The Spark

Shippensburg University has just finished it’s 12th growing season at the Campus Farm. Dr. Sean Cornell has been a faculty advisor since tit’s inception.

“it's been a really exciting opportunity for the university with a student led project, the students from biology and geography and Earth Science, as well as social work departments. We all kind of got together and developed the campus farm concept actually in response to both the students’ interests, but also the needs in our community. At that time, you know, the Shippensburg Produce and Outreach Organization had posted a sign indicating they wanted individuals to grow a role for SPO so that you would have this excess harvest that could go to community members, “said Cornell.

Seember Agbajir is a student at Shippensburg University and says being involved in the farm was a great experience for her.

“That was my first time ever being on the farm, so it was actually a great experience for me. Prior to that time, I had to get close to Dr. Ross, so I felt like it would be a good thing to maybe dive deeper into it. And then I was like, okay, let me work on the farm. And then, yeah, I started walking on the farm with him and it was a very beautiful experience because that was my first time ever getting my hands dirty, “said Agbajir.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the campus farm.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Voting registration in Pennsylvania ended on October 21 and mail and absentee ballots are due by November 5. WITF Democracy Reporter Jordan Wilkie voted absentee and recorded himself voting.

“I took the sort of unusual step of voting by mail in person. So I went to my elections, my county elections office, and I requested my mail in ballot. They approved the request. They handed me the ballot. I filled it out. I put it in the secret envelope. I put it in the return envelope. But instead of putting it in the mail back to them, I just turned around and went to the office window and said, well, here you go. They recorded accepting it. And, you know, not a lot of people know that this is part of the process in Pennsylvania.

Jordan documented his experience because it’s a method that many Pennsylvania voters are not experienced with yet.

“Well, when people vote, they get in a habit of voting a certain way. People who vote in person on Election Day tend to vote in person. Election Day, you know, for years and years and years, people who vote by mail decide that that's the best practice for them. And so I just thought it was an interesting way to show, you know, there's a different method that most people aren't familiar with.”

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hurricane Milton and Helene devastated many states including Florida. ABC 27 Meteorologist Dan Tomaso planned a family vacation in Florida, but it was postponed for a few days due to Milton.

“So, I was there about three days after the hurricane hit. And again, luckily, the Orlando area did not experience major issues, especially in the area that I was in. But the farther west you went across Florida, the more damage, wind damage like rain and wind gusts in excess of 100mph for a few locations.”

Unfortunately, according to Tomaso, the Hurricane season for 2024 is not over. The waters of the Caribbean are currently warm and that’s where storms begin.

“And there are several models that are that advertised, computer models that have advertised something happening either right near Halloween or in the days following Halloween from the Caribbean northward to, say, possibly Florida. We're hoping that's not the case or even along areas of the East Coast. So, what essentially has been happening lately for us is just these big areas of high pressure coming in and leading to all this dry, sunny weather for fall and even warmer than average weather.”

Now that we are heading into wildfire season, Tomaso urges smokers to not litter as the ground is drying up.

“If you are out camping, if you are driving along the highway and there's woods, it's as simple as don't throw your cigarette outside the window because everything right now is turning so dry that we have a lot of kindling near the ground. And any tree debris, any leaves that can catch fire very quickly. And on a breezy day like day, it's something to be aware of that fires can get out of control very quickly.”

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 5TH annual Red Rose Film Festival takes place November 8-10 in Lancaster. Ryan Shank, Executive Director of festival says participants can expect private screenings, award ceremonies, Q&A, and so much more.

“We also have five different industry breakout panels where we're inviting industry experts from around the state to come and share their expertise, “said Shank.

Actress and Filmmaker Sugey Cruz began her filmmaking career as a documentary film producer for the Oscar-qualifying film, “The US of Autism.” She’s also collaborated with Universal Pictures, Disney, Blinding Edge Films, and Phi Phen Studios. She is from Lancaster and will participate as a judge during the festival.

“So, you have an hour and a half long film that you have to sit through and like, you know, examine and actually be thoughtful about them and, and give good feedback because somebody put that energy into that, and you want to make sure that it gets viewed. So that's it's been a pleasure to actually be involved with something like that in my own hometown that gives filmmakers a voice and allows their work to get seen, “said Cruz.

According to Shank, it’s important to keep the festival local because he wanted to give a voice to Pennsylvania filmmakers.

“We have so much talent in this area that often has to leave Pennsylvania in order to find work in different places because there just has not been anything here for the most part other than, you know, night and or but there has been more lately, “said Shank.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the Adams County Historical Society, the Civil War greatly impacted American funeral practices. The ACHS is hosting Mortuary practices:  How the death profession was changed by the Civil War October 30th at 7 p.m.

Maria Lynn, Archives Assistant says Duane Hills and Neva FinGado will be discussing the history of embalming practices in the United States and how the Civil War played a vital role in moving the death care profession and the preparation of the deceased into a new direction.

