Community Voices
The Connection is Proud to Offer Regular Letters and Articles from our Contributors.
Drop us a line if you’d like to contribute.
This Thanksgiving “vacation” has been both chaotic and wonderful. Some of our vaccinated family came to help care for and spend time with their father and grandfather. One evening, we dug out old …
Instant communication has its pros and cons. It’s good to keep informed. I appreciate being able to call, email, or zoom loved ones. Platforms such as Facebook allow us to share pictures and news …
Joyce Shutt is Former Pastor at Fairfield Mennonite Church and author of “Steps to Hope.” Her column appears in the Connection every Monday. Find her at StepsToHope.net. Even with the …
Moxie Falls, Somerset County, Maine “You see, to me, it seems as though the artists, the scientists, the philosophers were grinding lenses. It’s all a grand preparation for something that never comes …- My houseplants and I have a standing agreement. If they want to stick around, I will feed and water them, taking them outside in the summer where they can snuggle under the shrubbery soaking up the …
- This week has been a reminder that each and every day is a precious gift. Tuesday evening my husband of 62 years had a heart attack. Since then it’s been daily trips to and from the hospital, …
- Joyce Shutt is Former Pastor at Fairfield Mennonite Church and author of “Steps to Hope.” Her column appears in the Connection every Monday. Find her at StepsToHope.net. My husband and I …
- Editor’s Note: Mr. Reed read this statement during the public comment session at the Gettysburg Area School District Board of Directors meeting on Monday evening. The Connection welcomes …
It’s hard to believe our 100% volunteer built and maintained pump track has already been open for a year! During its past year, the track has been enjoyed by many people, both old and young, …- My husband is a member of our local School Board. Anyone who thinks school board meetings are boring obviously hasn’t attended one recently. The pandemic has turned meetings into shouting matches …
If you have been in the “wait and see” category when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, wait no more. With the delta variant of COVID-19 rapidly spreading in our communities, we have the ability to …
For yet another countervailing activity during Covid, I elected to build a wooden rowboat (remember that I like to build things!). So after a few months of shopping around, I finally decided on the …
Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, “No Sudden Move,” is the movie I needed this summer. Clocking in under two hours, the film is tense, intriguing, and full of twists and turns to keep the viewer …
Letters to the Connection are welcome and encouraged. Letters from folks who live in the Adams County area will be given preference for publication, but we know there are people all over the world …- When people are faced with stressful situations such as a pandemic, they lose a lot but they also learn something new. The process of adapting to negative events creates positive changes going …
One of the most difficult parts of the news business is making it sustainable. In other words, will we still be publishing next year? In the past newspapers were supported primarily by advertising …
“Tell me what you believe!” a bearded man in jeans and windbreaker laughingly demanded. Standing in the too-cold rain, I wasn’t prepared to tell him what I believed about the issue at hand. One, I …
The battle for redistricting reform and an end to gerrymandering in Pennsylvania had been going on for decades without success when in 2016 good-government reform groups decided to coordinate their …
I wasn’t born or raised in Gettysburg, but moved here five years ago. I say I was lucky to have moved much of my childhood because I experienced so many different communities. After living in …
I think that to characterize spring as an incorrigible flirt is really not a stretch. At every turn, this jezebel is capable of all manners of seduction, and her wildness constantly diverts my …
I write books that sell to tourists. Like everyone else, last year was a “survive until next year”year. I plan to sell several thousand copies this year – if it’s recovery year. But to do that, …
Community policing is a set of carefully thought out strategies that can foster positive relationships among various segments of the community and the police force. At the same time it can reduce …
Editor’s Note Gettysburg Connection is pleased to publish the second in a series of articles called The Black Influence. The series focuses on the African American experience in and around …
Our State Legislature, one of the largest and best-compensated in the country, has once again failed to deal even ineffectively with gerrymandering reform. There has been a lot of activity over the …
