Could Gitmo Detainees Come To Gettysburg?

President Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within the next year. There has already been talk of sending at least some of the detainees held there to York County where federal prisoners have been housed for some time. This has many local residents concerned, including Adams County Congressional Representative Todd Platts, who has an office in Gettysburg.

Keep in mind that these are prisoners. They won’t be turned loose on the public and asked to dine at local restaurants or cozy up to tourists from Alabama. Of course, one of the concerns for local residents is always escaped prisoners. What if one of them gets loose?

If a foreign prisoner were to escape in York County and make his way to Gettysburg this summer or next while tourists from around the world are enjoying a walk or a ride around the nation’s most famous battlefield, I’m sure you’ll hear about it for a long time. If that prisoner is indeed a terrorist and performs an act of violence then the fallout for the Obama Administration will be even worse. But understand that these plans have not been finalized.

You may not agree with the closing of Guantanamo Bay, but that doesn’t spell doom and gloom for domestic security. Write your Congressional representatives and let them know how you feel about terror suspects being held in Adams or York County Pennsylvania. But, please, don’t panic.

Pennsylvania Farm Show Got A Great Kick Start

This weekend the Pennsylvania Farm Show got its kick off. We’re now on day three of the greatest show in Pennsylvania and people everywhere are falling in love with tractors again. And if you think tractors are sexy, there is no better place to be.

This year’s farm show theme is “Keep Pennsylvania Growing.” The event takes place in Harrisburg every year and it’s just a hop and a skip, or a short tractor pull, away from Gettysburg.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show is a week long celebration of America’s agricultural heritage. The farm show started on Jan. 10 and will run through Jan. 17. Several hundred thousand people are expected to attend by the end of the week. Don’t you want to be one of them?

For more information, call (717) 787-5373.

The Pennylvania Wanderer Blog

I just discovered a new blog. The Pennsylvania Wanderer lives in Harrisburg and travels to nearby places writing about them.

Much of what you’ll find on his blog is about wine and in his sidebar you’ll find the links to Pennsylvania wineries. So if you like wine and you have an interest in visiting the local wineries then I’d recommend visiting The Pennylvania Wanderer and seeing what he has to say about events, people, and places in the area.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show Kicks Off 2009 With Vintage Fun

One of Pennsylvania’s best events is the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Scheduled for January 10 through 17, 2009, the Pennsylvania Farm Show promotes agriculture, Pennsylvania’s biggest industry. The theme for this year’s farm show is “Keep Pennsylvania Growing”.

It doesn’t matter where you are from. You will enjoy the farm show. This is one of Pennsylvania’s most attended events. More than 400,000 visitors are expected to run through the show that week.

During the week, visitors to one of the biggest farm shows in the country will see live livestock, vintage tractors, delicious regional foods, and grand world-class events. There will be a Best Chef In Pennsylvania Contest and a Sheep-to-Shawl competition. Other events scheduled for the week include:

• A wide variety of livestock shows and competitions
• Agricultural contests
• Educational opportunities
• State police mounted drill ceremony
• Cooking demonstrations
• Youth activities
• Historical exhibits
• Government celebrations
• Square and folk dances
• Family living demonstrations
• Dairy showcases
• Tractor pulls
• Flag races
• Talent contests
• And a whole lot more

The Pennsylvania Farm Show is always a week-long family extravaganza. Tourists and travelers from all over the world attend and are welcome. The location is in Harrisburg, just about 40 minutes away from Gettysburg so the drive is reasonable. For more information about the Pennsylvania Farm Show call 717-787-5373.

Slow Travel In South Central Pa.

I just bought a car from a fellow out Newberrytown way. If you’re not from Gettysburg or the surrounding area you may have no idea where that is. Hell, I just went there and I don’t know where it is. But it sure was fun. Exciting at least.

My father-in-law picked me up in York Springs and we met the seller in York. He has a 1988 Ram Charger. Ugly as sin, but it’s tires are real beauts. And drives like a charm.

So we drove up the road to a title office called Runkles and they gave him the business over his name. His drivers license had one name and the title had II after it, signifying a junior. They wouldn’t transfer the title for that discrepancy. My father-in-law had already left.

So we hopped in the oversized jalopy and headed toward Newberrytown where he pulled into the office of an insurance agent/notary. She had no problem transferring the title for us. I guess it helps to be on a first name basis with the notary.

At any rate, the paperwork all done, I had agreed to drop the seller off at his home in York Haven (wherever that is). Another fifteen minutes later and he was climbing out of my brand new old vehicle waving sayonara. I think that’s French for “So long, suckaaahh!”

Well, I had forgotten to bring along the cell phone so that I could call me wife and ask for directions back home. Mr. Newberrytown had told me to head up the road a piece and hit I-83, which would take me to 581. But that’s in Camp Hill and I didn’t think that sounded right. It was the opposite direction from York and I knew where York was. I went up the road a piece and missed my turn beside the fire company. That’s OK, I took the next one – a winding road called 295 that went up and down and around and in and over and under, then across Conewago Creek followed by more unders and ups and downs and arounds until I finally connected with I-83. I got on the highway headed toward Harrisburg.

Thinking it was the wrong direction, I turned around and went back toward York. When I got home my wife told me I was going right the first time. It just doesn’t pay to be from Texas!

Anyways, I made it to York and got to my exit, Hwy. 74, and took the ramp down to the stoplight. My windshield wipers decided to stop working then. And it’s snowing like Christmas. So I got out of the vehicle and manually worked the wipers because I enjoy looking like an idiot. And that worked until the light turned green, at which point I got back in the vehicle and drove for a few more feet until the snow had my windshield covered again. You know, I managed to make it home alive. Ah! how sweet are neck of the woods.

