The Spark

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week just passed, and the state has been sharing resources to help people stay educated and safe behind the wheel at all ages. The aging process is different for everyone, and PennDOT reminds mature drivers they may see some changes in vision, and reaction time.

“ There's a lot of people out there who think that if you're a mature driver, you know, 70 or 80 or 90s even, you shouldn't be driving when the reality is there are younger people who perhaps have some issues that shouldn't be driving, but a lot of things that change, you know, your vision changes, your medications that you take change. “You have physical things that go on, “said Fritzi Schreffler, Safety Press Officer for PennDOT.

For some mature drivers, there are some things to watch out for to limit or stop driving.

“If they're feeling more nervous or anxious when they're driving, that's a sign. They could also like if they're seeing unexplained dense scrapes, damages to like car doors and mailboxes, that kind of thing. That's another sign, you know, frequently getting lost or not knowing, you know, like you know where they are. That's another sign. Or if they're having other close calls, the reaction time, if they're noticing that their reaction time is slowing, that could be a sign that they might want to consider not driving as much or if they're having difficulty paying attention or staying in their lane of travel and judging the just the gaps, too, at the between their cars and things like that, “said Aimee Imana, Spokesperson for PennDOT.

CLICK HERE for more resources for older drivers across the commonwealth to remain active and connected in their communities.

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Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry Counties have partnered with Connections Health Solutions, to launch a 24/7 Emergency Behavioral Health Crisis Walk-in center, making it a first of its kind in the area.

“We're actually really excited about this because we know that if we are better prepared to offer proactive support to families and individuals experiencing a crisis, it will likely. Be helpful and decrease more costly services down the road. Plus, the person gets immediate help versus waiting longer until their need is met, “said Annie Strite, Mental Health Director for Cumberland and Perry County.

The Center is projected to open for adults and children in the weeks following, serving individuals ages 14 and up, regardless of insurance or ability to pay. The center located at 1100 S. Cameron Street in Harrisburg will provide walk-in care and crisis stabilization services, and mobile response units to address the additional crises in the community.

“One of the goals of the center is to expedite drop offs by law enforcement personnel. To do that as quickly as possible and to avoid any lengthy delay in order to support law enforcement personnel with getting back to what the public most needs them to be doing it, “said Andrea Kepler, Administrator for Dauphin County Mental Health, Autism, and Developmental programs.

The center will open in phases with the crisis mobile unit Dec.4. More information about the Center can be found on Connections Health Solution’s Website.

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Coming up on this week's edition of The Spark Weekly.

The start of rifle deer season began on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. According to Travis Lau, Pa Game Commission Communications Director, most participation takes place on opening weekend.

also, on the program.

Ever wonder where Christmas traditions come from? Asia Tabb speaks with Shippensburg University Professor of History Christine Senecal all about Yule and other Pagan traditions that we now use during the holidays.

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Our Braver Angels segment for the Month of December was about maintaining relationships with those who have voted differently than you. Melissa Gizzi, Red Co-Chair of the Lower Susquehanna Alliance, and Bill Doherty, Co-founder of the national Braver Angels organization spoke about the Alliance’s “temperature” taking of everyone after the election. Bill, who has designed all Braver Angels workshops shares the Braver Angels efforts to minimize any fall out after the election.

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This interview was recorded on November 19 at 3 p.m. 

For our journalist roundtable segment, we spoke with Pennlive reporters Joshua Vaughn and Juliette Rihl about their report on Former Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste accepting $350,000 from the founder of the county jail’s healthcare provider when he was in office and making decisions about the jail’s operations.

Juliette realized a pattern during a report of Haste getting paid $60,000 a year to be a consultant to the county’s National Rifle Associations Outdoor show.

“It turns out that that was actually the reason his position was created was based on a false rumor that the NRA was going to relocate the show unless the county, like, really closely maintained that relationship. Turns out the NRA has come out saying that was not the case. They were not planning on relocating the show. So we really don't know why this position needed to exist, given that the reason for its existence was proven to not be legitimate, “said Rihl.