Editor’s Note Gettysburg Connection is pleased to publish today the first in a series of articles called The Black Influence. The series focuses on the African American experience in and around …
“American democracy works because America makes it work at the local level.” The moment I heard Joe Biden utter these words in his Electoral College victory speech on December 12, 2020, they became …- Local communities of color have been almost literally invisible politically. For years, realtors and banks steered black homebuyers away from most neighborhoods and hundreds of black and brown …
- Each of us has a stake in our criminal justice system, whether we’re a presently or formerly incarcerated person, a family member, a criminal justice employee or administrator, a community member, a …
- Are you concerned about the state of our democracy today? — that the majority of people are not heard or are ignored by those who are pledged to represent them? The For The People Act (HR 1) …
- Pennsylvania is the only natural gas producing state in the U.S. without a severance tax. This severely limits the state’s ability to cover the necessary costs of infrastructure development that must …
- When former president Trump demanded that state legislators in Michigan and Pennsylvania – and undoubtedly other states — step in and steal the election in their state, they frequently replied, …
The Green Gettysburg Book Club had its first meeting on Valentine’s Day 2019, and two years later continues to grow with about 20 active participants and 100 email recipients. Now gathering on Zoom …- “Only connect! That was her whole sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and …
Given all that’s going on in the world, now is probably not the best time to ask you topart with some of your hard-earned money. But I’m going to do that anyway! The Gettysburg Area Recreation …
It was an honor and privilege to be a candidate for Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District. On election night last November 3, I telephoned Congressman Joyce to congratulate him on winning …- During the week of Dec. 14, Adams County locations received 975 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. During the week of January 4, 2021 an additional 800 doses were received. Assuming there must be 3 …
- For healthcare, just about everything is at stake, and, as usual, it’s complicated. Trump is now hell-bent on killing the entire Affordable Care Act, and although many Republicans would like to …
- On November 3rd we will elect candidates who have the power to make us safer. While today’s public health focus centers on Covid-19 for good reason, in the long run gun violence is the greater …
- Frankly, just about everything, and, as usual, it is complicated. In addition to President Trump’s dismissive attitude towards Russian interference in the 2016 election, his ill-advised actions and …
- Adapted from a column in the Gettysburg Times, August 27, 2020 During the Covid19 Pandemic, we have learned that some services are essential for the safety, health and well being of the citizens of …
- In all likelihood, the president elected in 2020 may well be the last president elected from the baby boom (Trump) or earlier (Biden) generation. The question for younger voters is what does the 2020 …
One thing on the ballot in 2020 is the basic concept of checks and balances and with it, the viability of our democracy. The Constitutional Convention was one of the most divided assemblies ever. …- Donald Trump’s usual racist dog whistles have given way to full-throated, shameless racist TRAIN whistles as the election of 2020 approaches. Nowhere is this more evident than in his appeal to …
- This article was originally published in the Gettysburg Times, September 21, 2020 Amid the worst pandemic since 1918, President Trump once again stated during his recent Town Hall meeting in …
Every 16 minutes another American man dies from prostate cancer. That’s a little more than 91 deaths per day and 33,330 this year. That’s enough to fill an entire baseball stadium. 1 in 9 men get …- Hello! I am looking for local crafters, aromatherapy, skin care, homemade animal stuff, baby stuff etc. for a new retail store coop style. Made in Gettysburg themed. Please call me at 603-692-8460 …
- As you try to work around your school districts plans for this fall (or you prepare to continue homeschooling) think through these three steps: How can I have my child in the best space for learning? …
[This letter was written to members of the Gettysburg Borough Council and was read aloud at the council meeting on Monday July 13.] To the Council members of Gettysburg Borough: As we all know, on …- I’ve heard it said so many times that wearing a mask is an infringementof our constitutional rights. I’m not sure which one since the framers ofthe Constitution did not include anything so specific …
- Finances…never an easy subject! Due to COVID-19, revenue is down across Pennsylvania, and therefore, the Department of Education (PDE) is cutting adult education funding by more than $100,000. The …
