comeexperience alovingwayoflife - townnews · everything you need for a happy, active life. call...

Saturday, February 24, 2018

1968 201850YEARS

HEATING

AIR CONDITIONING

PLUMBING

ELECTRICAL

METAL FABRICATION

REMODELING

RESTORATION

HIC # PA15821 • HIC # PA15828 • HIC # PA32195

717-249-3733 • Tuckey.com

Whenyoudon’tknowwho to call...

Call Tuckey!

2 | Saturday, February 24, 2018 THE SENTINELTOP 10 REASONS

Mechanicsburg6220 Carlisle Pike

697-9423

Harrisburg4637 Jonestown Road

545-4248

Lancaster1320 Manheim Pike

393-2880

Chambersburg1363 Lincoln Way E.

263-5772

York2808 E. Prospect Rd.

757-0447

Hanover/GettysburgRt. 94 3185 Carlisle Pike

624-0062

Carpet • Hardwood • Vinyl • tile • laminate • area

FAMILY OWNED ANDOPERATEDwww.EssisAndSons.com

welCome to yoUr new FloorinG!

PA 1634

SPECIALIZING IN ALL TYPES OF FLOORING INCLUDING AVERY LARGE SELECTION OF ORIENTAL RUGS

THE SENTINEL Saturday, February 24, 2018 | 3

Cumberland County may be growing with industry and population, but its residents and communities also push for preservation of farmland and history.

as the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania, there are attractions to Cumberland County that include more than just the cost of living. From recreation to faith and from education to military, the county offers rural and suburban living to those of all different backgrounds.

the Sentinel took a list at just 10 of the reasons current and prospective residents choose Cumberland County as their home.

CHOOSINGCUMBERLAND COUNTY

Here is an index of the top 10 reasons to Choose Cumberland County:

Health care ................................................G4-5

Communities ............................................. G6-7

Location ....................................................G8-9

Faith ......................................................G10-12

Military .................................................. G13-15

History ...................................................G16-18

recreation ............................................ G20-22

education ............................................. G23-26

entrepreneurship ..................................G27-28

Growth ...................................................G29-31

SENTINEL FILE PHOTOS

TOP 10 REASONS

COME EXPERIENCE A LOVINGWAY OF LIFE

★ BEST 55+ Senior Living Community

★ BEST Nursing/Rehab Facility

ChapelPointe.org

770 South Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA 17013

You can find the perfect placeat Chapel Pointe for:Independent Living • Personal Care

Memory Support • Skilled Care • Rehab

WINNER

See what’s new in our beautiful retirement community,

including the finest personal care suites and gorgeous new

townhomes coming soon to Pointe Place!

At Chapel Pointe, you can always expect the best of

everything you need for a happy, active life.

Call 717.249.1363to schedule a personal tour of our

award-winning community.

4 | Saturday, February 24, 2018 THE SENTINEL

NAOMI CREASON

The Sentinel

Rural areas struggle nationally with access to health care, but there is an abundance of health systems in the region with their eyes on Cumberland County.

Penn State Health’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Children’s Hospital provides trauma and pediatric cancer care for the region, while UPMC Pinnacle of-fers services for West Shore and now Car-lisle-area residents, with Geisinger Holy Spirit also in the same geographic market. To the west Summit Health attracts Ship-pensburg-area residents with its services

and hospital.With Geisinger Holy Spirit Hospital,

UPMC Pinnacle West Shore and UPMC Pinnacle Carlisle all in Cumberland County alone — and Chambersburg Hos-pital, UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg and Hershey Medical Center on the fringes — the county reaps some benefit when it comes to health care access, according to Kyle Snyder, chief administrative officer of Geisinger Holy Spirit.

“It depends on what part of the (health care) system we’re talking about,” he said. “Our community (has) a lot of hospital beds.”

Some health officials argue, however,

Health care services accessible in our area

PROVIDED BY PINNACLEHEALTH

uPMC Pinnacle West Shore is located in Hampden township.

HEALTH CARE

TOP 10 REASONS

READY FOR A LIFT?

Surgical and non-surgical options to achieve natural and desired results!

Facelift | Neck Lift | Brow Lift | Eyelid Lift | Breast AugmentationFractional Skin Resurfacing | PicoSure® SkinTreatments | Volumizers | Botox®

Also offering CoolSculpting®, Laser Hair Removal, LaserTattoo Removal,SpiderVein and Rosacea treatments

Leo D. Farrell, M.D.Deborah M. Farrell, M.D.

MODEL

Fredricksen Outpatient Center,

Suite 204, 2025Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg

717-732-9000 | www.farrellmd.com


that hospital beds aren’t what the area needs. And some of the needs aren’t being met on a national scale.

“We have an inadequate supply of pri-mary care doctors,” Snyder said. “Primary care is the hardest recruitment that we have. There is a shortage nationally. It’s really hard work.”

Snyder said Geisinger Holy Spirit has grown its primary care physician number since its partnership with Geisinger. The health system now boasts about 40 pri-mary care doctors.

Dr. Christian Caicedo, senior vice pres-ident at UPMC Pinnacle and president of the Cumberland division, also said primary care is something he’d like to see grow.

“Primary care is a challenge for all of us,” he said. “With our legacy system — Harris-burg, Community General and West Shore — we have a large footprint of primary care. In Carlisle, it’s not as robust as we’d like to see it. I don’t think Cumberland County is as challenging as other markets that we’ve recently entered.”

Urgent care One way health systems and other health

care companies have tried to remedy the primary care doctor shortage is to increase urgent care services.

David Clark, community relations coor-dinator with Patient First, said the com-pany was founded in 1981, based in Rich-mond, Virginia, and has gradually grown over the years through the mid-Atlantic.

“The main factor driving our growth into these areas is the need for convenient, cost-effective medical care,” he said. “Pa-tient First currently operates 73 medical centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary-land and Virginia.”

Clark said urgent care bridges the gap between the hospital emergency room and a visit with the primary care physician, and people and insurance companies are rec-ognizing its brand of services.

“There is a general trend in health care toward convenience for the patient,” he said. “Urgent care centers are an indication of that. As convenience and cost-savings have become more of a focus in health care, urgent care has become more prevalent. In fact, we see insurance companies recom-mending their members use urgent care as a convenient, cost-effective alternative to the emergency room for non-life-threat-ening conditions.”

While companies like Patient First have become involved in providing urgent care, health systems have started offering simi-lar services. Geisinger Holy Spirit runs an urgent care center near its hospital in the Camp Hill area.

“We also use our urgent care model for

acute illnesses,” Snyder said. “We lever-age that to fill the gaps on nights, weekends and holidays. That’s to combat patients from using expensive venues, like emer-gency rooms.”

UPMC Pinnacle has partnered with AllBetterCare and Concentra to offer ur-gent care services in Cumberland County. For the health system, however, it’s the new merger with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that could help with the primary care shortage.

“We’re looking to tap into UPMC resi-dents and scholars who will shape the fu-ture of health care,” Caicedo said, adding that UPMC graduates used to the system’s methods could be hired in the area for pri-mary care.

Mergers Such partnerships and mergers are

changing the landscape of health care in

Cumberland County.The UPMC Pinnacle merger is new, as is

its acquisition of Carlisle Regional Medical Center last year, but Caicedo said there are already plans on what to do with the hos-pital and this area’s access to health care.

“There are processes we want to bring to the Carlisle campus,” he said. “There are efficiencies we’ve been able to do at our legacy hospitals — Harrisburg, Commu-nity General and West Shore — that we’d like to implement here.”

One of those efficiencies includes “ob-servation medicine,” where certain pa-tients are placed in a special unit for ob-servation instead of taking up and paying for an in-patient bed in a hospital. Obser-vation patients could be those who suffer from dehydration because of the flu and those who have exacerbated asthma or COPD, where treatment is only a few hours of recovery.

Caicedo also hopes to provide additional resources for OB-GYN services and rein-state diagnostic cardiac service in Carlisle.

“I think UPMC Pinnacle has done a cou-ple of things in offering an alternative to other health systems as far as cardiac care and cancer care,” he said. “We do a phe-nomenal job at both, especially at West Shore. With our partnership with UPMC, we want to increase those services in the cancer center (in Carlisle) and increase access to patients.”

Some of the work is also simply letting people know about UPMC Pinnacle Carl-isle’s achievements.

“Part of what we have been doing is looking at the things (Carlisle is) doing well and making sure the public knows about it,” Caicedo said of Carlisle’s LeapFrog score on patient safety and other accredi-tations in stroke care and sleep medicine. “I don’t think our community knows about that. It truly is a remarkable place.”

With the partnership with Geisinger, Geisinger Holy Spirit is also building up the range of services and the geography in which it offers them.

“People associated Holy Spirit first with the hospital in Camp Hill. But we’ve really been building our network of primary care physicians and urgent care practices and other outpatient services,” Snyder said. “A lot of it did come from our partnership with Geisinger.”

Snyder said Holy Spirit Hospital previ-ously had a “smaller and less diverse med-ical group.” Now, Geisinger Holy Spirit is expanding that with recent hires in ortho-pedics, sports medicine and dermatology, with a new surgeon specializing in skin cancer surgery.

Snyder said the health system also wants to keep improving on its premiere services, like cardiology.

“We have a very good cardiology depart-ment,” he said. “Holy Spirit’s had a known tradition of excellent cardiac care.”

Given the resources local health systems have been able to glean through part-nerships or mergers with other groups, Caicedo said such affiliations are likely to continue to grow in the health care indus-try.

“I think we’ll see more and more of these mergers come about. The health care in-dustry is competitive, and it’s difficult for independent hospitals (to survive),” he said. “The UPMC line is world class care, and I really feel like they’re bringing that here. I think Cumberland County is better for it.”

email Naomi Creason at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @SentinelCreason

PROVIDED BY GEISINGER HOLY SPIRIT

the John r. dietz emergency Center at Geisinger Holy Spirit opened in spring 2017.

PROVIDED BY PENN STATE HEALTH

a Penn State Medical Group physician practice opened in Silver Spring township in 2017.