If you’re from out of town and that sounds like a real good time of travel to you, you can have a similar experience. Just hop in your vehicle and drive. Head to Newberrytown or Over There, which is about half way between Here and Yon, and just enjoy the scenery. Boy, Conewago Creek looks awesome through the snowy icy air in a strange vehicle from 500 feet in the air as the Deliverance-style rapids rush by underneath in places you couldn’t find on a map! And if you don’t believe me, just try it. What else did you come to Gettysburg for?

Gettysburg Pennsylvania Blog Is Looking For Guest Bloggers

Have a unique story to tell about Gettysburg Pennsylvania? Did you live here and do something crazy? Pay a visit to Gettysburg during spring break and lose something? I’d like to read your Gettysburg stories. Become a guest blogger.

Yes, if you submit your stories about Gettysburg Pennsylvania we will publish them right here on the Gettysburg Pennsylvania Blog. Stories should be between 300-500 words and be about Gettysburg. The story can be about anything related to Gettysburg or that happened in or while passing through Gettysburg, but your story must contain the word Gettysburg or Gettysburg Pennsylvania no less than three times and no more than ten times.

Any story we publish about Gettysburg will include the author’s name and a link back to your website or blog if you have one. If you don’t have a blog or website we will still publish your story with just a name. No other contact information will be published. To submit your Gettysburg story, send to info at gettysburgblog dot com.

Hershey Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Spectacular

Picture this for me: you’re curled up on the sofa with a hot mug of cocoa. The steam curls off of the creamy concoction as light Christmas tunes resound throughout your living room. What could make this moment any better? Well, how about a live show in the chocolate capital of the world?

The Hershey Symphony Orchestra will preform their “Christmas Spectacular” at the Hershey Theater on Friday December 5. The show starts at 8:00 PM, so why not head over to Chocolate World before the show and indulge in a decadent mug of Cafe Mocha or a rich, thick hot cocoa made with none other than Hershey’s chocolate.

After you warm your body, warm your soul with familiar Christmas melodies played by the talented Hershey Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra has been performing for over 40 years and have created a longstanding tradition of excellence at the Hershey Theater.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, but you can also contact the Hershey Theater Ticket Office to place advance orders. 717-533-8449.

Jeff Shaara Book Signing

You may first know Jeff Shaara for his cooperative effort with his father Michael Shaara; together they brought the Civil War into comfy chairs all across the country. The two partnered to render the thrilling Civil War trilogy: “Killer Angels,” “Gods and Generals” and “The Last Full Measure.”

Maybe books aren’t for you, but you’ve sat through all 261 minutes of Martin Sheen’s Gettysburg, or you’ve memorized all the lines to General Stonewall Jackson’s first brigade speech in the 2003 prequel Gods and Generals. Either way, Shaara’s ability to weave history into fiction has been capturing audiences for over a decade. In his newest novel, “Steel Wave,” Shaara trades Longstreet and Gettysburg for Eisenhower and Omaha Beach as he uses his pen to recapture the Allied invasion of France on D-Day 1944.

You cannot miss this opportunity to meet Jeff Shaara at the Gettysburg Gift Center on Thursday, November 20 and Friday, November 21. From 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Jeff will oblige history buffs and fiction freaks alike, adding his autograph to his recently released WWII novel.

The Gettysburg Gift Center is located in the Gettysburg Museum, 297 Steinwehr Ave. For more information you can call the museum at 717-334-6245.

Pennsylvania State Capitol – A Masterpiece Of Architecture

This afternoon, my wife and I took the family to see the Pennsylvania state Capitol building in Harrisburg. We went with my grandson’s Cub Scout troop.

When we first planned to make our visit I though it would be just like any other state Capitol. Being from Texas, I’ve had several chances to see that Capitol building, which is huge in comparison, but nowhere near the work of art. The Pennsylvania Capitol was built in 1906 and cost $13 million to build. In 1906, $13 million would have been a fortune. There aren’t enough zeros in the solar system to cover what that would be in today’s dollars.

From the green glazed terra cotta tile on the outside roof to the inlaid 24-karat gold ornaments on the inside chambers, the Capitol building is a site to see. I’m sure the Senate and House chambers would have been 10 times more beautiful had there been sunlight instead of cloudy skies as the stained glass windows were incredible.

Architect Joseph Huston blended Greek, Roman, and Victorian styles to create a masterful Renaissance-era architectural work of art in the state’s capital. I highly recommend a visit to the Capitol building while you are in Gettysburg. Harrisburg is straight up Hwy. 15 about 40 miles. It’s worth the drive.

Calling All Midstate Foodies!

Do you pair your peppercorn encrusted lamb chop with a nice, full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon? I myself prefer a frosty, carmel Yeungling to wash down my secret recipe grilled flank steak — but there is room for both of us at the 2008 Pennsylvania Food and Beverage Show! Hosted by the the Toyota Arena York Expo Center on November 22 and 23, the Show boasts hundreds of different specialty food and beverage exhibitors.

Not only will you be able to sample the best treats the midstate has to offer, but you can even enter to win a slew of fabulous prizes from dining gift certificates to baskets filled with your favorite goodies. You might even rub elbows with some of Pennsylvania’s finest chefs and restauranteers. Also available are live cooking demonstrations; drool over the presentation of The Yorktowne Hotel’s signature Panko-Crusted Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes or sample some festive holiday cookies from Chef Lisa Ridenour’s new cookbook release, “A Cookie in Each Hand.” If adult beverages are more up your alley, listen in on the health benefits of wine or get tips from a beer tasting expert.

Free parking is available at the York Expo Center, but if you plan to enjoy the samples at the Beer and Wine Garden (part of premium admission at $15), you may want to spend the evening in one of York’s swankiest hotels, the Yorktowne.

For ticket information you can contact the York Expo Center office at 717-637-3831.