blood products just like in us and save up to up to three lives. So, it is it is common.”

In order to be eligible, cats and dogs have to be stress free.

“Cats typically do require some degree of sedation, often mild. But dogs don't always need anything at all. Or maybe the owner gives them something at home. Just relax them a little bit, just, you know, a medication. But many of our dogs, actually, they get to know these nurses that perform the donations. They're excited to see them. They'll jump up on the table and get, you know, pets and love and kisses and their tails are always wagging. So, it is really important that those are the candidates that we recruit for blood donors. And then it's a quick process, you know, just like really when blood is a little needle prick. And within 5 to 10 minutes, we have a unit of blood.”

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