“They talk about not only the Civil War, but the one of the gentlemen that wrote books. He actually worked for many years for Joseph Gobblers Sons, which was in Washington, DC, Funeral Home. It's still there today, and they still have very high-profile funerals. And I do believe that President Lincoln, after he was killed, he did he was taken eventually to the Sons Funeral Home, “said Lynn.

During the Civil War, there were no dog tags to identify soldiers or federal hospitals. Andrew Dalton, Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society and Gettysburg Beyond the Battle Museum adds there was a decline to preserve the bodies for long distance transportation and people were returning to practice buying the deceased near their home quickly.

“After the Battle of Gettysburg, the town was so overwhelmed by the dead that I'm sure it was not available for every transportation. You know? And you know, if you think about it, there are like seven, 6 or 7000 bodies left behind at Gettysburg, meant almost all of them buried in temporary graves. But it was just an overwhelming undertaking for the town. And to deal with this, you know, there were some agencies that came in to help the Sanitary Commission, you know, the Sisters of Charity, a group of nuns from Emmitsburg. But for the most part, the task of dealing with this was left to the townspeople. So that's just a really important dimension here. But yeah, no dog tags, no ability to identify graves except for what was left in people's pockets. You know, if he died at a hospital, it was more likely that you would have given your name and information to someone who could then, you know, associate that with the body. But in many, many cases, you know, they're digging through people's bags and belongings and having sex and trying to find, you know, some sort of identifying mark, “said Dalton.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The red zone is a period of time on a college campus when the risk of sexual assault is the highest, typically from the start of the fall semester to Thanksgiving break. Lili Duarte- Evans, Vice President of the YWCA Carlisle & Cumberland County says it’s a time where students experience the most sexual assault.

“So, we have students for the first time being away from home. And when you're going into college, what you hear a lot is trying new things, right? Get out of your comfort zone and befriend all. And that really makes students vulnerable. For people that are wanting to cause harm in this type of way.”

The YWCA Carlisle & Cumberland County provides support and services for all people. One of the programs Duarte-Evans oversees is the sexual assault and anti-human trafficking services where they help victims, survivors, and their loved ones in the aftermath of violence, sexual assault, or trafficking. If a student experiences something traumatic like sexual assault on campus, Durate-Evens recommends reaching out for help.

“My advice is to know that there are resources and support available, and it doesn't always have to be that you are reporting right away. Right. It takes time to really get comfortable with the idea of having to explain this to a lot of people to include, you know, police and or investigating individuals so know that there are confidential spaces built in either on your college campus or outside within the community. It's very easy now. It's on your phone. You can pull up Google and or whatever search engine and search for confidential support for sexual assault.”

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Widener University Commonwealth Law School is launching a professional closet, a donation-based initiative providing free professional attire to law students.

The initiative was launched by students involved in Phi Alpha Delta. The students realized other schools had professional closets, and it was something they needed too. So students reached out to the Dean of Career Advising to get it started.

“She was very gracious that we were going to actually put it into form. So she advised us, you know, start reaching out to maybe like other, you know, the local bar association and just other outlets that maybe we can get donations from to go beyond just Weidner itself. So we took it from there and it's been really exciting to see it, you know, now coming to the ribbon cutting and kind of how it's built the community, “said Kira Meager, student at Widener university Commonwealth Law School.

This initiative is especially significant as 90% of our 2024 entering class are first-generation law school students, and 32% are first-generation college graduates. With 170 incoming students, this resource will ensure that students have access to the professional attire they need for interviews, external external events, and networking events.

“You know, when we initially came up with this idea, I mean, we kind of understood that so many of our professors make it clear that professional attire is a requirement of the profession. Whether you're in a courtroom, you're in an office. When you're whether you're arbitrating, I mean, a lawyer has to represent this kind of like position of being official and representing the law and in a respectful manner. And I think when it came to us with this idea, you just said, you know, not everybody has the means off the bat to have like a suit or a nice dress for these kind of things. But everyone is capable of it if they're given those tools. That's what we can provide. The students of the Commonwealth that don't have that, “said McFadden.

Donations of gently used professional clothing can be dropped off at the Student Organization Building on-campus or at the Dauphin County Bar Association located at 213 N. Front Street, Harrisburg, PA between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Feel Your Boobies Foundation is celebrating 20 years of service by encouraging women to “feel their boobies” at a chance to survive breast cancer. The founder of this organization is breast cancer survivor Leigh Hurst. Hurst was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 at age 33.

“After my diagnosis, I just realized that the messages were out there that were out there were not resonating with me. I never thought about breast cancer before. So, I wondered why. And I made a T-shirt just for fun that said Feel Your Boobies. And it went viral, “said Hurst.

The foundation is even offering “feel your boobies” pledge to women who take part and those who participate can receive a free shower card in the mail for a daily reminder.

