Painter Steve Wetzel brings works capturing nature’s moods to Homeland

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Artist Steve Wetzel was hanging his works in the Homeland gallery when a resident stopped to watch.

“This is the first show they’ve hung at Homeland since the pandemic,” Wetzel said. “He was happy to see new art going on the wall.”

Wetzel installed his “plein air” nature paintings exhibit in Homeland’s cheery Florida room gallery. The show stems from Homeland’s longstanding partnership with the Art Association of Harrisburg, which organizes exhibits of its members’ works at public spaces throughout the area.

“I like hanging works in places where people might not have the opportunity to get out and see a little art show,” he said. “They have it right in their home.”

Wetzel is a member of Harrisburg’s legendary Seven Lively Artists, an invitation-only group founded in 1956 by seven distinguished artists (although membership usually hovers around 15). Quality of work is a hallmark of The Seven Lively Artists, who exhibit together and separately around the region.

A retired state official who always knew that he would pursue a second career as an artist, Wetzel smiles as he recollects his first piece: a drawing of Santa Claus made on a brown paper bag when he was 3 years old.

“My mother hung onto that drawing for all of her life,” he said. “When she gave it to me, I thought if it meant so much to her, I wasn’t going to throw it away.”

Wetzel specializes in the “plein air” style of painting – French for “open air.” He started learning the craft in the early 2000s when he took an Art Association of Harrisburg class. The result is a series of paintings capturing nature’s moods, from sunny to stormy.

There are hazards to plein air painting. Wetzel has held an umbrella over his easel while painting during a torrential downpour. He remembers a December excursion to Cooperstown, NY when temperatures dropped into the single digits, and he layered on every item of clothing he had packed.

One of the pieces displayed at Homeland, a striking rendition of a rugged Maine coastline, tells a harrowing tale. To get the right vantage point, Wetzel clambered down some rocks. He was carrying his easel, a 10-pound plein air painting kit, and another 10-pound bag of supplies. His foot slipped, and he came down hard, badly bruising his hip.

Then he set up his equipment and painted the scene.

Some of the paintings at Homeland depict familiar local scenes, including the Harrisburg skyline along the Susquehanna River and the famous Rockville Bridge. Others are products of travels with Wetzel’s plein air-painting friends to places of rugged beauty, including Maine and Rhode Island’s Beavertail Lighthouse.

All reflect Wetzel’s talent for depicting dynamic atmospheres. They also testify to the skill of plein air painters to capture nature’s rapidly changing moods quickly and methodically.

“You try to get the feel of what’s going on,” said Wetzel. “They normally say that you have a two-hour window to paint before things really change, and a lot of times, you don’t even have that, especially if you’re trying to capture a sunset. Those things change by the moment.”

In those fleeting circumstances, he will try to frame out the permanent fixtures of the scene – landscape, structures, horizon – and save the details of the sky and reflections in the water for last.

“They call it chasing the sky,” he said. “If you keep trying to chase the changes, it just looks messy.”

Wetzel loves that several of his works have made their way to London, purchased by a visitor who saw a show at a Harrisburg bed and breakfast.

“Maybe he’ll hang one in the front window, and when the queen walks her dogs, she’ll see it,” Wetzel jokes.

Wetzel and his wife live in the Chambers Hill area of Harrisburg. They have three grown children and five grandchildren, ages 4 to 21.

He likes to think that his works will boost the residents.

“There might be some former art teachers here, or some artists. It might jog some memories,’’ Wetzel said. “It might be someone who’s been to Maine or who’s familiar with the Rockville Bridge. It might bring something back.”

Homeland Board of Managers member Sandra Daily: Giving back on behalf of her family

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Sandra Daily is a busy woman.

She’s a grandmother involved in the Daughters of the American Revolution and a supporter of anti-bullying campaigns. So, the first time Homeland asked her to serve on its Board of Managers, she declined.

But when the opportunity next arose, Sandy decided it was time. She knew the quality care Homeland Center provides from her frequent visits with her mother and brother, Peggy and Rusty Keiser.

