Hanover – Regular Guy

Surviving the Mean Streets

brian — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 01:02:58 +0000

One of my favorite things about living in a small town like Hanover is making fun of people who freak out about every little thing. This mainly takes the form of talking about safely walking through town at night as a miracle even though it is a common occurrence.

(I know bad things can and do happen, but they never do the way some Nervous Nellies like to pretend.)

Anyway, I did have a brush with danger a few years ago. And another one a week or so ago.

I knew I would be drinking that night as I enjoyed a show at The Church of Satire Comedy Club so I left my car at home. At the end of the night, I grabbed some carryout beer and headed home.

As I approached an alley headed toward my house, I heard a rustling in a nearby yard. I hesitated for a second and then saw something that scared me to my core. People were right. Hanover is dangerous at night.

I backed up with my hands in the air and shuffled away from the alley. Thankfully, my attacker understood that he had no quarrel with me and let me go on my way via another route.

The moral of the story is that walking home can stink sometimes.

Giving Up My Keys

brian — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 14:30:19 +0000

Nine years ago, Hanover Little Theatre elected me to its Board of Directors. A year later, I took on an officer position. Three years later, I became board President. For the past two years, I have served as Immediate Past President, a non-voting board position.

I have done very little over those two years. First off, I needed a break. Secondly, my successor didn’t need me throwing my two cents in after I willingly stepped down. Lastly, COVID wiped out the past 16ish months.

Today, I drove over to the theater – it’s just a few minutes from my house – and left my keys on the box office counter. The membership will elect a new president on Sunday, meaning I am no longer the Immediate Past President. (I have a conflict and can’t make the meeting – I wish I could be there to see all my friends in person.)

I really enjoyed being all alone in the theater one last time. Who knows if that will happen again? I am sure I will stay involved in some way, but will I want to take on a board position or directing role with all I have going on in my improv world?

I used to love those quiet moments when I had the whole building to myself. It didn’t matter whethere I just needed to drop something off on my way home from work and took a few extra moments to ponder the power that this little building can create or I was there late at night painting the set for the one show I directed.

Theater has a way to change lives. HLT was my first theater home. I had never performed on stage until being talked into doing a show at Hanover High School in 2009. That led me to HLT which led me to those many moments in that building both alone and with some of my favorite people in the world. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do the things I am doing in the improv world without HLT. It truly made me who I am as a performer.

I direct my energies differently these days, but I will always feel safe and secure on Blooming Grove Road. Make sure you go check them out when things open again. And consider getting involved. The memories are priceless.

Big Mouth Success

brian — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:33:24 +0000

The beginning of the York Fair reminds me of my first introduction to the event in 1992. They had bungee jumping that year at the fair.

One day, I went to lunch with a group of fellow Evening Sun reporters. This was our routine. I want to say we were at the Little Red Schoolhouse or the old Blue and White downtown. The discussion turned to the bungee jumping at the fair.

As the only sports reporter in this group, I did not have to cover the fair. Everyone else was assigned to one day of fair coverage. I took this opportunity to declare that if I did have to spend a day at the fair for work, I would totally bungee jump and write about it.

Someone at the table said, “Well, I’m covering the fair this afternoon. I’ll give you a ride so you can do it.”

My big mouth had caused trouble before. This time, however, an extra layer to the story – I had a huge crush on the person who dared me to put my money where my mouth was.

So I got in that now familiar blue Dodge Colt, scared shitless, but also worried that I could never ask this girl out if I backed out on this.

We made it to York, I kept true to my word, and we spent the rest of the day hanging out together at the fair. A week or so later, we started dating for real.

Little did I know that the bungee jumping boast would be the first of many, many, many times where my wife would call me on my BS.

Danger on the Streets

brian — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 18:38:15 +0000

I often poke fun at people who try to portray Hanover as a dangerous community. I mean, it’s not Mayberry, but the reality is that as long as you don’t look for trouble, you usually won’t find it.

I often project this through bragging about walking home after a night downtown, either because I just felt like walking or because I know I shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car. However, the jokes came to an end when I walked home from a friend’s house after a Fourth of July cookout recently.

My wife had already headed home with the car, and we don’t live too far away so I decided to walk home when I was done having fun. This was on July 3. We had a nice night so I looked forward to enjoying the stroll.

As I walked up Moul Avenue, I noticed a shadow ahead. Had someone left something on the ground? Could I be a Good Samaritan and return a lost item? Would this be my way of making the job easier for the folks who had to clean up the park?

Nope!

I honestly think I would have acted more calmly if someone did hold me up with a gun. I did a little dance down the sidewalk past the critter – he barely acknowledged my presence – and then walked the next few hundred feet looking back over my shoulder every few steps to make sure he wasn’t tracking me.

