Hopefully by the time I publish this post, I'm finished writing for my Hershey project. It's been draining me, and those of you who have talked to me in the last few weeks know I've been plum-near a hermit, furiously creating sentences. This weekend (we hope) will be different. On hand, I have birthday drinks (told you it was birthday season), party at Garrason's and a wine dinner at Flinchy's that will be the focus of my next column. Here's what else:

• This weekend kick's off UnCork York's Tour de Tanks. Read about it in yesterday's column.
• Garrason's celebrates one year under the ownership of Rob "Hollywood" Fogleman. Be there or be square.
• Midtown Cinema has the top 3 Oscar winning movies, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk and The Reader, plus all the Oscar short films.
• Sunday is Dauphin County's Maple Sugar Festival from noon to 4 p.m. at Fort Hunter Park. Yum.
• WXPN hosts Member Appreciation Day on Monday. Call or email your requests from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• I'm really amped up about Confit's Wild Game & Beer dinner on Wednesday, March 4
• Also, the Chefs of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts have a new culinary blog.

  Click here to see the photos. Allman Brothers band played Hershey Pavilion on perfect summer night on 08-25-2008.  Not even sure where to start… Photographing the Allman Brothers was one of the coolest things I have ever done.  Even though I was not alive during the legendary Duane Allman years, I caught up with time as many others did wearing out Live At The Filmore East and Eat A Peach records throughout the years. Fast forward to today’s current line up featuring the youth of Derek Trucks (Butch Truck’s nephew) and Warren Haynes on the guitar duties as well as Oteil Burbridge on bass and you will find a re-energized band that is spitting fire every night. It is no secret that Derek Trucks (also of the Derek Trucks Band) is my favorite living guitarist.  He effortlessly plays blues, jazz, and indian influenced slide guitar with tone that just tears you apart.  He is into the performance 100% every night just pure musicianship with no showy gimmicks in fact, he rarely moves around the stage or even cracks a smile at times.  The first time I saw him play was in 2001, since then I have not missed a single opportunity I had to see him.  It is mind-blowing to know that he is only 29 years old. Warren Haynes is the hardest working and versitile guitarists in the business without a doubt having full time roles in Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule all the while frequently playing with The Dead, Phil Lesh, and countless guest appearances.  Warren is a musical chameleon of sorts, throw him into any situation and he will quickly convince you that he belongs.  This is also the first tour back after having to cancel many shows including the annual beacon run this year due to Greg Allman getting treatment for Hepatitis.  After a few months rest, Greg was already to go in fact I think his voice even got better after having time to rest it. The set started off with a great bluesy 1-2-3 punch with Statesboro Blues, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, and Stormy Monday and I am not sure I could have scripted that any better.  They led right from Stormy Monday right into an awesome version of Rocking Horse that really lifted up the crowd and left them spinning for the rest of the night.  Derek was playing only his second or third show with a loaned authentic 1959 Gibson Les Paul (see photos) worth over a half a million bucks.  He played this guitar until I believe Come and Go Blues because there looked to be some issues with sound so he switched to the 1961 SG for the rest of the evening.   After Come and Go Blues they invited Bob Weir of RatDog (and Grateful Dead) on stage to cover Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 only Bob forgot the words when it came his time to sing… oops. :)  A scorching solo by Derek followed Bob’s verse and we all forgot all about it.  The rest of the night flew by too fast.  The crowd danced and sang the rest of the night.  Then we were all left humming the hamony parts to the instrumental Jessica all the way on their ride home…. I know I did. Dum-duh-duh-dut-DUH  dut-dut-dut DUH-DUT-duh-DAH! The setlist for the night was as follows: 8/25/2008 Hershey Star Pavilion, Hershey, PA Statesboro Blues Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ Stormy Monday Rocking Horse Come and Go Blues Highway 61 Revisited¹ No One To Run With The Same Thing² Melissa Jessica > bass > drums > Jessica Encore: One Way Out ¹w/Bob Weir - Guitar & Vocals ²w/Kenny Brooks - Sax; Jeff Chimenti - Keys