Haste resigned from office in 2021, and Juliette and Joshua began following the funds while Haste was in office. They discovered he was involved in giving millions of county dollars to the county’s tourism bureau, approving and funneling money to a county agency solar farm while he was living on the same friend the solar farm was being built on.

“And his high school friend, it appears, had no former experience working on solar farms, was made the project manager and wound up getting $2 million worth of contracts to work on it over the last ten, 15 years, “said Rihl.

As Joshua dug into this developing story, he learned that Haste received some form of income from PrimeCare, the medical company that provides healthcare services to the Dauphin County Prison.

“Which is the local jail he had listed on his financial disclosures, his annual financial disclosure that he had received some income. So, about a month ago, we started asking about that. And it turns out he had a contract with Prime Care to be a consultant, generally working in other states. But he was getting paid again, 60,000 a year to be this consultant for this medical company while he was a commissioner and while he was on the prison board, ostensibly supposed to be oversight of how the medical care was being provided at the jail, “said Vaughn.

Listen to the podcast to hear more about this in-depth report.

_________

Since this conversation we received this update from Juliette and Joshua:

The county has announced it will put out an RFP for medical care at the jail. This is the first time in nearly 40 years. PrimeCare has also provided notice to terminate it's contract early. The contract will now end at the end of May. PrimeCare intends to bid on the new contract.

DA Fran Chardo has asked the AG to look into the payments Hoffman made to Haste.

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This week Central Pennsylvanians experienced bitterly cold temperatures and according to ABC 27 Meteorologist Dan Tomaso, the cold weather is a sign of more cold air outbreaks to come this season.

“So, we dropped a couple of degrees this morning as that snow pushed through some of the snow squalls. And there were some areas of ice. And we cautioned everyone, you know, leading up to this that there could be some isolated trouble spots, especially in the higher elevations. Now, thankfully, again, in the valleys, it was above freezing leading into this. So, we avoided any major problems this morning.”

Erie received over 50 inches of snow this week from a four-day period.

“And this is the time of the year for that because the lakes are still relatively warm. And when I say relatively warm, 40s and 50s, but the air coming over top of them is very cold. So that air could be ten, 20 degrees coming in from Canada. And so that temperature difference, just the way a summertime thunderstorm works, is really a driver for nonstop snow. And that's why you may say to yourself, how do you get 40 to 50in of snow if you get stuck underneath one of these snow bands and 20 to 30 miles makes a difference. It really becomes a nonstop snow at 2 to 3 in per hour.”

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The Historic Harrisburg Association has partnered with The Kidney Foundation of Central Pennsylvania for their Elegant Progressions event on Saturday, December 7. Those who attend will have the opportunity to visit the Old Beaufort Hunt. Old Beaufort Hunt was a classic, English-style foxhunting club founded in 1929 by landowner Ehrman Mitchell in what was known as the Linglestown Valley.

"And frankly, that organization is still in existence. They hunt in other parts of central Pennsylvania now because because the lingers Hound Valley is so built up. But the first house on the tour where we go for orders is called Fox Run Manor. And that's right in Beaufort Estates. And it dates from the 1930s, I believe. It's a wonderful colonial revival house and it looks like the Beaufort Estates area would have looked back in the 1920s, "said David Morrison, Executive Director of the Historic Harrisburg Association.

This is the 33rd annual event that kicks off the holiday season while fundraising for local charity.

"It's a progressive dinner and it's a very formal affair. We have orders in one house, dinner and another and dessert in a third house. And all of our guests are are chauffeured in motor coaches from start to finish so they don't have to drive at all to go to these houses. And it's catered. We have wonderful caterers and wine pairings, live music at every property, and the properties themselves are just spectacular, "said Morrison.

Call 717-233-4646 or 717-652-8123 or CLICK HERE for more information.