That could have happened, you know. My theory of an angry band of woodland creatures starting their own society in the Rail Trail woods has gained steam ever since my wife and some other friends have shared news of a bird attacking people in that vicinity.

The animal uprising is real. I am just glad I managed to escape unharmed.

This time.

Newsroom Memories

brian — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:26:35 +0000

If you haven’t noticed already, things have really started to change in downtown Hanover. New businesses keep cropping up and great opportunities wait in the wings.

One of the most recent changes has given me mixed feelings, however. Namely, the re-location of The Evening Sun offices.

I have not worked for the paper full time since 1998. I haven’t worked full time for any paper for almost 15 years. I manage to keep my toe dipped in the water via freelancing and writing this column. I just can’t shake the profession.

Even though I find myself comfortable in many situations and love my job, I feel incredibly comfortable when I walk into a newsroom. No place gave me that safe feeling like the 135 Baltimore Street office where I worked for six years.

Don’t get me wrong – the paper had to move. But that doesn’t mean I can’t cling to every ounce of sentimentality I can muster.

The old newsroom held so many great memories. Like the time I was really mad about how the holiday scheduling worked out, and I stalked out in a huff to go get some comfort food. I returned to find a sympathetic co-worker ready to take over my duties because he thought I might not come back.

Or the time I ran circles around the desks where the editors sat as people edited two of my stories on deadline. As soon as I got 75 percent of the way through answering a question from one, the other would need me immediately. I wish I had a pedometer on me at the time.

Or the time (or times) that I left my wallet or something like that laying around and someone hid it from me to try and teach me a lesson.

Or the time I felt my heart drop when my editor showed me a paper with a headline I wrote that had a golfer winning a tournament by three shits. I sunk into the chair, trying to think about what other jobs I could get after they fired me. Instead, he told me that I owed him one because he saw the mistake before the papers left the building. He wasn’t happy (with me or the people who should have caught my error), but it did give him a chance to do the whole “STOP THE PRESSES” routine. I’m pissed I didn’t have the foresight to save a copy of that page.

Or the time when I came back to help on a freelance basis and a friend tried to give me a tutorial on a layout system. I had to remind him that I set a lot of the stuff up and taught him how to use it at one point.

Or the many times we knocked off after a hard day and went to solve the world’s problems at a local bar. Thank goodness I have always lived within walking distance of the office.

Or the time I met a pretty woman there, a special person who ended up marrying me and making every day since then pretty darn great.

So it’s pretty obvious why that place means so much to me.

I got a chance to visit the new offices a week or so ago. I really liked what they did, from the open newsroom to the conference room overlooking the 116/194 intersection.

I also like how I can drive through town and see who is working late. Some of the best times I have ever had took place when only a few of us were there late at night.

Even though they have their own space, it will always bring back memories of the place where I felt most at home.

Survivor

brian — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:17:05 +0000

Something amazing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Something that some people thought could never happen. I enjoyed closing 2014 with a bang.

I walked through the streets of Hanover alone in the evening and no one hurt me.

Now before I go on having fun, let me be clear – I am not making fun of anyone who has actually been victimized by a crime locally or anywhere else. I feel terrible for folks who have to go through things like that.

I am, however, making fun of people who take small pieces of information and conflate them into a larger narrative that just is not true.

This happens all too often with the state of Hanover. Sometimes it’s in reaction to something horrible, like the assault and robbery of an older couple on Moul Avenue last week. An event like that certainly should remind us that bad things can and do happen sometimes, even in our backyard.

But that does not mean that everyone’s personal safety is constantly at risk, like you see some people intimate if you get involved in discussions on local issues on social media.

The recent talk of revitalization efforts on Hanover spurred some of these false fears. Some people reacted to the stories in the paper about what was, what is and what will be happening downtown with comments about how they felt unsafe downtown.

I just laughed. Just look at the news, especially the police log which is printed on a regular basis. People aren’t getting jumped at random intervals in alleys, much less on main roads like Routes 94, 194 and 116. The notion that people enjoying downtown businesses put themselves at risk is just silly.

That’s why I tested the theory one night between Christmas and New Year’s. I wanted to put myself in harm’s way just to show people that it’s possible to survive. I also may have been better off not driving and was just a mile or so from my house. But we’ll go with courageous crusader instead of “guy who knows when he isn’t OK to drive.”

I ventured out on Carlisle Street and then headed to (street redacted so as not to compromise future walks in public at night) and crossed to (I will not give away my location to the hoodlums who may be lurking) before heading straight for my house.

I arrived safe and sound. I also got a nice little workout, which is an added bonus of this mode of transportation. Far from dodging gangs of opportunistic bandits, I think I saw three people. On a Saturday night around 11 p.m.