“I figured I have two people here and that I should give back,” she said. “Everybody’s been so nice and kind to them. I felt it was my turn to step up to the plate.”

The Board of Managers is a tradition unique to Homeland Center. In 1867, 18 women from nine Harrisburg churches gathered to advocate creating a home for Harrisburg’s widows and orphans of the Civil War.

While a Board of Trustees oversees financial and policy issues, the Board of Managers hearkens to those 18 women determined to avoid giving their initiative an institutional feel. The Board of Managers, still an all-female group, is responsible for sustaining Homeland’s home-like environment and quality of life.

Sandy Daily joined the Board of Managers in September 2021. She helps decorate for the holidays and arrange flowers for Homeland’s dining room tables, making sure every table has a vase fresh with blossoms each week.

She welcomes the opportunity to be a friend to the residents – especially those whose families aren’t close enough to visit.

“They’re all so happy to see somebody,’’ said Sandy, who also serves on the board’s House and Grounds Committee. “I chat with the residents and ask about how they’re doing. People need that.”

She worked with fellow board members to help the Homeland Activities Department host a fun day with the first Fall Fest in October 2021. The COVID-weary residents and staff enjoyed a day of outdoor activities, with a wacky photo booth and the chance to “bob” for apples using long-handled grabbers.

Sandy’s membership in the Harrisburg Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution came after researching her mother’s family tree by her mother’s maiden name, Hummel. As her maiden name suggests, Peggy is descended from the founder of the Hershey-area town of Hummelstown, and a Hummel connection was a Revolutionary War patriot.

After joining the DAR, Sandy spearheaded the creation of an essay contest and scholarship awards for high school seniors. Today, she serves on the chapter’s Historical Committee, helping preserve the National Register-listed Dr. William Henderson House in Hummelstown, considered an excellently preserved example of a Federal-style townhouse.

Sandy is a retired elementary school teacher who combined her knowledge of knitting and teaching into support for the national Hat Not Hate anti-bullying campaign.

Participants knit blue hats that are donated to schools and distributed to students as symbols of anti-bullying initiatives. Sandy was pleasantly shocked the day that campaign founder Shira Blumenthal went live on Facebook to open a box of knitted hats from “Sandy D,” of New Cumberland, PA.

Blumenthal read the letter from Sandy that talked of bullying, which she witnessed first-hand as a teacher, and its negative impact on young lives.

“Your Hat Not Hate program is so important in today’s world,” Sandy wrote. “I wish this program had been around when I was teaching.”

Like her mother, who knits sweater vests for children in need, Sandy loves knitting for a cause.

“If you can make someone’s life a little better because you show you care, that’s a help,” Sandy said. “Shira Blumenthal always said to consider it a hug. I told my neighbor kids, ‘You’re getting a hug.’”

Homeland resident Peggy Keiser: Knitting for giving

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In the skilled hands of Peggy Keiser, yarn transforms into colorful gestures of love for a child in need. It’s the latest measure of a lifetime of generosity – one that life at Homeland Center helps her continue.

Peggy and her son, Rusty, came to Homeland in 2018 and quickly joined in their new home’s life and daily activities. Most days, you can find her in either the Gathering Room or her airy personal care suite, lovingly knitting sweater vests for 3- and 4-year-old children.

All the expertly knitted vests – more than 50 since 2019 – are donated to social service agencies, which distribute them to families in need of warm clothing.

For Peggy – who served as secretary for 10 Susquehanna Township School District superintendents over her 65-year career – knitting has been part of her life since childhood. She learned from her mother and taught her daughter, Sandra Daily. After retiring from Susquehanna School District in 2011, she joined her church knitting group, where she began making the tiny vests for children in need.

She has a talent for unique color combinations, whether highlighting a vest in teal shades with a crisp white collar or using a contrast of blue to turn a self-striping red and white yarn into an American flag.

“She combines colors from odds and ends of yarn in her closet,” said her daughter, who serves on the Homeland Board of Managers. “To me, that is amazing.”

Every vest that Peggy knits always comes together so well. Peggy knits most days of the week, but takes a break on Sunday’s.