  Click here to see the photos. RatDog opened for the Allman Brothers Band in Hershey, PA on 08-25-2008 at the Hershey Pavilion.  RatDog is fronted by the ex-Grateful Dead member, Bob Weir.  Bob Weir has had an assortment of line up changes over the years but the lineup since 2003 has been: Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Kenny Brooks, Robin Sylvester. Bob Weir provides the vocals and also lays down the rhythm guitar in the group while the lead guitarist, Mark Karan, lays down the solos over top.  Karan has played in offspring bands of the Dead like Phil Lesh and Friends, The Other Ones, etc. for years so he knows how to dial in the Jerry sounds and scales very well. The set (see setlist below) had some great points Black Bird and Friend of the Devil were personal favorites of mine in addtion to: Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule) took the guest spot on St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven and took the stitched together shows to new heights.  Warren Haynes has toured with The Dead and is advertised as taking Jerry Garcia’s place in the reunited Grateful Dead for the Rock for Barack concert that is yet to be finalized, but we know it will be in Pennsylvania. This was more of a double bill than having a headliner and an opener.  Both bands are very well known, have band members that have both played roles in creating musical history. This late August night was a perfect summer concert evening.  The sunset took place during RatDog’s opening slot but even after the sunset, the weather was a very comfortable evening filled with great music and Hersheypark fun! The setlist for the evening was (setlist taken from ratdog.org): Jam > Here Comes Sunshine > Big River She Belongs to Me Lucky Enough > Deal Blackbird Friend of the Devil Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Stuff > Stella Blue St. Stephen* > William Tell Bridge* > The Eleven* *-with Warren Haynes (Guitar/Vocals); “Other One” was second verse only and featured “Spanish Jam” Bob sat in with ABB on “Highway 61 Revisited” Kenny and Jeff sat in with ABB on “The Same Thing”

I was offered a ticket to the Allman Brothers/Ratdog show at the Hershey Pavilion tonight. But I declined the invite. You see, when I go to a concert, I like to enjoy myself. And I’m not referring to any earth-shattering activities…just, you know…having fun at the show. But the Gestapo in Derry Township have made it crystal clear that [...]

By Karen Cattabiani For Linglestown Gazette Linglestown Baseball's U-9 all-stars were crowned champions of the Palmyra Tournament, Saturday, July 26, ending a weeklong series in which the top-seeded team went undefeated. Linglestown captured its spot in the championship game by beating No. 2-seeded Hershey 13-1 in the first game Saturday. Pitcher Braydon Parr successfully shut down Hershey's offense with his mix of pitches, including a knuckleball. Jake Grove, Derek Danko, A.J. Millar, Christian Fox-Klein and Bryson Allen led Linglestown with doubles. Among top defensive plays was a throw from rightfielder Cole Moyer to catcher Mario Cattabiani for an out in a close play at the plate. Following the loss, Hershey went on to eliminate Elizabethtown and earn a spot in the afternoon championship game. Fresh off their win against E-town, Hershey jumped out with a three-run lead in the first inning and led 10-5 by the middle of the third. Linglestown's bats then went to work, with each player hitting in a 10-run rally. On the mound, relief pitchers Luke McNamara and Fox-Klein effectively quelled Hershey's offense. Linglestown went on to win the championship 16-12. Linglestown's successful post-season was headed up by Coach Kevin McNamara and coaching assistants Mario Cattabiani, Fred Grove and Dave Graham. ____ Click on the photo to view a larger version.

It was the kind of press release every reporter hates getting: The dreaded check presentation. You’re almost tempted to cover it, but you know it’s only considered news if you’re lazy or desperately need to fill space. I was neither, and backed by an editor who similarly hates canned press conferences, I decided to ignore the check presentation to announce federal assistance for a new parking center in Hershey, Pa. Check presentations aren’t news. That said, my editor and I agreed that the parking center was an important topic, even if it was hang-me-please boring. So I set out to update the project’s progress, likely to land inside the local section, maybe sneaking out to the section’s front if it got lucky. This is the first spot where a reporter can choose to elevate a story higher than your editors might initially think it belongs. Instead of a simple and hang-me-please boring update on where the project has gone, I wanted to focus on where this new parking center could fit in the area’s long-range plans, especially when it comes to public transportation. I called the usual suspects: A township official who offered an insightful interview. The director of the bus company to discuss how it could fit into future schedules as a park-and-ride, and how much ridership statistics have increased. An out-of-town public transportation activist to pontificate on why the Hershey community has a lot of potential for bus and rail traffic. Since we came into this story with low expectations, I likely could have stopped here, written the usual 12 inches and moved on to work on a story everyone liked better. But I decided to act on a hunch and take a round trip on the bus around the time professionals would be going home from Harrisburg to Hershey. These are the people everyone had been speaking about attracting, and no one — myself, my editors, the bus company officials, the locals I asked on Twitter — really knew  whether or not they existed. It was a pure fishing expedition. And it ended up better than I could have ever imagined. I spoke to a large group of regulars who passed out cookies and sang carols at Christmas time, went out for drinks together on Friday, spoke glowingly about how much money they were saving, and were even thinking of starting a bocce team together. It was a fantastic human story that most people would be surprised to read about. And they even offered support to the idea that their group is indeed growing. So now the story has evolved: Check presentation –> Project update –> Look ahead at regional public transportation –> The revelation of a money-saving subculture And the final product got to incorporate all that project updating and looking ahead that we set out to do. For young reporters or interns who are gunning for the front page and struggling to make it there, it requires an open mind and a willingness to occasionally go on that fishing expedition. Even the most mundate check presentation can become front page material with a bit of luck and elbow grease. More good advice here from Hilary Lehman, an intern in San Antonio.