TOP 10 REASONS


COMMUNITIES

DEBBIE CHESTNUT

For The Sentinel

Cumberland County is just a few hours away from some of the biggest cities on the East Coast. Yet the communities within its boundaries offer everything from

recreational opportunities to arts and cul-tural events that showcase the valley’s his-tory and bring people together for the best of both rural and urban living.

“Cumberland Valley is an amazing place to live and visit,” said Kristen Rowe, com-munications manager for the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau and Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. “Our combination of nationally recognized out-door recreation opportunities, like hiking the Appalachian Trail and fly fishing on the Yellow Breeches and LeTort, mixed with nearby historic downtowns, is hard to find.

“While each community that makes up the county has its own distinct feel, they all offer friendly and inviting locales, beautiful views and a collection of local shopping, dining and artisans,” she added.

There are 33 municipalities in Cumber-land County, including 11 towns — Boiling Springs, Camp Hill, Carlisle, Mechanics-burg, New Cumberland, Newville, Ship-pensburg, Wormlesysburg, Mount Holly Springs, Enola and Lemoyne.

Despite their individual personalities, the municipalities in Cumberland County feature close-knit communities that center around school districts and deliver com-munity events like holiday parades, festi-vals and New Year’s Eve countdowns.

Festivals such as Harvest of the Arts in Carlisle, Foundry Day in Boiling Springs, the Corn Festival in Shippensburg, Jubi-lee Day in Mechanicsburg, the Pennsboro Pumpkin Festival in East Pennsboro Town-ship and the Fountain Festival in Newville are unique events that bring people to-gether within those communities.

Strong sense of community at the heart of county life

JASON MALMONT, SENTINEL FILE

Jennie Hocker of Newville relaxes and chats with her friends on June 16, 2017, during the annual Newville Fountain Festival.

LEFT: People fill downtown Mechanicsburg for Jubilee day every June.

MICHAEL BUPP, SENTINEL FILE PHOTOS

ABOVE: Grady Morgan reacts before posing for a picture during festivities in downtown Carlisle before the Christmas parade in 2017.

TOP 10 REASONS



Hundreds of Corvettes fill North Hanover Street during the annual Corvette Parade in downtown Carlisle aug. 27, 2017.

Unique opportunities Rowe said Boiling Springs, one of only

two designated Appalachian Trail com-munities in Pennsylvania, is an area with endless opportunities for hiking and fish-ing. It is also home to the Mid-Atlantic Ap-palachian Trail Conservancy office.

In addition, the newly renovated Allen-berry Resort provides entertainment and fine dining, and the community kicks off summer each June with its Foundry Day Festival.

Recreational opportunities also abound in Newville, Shippensburg and Mount Holly Springs, Rowe said.

Shippensburg, home to the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center on the Shippens-burg University campus, and Newville are both rich in history, but they are also connected by the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail. Mount Holly’s 900-acre Mount Holly Marsh Preserve offers miles of trails and is popular with bird watchers, and Kings Gap Environmental Center and Pine Grove Fur-nace State Park are located nearby.

New Cumberland, a small community on the West Shore, offers “cool shopping” and home décor, Rowe said. Mechanicsburg hosts the largest one-day street fair on the East Coast each June, as well as wine and beer walks twice each year, and, according to the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau website, features a downtown with “galler-ies, casual dining and specialty gift shops.”

The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center and the Cumberland County His-torical Society are both located in the Car-lisle area, the seat of the county.

“There is old architecture and monu-ments, unique locally owned shopping, breweries, gift shops, bookstores and din-ing,” Rowe said.

She said a variety of ethnic foods is available at more than 30 restaurants, and Carlisle Events also holds car shows from spring to fall.

Forward-thinking “Carlisle is unique for a number of rea-

sons,” Carlisle Mayor Tim Scott said, “in-cluding our diverse and supportive partners that contribute to a resilient and forward thinking community.”

Scott also listed Dickinson College, Dickinson Law, the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle Arts Learning Center, Carlisle Theatre, downtown shops and restaurants, and street festivals like the Harvest of the Arts Festival and the Ice Arts Fest.

Recently, during a panel discussion on “Inside PA Boroughs,” Scott said much of Carlisle’s success is because of its res-idents, who work together to support their community. He also praised the Carlisle Police Department for its efforts to be more visible in the community and keep the town safe.

Dave Gutshall, Big Spring School Board treasurer, said there are advantages to living in a rural community like Newville.

“We have the second largest acreage of school districts in Pennsylvania, but Big Spring is a small district,” he said, adding that there were just 190 students in last year’s graduating class.

He said many neighboring school dis-tricts are much larger, and Big Spring is not growing, mainly because the area is rural.

“There’s a lot of farmland,” Gutshall said. “And a lot farms, especially on the south side of Newville, have sold their land into land preservation.

“But in my opinion, it is very beneficial to live in a small district because most of the kids know each other,” he added. “The 190 who graduated last year pretty much know all their classmates. In a larger school district, you wouldn’t even know half of your schoolmates. And on the scale of ed-ucating our students, we’re toward the top in Pennsylvania. I’m pretty proud of our school district.”

TOP 10 REASONS

CARLISLEDIGESTIVE DISEASE

ASSOCIATES, LTD.

CARLISLEENDOSCOPYCENTER, LTD.

Board Certified Gastroenterologists

Robert Levy, D.O. | Jonathan Verrecchio, D.O. | Patrick McDevitt, D.O.

Tareq Yasin, M.D. | Atul Bhardwaj, M.D. | Michelle DeLeon, C.R.N.P.

Kristine Kuhn, PA-C | Jade Means, PA-C

COLORECTAL CANCERAre you over 50?

If you answered “Yes”, it is time for everyone over the age of 50 to get screenedfor colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of

cancer-related death for both men and women.

Have you been screened?Get the facts. You can reduce your risk if you get screened starting at the age of50. Colorectal cancer is preventable if polyps that lead to the cancer are detectedand removed. Since there are very few symptoms associated with colorectal cancer,

screening is essential!

Carlisle Endoscopy Center provides patients with state of the art, high definitionendoscopy performed by our Board certified gastroenterologists

OPEN ACCESS ENDOSCOPY NOW AVAILABLE! This allows healthy patients to schedulea screening colonoscopy in our endoscopy center without a prior office visit.

Call today!Other services provided by Carlisle Endoscopy Center include non-surgicalhemorrhoid treatments, capsule endoscopy, upper endoscopy (EGD) and

24-hr pH monitoring.

+241 Alexander Spring RoadCarlisle • Pennsylvania • 17015717-245-2228 • Fax 717-245-0806

www.carlisledigestive.com


PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN

For The Sentinel

All things considered, Cumberland County is in a very good place.

Tucked away in the rolling hills and flowing streams of the region, Cumberland County’s 555 square

miles comprise a pleasant blend of urban opportunity, small-town warmth and ru-ral beauty. Small wonder it’s touted as the fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania.

“This is such a diverse county. There’s lots of business here, but there’s also beau-tiful open space,” Cumberland County

Commissioner Vince DiFilippo said. “It’s home to some of the best farmland in the world. Agriculture is the No. 1 business. The people in this county are very smart because they understand the importance of business, but they also understand the im-portance of conserving natural resources.”

“We certainly are in an excellent location to give people a lot of choices,” Cumberland County Commissioner Gary Eichelberger said. “There’s a variety of life choices here. We have urban and rural communities, ma-ture communities, new communities. The cost of living is very low.”

Access is key Cumberland County hosts an interstate

highway network that provides access to half of the nation’s population within a 10-hour span. Readily available air and train travel is another bonus.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike, Interstate 81, Route 15 and Interstate 83 provide key access points throughout the county, boosting the logistics industry and pro-viding opportunities for business growth.

Businesses also are attracted to Cum-berland County’s favorable location, said Jonathan Bowser, CEO of the Cumberland

Area Economic Development Corp. “For businesses expanding, relocating or start-ing up, location has a lot to do with it. It’s a big part the equation for manufacturing, information technology or professional of-fices. Our close proximity to things is a very big selling point.”

Harrisburg international Airport pro-vides access through the air for large flights, while Carlisle Airport allows for small pane access.

“We’re a couple of hours from Phila-delphia, about three hours from New York City, four hours from Pittsburgh,” DiFilippo

It’s all about location and easy access

MICHAEL BUPP, THE SENTINEL

an aerial image of the industrial area along Interstate 81 between the College Street and allen road exits.

LOCATION

TOP 10 REASONS


said. “There are lots of places you can go from here in a relatively short period of time. It’s also an easy place to get to and from with Interstate 81 and all the other roads we have going through here.”

As a result, Cumberland County resi-dents can commute to jobs in Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington and return home each day. “There are lots of people here who commute from those places,” Bowser said.

Closer to home, the state’s capital of

Harrisburg and its resources — the State Museum, Farm Show complex, a bevy of state offices — are less than a half-hour away for most of Cumberland County.

The Central Pennsylvania region also features numerous tourist and recreational activities within an hour’s drive, including Hershey, Gettysburg, York and Lancaster. That makes the county a key spot to deliver housing and pass-through opportunities.

Education Quality higher learning opportunities are

yet another facet of Cumberland County’s allure, said Michael Fratantuono, associate professor of international studies, business and management at Dickinson College.

“The location of Dickinson College, the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and the U.S. Army War College all in Carl-isle, the county’s seat, add a rather unique contribution to the community’s asset,”

Fratantuono said. “We have a diversity of economies here. There’s a diversity of lo-cal restaurants. A colleague of mine said we can enjoy a somewhat urban diversity here without the big city. We have top-rate medical facilities within reach, but there’s also rural beauty.”

Outdoor benefits include a healthy abun-dance of fresh produce, quiet hiking trails and state parks full of adventure. “Urban dwellers love to come here,” Eichelberger said.

“There are so many reasons to like it here,” DiFilippo said. “We have good busi-nesses and nice stores. I like it because I’m an open-space kind of guy and a big pro-ponent of farmland preservation. To me, Cumberland County has everything here.”


Interstate 81 in Cumberland County is heavily used by tractor trailers.

SENTINEL FILE

Harrisburg International airport is the region’s primary passenger airline terminal.


a plane approaches for landing at the Carlisle airport thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.