“She’s always told me because that’s the way it was in her family,” says Sandra. “They don’t do anything on Sunday.”

Peggy is motivated by a lifetime of service which continues uninterrupted at Homeland.

“She likes the fact that she’s giving to somebody else,” said Sandra, who finds social service agencies to distribute the vests. “Mother has always been that way.”

“Oh, yes!” Peggy chimed in. “I do that. People, people, people.”

Here’s one example: In November 2021, a pack of handmade Thanksgiving cards arrived for Peggy showing turkeys drawn by outlining small hands made by Susquehanna schoolchildren. Peggy wanted to thank the sender, so Sandra tracked down the senders’ teacher, and Peggy emailed to thank her for “adding something special to a 94-year-old senior citizen’s day.”

The teacher responded with a heartfelt note and a story about Peggy’s unforgettable kindness. It was 1990, and the teacher had just moved to the area to work in the school district. The superintendent spent a day helping the teacher find an apartment during the holiday break. Peggy sold the teacher her grandmother’s living room furniture, and the superintendent allowed a district custodian to deliver the pieces. On the second day of the New Year, Peggy invited the teacher to enjoy the traditional central Pennsylvania meal of pork and sauerkraut.

“Your mom was so embarrassed to be serving leftovers,” the teacher wrote. “Little did she know that kindness would help mold me into the teacher that I am today.”

In addition to knitting, Peggy fills her days at Homeland with exercise class and bingo and enjoys doing Sudoku and word puzzles in the newspaper.

“The staff is wonderful here,” Sandra said. “Many of them have been here for a long time. That longevity says a lot about the care they receive.”

Lee Moyer sprinkles history into a musical program for Homeland residents

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Musician Lee Moyer, singing holiday songs for Homeland residents, added a unique twist to one familiar tune.

“You’ll recognize it. I just changed the words a little bit,” he said as he introduced his next number. “This is from 1954. I think Perry Como had a big hit.”

Then he launched into singing, “Oh, there’s no place like Homeland for the holidays.”

Lee is a popular entertainer at Homeland, brought in as much for his engaging ways with residents as for his multiple musical talents. The proprietor of Moyer’s One-Man Orchestra presents regular programs that blend the American songbook with a kind of interactive trivia about the songwriters of the 20th century and the times they lived in.

The Hershey native discovered his love for music as a youngster. His mother cultivated his interest in music and played trumpet in his high school jazz band and, as an adult, began playing at events throughout the region.

He learned to play the keyboard while first working at Marty’s Music Store in Lebanon, Pennsylvania – a store he would later own. In those early years, he realized he could play the cornet and the keyboard simultaneously. He has honed an act playing rhythm and bass on the keyboard with his left hand, while he plays the cornet – smaller and lighter than a trumpet – with his right.

His feet get in the act, too. On the Monday after Christmas, he was performing in the Homeland Chapel, sitting in front of a poinsettia display. His left foot tapped a tambourine sitting on the floor, providing seasonally appropriate jingle-bell sounds when needed. (Due to masking requirements, he could not play the cornet.)

At age 81, Lee realizes he is near the age range of the Homeland residents who love his act and the songs he performs.

“They do remember things from almost 100 years ago,” he said. He chooses songs from the 1920s through about 1980 – songs popularized with the progression of the new technology called the radio, then motion pictures, Broadway, the Big Band Era, Elvis Presley and the dawn of rock and roll.

He has been performing for nursing homes since the early 1990s. Homeland has been on his circuit most of those three decades.

“The audience is very attentive,” he said. “They’re happy to see you come. They pay attention for the whole hour.”

That attentiveness was evident on this Monday; about 16 residents happily engaged with the program. Lee provides song sheets so the residents can sing along, but with a program stocked with holiday favorites – “White Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – most didn’t need much prompting.

Each song was introduced with a bit of backstory and trivia. For “Silver Bells,” he said he was sharing President John F. Kennedy’s favorite Christmas song, written in 1949, “and we’ve been singing it ever since then, 72 years ago.”

“I think it’ll make it,” quipped a resident sitting in the front row.

As he introduced a song about a reindeer, Lee asked, “What was his name?”