“It’s actually a monthly reminder and you can get a text or email reminder to. You know, just a nice little magic letter. Hey, did you feel your release today? And yet they also get a home kit, which is a shower card that has symptoms on it, has a little bit of information on what you should look for. And it’s just to remind you, I have mine and like by my makeup, where do I makeup and a car magnet to help spread the message and a sticker. As of today, we are reminding 1028 women a month right now, “said Twentier.

The foundation is currently gearing up for their Pink Tie Gala on November 16 at the Antique Auto Museum in Hershey.

“It's just going to be a celebration of really 20 years and looking forward and to raise money to help us be here another 20 years, “said Christie Twentier, Executive Director of Feel Your Boobies Foundation.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flag football and wrestling are the newest sanctioned girls’ sports in Pennsylvania. According to Lyndsay Barna, the Assistant Executive Director of the PA Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) says both sports passed with flying colors with support from the PIAA board.

“a sport needs to hit emerging sport status to have 25 teams across the state to sponsor the sport. And then when we reach 100 teams, that way we can bring it to the board and start trying our sanctioning process. The board needs to approve of the sport on three separate readings. And for each of the sports they passed with flying colors with the support from our board. And it's really awesome to say the last two years we've been able to sponsor or sanction a girl sport across Pennsylvania, “said Barna.

As of now, there’s currently 100 schools in Pennsylvania that offer girls flag football. Barna also credits the Eagles and Steelers for their support.

“So the NFL has an initiative with girls flag across the whole United States and the Eagles and Steelers took it upon themselves three years ago to really contact schools, get schools involved. They were sponsoring schools to where they were helping them out, getting their uniforms. And I've just got it started that way, “said Barna.

Ryan Seagreaves is the girls wrestling head coach at Cumberland Valley High School. Seagreaves credits his daughters for getting him involved in coaching girls wrestling.

“ It started with me, it started with my daughter, my daughter's one of the four girls on my team. And I was coaching in the youth program a couple of years ago five years ago now. And as the year went on, like the number of girls in our band, the rest of them grew and I think that was my daughter's second year in sport. And at the end of it I you know very candidly, and I think she might have been in sixth grade and was like, hey, what? You know, what do you think about all this? You know, and she just said, I like it, but I don't want to wrestle boys anymore and I'd like to be on a girls team. And so, you know, when, you know, parents will do anything for their kids and I'm no different. So, I was like, well, I guess I'm going to make a girls’ team next year. So, I just kind of went through the youth program and said, hey, we're going to have a girls’ team next year because that's what I'm going to volunteer to do. And so, I want to say that it was like 20, 21, “said Seagreaves.

Now that the sport is officially sanctioned it Pennsylvania, Barna believes it will add more opportunities for women years to come.

“ This not only creates a new opportunity for girls to get involved, it creates new avenues, whether it's into college, it's a job, it's coaching, it's anything. There's so many things on the back end of this, and I only see these two sports growing because of what is happening in the Olympics, too. With flag football going to be an Olympic sport in 2028, and you've seen our United States people represent us in wrestling, so it's something special, “said Barna.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laurel and Hardy were a comedy team that is widely regarded as the greatest in film history. Stan Lauren and Oliver Hardy made more than 100 comedies together between 1921 and 1950.

Danny Bacher and Berine Hogya co-authored an upcoming publication, Collecting Laurel and Hardy.

Bacher has always been fascinated by old silent film stories.

“We would sit and watch these old silent film strips of like, you know, comedians like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, of course, Laurel and Hardy, because my brother and I, there were two of us. We got into Laurel and Hardy. And, you know, I just I guess my cousin had given us a set of Laurel and Hardy dolls when we were really little, and we played with those. Then it was between that and the films. I just said, I want to try and find more of this. So, I really kind of started and amassed a huge collection of all these years, “said Bacher.

Bacher realized the comic duo Laurel and Hardy were timeless when his brother showed an old film to his kindergarten students in Jersey City.

“I was amazed by how much they laugh and how much they enjoyed this. And it almost was like, again, they weren't thinking of it like this was these were filmed like, you know, 80, 90 years ago. They were looking at them as a, you know, fresh audience. And this was something very new to them. And I don't think they had an idea of the timing of it. So that's the beauty of their comedy and their appeal is that they really were great, “said Bacher.

The book features more than 1,000 artifacts from film history, fun stories, and research to create a veritable encyclopedia of Laurel and Hardy Memorabilia. The inspiration of the book came when Bacher and Hogye realized they both were collecting Laurel and Hardy memorabilia.

“A couple of decades later, Danny now has the largest collection of Laurel Hardy memorabilia in the world. Bigger than anybody's collection. I've got a meager collection now compared to what Danny has. But you see that behind me is in his room. He has a lot of his artifacts. But several years ago, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I'm an art director by trade. And so Danny asked me, Hey, would you do me a favor? I'm thinking I've got some cool stuff, one of a kind things, you know, be photograph some of these things. And so I went down, photograph them for him. And at some point he said, Do you think there's a book in this? And the answer was yes. We decided to keep photographing and put together a book, “said Hogye.

The book has been published and will be on the shelves November 28, 2024.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.