Interstate 81 north bound exit ramp at york road.

TOP 10 REASONS


TAMMIE GITT

The Sentinel

From churches that predate the founding of the nation to relatively recent additions of mosques, faith has been tightly integrated into the life of Cumberland County.

“The strength of central Pennsylvania, and in particular this area, is that there is a strong fabric of faith and religious iden-tity, and I find that spiritual strength to be a source of strength when we come to-gether for issues and projects of common concern,” said the Rev. William C. Forrey, pastor at Saint Patrick Church in Carlisle.

The world’s major religions — Christian-ity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hindu — are all represented in the Cumberland Valley, along with a number of lesser known faiths, such as the Baha’i community.

Gale duPont, president of the Carlisle Area Religious Council, said it’s hard to pinpoint what creates such a vibrant faith community in the area, but the number of opportunities to be found here may be a factor. Christians, for example, can find a variety of denominations represented across the valley.

Those of other faiths, however, have a greater challenge.

For many of the Jewish faith, there’s a decision to be made. Stay with a smaller congregation like Congregation Beth Tik-vah in Carlisle or Temple Beth Shalom in Mechanicsburg, or travel to one of Harris-burg’s temples? The smaller congregations are more convenient for Friday evening services, but the larger congregations offer more programming.

Stephen Tompkins, president of Congre-gation Beth Tikvah in Carlisle, said most county residents don’t know much about his congregation or even that there is a

Jewish presence in the area. The congre-gation has been welcoming to those who want to learn more by inviting people from other religious groups to their services and encouraging them to bring a youth group or Sunday school class to its Holocaust re-membrance service.

Tompkins said his congregation doesn’t have its own rabbi or a building, and it

does most everything by itself as it meets at Dickinson College’s Asbell Center for Jewish Life. That means many of the fam-ilies in the congregation have become close friends, and many of the members, espe-cially children, have the opportunity to participate in services.

“We’re a small, but intimate group. We value our children in that we treat them as

young adults,” he said.Mohammad Abu Shuleh, a professor of

Arabic language and culture at Dickinson College, recalled that when he arrived in Carlisle, he took a taxi to the Peace Cen-tre Mosque & Islamic Center on Cavalry Road. There, he met someone from Saudi Arabia who helped him find all he needed to practice his Muslim faith in the community, such as where to find halal food and when prayers were held.

Bosnian Muslims typically attend ser-vices held in the Bosnian language at the Bosniaks Islamic Cultural Center of Car-lisle, while Muslims from a number of other countries including Jordan, Soma-lia, Sudan and other nations worship at the Peace Centre. There is also a mosque

Faith plays a vital role

MICHAEL BUPP PHOTOS, THE SENTINEL

Mohammad abu Shuleh, a professor at dickinson College, stands in front of the Peace Centre in Carlisle.

those of Muslim faith can pray at the Peace Centre in Carlisle.

the aMe Zion Church along South West Street in Carlisle.

FAITH

TOP 10 REASONS


Midstate residents arrive at Shiloh baptist Church in Carlisle during the advent Walking tour of Carlisle Churches.

in Mechanicsburg, Abu Shuleh said.“From time to time there is someone who

comes to the Peace Centre on Friday and asks about Islam. Some of them decide, maybe, to convert to Islam. The majority are from outside,” he said.

Abu Shuleh said he has encountered no difficulties in the Cumberland Valley.

“Maybe sometimes there is a misunder-standing with some cultural issues, but it’s OK. Any place you can face that,” he said.

Council The Carlisle Area Religious Council was

established in 1968 as the Carlisle Council of Churches, and opened its membership to all faiths in 1987.

The council, in cooperation with the county government, provides for the hir-ing and supervision of chaplains at both the Cumberland County Prison and Claremont

Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The chaplains are charged with providing for all of the options that their clients would

Please see FAITH, Page 12

anne Marie McKillip, left, and Patricia beech take a closer look at nativity scene during the St. Paul Lutheran Church creche festival in Carlisle.

TOP 10 REASONS

WESLEYAN CHURCHOFTHE CROSS

430 B Street, Carlisle • Rev. Daniel R. Mikesell, Pastor

-Nursery Care Provided-

For more information, call 243-5145

Sunday Worship

Sunday School

Bible Study & Prayer

Awana Club (3+)

Youth Club

(September-April)

8:15 am and 10:30 am9:30 am

Wednesday 11:00 amWednesday 6:30-8 pm(Ages 2& Up)

Join Us!FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH

East High & South Bedford Streets • Carlisle

Holy Communion8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Sunday ChurchSchool9:15 a.m.

handicapped accessible

717-249-3310

www.firstlutherancarlisle.org

Worship ServicesSunday: 8:00 am and 10:30 amChristian Education: Sunday 9:15 amWednesdayWorship: 7 pm

SupervisedNursery • Handicapped AccessibleYouth and FamilyMinistry • Voice, Brass & Bell Choirs

es

WeWelcome You To Join Us!Claimed by God

in baptism, Fed by

Christ is worship,

Led by the Spirit in

love for one another

and the world

Trindle Spring Evangelical Lutheran Church14 State Road,Mechanicsburg, PA • 766-7091

Lead Pastor Aaron M. Erdley - Assoc. Pastor Sigrid R. Hipkiss • email: [email protected] • web address: trindlespringlutheran.org

AChrist Centered Congregation of the ECLA since 1765

LOCAL CHURCH DIRECTORY

Come WorshipWith Us


present to them in terms of spiritual needs, and attempt to meet them to the best of their ability.

“For both, the spiritual life can be a real source for strength, affirmation and direction as they embrace the reality of what they are going through, whether it’s the ravages of infirmity and old age or the prospect of incarceration,” Forrey said.

The council also brings the faithful to-gether for special services three times a year. It is the organizing entity for the Mar-tin Luther King Jr. celebration in January and the Holocaust remembrance service in April.

November’s Thanksgiving services rotate between churches, but many clergy and lay participants from different congregations are invited to participate. These volunteers lead prayers addressing different issues in the community, including the homeless, the elderly and those with mental health issues, for example. A free will offering is also taken to benefit Project SHARE, which began as part of the council.

“That’s one thing I’ve found, that if you have a cause it’s very easy to get the faith community to rally around and partici-pate,” duPont said.

Every December, the council rallies churches, other faiths and organizations to distribute goods to the inmates at Cumber-land County Prison. Last year, the groups distributed 480 dozen cookies. Different churches and groups also do worship ser-vices and devotions during the month at the prison and at the nursing home.

“We’re trying to reach people where they are, and that’s not necessarily in a building that’s a church,” duPont said.

The faith community was also instru-mental in assisting with the Carlisle for Kids backpack and school supply drive last summer. DuPont sent information on the

collection, which aimed to assure that chil-dren in need had all they needed to start the school year, to everyone in her contact lists.

“We had collection bins at many of the churches,” she said. “The other faiths participated. Some of them are smaller so they took on smaller projects, but they all pitched in, and we were very successful.”

And, the reason all these people do what they do in the community circles back to their faith.

“At least for me, and probably I would say for most people of faith, we have received such blessings from God. Those of us from the Christian faith believe — many of us be-lieve — that we are saved by grace through faith and so we show our thanks by helping others,” duPont said.

In the end, bringing people of different faiths together to serve others has helped to create the atmosphere of acceptance that these leaders see in the community.

“For me, I think that when you don’t know about something, you’re more fear-ful of it. The more you understand how people believe, and what they believe, and how they practice their faith leads to more acceptance and tolerance,” duPont said.

email tammie at [email protected]. Follow her on twitter @tammieGitt.

FaithFrom 11

Jay Franklin, left, and debbie anderson help serve a thanksgiving meal at Otterbein united Methodist Church in South Middleton township.

MICHAEL BUPP PHOTOS, THE SENTINEL

From left, ann ariano, Valerie Sponseller and Nick ressetar prepare gyros the Holy trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

New Life Community Church associate Pastor Mike Holland leads a pray during the National day of Prayer gathering at the Old Courthouse in Carlisle.

TOP 10 REASONS

NOW OPENOTTER- TECH, INC.OTTER- TECH, INC.YOUR METAL ROOFING &SIDING SUPPLY CENTERRoll Forming Metal Roofing& Siding in Smooth & Textured

Snap-Loc Standing Seam inSmooth & Textured

40 Year Warrantyon Paint

Delivery ServiceAvailable

717-789-337531 INDUSTRIAL ROAD

LOYSVILLEM-F 6 A.M. To 4:30 P.M.

Trims & Accessories

Soffit that matches

all colors & cut to size

Lumber

Sliding Door Accessories

Windows • Doors

Insulation

STOCKING:

Egger Funeral Home, Inc.15 West Big Spring Ave., Newville, PA 17241

Serving Cumberland County andthe Newville Area for Over 40 Years.

We provide Traditional, Pre-needand Cremation Services

776-3414F. CHARLES EGGER, SUPERVISOR

FRANK C. EGGER, FUNERAL DIRECTOR


JOSEPH CRESS

The Sentinel

They have been around the world and all across the United States.

Career military officers who could have settled elsewhere have chosen to retire and return to

Cumberland County to live out their ci-vilian years.

In a lot of cases, these men and women first experience the area through its asso-ciation with Carlisle Barracks, home of the U.S. Army War College.

Often they are assigned to the post as a student in the one-year resident course to earn a masters’ degree in strategic studies. A few graduates stay on to become staff and faculty, extending their time in a setting very different from other assignments.

Lasting impression “Back in the Cold War era when you came

here, you were released from all those min-ute-by-minute no-error job responsibili-ties,” said retired Army Brig. Gen. Harold Nelson, a resident of South Middleton Township and a graduate with the Class of 1984.

“There was a great sense of relief,” he said, describing the typical student expe-

rience. “You had a chance to take life one day at a time and focus on learning rather than performing.”

Though the course is rigorous, the pace and structure of the workload is a depar-ture from the heavy lifting of command and more often than not the officer gets to ex-perience Carlisle and Cumberland County with his or her own family. This can create a lasting impression that could influence

an officer’s choice of location on where to settle upon retirement.