Hopefully I see more bodies on the street in 2015 when I put my life in my hands again. The opening of two craft breweries will hopefully give others the courage to head into downtown after the sun has gone down.

Those people can rest assured that I stand before them as a survivor. I managed to take a leisurely walk through town without any major incidents. Stranger things have happened.

Wearing a New Hat

brian — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:00:42 +0000

I got really worried for a few moments. One of my sisters-in-law wanted to present me with a special gift in front of everyone at our family’s Christmas Eve celebration.

I had no reason to distrust her. It’s the ones I am related to by blood that I didn’t trust.

As the youngest, this feeling comes natural. One Christmas, my brothers wanted to show me that Santa thought I hadn’t measured up to his standards by putting baked beans and dirty underwear in my stocking.

My parents thankfully stepped in and, always appreciating a good joke, put the items in one of my older brothers’ stockings. I was probably 4 or 5 at the time so they could have scarred me for life.

So I came by this nervousness honestly. You can put me on stage in front of a bunch of strangers, and I have no problem making a fool out of myself. But put that into play in front of my family, and I get a little worried.

She started off with a little speech, telling everyone how she and my brother get a kick out of my regular updates about life in a small town like Hanover. Most of my siblings live in larger communities and don’t get to enjoy the amount of civic interaction that we do.

I stood there waiting for the other shoe to drop as she said nice things about me. If she liked the way I had decided to live my life, how could this be turned into a cruel prank? What did these people have up their sleeve?

When I opened the bag, I could not believe my good fortune. They had somehow come up with the perfect way to recognize me for getting involved in groups like the Knights of Columbus, the Girl Scouts and the Lions Club.

We watched a lot of television as kids. I think the constant viewings of programs like TheThree Stooges, the Dick Van Dyke Show and M*A*S*H have played a big role in my ability to make people laugh.

One of our favorite selections was The Flintstones. That doesn’t make us unique – who doesn’t love the most famous residents of Bedrock? Whenever a wedding anniversary happens, you can pretty much guarantee at least one member of my family will post a picture of 88 Fingers Louie and the fellas singing their famous song.

That’s why I could not believe my eyes when I pulled the blue Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge No. 26 hat from the gift bag. They didn’t want to make fun of me (OK, maybe they did a little because the hat is absurd in the most awesome way possible). They wanted to recognize me for having the qualities of the Grand Poobah.

I could not think of a higher honor. Plus, my teenage daughter gets horrifically embarrassed just at the mention of the hat.

Part of me wants to wear it proudly everywhere, but a bigger part of me knows that she would feel the same way I did standing in front of that room. A true Grand Poobah would never abuse his power like that.

A Plan Coming Together

brian — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 11:44:49 +0000

As a kid, I loved the show, “The A Team.” The program fell right into my wheelhouse – great action, a token female character to run around, Mr. T and his catch phrases.

But one of the great parts of the show would come when Hannibal, the leader of the group played by George Peppard, would sit back, light a cigar and say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

The phrase had some irony to it because the resolution didn’t always match the plan. If there even was a plan. But I loved his cool confidence when things turned out despite the chaos.

Now I have not been to all the meetings which led up to Thursday’s Halloween parade in Hanover, but I have a funny feeling that if Hannibal had a seat in the Jaycees room along York Street, he’d pull out a stogey in celebration.

I wish I could claim a bunch of credit, but lots of other people did way more work than I did. I actually feel like I did very little, but I felt lucky to sit in the early meetings and see the passion and commitment of the folks who have made sure that a Hanover tradition will continue this week.

Not everyone can sacrifice the time to take part in planning a large-scale event like this, especially with a limited time frame. The people that did step up did so for one simple reason – they care.

They care about something that entertained them as a child. They care about making sure that we maintain some connection to the past. They care that the various segments of the community come together because all of our lives improve when we push past differences and have fun.

I could not think of a better time for the Halloween parade. With so many issues facing our community, the opportunity to throw on a costume and walk down the street could not mean more. Local businesses and organizations can strut their stuff. Kids can collect lots and lots of free candy.

But once all the candy is cleared and the banners folded up, people need to start thinking ahead. Not to next year – I believe the 2014 parade will come together smoothly because of the high from pulling this off – but to the years beyond.

The people who sat around the table at the meetings for the past few months need company to make sure that the fantastic effort which made Thursday’s parade a reality doesn’t happen again. Sure, the Jaycees sponsor the event, but the time has come to not expect them to do everything by themselves.

Whenever people from outside the area – and some who live here – make fun of, or worse yet actually get angry, about the way Hanover handles trick or treat, I try to explain the long game to them.

