The 12th Annual Harrisburg Book Festival will take place at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore from Oct 9-13.  The book fest promotes reading and community. Alex Brubaker is the Program Director of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore and Executive Director of the Harrisburg Book Festival.

Midtown Scholar is an independent bookstore, something Brubaker is proud to be a part of.

“We’re in charge of our own community events. We get to decide what gets put on those shelves, and we have more intimate interaction with our customers. We get to know our customers a little bit better than maybe a large box, big box store might, or an online retailer might. So, we get to host our author events, we get to curate the books, and we get to have that sense of curation that perhaps a corporate bookstore might not, “said Brubaker.

The festival will offer an outdoor tent sale offering discounts on over 30,000 books, 25 high profile authors, and a Children’s Day. Abbott Kahler, Author of Eden Undone:  An Afternoon with Abbot Kahler, will be among the visiting authors.

“One of the great pleasures about being an author is that after years of isolation and research in the archives and connecting with your long dead characters, in my case, you get to go out and talk to live people who are interested in the story, who want to ask you questions. You know, especially a really strange story like this. I've been hearing from a lot of people who've been to the Galapagos Islands and are really interested more in this dark slice of history from that unique place, “said Kahler.

The 12th Annual <a href="https://www.hbgbookfest.com/">Harrisburg Book Festival</a> will take place at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore from Oct 9-13.  The book fest promotes reading and community. Alex Brubaker is the Program Director of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore and Executive Director of the Harrisburg Book Festival.
Midtown Scholar is an independent bookstore, something Brubaker is proud to be a part of.
“We’re in charge of our own community events. We get to decide what gets put on those shelves, and we have more intimate interaction with our customers. We get to know our customers a little bit better than maybe a large box, big box store might, or an online retailer might. So, we get to host our author events, we get to curate the books, and we get to have that sense of curation that perhaps a corporate bookstore might not, “said Brubaker.
The festival will offer an outdoor tent sale offering discounts on over 30,000 books, 25 high profile authors, and a Children’s Day. Abbott Kahler, Author of Eden Undone:  An Afternoon with Abbot Kahler, will be among the visiting authors.
“One of the great pleasures about being an author is that after years of isolation and research in the archives and connecting with your long dead characters, in my case, you get to go out and talk to live people who are interested in the story, who want to ask you questions. You know, especially a really strange story like this. I've been hearing from a lot of people who've been to the Galapagos Islands and are really interested more in this dark slice of history from that unique place, “said Kahler.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

Harrisburg Book Festival returns in October

The Main Street Matters (MSM) program is designed to support local downtowns and surrounding neighborhoods with tools to create welcoming communities. This 20-million-dollar initiative will impact smaller communities like Hummelstown Borough.

Rick Siger, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, says this new initiative comes out of Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget for this year.

 “We created it to support Main Street, to support business districts, small businesses and local communities all across Pennsylvania. It's about making downtowns more vibrant. It's about thriving businesses and enabling Pennsylvania communities to achieve their full potential. As you said, in the lead in, you know, it's a funding tool, $20 million across the state that will help Main Streets maximize what makes them great things like façade improvement, small business grant programs, things like streetscape improvements, whatever Main Street managers, borough managers like Theresa need, you know, to make their main streets great places to live, to work, to visit and to play, “said Siger.

Those eligible to apply for MSM are units of local government, Redevelopment and/or housing authorities, Nonprofit organizations, community development corporations, and Business improvement districts.

Hummelstown Borough Manager Theresa Eberly felt this program would benefit the borough.

“It's all about the heart of our community. If our main street thrives, the residents thrive. We have a vibe, walkable community, a viable community. And this type of funding gives us just what we need to have that lift that we need to continue to invite businesses and improve our economic development. And so, our community thrives. So, we're very excited about Main Street Matter program.” 

Applications for Main Street Matters funding will be accepted through November 15, 2024.

The Main Street Matters (MSM) program is designed to support local downtowns and surrounding neighborhoods with tools to create welcoming communities. This 20-million-dollar initiative will impact smaller communities like Hummelstown Borough.
Rick Siger, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, says this new initiative comes out of Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget for this year.
 “We created it to support Main Street, to support business districts, small businesses and local communities all across Pennsylvania. It's about making downtowns more vibrant. It's about thriving businesses and enabling Pennsylvania communities to achieve their full potential. As you said, in the lead in, you know, it's a funding tool, $20 million across the state that will help Main Streets maximize what makes them great things like façade improvement, small business grant programs, things like streetscape improvements, whatever Main Street managers, borough managers like Theresa need, you know, to make their main streets great places to live, to work, to visit and to play, “said Siger.
Those eligible to apply for MSM are units of local government, Redevelopment and/or housing authorities, Nonprofit organizations, community development corporations, and Business improvement districts.
Hummelstown Borough Manager Theresa Eberly felt this program would benefit the borough.
“It's all about the heart of our community. If our main street thrives, the residents thrive. We have a vibe, walkable community, a viable community. And this type of funding gives us just what we need to have that lift that we need to continue to invite businesses and improve our economic development. And so, our community thrives. So, we're very excited about Main Street Matter program.” 
<a href="https://dced.pa.gov/programs/main-street-matters/">Applications</a> for Main Street Matters funding will be accepted through November 15, 2024.

Applications for Main Street Matters funding now open

Over the summer PennDOT opened to the public a comment period on the Highly Automated Vehicles (HAVs) guidelines. The HAV advisory Committee was created in 2018 to advise and consult the Secretary of Transportation on each aspect of highly automated vehicles.

Derrick Herrmann, Chief of Transformational Technology at PennDOT, and Matthew Johnson-Roberson, Director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University joined The Spark, to share more about research about the HAV and driverless vehicles

Over the summer PennDOT opened to the public a comment period on the Highly Automated Vehicles (HAVs) guidelines. The HAV advisory Committee was created in 2018 to advise and consult the Secretary of Transportation on each aspect of highly automated vehicles.
Derrick Herrmann, Chief of Transformational Technology at PennDOT, and Matthew Johnson-Roberson, Director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University joined The Spark, to share more about research about the HAV and driverless vehicles

More about proposed Automated Vehicles and Driverless Cars

The Appalachian Trail Museum has announced its 2024 Class of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame. The induction will take place September 21 at 1 p.m. at the Army Heritage Education Center in Carlisle.

The Appalachian Trail museum tells the stories of the founding, construction, maintenance, preservation of the trail since it’s been created.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class honorees include:
Edward B. Ballard
Arno Cammerer
Raymond Hunt
Ronald S. Rosen

To register to the induction, send an email to atmbanquet@gmail.com.

The Appalachian Trail Museum has announced its 2024 Class of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame. The induction will take place September 21 at 1 p.m. at the Army Heritage Education Center in Carlisle.
The Appalachian Trail museum tells the stories of the founding, construction, maintenance, preservation of the trail since it’s been created.
The 2024 Hall of Fame class honorees include:
<ul>
<li>Edward B. Ballard</li>
<li>Arno Cammerer</li>
<li>Raymond Hunt</li>
<li>Ronald S. Rosen</li>
</ul>
To register to the induction, send an email to <a href="mailto:atmbanquet@gmail.com">atmbanquet@gmail.com</a>.

Harrisburg Book Festival returns in October

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