“The year here was a pleasant change,” recalled Bob Broyles, a retired Army colonel and Class of 1983 graduate. “It’s an oasis of calm and reflection for any military mem-ber. You have this opportunity to be with family in a town that is so welcoming.”

Military retirees return to area


NSa Mechanicsburg is considered the Navy’s strategic Supply Corps hub with the Naval Supply Systems Command and Naval Supply Weapon Systems Support located on the installation.

MILITARY

Please see RETIREES, Page 14

TOP 10 REASONS

BEEMAN’S BAKED GOODS, LLC51 S Orange St., Carlisle Pa, 17013

717-218-5258 • BeemansBakedGoods.comMonday-Friday 7am-5pm

PIES, CAKES, BREADS, COOKIES, STICKY BUNS,

FUDGE, CRACKERS AND GRANOLA

Our bakery is family owned and operated since 1985. All of our baked goods are made with fresh ingredients

following family recipes. There are no mixes or preservatives in our products. Stop by our bakery in Carlisle

or visit us at one of our farmer’s market locations. We look forward to serving you!

We also feature locally roasted hot and whole bean coffee from Whiff Roasters Realize yourDREAMSWe provide Personal Attention and the Time You Need to make the

Right Real Estate Choices in Central PA.

residential ∙ farm ∙ commercial/industrial ∙ investment properties

Sharon Spencer 385-0533Scott Fickes 385-9198Gary Foster 386-9221

www.spencerandspencer.comling Gap Rd.,

NEWVILLE

Ser

107 Doubling

NEWVIL107

cer

& Spence

r717-258-4666Realtors


Typically, while their parents study on post in seminar groups, the children of U.S. Army War College students attend local public and private schools. They are “military brats” accustomed to a transient lifestyle and experiencing a diversity of cultures. They bring a worldview to small towns like Carlisle.

Though busy as students, the war college parents carry with them from assignment to assignment the expectation of duty and service that goes with the uniform and the leadership ability that comes from years of training. These qualities of duty, ser-vice and leadership often reemerge when officers retire locally and get involved in school and municipal boards and nonprofit organizations.

Broyles first came to Carlisle as a mem-ber of the commandant’s staff from 1978 to 1980. Locally, he may be best remembered as a leader in the effort that established a varsity swim team at Carlisle High School. In retirement, Broyles has served as the president of the Bosler Memorial Library board of directors and the chairman of the Carlisle zoning hearing board.

Nelson was on the war college faculty from 1982 to 1989 when he was promoted to the job of Army chief of military history in Washington. He returned to the barracks in 1994 to teach for a year before retiring in 1995. Much of his work in Carlisle involved setting up a program to integrate military history into the curriculum.

Retirement draw The military has a structure that compels

its career officers to retire after a maximum of 30 years of service for all but general offi-cers, Nelson said. By then, many officers are in their early to mid-50s and need to start a second career to pay the bills and support their children through college.

When deciding where to retire, several factors make the Carlisle area and Cumber-land County attractive. For one, the local cost-of-living matches up with what the typical military retiree could afford.

“You can get a decent house for a decent price in the Carlisle area,” Nelson said. “The housing market continues to have quality places at relatively reasonable prices.” Along with that comes a variety of settings from a horse farm in the country to life in suburbia to a home in the downtown within an easy walk of shops, parks and restaurants.

Another draw is the number and variety of retirement communities within Cum-berland County, Nelson said. Many offer a broad spectrum of services that help to

ease anxiety. “None of us can predict what the end game is going to be,” said Nelson, adding that having a retirement commu-nity nearby can be a powerful attraction.

Another draw for retired officers seeking a second career is the job market of Carlisle, Cumberland County and the Midstate region. “A lot of them get back into the workforce,” said Jonathan Bowser, CEO of the Cumber-land Area Economic Development Corp.

Military draw Retired officers tend to be highly skilled

critical thinkers who bring to the region a broad base of knowledge that comes with world travel and command experience, Bowser said. “They share in a way that is beneficial.” The military itself is a draw because the federal government is a major employer in the region.

Carlisle Barracks and the Naval Support Activity in Hampden Township are the two main military installations in Cumberland County. A third installation, the Distribu-tion Logistics Agency, is located just be-

RetireesFrom 13

SENTINEL FILE PHOTOS

Members of the 28th division, 109th Infantry regiment, WWI, Chris dunn, travis bard, andy Hadfield and Keith Chambers relax in the trenches during army Heritage days at the u.S. army Heritage and education Center in May 2017.

tom Zimmerman, Carlisle barracks Public affairs Officer, left, helps the bauer family, Noah, 15, darcy, tony, and Olivia, 12, with some restaurant locations during the First Friday and u.S. army War College Welcome Jam in august 2015.

TOP 10 REASONS


yond the county line in Fairview Township, York County.

The three installations combined em-ploy about 10,500 people, many of whom reside in Cumberland County. A study re-leased last March by Michael Baker Asso-ciates found that the military presence in Cumberland and northern York counties generates roughly $1 billion in cash flow in the form of payroll and military contracts.

When Broyles retired in August 1986, he relocated with his wife to Harrisburg to work for the Pennsylvania state govern-ment. “We had known when we retired from the second career that we were com-

ing back to Carlisle,” Broyles said, saying the town was the nicest of all the commu-nities he had been stationed.

Part of the attraction for him was the fact that Carlisle is home to three institutions of higher learning – the U.S. Army War Col-lege, Dickinson College and Dickinson Law.

Military service can often lead to the development of a close-knit network of friends from prior assignments or deploy-ments. These friends tend to stay in touch with one another into retirement. Broyles and Nelson are active in the Cumberland Valley Chapter of the Military Officers As-sociation of America.

Other factors tied to location have influ-enced the decision of military retirees to settle in the Carlisle area and Cumberland County. For one, Pennsylvania does not tax federal pensions, Nelson said. “So my in-come is not further reduced by state taxes.”

Both retired officers said the extensive road network running through Cumberland County allows them to visit major metro-politan areas without having to live in a crowded urban or suburban setting. This helps with staying in touch with family.

“You can get to a lot of places where younger people have jobs and the grandkids are going to school,” said Nelson, adding there is easy access to major international

airports.Cumberland County and the Midstate

also offer sports, recreation and cultural activities from taking in a Senators base-ball game on City Island to fishing the high-quality trout streams to watching a show at the Allenberry Playhouse.

A military historian and author, Nelson makes use of the archival material available at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Middlesex Township.

Barracks draw As the only active duty Army installation

in Pennsylvania, Carlisle Barracks provides services each year to about 25,000 people in-cluding military retirees and active, reserve and National Guard personnel, according to Lt. Col. Sally Hannan, the current garrison commander. She said these services in-clude routine check-ups and screenings at the Dunham U.S. Army Health Clinic, along with a fully equipped pharmacy.

Other benefits from military service that carry over into retirement include access to the Carlisle Barracks commissary and post exchange where tax-free purchases can be made.

“We have people from as far west as Pittsburgh coming in just to get [military] identification cards,” said Tom Zimmer-

man, spokesman for Carlisle Barracks. “We are the only card center in the state.”

“Sometimes they will try and knock out a number of things,” Hannan said of visitors to Carlisle Barracks. “They can do several things in one pass.” For example, a current or retired military service member can get a new ID card, update their will at legal ser-vices and stock up on groceries from the commissary.”

Since her appointment as garrison com-mander, Hannan has had the opportunity to interact with military retirees living in Cumberland County and elsewhere. “The community is massive,” she said, citing as an example the estimated 900 people who attended a retiree appreciation day last October.

Many of them come back to volunteer on post and to take on the role as an unofficial spokesperson or ambassador of Carlisle Barracks, Hannan said. “They don’t feel like they are transplants. They feel like they are part of the community.”

Part of this is due to the warm welcome Carlisle gives to the classes of resident and distance learning students who cycle through the Army War College every year, Hannan said.

email Joseph Cress at [email protected].

Lt. Col. Sally Hannan talks during a change of command ceremony at the Carlisle barracks’ golf course in June 2017.

TOP 10 REASONS

www.medicalartsallergy.com

220 Wilson Street

Suite 200, Carlisle

717.243.7540

4310 Londonderry Road

Suite 201, Harrisburg

717.920.4340

2025 Technology Parkway

Suite 310, Mechanicsburg

717.791.2640

Your family’s specialists in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology

730e.kingstreet,shippensburg

7175322121

toll free 8885322121

We get YOU back on the road FASTER!

ACCIDENTS ARE STRESSFUL!

the experts at h&h Collision providestress-free service.

Get the help you need, H&Hwill repair your vehicle immediately!

SUPERIOR APPRAISERS, QUALIFIED TECHNICIANS, CONVENENIENT LOCATION!


JOSEPH CRESS

The Sentinel

Cumberland County has always been at a crossroads.

The warehouses outside Carlisle are just the latest trend of an over-arching theme that has defined the

history of the Cumberland Valley for over 250 years. The theme is in the geography of how the valley arcs from the Susquehanna River in the east to the Potomac River in the southwest.

Early on, this formed a natural path of migration through the Appalachian moun-tain chain and beyond to the interior.

“Since Indian times, it was a crossroads,”

said Cara Curtis, archives and library direc-tor of the Cumberland County Historical Society. “We’ve always been moving goods and people through here.”

Travel by foot and wagon gave way to the railroad, which gave way to highways and tractor-trailers. But with the movement came patterns of settlement and social change that linger on in the landscape and old buildings.

“You can see it in the architecture of the downtowns ... in the barns and farm-houses,” Curtis said. “These buildings were there and witnessed what was going on. These buildings have stories. That is where the visible history is every day.”

Perception of history Such landmarks are often noticed by

transplants to the county looking to buy or rent a place to live and settle into a new job. They may not know the details of local his-tory, but are partially drawn to locate here by the look and feel of history, said Lindsay Varner, the community outreach director for CCHS.

This perception of history creates a sense of place that could give the transplant or long-term resident a compelling reason to stay in Cumberland County. The tradi-tional role of the valley as a transportation hub adds context.