This isn’t about “ruining” the actual day of Halloween. This is about creating a week full of activities to bring the community together. This is about Miss Hanover Area leading into Trick or Treat so the kids can have that out of the way in order to enjoy the parade, especially if they want to walk in their costume.

So let’s all lend a hand to make sure that collection of activities continues because a Hanover Halloween is about more than just dressing up and getting candy from the neighbors. When all is said and done, you’ll see how great the plan can come together.

Halloween Back on Track

brian — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:27:54 +0000

I knew the look in her eye. I have seen it a lot in recent years as I found myself more involved in community events.

The look told me that the brain was saying, “I know I can do this, but I have so many other things to do, but I really know I can handle this, but I also like to relax once in a while, but if I don’t do it, there’s a chance no one else will step up.”

I won’t say who I’m describing because, in reality, I saw the look in a lot of people’s eyes earlier this week when a bunch of people got together to discuss planning for this year’s Hanover Halloween parade. Don’t let the pronoun confuse you – men and women alike got this look in their eyes, including me.

In the end, we managed to divvy up a bunch of tasks and generate a lot of enthusiasm to keep one of the area’s best traditions going and, hopefully, avoid the rush we find ourselves in right now.

I feel bad for the Jaycees, who officially manage the parade. Once you get involved in anything these days, you quickly realize that only a few people end up doing the work. We could get into the cultural reasons why, but that would just soak up valuable time we could use to actually solve problems.

The good news is that I think the parade is in good hands for now. I’ll do my little bit, others will do even larger bits of work and everyone will have a great time on Halloween. Yeah, the parade is on Halloween this year so that will be cool.

I never doubted that help would keep the event alive. Even though I know that groups like the Jaycees and many others in the area suffer from the same shrinking volunteer base, I also know that many from other groups would step up. I also knew some would do it not because they belonged to a group that felt like they needed to help, but just because they cared.

That’s how parades end up running smoothly. And chicken barbecues. And the many other events that so many people consider an important part of living in a small town.

But just because we left the meeting excited and focused does not mean that the work has ended. Keep an eye out (especially if you are on Facebook) for news on future meetings. Consider finding your own way of taking part in the planning or execution of the parade even if you just want to donate money to help support the prizes.

If you can’t, try and find something else where you can pitch in because some of the people around that table are adding this event to other volunteer efforts. Join a service club or see if a big event needs another set of hands. You will be amazed at the things you will learn and the fun you will have.

Give the Kids a Chance

brian — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:32:43 +0000

This is my weekly column, but I have been writing on this issue for a few days over at www.livinginhanover.com.

I remember going to see the musical during my sophomore year of high school. I don’t really remember why I went, but I will never forget how I watched guys I went to school with every day transform themselves into totally different people, in a good way.

At the time, I had my plate completely full with wrestling so I never gave jumping on stage a serious thought. But I never shook the feeling I got as I watched the musical each year.

With all the discussion of what’s going on with the music and drama programs at the Hanover schools, I have started to think back to those days. What if those guys never got that chance? One of them has actually ended up working as an actor in Hollywood. What if he didn’t get the experience of performing “West Side Story” in 1986?

That’s not to say that drama programs should only exist to give people the chance to eventually make it in Hollywood, but that does end up being the end result sometimes. Other times, performing on stage can help someone with confidence and focus. The guy I went to high school with who stuttered, but delivered his lines flawlessly, might agree.

I would also add stories here about how the guys in my school benefitted from the music program, but as a student of parochial schools and a college prep program in the 1970s and ’80s, I never took a music class that didn’t focus solely on singing church songs.

When I first heard about the opportunities my daughter had – violin in third grade and saxophone in fourth grade! – I almost fell over. She actually learned to read music and play songs.

My musical education consisted of Sister Benitia running us through weird vocal exercises before we cracked open the hymnal. Oh, and floundering on the guitar at my friend Dave’s house because that’s what 13-year-old boys did.

I can’t read music and have no chance at carrying a tune, but I wish I would have had a fighting chance to learn how to do those things while growing up.

That’s why the proposal from the Hanover school board distresses me. These are lifelong skills that can easily fit into the curriculum, and they have decided to toss them aside – not completely, but enough to make a dent into the experience for a lot of kids – for a fraction of the overall budget.

No one denies that school boards face tough decisions, but music, dance and performance often serve as the salve when times get tough. We all need something positive in the lean days. That can come from a championship sports team, but it can also come from a well-performed musical or a 9-year-old playing her first band concert.

Let’s not lose sight of that. Because the memories of watching those guys on stage 28 years ago helped me realize that I could get on stage for the first time at 40. I have loved every minute of that experience. Let’s not reduce the number of chances for kids to feel the same way.