“Rudolph!” said the audience.

Lee kept going.

“And he had a . . .”

“Red nose!” said residents.

Lee added that “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” hit the airwaves was 1948, the year in which “a very famous baseball player died. He was the most famous baseball player of all time. Do you remember?”

“Babe Ruth!”

With each song, residents needed no prompting to sing along and tap their feet. They greeted the end of each song in the brisk program with enthusiastic applause. Lee figures he has developed 50 different programs that he can choose from, tailored to audiences and the season.

While the pandemic sidelined many musicians, he has been able to continue playing when conditions warrant because he is a one-man orchestra. He was well-positioned to perform solo, without the need for group rehearsals or performances.

Moyer is well-known in local music circles, playing with such groups over the years as the Lebanon Community Concert Band and the Lebanon Big Swing Band. His playing for shows with such legends as Gordon Macrae, Jonathan Winters, and Ed McMahon puts Homeland residents in the orbit of some of the entertainment greats of their lifetimes.

The theme of being with loved ones for the holidays returned with the standard, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” It became very popular in World War II, he reminded residents, when American servicemen and women were far from home. Now, he said, Homeland residents are already there.

“’I’ll Be home for Christmas’,” he said. “You’re here. Your home is Homeland.”

Homeland resident Gladys Mumper enjoys days full of activities

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The secret to living 100 years is lots of rest, says Gladys Mumper. The Homeland resident doesn’t like getting up early in the morning, but with Homeland’s array of activities, she packs a lot of living into the hours left in every day.

“Homeland is a very wonderful place to live,” Gladys says. “They treat you well. They find things for you to do all the time. My son says I should take advantage of it. He says, ‘Do whatever they offer,’ and I do.”

Gladys, a long-time New Cumberland resident, enjoys her active life at Homeland. Her bright, comfortable personal care suite is decorated with family photos, furniture from her home, and favorite pictures.

Her father was a building contractor who built their home. The family didn’t travel much, except for the occasional visit to an uncle in New Hampshire.

The youngest of six children, Gladys attended Central Penn Business College and then landed a job with the state.

“Civil service was insurance that you had your job,” she says. “You didn’t lose your job due to politics.”

She got married in 1951 to James Mumper. She had known him in high school, but they weren’t dating then.

“My uncle was a minister in Shippensburg, and he married us,” she says.

Gladys and James, a real estate broker, had a daughter and a son. The family stayed in New Cumberland, where both children did well in school. Her daughter attended Duke University and became a pediatrician. Her son attended Georgia Tech and followed in his grandfather’s footsteps, founding the well-known firm of J.W. Mumper Construction.

As her children grew up, Gladys was a den mother for her son’s Boy Scout troop. Their activities included hiking the Pennsylvania and Maine segments of the Appalachian Trail.

Glady’s husband died in 2001. She came to Homeland in 2019 and immediately made it her home. Nearly everything on the activities calendar constitutes her daily schedule.

She enjoys trivia, “This Day in History” gatherings, restaurants, and excursions to local attractions. For the holidays, she joined a trip to see the extravagant Hershey Sweet Lights display and an exhibit of nativity scenes at a local church.

Activities Coordinator Diomaris Pumarol says that Gladys isn’t interested in cooking anymore but enjoys socializing with other residents who attend the Baking and Chatting group.

“You can’t believe the activities they have here,” adds Gladys. “They are marvelous. They go way out of their way to keep us busy and entertained.”

Gladys’ son, Jim Mumper, says the consistency and dedication of staff make Homeland special.

“The staff is just wonderful,” he says. “They’re very, very nice. Homeland does a great job selecting people and training them and keeping them happy.”

Gladys celebrated her 100th birthday in October 2021, but there’s a catch.

“I cannot really vouch for that because I do not have a birth certificate,” she admits. “There were three of us in our town that the doctor did not register. I just have to vouch that they’re correct, and I’m here.”

As for Homeland, she calls it her “safe haven.”

“Just wonderful. You can’t go wrong. They treat you special. We all say we couldn’t have made a better choice. It doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have, everyone is treated the same.”

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