The present-day road network provides

county residents easy access to large cities offering them greater opportunity to expe-rience the arts and humanities, sports and leisure. This access enhances opportuni-ties offered locally without having to move to a crowded and congested metropolitan suburb.

“They get to live in a place that has that historic feel to it,” Varner said. “That is something people really value.” For some, this appreciation for the look and feel of history takes on a deeper meaning as they begin to discover the details of local his-tory, she said. So much has happened in the past 250 years to set Cumberland County apart.

County keeps history aliveMICHAEL BUPP, SENTINEL FILE

Crews completed renovation work last summer at the Craighead House in South Middleton township.

HISTORY

TOP 10 REASONS


A rich past In 1758, Carlisle was on the edge of civi-

lization and served as the launch point for the Forbes Expedition, which captured Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War.

During the American Revolution, the outskirts of town played host to the Public Works at Washingtonburg — a major logis-tics base for the Continental Army. The Old Graveyard on East South Street is the final resting place of Molly Pitcher.

George Washington spent a week in Car-lisle in October 1794 preparing an army of militiamen to march on western Pennsyl-vania to quell the Whiskey Insurrection.

Almost 70 years later, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia marched up the Cumberland Valley to occupy Shippens-burg, Carlisle and Mechanicsburg on their way to capture Harrisburg. On July 1, 1863, a horse artillery unit shelled Carlisle during the Confederate withdrawal from Cumber-land County to engage Union forces at the Battle of Gettysburg.

But perhaps the most unique aspect of lo-cal history was the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which operated at Carlisle Barracks from 1879 to 1918. It was the first nonreser-vation boarding school in the country.

The school was established as a social experiment to assimilate Native American youths to the white man’s culture. While past generations of local residents saw this mission as beneficial, attitudes have changed in the past century as people see it more in an objective light and understand the damage that it caused, Curtis said. “It changed lives forever. It had a ripple effect. It ended long before any of us are alive, but we still own it as a community.”

Stewardship in history That ownership has taken the form of

initiatives by the historical society and Dickinson College to collect, preserve and make accessible the history of the Carlisle Indian School and its students. Descen-dants have visited Carlisle to find informa-tion on ancestors and to honor the memory of those students buried in the Carlisle Bar-racks Post Cemetery.

Many of the people who settle here de-velop a sense of stewardship for the history, arts and culture that contribute to the sense of place and appeal of Cumberland County, said Jason Illari, historical society executive director. He said that while the history may not directly involve or impact their family, they feel duty-bound to seek out ways to preserve it.

“Organizations are trying to figure out the best way to funnel all those sentiments into a mechanism that is actually going to make some real changes,” Illari said.

In its latest five-year plan, the historical society has identified itself as one of the lead organizations to act as a representative in the preservation of historic sites, he said.

“If warehouses are a freight train coming, there’s no way we are going to stop them,” Illari said. “But there is a way that we can come together as a community to proac-tively look at preservation.”

So many times in the past, the effort has been reactionary.

In January 2015, property owner Triple Crown demolished the rear portion of the Bell Tavern in Silver Spring Township. It is believed the building had an historic connec-tion to the development of the Bill of Rights.

A citizens group formed to try and save the tavern, but eventually the effort failed

MICHAEL BUPP, SENTINEL FILE

Grave markers sit at the Carlisle barracks Post Cemetery.


the historic Molly Pitcher monument is located in the Old Graveyard in Carlisle.

Please see HISTORY, Page 18

TOP 10 REASONS

Justin Eckenrode DVM, MSBarbara Strock VMDLaura Liggitt DVMCaitlin Ferry DVM

Full Service Me

dical &Surgica

l Facility,

On-SiteCremat

ion Services

Full Ser

CarlisleVet.com

Best Veterin

arianYour PetDeserves t

he

IN CUMBERLAND COUN

TY

CARLISLE SMALL ANIMALVETERINARY CLINIC

717-243-271725 Shady Lane, Carlisle (Beside Hoss’s)

ServingCarlisle

&

Surrounding Me

chanicsburg Ar

ea

For Over 40 Yea

rs!


and the rest of the building was demol-ished. The group was at a disadvantage before it even had the opportunity to gather momentum.

“There is a certain critical mass of in-terest,” said Dr. Johnson Coyle, president of the board of directors of the Craighead House Committee Corp. “The Bell Tavern did not achieve critical mass before it im-ploded. They did not know the time was short until the wrecking ball hit.”

Craighead example The Craighead House in South Mid-

dleton Township had as its champion the late David Masland of Carlisle who died in April 2014. One day Masland noticed how the old house at 318 E. Old York Road was sagging and looked as if it was about to fall in. This spurred him to take action to save the summer home of a family of renowned naturalists.

As a boy, Masland used to visit the old mansion and play with the Craighead chil-dren, Coyle said, adding that Masland had the passion to do the work and the resources and social network to garner support.

“You could not say ‘no’ to David,” Coyle said. “He was the spiritual father of all of us.” The “us” is the board of directors who started the process by buying the house from a surviving Craighead owner.

Since then, the first floor has been jacked and reinforced, the artwork in the kitchen has been stabilized, the roof has been re-paired and the exterior has been painted and restored to a 1933 Depression era look.

The board has organized outdoor nature programs in keeping with its mission of developing the property into a community learning and support center for educational activities related to the Craighead family legacy of conservation, writing, art and local history.

Eventually the board wants to complete the installation of utilities inside the house to obtain an occupancy permit that would open up the interior to the public.

A Boiling Springs native, Coyle knew members of the Craighead family and grew up in a home just upstream from the man-sion. He was approached by Masland to get involved in the preservation effort. There was no way he could say no.

“When you meet a person who is pas-sionate about something, it’s infectious,” Coyle said. “You see how strongly they feel about it and it stirs something in you. The more you learn, the more you want to preserve that and hand it over to your children.”

Taking students on field trips to historic sites is one way to foster a sense of place and an appreciation for preservation, Coyle said. He said local government can also take a role.

Keeping the identity There are four municipalities in Cum-

berland County that have historical and architectural review boards that regulate changes property owners are allowed to make to building exteriors to preserve the look and feel of history, Varner said. The four are Upper Allen Township and the boroughs of Carlisle, Mechanicsburg and Shippensburg.

Beyond that, there are few protections for historic buildings, and even a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places could be demolished, Varner said.

“Even before there was a HARB, there was care in preserving the architectural look of downtown Carlisle,” Curtis said. “There were people in town with foresight.”

While there has been some loss, it is not as great as in some communities, and Car-lisle, in a way, has defied the odds.

“Places that tend to be crossroads, lose a sense of identity,” Varner said. But with a sense of connection to place comes the hope that lost history could be restored.

That is happening right now in Mount Holly Springs.

Once a bustling industrial center, Holly has lost a lot of its historical buildings and has become a pass-through community for motorists. In 2015, an effort was launched to document and preserve the history of the Mount Tabor AME Church, the spiri-tual hub of what was once a thriving Afri-

can-American community.Like with the Craighead House, local

residents sprang to action after someone took the time to notice and to care, Coyle said. This reinforces the sense of place and the look and feel of history that add to the quality of life.


HistoryFrom 17

WES PETERSON, FOR THE SENTINEL

George Washington puts on his glasses as he prepares to address his troops at the Whiskey rebellion Festival in Carlisle.

MICHAEL BUPP, SENTINEL FILE

demolition work took place in March 2017 at the reputed bell tavern in Silver Spring township.

TOP 10 REASONS

THE SENTINEL Saturday, February 24, 2018 | 19TOP 10 REASONS

Work, Dine, Shop & Socialize atHanover Commons in Carlisle.

The Real Estate Collaborative (REC), LLC is currently looking for businesses to locate to the

new Hanover Commons site in Carlisle (former Tyco site). The project is 4.5 acres and has

potential for a mixed-use center with space for lodging, retail, food/beverage, professional

office space, and other complementary services and amenities.

REC operates as a subsidiary real estate development company of the Cumberland Area

Economic Development Corporation (CAEDC), for the purpose of redeveloping underutilized,

vacant, or brownfield commercial or industrial sites, public buildings, and tourism-related

assets to improve quality of life and business opportunities in our communities.

Learn more about the Real Estate Collaborative at:

CumberlandBusiness.com/REC

A New Urban Lookcoming soon

to the

and has

a subsidiary of Cumberland Area

Economic Development Corporation


PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN

For The Sentinel

If you’re looking for something fun to do, look no further than Cumberland County.

From fishing to fine arts to an-tique hunts to hiking and biking, this

555-square-mile jewel set in Southcentral Pennsylvania pretty much has it all.

“My favorite part of living here is that you can be in a state park one moment and then be in a town like Carlisle,” said Kristen Rowe, director of marketing and commu-nications for Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau.

Outdoor recreation Cumberland Valley is home to state

parks, a network of hiking and biking trails, a ski resort and some of the finest fly fishing around.

“This is a very well-known destination for people who like to fish,” said Dusty Wissmath of TCO Outdoors, Boiling Springs. “We get people from Maryland, D.C., New York state and other parts of Pennsylvania coming here. A fisherman always likes to fish in a different area.”

Top fishing spots include the Conodogu-inet and Yellow Breeches creeks, LeTort Spring Run, Opossum Lake, Big Spring Creek Greenway, the Susquehanna River and Children’s Lake. “We have unique natural resources here. We have limestone spring creeks and freestone creeks,” Wiss-math said.

Other spots include Fuller Lake at Pine Grove Furnace State Park and Doubling Gap Lake at Colonel Denning State Park. State parks also offer swimming, cross-country skiing, birdwatching opportunities and recreation trails. Kings Gap Environmen-tal Center offers 20 miles of trails around South Mountain and a stunning overlook of the Cumberland Valley.

Speaking of trails, 46 miles of the Maine-

to-Georgia Appalachian Trail crosses through the Cumberland Valley, including a 13-mile section noted as being the trail’s longest, lowest and flattest area. The trail’s midpoint lies in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, along with the Appalachian Trail Mu-seum.

The Mid-Atlantic Trail Conservancy is located along the trail next to Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs, offering maps and assistance for hikers.