- Dear Neighbor, I wanted to share this article with you. It has some important information about the spread of COVID-19.…
My friend Maricella lost her job two months ago. She is helping make ends meet by selling her homemade tortillas. They are delivered warm to me 1-3 times a week and are completely delicious. If …
The United Way of Adams County (UWAC) is hosting a Facebook livestream featuring local musicians. The “Listen Up for Good” concert event will begin at 6 p.m. on May 22. Due to Covid-19 …
This blog post, penned by local resident and Gettysburg Foundation President Matthew Moen, originally appeared on the Gettysburg Foundation Website. Many thanks to the Foundation for so graciously …
Green Gettysburg Book Club convened last February 14, Valentine’s Day, with about thirty members on our list and has continued since with about fifteen members participating actively each week …
I just saw on the Adams County Farmers Market Association Facebook page an appeal for “Social Solidarity Volunteers,” people who would help load orders into customers’ cars at the …
For the first time this year all Pennsylvanians can vote by mail. With the COVID-19 virus striking us during the primary season it is good to have this option. There is no way of knowing that it will …- Dear Neighbors I hope you are all well and staying healthy. I have been working with the Central PA Food Bank and SCCAP to organize a virtual food drive for our town, with donations earmarked for …
- Hi Adams County neighbors! If your college students are home because their school closed due to COVID-19, please make sure you know where to count them on the 2020 Census. Since they are home only …
- Dear Friends and Neighbors, Today I participated in a community conference call about food insecurity in the current time. I learned that an army of local Adams County volunteers is helping provide …
- I’m still yearning for more local conversation about what we’re gonna do to take care of ourselves from now on, primarily here at the local level (i.e., within reach of what each of us …
The attached graphic, created by the Adams County Food Policy Council, an affiliate of Healthy Adams County, summarizes the places, dates, and times of food offerings in the county. The Gettysburg …
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and …
Hi neighbor! Coping at home is working out quite well, thank you. I was laid off from my last commuting job on Nov. 1, 2006, and have been freelancing–with some ups and downs–ever since. …
The severe thunderstorms and high winds that came through Gettysburg on Sunday afternoon blew around our sign so badly it bent the pipe supporting it. And it tore down part of our new banner thanking …- There are a couple of new performances on the quarantunes page.…
- As the need for food in the county increases, Jesus is Lord Ministries International is holding a massive food giveaway to 140 Needy Families on Sunday, April 12th at Jesus Is Lord Ministries, 3425 …
Wellspan Health’s engineering team has tested several models of home-sewn face masks and has provided a pattern for making masks that can be used by their hospitals. Click to Download the Face …
How to make a face mask out of a t-shirt.…- Update on Corona 3/20/20 Hey everyone thought I would give an update on the past weeks events in my ER. I wanted to start it off with if you are feeling flu like symptoms DO NOT GO TO THE ER. The …
Adams county residents came outside between 8:00 and 8:02 p.m. the last few nights to bang pots, ring bells, and holler support for the healthcare workers and all the other people who continue …
I’ve found these watercolors by the German artist Gerhard Richter to be both calming and joyful over the past few days. There are 288 of them to page through. …
It’s all so overwhelming. The Big Picture, at least as much of it as I can see, absolutely paralyzes me. What can I do? Well, for starters, what do I have to work with Right Here, Right Now? Well, …- Word has it that the community gardens at the Ag Center have been closed by Penn State Extension, for reasons we can easily understand and do not question. This means there may be a few disappointed, …
- We’ve added some more quarantine music from our own Adams County musicians, including Josh Fidler and Secret Bandwagon. https://gettysburgconnection.org/quarantine-music-from-adams-county-pa/…
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- It’s another new day here in Adams County in a week where things suddenly feel very different. Tuesday was St. Patrick’s day, which is usually a time of joy and celebration as spring approaches. But …
The decennial census has arrived, almost exactly at the same time as the possible impacts of the COVID-19 virus became evident. The near-shutdown is going to make everything about the count more …
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