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According to Adam Zurn, the Executive Director of Uncharted Lancaster, America’s first Christmas tree was documented in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

“Believe it or not, it probably wasn't the first Christmas tree here in America, but it's definitely the first documented Christmas tree. Probably the people who first saw Christmas trees here in the United States were the guards in Carlisle guarding Hessian troops who were mercenaries the time during the Revolutionary War.”

While the Germans were in America fighting the war, they brought the idea of Christmas tree’s and were allowed to decorate their barracks with them.

“Believe it or not, the first recorded example of a Christmas tree is in 1821 by this Matthias, Zahm and in his 1821 diary he records this entry, and I quote Sally & our Thos was out for Christmas Trees on the hill at Kendricks sawmill. And so there we have this documented proof of this first, you know, Christmas tree. And they were here in Lancaster County. So, a neat little claim to fame here for our area.”

It is unlikely that the first actual Christmas tree was in Lancaster County, let alone the united states, however it is the earliest recorded example of one.

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The holiday season brings warmth, celebration, and cherished traditions. According to historian Dr. Christine Senecal of the Department of History at Shippensburg University, there are a few parallels between Yule and Pagan traditions and our modern Christmas traditions.

“So, Yuletide corresponds very well over the season of December because that's when the days get the shortest of the year. And so that the kind of tradition of that gets wrapped around Christmas.”

In ancient times, the word pagan had a negative connotation. In the early Christian period in Rome, the Christians used it as a disparaging term for the people that hadn’t converted to Christianity.

“So, the three hundreds, by that time, there were later three hundreds. There were more Christians than pagans. And the word pagan can refer to a rustic person, somebody who's not sophisticated. So even in ancient times, it had a negative connotation. It doesn't mean somebody that is polytheistic. But of course, the ancient Romans that didn't convert to Christianity were polytheistic.”

Folks in Germany during that time that were not Christian had a lot of evergreens in the middle of the winter when the days were the shortest.

“And that's sort of like this idea that Christianity is triumphing over paganism, and then that tree is incorporated into the Christian tradition. But really it comes from the 1840s. There is a German wife of English King George, the third. Her name is Charlotte, and she is the first one to set up a Christmas tree in Windsor. So that's where it comes to the inn, to England. And then the husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, actually puts up another tree and they decorate it with baubles. And this is in 1840. And from there, it really gets going. There's Pennsylvania Dutch people also, and they're incorporating consciously a lot of this Germanic tradition. So, the Christmas tree and decorating it comes from that as well.”

Listen to the podcast to hear more connections between Yule/ Pagan Traditions. 

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The Kutztown Folk Festival for 2025 has been cancelled due to dwindling attendance, increased costs, and continued net losses according to a statement by the Kutztown Folk Festival Board of Directors.

The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center has been affiliated with the folk festival for years. According to Patrick Donmoyer, Director of the Pa German Cultural Heritage Center, brought thousands to Berks County during the nine-day festival.

“During its heyday, there be 100,000 people there over the course of the nine-day festival, and we would have one of our largest opportunities to engage with not only the culture of the region, but then also visitors from all over the United States and international audiences as well, who came to see Pennsylvania folk culture at its finest.”

During the pandemic, the festival was suspended, and it is believed that it had some impact on the attendance. There are also several other cultural events that are taking place yearly that could have contributed as well.

“I think the Kutztown Folk Festival always did a wonderful job of meeting its mission to preserve Pennsylvania Dutch folk culture and to celebrate it throughout the region and really engage new audiences of people with educational programing to learn about what it meant to be, what it means, I should say, not what it meant, not in past tense, but presently what it means to be Pennsylvania Dutch and what it means to live in this region that we share.”

According to Donmoyer, when the festival was first established in the 1950’s, it was an opportunity for families in that area to go out and have a good time.

“It was also ensured participation from a lot of the families who lived in this area, who worked in this area, who that was the largest amount of time that they had off. But it was also the time of the greatest amount of heat. And so that was one thing I think that the festival experienced as a challenge over the years. But it was also I think being rooted in July 4th was an opportunity for people of Pennsylvania Dutch descent to help people remember that this is a unique American culture.”

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