Other recreation routes in the area in-clude bike-friendly Carlisle, the Cum-berland Valley Rail Trail that runs from

Newville to Shippensburg and the Army Heritage Trail that’s lined with military artifacts outside the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center near Carlisle.

Artisan Adventure Trail Cumberland County is home to Cum-

berland Valley Arts, a group of local artists and artisans dedicated to increasing the “awareness, appreciation and accessibility to the rich heritage and ongoing growth” of the area’s fine arts and crafts, according to the group.

“The artwork here has such a local fla-vor,” said artist P.J. Heyman, owner of Village Artisans Gallery in Boiling Springs. “The look of the work is different here than what you would see in California or Flor-ida. Artists here see something in nature. You can tell when a work is from a partic-ular artist rather than something that’s mass-produced.”

“This area and county has a lot of artists and people creating things. We have a lot of shops,” Rowe said.

To showcase the area’s vast selections

Recreation and arts abound


a great blue heron takes flight to move downstream from Don Markel of York as he changes the fly on his fishing pole in December 2015 on the Yellow Breeches Creek in South Middleton Township.


An Appalachian Trail sign stands in Pine Grove Furnace State Park.

RECREATION

TOP 10 REASONS



Pictured is the scenery from a lodge along the yellow breeches Creek at allenberry.

of fine arts and crafts, Cumberland Valley Arts creates an Artisan Adventure Trail each year. The venues listed below will be highlighted during American Craft Week 2018, scheduled for Oct. 5 to 18.

Newville — Red Tomato Farm & Inn, 3581 Ritner Highway.

Carlisle — Meadowbrooke Gourds, 125 Potato Road; Feathers in the Nest, 61 W. Chapel Ave.; Carlisle Arts Learning Center, 38 W. Pomfret St.; the Pond Art Studios & Gallery, 32 W. Pomfret St.; History on High – The Shop, 33 W. High St.; American Arti-san Gallery, 35 N. Hanover St.; the Greatest Gift, 117 N. Hanover St.

Boiling Springs — Village Artisans Gallery, 321 Walnut St.; Metalledwith Studio, 110 Forge Road

Mechanicsburg — Art Center School & Galleries, 18 Artcraft Drive; Brittle Bark, 33 W. Main St.; Brainvessel the Gallery, 4704 Carlisle Pike.

New Cumberland — Tickle My Senses, 315 Bridge St.

Please see RECREATION, Page 22

TOP 10 REASONS

WWW.WOLFECOMPANYREALTORS.COM

SERVING THE CARLISLE AREA SINCE 1986

Because We Care.

33 South Pitt Street Carlisle | 717-243-1551

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPRAISALS“EXPERIENCE MATTERS”SINCE 1986

CASUALSTEAK, PASTA

ININD G& SEAFOOD

823 NEWVILLE ROAD, CARLISLE

717-245-2999

RUSTICTAVERN.COM

DELICIOUS WEEKLY

CHECK OUT OUR

WEBSITE!RUSTICTAVERN.COM

HAPPY HOUR!MONDAY THRU THURSDAY • 4 PM - 6 PM

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY • 9 PM - 11 PM

Specials

BEST CRAB CAKES, STEAKS,

AND SEAFOOD IN

CUMBERLANDCOUNTY!

BEST OFCarlisle


RecreationFrom 21

Camp Hill — One Good Woman, 1845 Mar-ket St.

Enola — Cupboard Maker Books, 157 N. Enola Road.

Of course, this list only includes a hand-ful of Cumberland County’s artists and venues. For example, Shop the Block in Carlisle is an opportunity for browsing galleries, cafes, gift shops, restaurants and more within walking distance on Pomfret Street.

For more information, visit www.vist-cumberlandvalley.com.

Antiques and Vintage Trail Historic Cumberland County, founded in

1750, could be just the place to uncover that special antique, but you may not want to stop just at one. The country is crisscrossed with a variety of antique venues — so many that the Cumberland County Visitors Bu-reau developed the Antiques and Vintage Trail listed below.

Shippensburg — WM and Mary Antiques, 58 E. King St.; B&H Bikes and Antiques, 44 E. King St.; the Vintage Vault, 745 Orrstown Road.

Carlisle — Curiosity Corner Shoppe, 2159 Newville Road; Lutz’s Antiques, 1233 Rit-ner Highway; Antiques on Hanover, 17 N. Hanover St.; Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb, 24 N. Hanover St.; Bedford Street Antiques,

44 N. Bedford St.; Northgate Antique Mall, 726 N. Hanover St.; Serendipity Antique Gallery, 876 N. Hanover St.; Feathers in the Nest, 61 W. Chapel Ave.; Marjorie’s Gems,

44 S. Hanover St.; Stonehouse Road Vin-tage Antiques & Found Goods, 1554 Holly Pike; Miz Babsy’s Country Boutique, 1953 Holly Pike.

Mount Holly Springs — Red Door Antiques, 264 N. Baltimore St.; Stand Alone Furni-ture and Collectables, 242 N. Baltimore St.

Mechanicsburg – Not So Shabby, 226 E. Main St.; Kindred Spirits Consignment & Gift Shop, 13 W. Main St.; Treasure Chest Antiques & Collectibles, 41 W. Main St.; Generation Studio & Shoppe, 4 W. Allen St.

West Shore area — Nest Egg Interiors, 315 Bridge St., New Cumberland; Antique Marketplace of Lemoyne, 415 Bosler Ave., Lemoyne.

Performing arts If shopping isn’t quite your bag, Cum-

berland County offers a variety of theater and concert venues.

The H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University, 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg, is a 1,500-seat re-gional theater with year-round musical performances of rock, pop, country and

Broadway, as well as lectures, children’s programs and even ballroom dancing les-sons.

In Carlisle, Dickinson College’s Mathers Theatre, Holland Union Building, offers many student productions. The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, 5 N. Orange St., is an acclaimed school of classical bal-let that performs throughout the area. The historic Carlisle Theatre, 40 W. High St., hosts musical acts, theatrical shows, family entertainment and quality films.

The Playhouse at Allenberry is located within the historic Allenberry Resort, 1559 Boiling Springs Road, Boiling Springs. This newly renovated facility offers musicals, comedy and family programs. The Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg, 915 S. York St., Mechanicsburg, is a volunteer community theater.

In Camp Hill, Keystone Musical Arts Center, 3705 Trindle Road, is a nonprofit performing arts school. The Grace Mil-liman Pollock Performing Arts Center, 340 N. 21st St., is a teaching, learning and production facility serving the Camp Hill School District. The Oyster Mill Playhouse, 1001 Oyster Mill Road, offers volunteer community theater productions.

SENTINEL FILE

the Carlisle theatre is located on West High Street.


the Village artisans Gallery is located in boiling Springs.

TOP 10 REASONS


JOSEPH CRESS

The Sentinel

Variety is the spice that seasons local school districts and makes access to a range of education op-tions both a draw and top reason for families to live in Cumberland

County.It starts with a diverse

mix in the size and setting of districts that attracts different people with dif-ferent needs, said Christina Spielbauer, acting super-intendent of Carlisle Area School District.

For example, Camp Hill could be classified as a

small urban district where students walk to school, while Cumberland Valley is a suburban district with ready access to a wide va-riety of retail. Mechanics-burg and South Middleton school districts offer the middle ground in size.

If a family wants to locate to a small farm surrounded by rolling countryside, Big Spring School District may be the natural fit, Superintendent Richard Fry said. “The county offers all of that.”

Every district of every configuration has its own set of pluses and minuses to weigh in an equation that also takes into account such factors as property tax, municipal ser-

vices and proximity to work.“Wide open rural is not for everyone,” Fry

said. “And yet that is who we are and what we embrace.”

Flexibility to change A Big Spring High School graduate, Fry

has been the superintendent in the district now for about 14 years. Prior to that, he worked for nine years in the Prince William County school system in northern Virginia before returning to Cumberland County to

Options key for educational opportunities


dickinson College is located in Carlisle.

EDUCATION

Fry

Please see EDUCATION, Page 24Spielbauer

TOP 10 REASONS

501 N Baltimore Avenue, Mount Holly Springs | 717-486-3433Eric L. Hollinger, Supervisor LFD

411 Zion Road, Carlisle | 717-486-8986M. Annan Hollinger and Eric L. Hollinger, Owners

VISIT US ATHOLLINGERFUNERALHOME.COM

A Name You Can Trust.

Traditional Burials | On-Site Cremation & Cemetery Memorials

We bring 80 years of experience serving families

in Mt. Holly Springs & surrounding areas.

Eric L.HollingerSupervisor

M.AnnanHollingerLicensed Funeral Director

RobertA.Filburn IIILicensed Funeral Director

BlakeR.WorleyFuneral Intern

A full service funeral home meeting the needs of every family, regardless of the service chosen, faith or tradition.

• The arrangements youmake will reflect your exact wishes and desires

• Ease the burden of loved ones

• Protects you from rising cost of prices

• Will not be a financial burden on your loved ones

• Arrangements can bemade in the comfort of your own home or online

We understand that petsare family, too

Offering private cremation for your pet

Prearrange your own Service


work for the East Pennsboro and Carlisle school districts.

“While our system is a bit archaic with local control, it allows for a real sense of ownership for those who really want to be involved,” Fry said of Pennsylvania pub-lic schools. This local control allows for greater flexibility that encourages faculty to innovate to address changing conditions.

For example, Big Spring is negotiating with nearby companies to provide its high school students with training in heavy machinery operations in anticipation of a greater investment in infrastructure by the federal government.

A big draw to Cumberland County school districts is their willingness to change with the times and educate students beyond the traditional classroom model, Spielbauer said. “We are partnering with higher ed-ucation, offering cyber programs, blended opportunities and even night school.”

Carlisle stands out because it’s one of only a few districts in Pennsylvania to op-erate its own vocational-technical school — the Center for Careers and Technology. Over 500 Carlisle High School students, or roughly a third of the student body, are en-rolled in some kind of career or vocational training, Spielbauer said.

The Cumberland-Perry Area Vocational Technical School is a public school in Cum-berland County serving the Big Spring, Camp Hill, Cumberland Valley, East

Pennsboro, Greenwood, Mechanicsburg, Newport, Northern York, South Mid-dleton, Susquenita, Upper Adams, West Perry and West Shore school districts.

