James and Helen Smith: Planting deep roots in the community

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Helen and James SmithWhile James and Helen Smith became Homeland Center residents earlier this year, their ties to Homeland go back decades.

Helen met her longtime friend, Homeland resident Loretta Colestock, when she first moved to Harrisburg. James coached Homeland President/CEO Barry Ramper II in Little League.

“Everybody here is very friendly and very helpful,” said Helen.

Helen grew up on a dairy farm in Juniata County. As the only sister among three boys, she enjoyed helping to make meals for the family and developed into a skilled cook, creating Pennsylvania Dutch dishes such as chicken pot pie, and had a particular fondness for making pies.

In high school, Helen played basketball. In those days, girls were considered too dainty for full-court play, so they played only one half of the court, offense or defense.

James grew up in the Rutherford Heights area, between Harrisburg and Hershey, where his father worked as a railcar inspector, and his older brother worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the Enola train yards.

He, too, briefly worked in the rail yards as a clerk before taking a position at the former Harrisburg Trust Company in Harrisburg’s Market Square, now occupied by Citizens Bank. It was there that he met Helen, who was a coworker.

The couple married in 1958 and launched into a busy life of work, church, community, and sports. James was active in baseball—as a conference champion in high school, then as a Twilight League player before switching to softball. Initially a shortstop, he moved to the outfield thanks to his speed.

He loved baseball because he was too small for football. A friend who became a first-base coach for the Baltimore Orioles, and whose own father was a baseball scout, told James that he would have gotten a tryout for Major Leage Baseball if he’d been able to hit home runs.

“I was a singles hitter,” he said. “I was a good hitter, but outfielders that don’t hit home runs don’t get tryouts.”

While James was active on ball fields – he played softball until COVID came along – Helen was busy raising their children, three daughters and one son, and volunteering. She was active in Girls Scout troops and her church youth missionary program.

While James was active on ball fields – he played softball until COVID came along – Helen was busy raising their children, three daughters and one son, and volunteering. She was active in Girl Scout troops and her church’s youth missionary program.

Interestingly, James holds a degree that no longer exists – a two-year degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, taught by Wharton professors who traveled to Harrisburg twice weekly before the program was terminated.

After James left banking to work in a poultry business for a time, he returned to banking and served as the president of a couple of small banks that underwent acquisitions. After the last acquisition, he remained as a consultant before retiring.

They enjoyed traveling, including cruises in Alaska, Bermuda, and Nova Scotia. Three of their children remained in the Harrisburg area, but one moved to the Midwest – currently in Minneapolis – and for a time, they would drive there to visit.

Today, the Smiths have 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. They came to Homeland in July 2025, settling into a bright corner suite and staying active. They enjoy the morning exercise classes, play dominoes, and attend music programs.

Homeland, said Helen, is “one of the better choices we had.”

And, James added, “The people are so nice.”

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania. For more information or to arrange a tour, please call 717-221-7900.

Artist Kelly Charlesworth: Capturing a sense of place

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Artist Kelly Charlesworth next to one of her piecesA young artist’s mischief turned her family’s world purple when Kelly Charlesworth, a perfectly behaved child by all appearances, left behind an unexpected canvas — her bedsheets, transformed with a single crayon. What began as a childhood mystery would spark a lifelong artistic journey.

“She said, ‘Kelly would never do that,’” Charlesworth recalls. “But the sheets were colored purple.”

That was the beginning of Charlesworth’s life as an artist. The lifelong Harrisburg-area resident now showcases her shimmering works at Homeland Center, where she exhibits in Homeland’s Florida Room Gallery.

“I’ve heard so many good things about Homeland,” she said. “It is a really cool place.”

She noted this is her first exhibit in a retirement community and that Homeland offers “a nice display space.”

“It’s new and fun,” she said. “Nice for people to have something different to look at.”

The display is part of Homeland’s partnership with the Art Association of Harrisburg and its Community Art exhibit series. Every quarter, AAH invites member artists to display their works in sites throughout the area, from businesses to theaters.

Homeland is the only retirement community in the program. Artists are selected by AAH for their compatibility with the space and the residents, staff, and visitors who stop to enjoy a moment of serenity or awe.

“It’s always nice to come through and see the art,” said a visitor as she paused on her way to see her mother-in-law.

From her purple-crayon days – just like Harold of the classic children’s book, “Harold and the Purple Crayon” — Charlesworth has made art a part of her life. She was fascinated by the famed TV artist Bob Ross. After graduating from York College of Pennsylvania with a degree in art, she worked in insurance “to pay the bills.” Now, she works in grant writing.

“I use my creativity for writing grants for the food bank,” she said. “I paint on the side for fun.”

In 2005, Charlesworth took a landscape class with the Art Association of Harrisburg, where she learned plein air painting, which has since become the focus of her oil work.

Participating with plein air groups and competitions, including the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters, she visits the region’s scenic sites and captures them on canvas or panel – Children’s Lake at Boiling Springs, a stone barn in Marietta, the Pennsylvania State Museum as seen from a hilltop across the Susquehanna River. At one spot, she discovered Native American artifacts and burial grounds that local residents had found there.

Charlesworth completes each plein air piece in about two hours, taking on the challenge of capturing scenes as atmospheric conditions evolve and the light changes.

“It’s very addicting,” she said as she hung her paintings at Homeland. “You try it and then you don’t want to go back to the studio. You capture it on the scene, and you can look at it later and remember how you were feeling that day.”

Her work vividly evokes the landscape and history of central Pennsylvania – a region with “some of the most beautiful scenery in the world,” she says — in shades of green, pink, and red. Her inspiration lies in finding beauty in the natural world, from misty mornings to forests in the fall.

“They say don’t put too much green in your paintings because it doesn’t make for a good painting, but I can’t help myself,” she said. “I still love the green.”

Charlesworth lives in Lower Paxton Twp. She has two children, a 17-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son who attend Harrisburg Academy.

She exhibits her work at local galleries. One of her paintings, “Tea Time in Wales,” hanging at Homeland, reflects Charlesworth’s love of world travel. Her excursions have taken her to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and more. A family trip to Greece is on the horizon.

“We’ve got the travel bug, that’s for sure,” she said. “It’s great to see the museums.”

In Paris, her favorite museum isn’t the Louvre but the Musée d’Orsay.

“It’s got all the Monets and all the Impressionists,” she said. “It’s gorgeous. You see it all in person, and there are so many artists that you never hear about. I like to see what inspired these Impressionists. These places are so old that you can sit at the restaurant where Van Gogh sat.”

Find her work at kellycharlesworth.com.

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania. For more information or to arrange a tour, please call 717-221-7900.