The variety enables par-ents to match a Cumber-land County school district to their child’s preferences, said Fred Withum III, su-

perintendent of the Cumberland Valley School District.

If a family has a student who wants to be involved in many different activities, they can pick a district with a smaller enroll-ment like Big Spring or South Middleton. If the child wants to focus on one activity with many students who have similar in-terests, the family can settle on a district with a larger enrollment like Carlisle or Cumberland Valley. The strength of each is in their identity.

Generations Another draw is the multigenerational

investment local districts have made to

their buildings and facilities, Withum said. “When you drive around, there’s pride in the maintenance of the schools. They look good and function well. Issues are addressed.”

He said there is a lot of personal his-tory running through each school district. Withum has been involved in public edu-cation within Cumberland County for al-

most 35 years. Like many other educators, he has seen how the generations have cy-cled through the system. This history fos-ters stability that builds a connection and sense of school pride that could be a draw for a family moving into the county.

Often school buildings, events or tra-ditions are the showpieces that can bring a community together. “When you go to the football game on a Friday night or to our high school musical, you don’t know who is from what township, but you do know all of them have an association with the Cumberland Valley School District,” Withum said.

CV and Mechanicsburg are currently in the process of building additions or reno-vations to accommodate growing student populations and needs.

“We want to prove to you that the option we’re putting on the table has many solu-tions,” Superintendent Mark Leidy told the school board in January while discussing the building options and possible changes to school start times. “We’re going to open it up to those (parents) who think they have unique circumstances (with this plan). We’re saying, ‘Let’s talk about it and see what options are open.’”

EducationFrom 23

Withum


an image of the united States army War College in Carlisle.

SENTINEL FILE

the u.S. army War College ashburn drive Gate in Carlisle.

TOP 10 REASONS


But the districts do not operate in a vac-uum. Big Spring, South Middleton and Carlisle, for example, are part of a consor-tium of local districts that share resources, teachers and instructional space to provide special education services to students, Fry said. He said there was no way any one of the districts involved could have acted alone and provided all the services, so they combined the effort in an economy of scale.

“Everybody has a great working rela-tionship,” said Withum, adding that key administrators among the school districts know one another and work together on common issues. That same dialogue ex-tends to the private and parochial schools whose students are often transported by the public school systems.

Families that do their homework and re-search Cumberland County on the internet would be able to see this spirit of coopera-tion online, Fry said. “We each have defined a unique niche, but yet we collaborate very consistently.”

The county also has a variety of private schools to attend. Students can attend Catholic schools, Saint Joseph School in Mechanicsburg, Saint Theresa School in New Cumberland and Saint Patrick School in Carlisle, as well as Trinity High School in Lower Allen Township. There are also other religious-affiliated schools, including Carlisle Christian Academy, Grace Baptist School, Heritage Christian Academy and West Shore Christian Academy.

Harrisburg Academy is also a premiere private school located on the West Shore.

Higher ed mix Yet another draw to the county is its rich

variety of higher education options. There is a faith-based school in Messiah College, a state college in Shippensburg University, a liberal arts school in Dickinson College, a doctorate program at Dickinson Law and a business-focused curriculum at Central Penn College.

HACC offers vocational programs and an opportunity for local students to take general education courses at a lower tuition before transferring credits to other colleges and universities. The college has work-ing partnerships with many Cumberland County school districts to enhance learning opportunities.

“Each of (the colleges) has unique factors that enhance our county,” Spielbauer said. She said this blend presents opportunities absent in other parts of the state.

There is even a military service academy in the U.S. Army War College.

Though war college enrollment is not open to the general public, the students and faculty contribute to local academia. The senior military and civilian leaders

who study at the war college are often called upon to be speakers at events in the community.

The children of war college students are enrolled as students in local school dis-tricts, Spielbauer said. As military children, they have a transient lifestyle that has taken them to different communities throughout the U.S. and across the globe. This gives them a worldview other students lack.

“Our schools do a great job of highlight-ing their experiences and allowing them to share with their peers,” said Spielbauer, whose father was a war college graduate before joining the faculty.

As for Dickinson College, Carlisle has used one of its professors to teach a course on Chinese language in the local school dis-trict. Also, students from the college have served as mentors to school-aged children.

Meanwhile, Cumberland Valley is set to offer 18 general education courses next year in coordination with HACC, Withum said. This partnership will include information technology certificates to high school grad-uates who take the course, pass the test and meet other qualifications.

“We are blending college courses, intern-ships and apprenticeships,” Withum said. “All those things create new pathways for kids to take that they find exciting.”

Most districts within the county have agreements with higher education that allow high school students to take col-lege-level general education courses and earn credits that are transferable.

This way the students have the experience of college with the support network of a high school, Spielbauer said. “We just want to make sure our students are as prepared as possible to be successful in college.”

Part of the reason for this approach is to counteract research that shows a large percentage of students drop out of college after the sophomore year.

Carlisle, Big Spring and South Middle-ton have partnerships with the Penn State Mont Alto Campus that offers high school students up to 24 credits. The three dis-tricts along with Bermudian Springs in Adams County fall within the territory of that branch of Penn State, which is trying to grow its programs. Similar agreements exist with Dickinson College and Ship-pensburg University.

Community and employment The colleges and universities also bring

cultural opportunities to Cumberland County that are accented by its close prox-imity to the state capital, Withum said. Families settling here could send their chil-dren to a lecture, a musical performance or

Please see EDUCATION, Page 26

TOP 10 REASONS

Your Choice.Our privilege.

Community Outreach of Homeland Center

Harrisburg, PA

Hospice 717-221-7890 Hospice volunteers are always welcome.HomeHealth 717-412-0166 | HomeCare 717-221-7892

HomelandatHome.org

We believe the care a person receives makes

a difference in his or her quality of life.

Homeland’s expert team is dedicated to providing

a continuum of At Home care services…

from non-medical personal assistance

to skilled nursing and rehabilitation, to

compassionate hospice and palliative care.


EducationFrom 25

an athletic camp on a local campus or to a program at The Forum or the Whittaker Center in Harrisburg, he noted.

Aside from colleges, local districts main-tain close ties with community nonprofit organizations that offer students both ed-ucation and service learning opportunities. The Success-by-Six program of the United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County fo-cuses heavily on early education, Spielbauer said. She also mentioned programs offered by Safe Harbour, Carlisle CARES, Hope Sta-tion and the Carlisle Victory Circle.

Not only is Cumberland County a draw for families, but it also attracts the atten-tion of professionals seeking to break into education or advance in the field. Statis-tically, there is a nationwide shortage of teachers, but local superintendents report no difficulty in drawing a relatively large pool of applicants for most open positions.

Many of the applicants are recent grad-uates of either Shippensburg University or Messiah College who fell in love with the area and decided to stay, Withum said. He

said others are alumni of local school dis-tricts who return to teach in the commu-nities where they were raised.

The reputation of its school districts tends to draw high quality applicants to Cumberland County, Spielbauer said. An-other overarching theme is the extensive road network that gives county residents easy access to large cities without the need to live in crowded suburban or urban neigh-borhoods.

Big Spring uses its proximity to Balti-more, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington as a selling point to appli-cants they want to recruit from outside the district footprint, Fry said. “We are adver-tising our access to state parks for hiking and camping.”

While Big Spring welcomes back alumni who want to teach in the district, adminis-trators have to balance the sense of familiar with the need for diversity, Fry said. “It’s not always racial diversity. It is diversity in thoughts and experiences.” The goal here is to expose students to a variety of different backgrounds so they are better prepared for the real world beyond graduation.



an aerial view of boiling Springs High School and its facilities.

SENTINEL FILE

Pictured is the entrance to Carlisle High School.

TOP 10 REASONS


ZACK HOOPES

The Sentinel

There’s one big reason to live in Cumberland County if you’re an entrepreneur or an investor who wants to keep your money local: a comparatively strong small-busi-

ness environment.Despite the economic recession that

started at the end of 2008, the most re-cent U.S. Census Bureau numbers show that Cumberland County had 5,508 firms with less than 50 employees in 2015, a slight bump from 5,436 in 2008.

But although the number of small busi-nesses has remained steady, the ability of new businesses to gain a share of the labor market has become harder than ever.

Job gains from new businesses in Penn-sylvania peaked in 1998, at 183,993 posi-tions created by businesses less than a year old, according to data from the Bureau of

Labor Statistics. As of 2015, that number had dropped to 85,089.

But local lenders and small business sup-port groups have reported growing interest by entrepreneurs establishing or growing a small business, and more interest by inves-tors in putting capital back into local entre-preneurship, making Cumberland County one of the better places for entrepreneurs to stake their claim.

“In the last year we have seen a greater number of existing businesses that are looking to expand, either opening a new location or a larger facility,” said Robin Burtner of the Small Business Development Center at Shippensburg University, which provides consulting to local startups.

“We continue to see an increase in the number of people seeking assistance with a business idea or an existing business,” Burtner said. “This could be attributed to better awareness of the SBDC’s services,

but also a better economy.”Last year, the Shippensburg SBDC

helped 323 businesses in the Midstate, in-cluding existing small businesses looking to expand, as well as pre-venture planning for those looking to start.

The majority of those clients are busi-nesses with less than 20 employees, Burt-ner said. More and more businesses are looking to expand, but breaking out of the

Small businesses find success


Whitney Vaillancourt on her way to serve wings at three Pines tavern in Mount Holly Springs.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Please see BUSINESSES, Page 28

TOP 10 REASONS

Proud to serve and supportthe communities ofCumberland County

You CAN Join if you live, work,worship, volunteer or attendschool in Cumberland County.

14 convenient locations • www.belco.org • 800-642-4482

Follow us on

Ask us how you can earn 3.00%APY1

on your Checking account!1APY=Annual Percentage Yield. Rates subject to change. Must meet account requirements to earn advertisedrate. Requires enrollment in SmartMoney package; must meet package requirements. Additional restrictionsmay apply. Member NCUA

ALL FAITHS WELCOME!

An Accredited School of Middle States

Association • 1989-2023

87 Marsh Drive, Carlisle PA 17015

717-249-4826 • www.spscarlisle.org

*NEW FAMILIES ONLY.

Give your child a gift that will last an eternity:

87 Marsh Drive, Carlisle, PA 17015

717-249-4826 | www.spscarlisle.orgAn Accredited School of Middle States Association - 1989-2023

• 3-year-old preschool• 4-year-old preK• Kindergarten - 8th grade

• National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence

• National Achievement test scores in Top 7%

• Average class size 17 students

• Athletics and extracurricular activities

• Financial aid available to qualified applicants

• Before and after-school care

A Saint Patrick School Education

87 arsh Drive, Carlisle, 7015

ALL FAITHS WELCOME


20-worker bracket is difficult given the region’s low unemployment and chronic shortage of skilled labor.

The other challenge is capital, although in that respect Cumberland County is well positioned, with a large number of local institutions willing to lend to small busi-nesses.

The county-sponsored Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. has overseen $72 million in small business capitaliza-tion from 2012 to 2016, using low-interest loans, state and federal grants and other mechanisms, according to the agency’s most recent report.

The Community First Fund, a nonprofit lender based in central Pennsylvania, also reported $45.2 million in loan assets un-der management in 2017, and another $90 million in active New Market Tax Credits.

CFF has seen a rapid rise in the latter, with $15 million allocated in 2012, $30 million in 2014, and another $45 million in 2016, according to Ellen Svrcek, vice pres-ident for marketing and business develop-ment at CFF.

New Market credits are allocated by the federal Treasury Department’s Commu-nity Development Financial Institutions Fund. Essentially, these credits reduce the tax rate on investors’ returns if they invest in a project that meets New Market crite-ria. This generally means redevelopment projects and projects in economically disadvantaged areas that major investors would not normally lend to without some sort of incentive.

Local small businesses, particularly con-tractors and craftsman, have flocked to projects financed by New Market Credits because they promise a steady cash flow and steady work, Svrcek said.

“The money has to move pretty quickly, it can’t sit around for five years waiting to be shovel-ready,” Svrcek said. “The local construction companies are calling us knowing that someone is getting a project together, and they want to see if they got the New Market Tax Credit so they can call and ask for work.”

Further, nonprofit lenders like the CFF are also self-fueling. Not only are govern-ment agencies and other nonprofits putting cash into CFF’s loan pool, but any citizen can invest into CFF.

Even businesses that have established themselves and could easily get loans through a for-profit bank will often come back to CFF since they know they’ll be re-paying their loan into a fund that will keep the money local, Svreck said.

“We have a lot of clients who have done well and would qualify for low interest through a bank, but come back to us be-cause they want their interest payments

going back into the community,” Svreck said.

Even local commercial banks have taken advantage of small business financing in-

centives. Centric Bank, which also serves the Midstate, was recognized as the num-ber-three lender in the state for 2017 in federally sponsored section 7(a) loans, a considerable feat given the massive amount of capital available in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets.

These loans are issued by commercial banks, but are guaranteed with a funding pool managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, allowing banks to offer comparatively low rates despite the inher-ent risk of funding startups.

Last year, Centric used 7(a) incentives to issue 77 small business loans that sup-ported 2,500 jobs, according to Centric President and CEO Patti Husic, who has lobbied at the federal level to expand the SBA’s 7(a) lending authority.

“SBA loans help fill a finance gap, par-ticularly for fledgling businesses that need access to longer-term funds, have a col-lateral shortfall, or experience insufficient cash at the beginning of the transaction,” Husic said. “The guarantee helps reduce the risk and capital required for banks and facilitates loans that might never have been made without this important level of sup-port.”

emal Zack at [email protected].

BusinessesFrom 27


aCe drone Services, LLC owner Chris ryan demonstrates flying a drone in Carlisle.

SENTINEL FILE

Jonathan Bowser, CEO of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp., speaks at an entrepreneurship event in November 2016.

TOP 10 REASONS


JOSHUA VAUGHN

The Sentinel

Cumberland County is growing.

In fact, between 2010 and 2016 Cumberland County was the fast-est growing county in all of Penn-sylvania, according to data from

the U.S. Census Bureau.Growth, when properly planned for and

done right, can mean more jobs, higher in-comes and increased services and ameni-

ties for local residents.Many of those things have been seen in

Cumberland County.“When you see a population blossom-

ing, you see the demand for retail and other commercial services, and you see

the demand for industrial development, too,” Cumberland County Planning Direc-tor Kirk Stoner said. “If you look at some of the retailers that we are supporting in the county, like Wegmans, they typically don’t come to market places with the lower

population density. If we are drawing those big players, I think that’s reflective of our growth.”

Wegmans Food Market opened a 130,000

County continues to grow

Please see GROWTH, Page G30

SENTINEL FILE

Construction continued in december on townhomes, apartments and a park at the site of the former Carlisle tire & Wheel property.

GROWTH

TOP 10 REASONS

Live your best retirementwith Church of God Home!Immediate openings in LeTort Manor.Drop by any Wednesday at 1 p.m.for a quick tour!

Or call 717.866.3553today to schedule your visit!

801 N. Hanover Street, Carlislewww.StoneRidgeRetirement.com


square-foot store in Silver Spring Town-ship in 2007. It was the first location in the Midstate for Wegmans, and the only other area location is one currently being built in Lancaster. That is something that likely would not have happened if the population of Cumberland County wasn’t growing, Stoner said.

It’s not just a new grocery store, or an in-flux of chain restaurants like Chick-fil-a or Hardees, that residents have seen expand in the county.

The health care sector has gone up as the population has grown, meaning more and better choices in hospitals and health care

providers, according to Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. CEO Jona-than Bowser.

Bowser highlighted a recent merger be-tween UPMC and PinnacleHealth. The for-mer West Shore Hospital in Hampden Town-ship is now UPMC Pinnacle West Shore and the former Carlisle Regional Medical Center is now UPMC Pinnacle Carlisle.

Geisinger Holy Spirit in East Pennsboro Township recently invested roughly $32 million to create a Level II trauma center at its facility.

As these industries grow, jobs are created.The health care and social assistance

industry accounts for more than 16,000 jobs in the county, and Bowser said another 2,000 jobs are expected to be created in the next five years.

GrowthFrom 29


Pictured is an image of Children’s Lake in boiling Springs in december 2017.

ABC27

Construction will begin on a number of commercial developments in Silver Spring township.

TOP 10 REASONS


Cumberland County’s unemployment rate, which was 4 percent in December 2017, has remained below the state aver-age for at least a decade, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

“One of the draws to Cumberland County is there are jobs here,” Bowser said. “There is an availability of jobs.”

The median household income in Cum-berland County has also risen, going from an inflation adjusted $60,219 in 2010 to more than $62,600 in 2016, according to the Census Bureau.

Slow and steady Stoner said that while other counties

have seen their population number ebb and flow, with some rising and falling sharply, Cumberland County has been increasing its population by roughly 1 percent every year for several decades.

“It’s really been slow and steady,” Stoner said. “I wouldn’t say it’s anything that we’re seeing a sudden explosion. It’s really slow and steady wins the race. While other counties have been going up and down, we’ve remained steady.”

He said this kind of growth can be more beneficial since it allows for planning.

When a population expands quickly, it can be difficult for services like roads and wastewater management to catch up.

“If your infrastructure can’t keep up ... then I think you start to feel those strains of growth,” he said. “When it happens incre-mentally over time, you can keep up with your infrastructure, you can keep up with your service, and the impact is there, but you don’t feel it as much as that big spike.”

By the numbers Between 2010 and 2016, Cumberland

County’s population grew by roughly 3.6 percent, going from about 235,000 to more than 243,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That was the largest growth of any county in Pennsylvania, according the Census Bureau data.

Centre County was the only other county in the state to see at least 3 percent growth during that time frame.

Cumberland County was part of a mi-nority of counties in the state to have its population grow between 2010 and 2016, according the Census Bureau. More than 60 percent of counties in the state had pop-ulation numbers drop.

Within the county, Hopewell and Cooke townships had the highest percentage in-crease in population with Hopewell Town-ship growing by more than 26 percent and Cooke Township seeing a population ex-pansion of more than 17 percent.

However, Silver Spring Township had the largest growth by number of people, with more than 2,000 additional people living in the township in 2016 compared to 2010, according to the Census Bureau.

That equates to a roughly 15 percent in-crease.

East Pennsboro and Upper Allen town-ships had population growths of more than 1,000, both equating to a more than 5 per-cent increase compared to 2010.

Planned growth Growth can be painful, especially in an

area like Cumberland County with a history in agriculture and a residency that values open spaces.

Bowser and Stoner highlighted the need to properly balance development with preservation.

More than 110,000 acres, roughly 31 percent of the total land area, is prime farmland soil, according to county re-cords, and efforts have been made to pre-serve that land.

More than 70,000 acres have been placed in agricultural security, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

For both Stoner and Bowser, the key to continued growth while maintaining the

quality of life residents of Cumberland County have come to expect is planning.

This means looking at ways to reuse, re-purpose and incentivize the use of former industrial areas for new commercial or in-dustrial businesses.

“As we look ahead to the future we see this continued growth,” he said. “We want

to encourage dense development where we can and make sure we’re not consuming greenfields and raw land when we could have it accommodated somewhere else.“

email Joshua Vaughn at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter at @Sentinel_Vaughn.

SENTINEL FILE

Local and state officials participate in a groundbreaking ceremony at the former Carlisle IaC site in November.


a thunderstorm passes near Carlisle over farmland in June 2015.

TOP 10 REASONS

32 | Saturday, February 24, 2018 THE SENTINELTOP 10 REASONS

Where “face time”doesn’t require batteries.

• Spot wildlife at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch

• Discover Carlisle Events’ Renowned Car Shows

• Explore the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center

• Bike the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail

• Grab pints on the Cumberland Valley Beer Trail tF

#FounditinCV

Plan your backyard adventure at:VisitCumberlandValley.com

comeexperience alovingwayoflife - townnews · everything you need for a happy, active life. call...

Documents