I grew up in a tiny town just outside of Cincinnati, and have lived all over the country. I moved to Carlisle in 2007, when I was sent here for work as the Captain of the Salvation Army. I was stationed here until 2009, when I was briefly stationed in Scranton, but remained connected to Carlisle, returning almost weekly for pub trivia at Market Cross, until I moved back for good in 2011.
My involvement with Carlisle runs deep so I’ve listed a lot of things below:
- Live in downtown Carlisle
- Work in downtown Carlisle [I work with the homeless on a systems level, designing and managing the agency policies and region-wide computer systems that help match people in need of housing with the right services to end their homelessness]
- I’m the social marketing and event coordinator for The Pomfret Group
- Contracted artistic staff for Players on High at the Carlisle Regional Performing Arts Center
- Ran First Night Carlisle for several years, revitalizing it from nearly shutting down to our first sell-out event in 2015.
- Was a driving force in getting the borough’s non-discrimination ordinance passed in 2016
- Attend UUCV in Boiling Springs [Unitarian Universalists of the Cumberland Valley]
- Have acted with the Carlisle Theatre Company
- Founded the Resistance Theatre Company and brought The Vagina Monologues to Carlisle as a fundraiser for the YWCA’s Rape Crisis Center
- Founder of Carlisle Pride
There is so much to love about Carlisle. I love living downtown. It’s so vibrant. Carlisle is a lot like something Goldilocks would love – not to big, not too small… but just right. There’s always something to do here . No one could ever claim to be bored in Carlisle with all our wonderful festivals, our theatre, local trivia nights, open mics, music scene, parks, art galleries, street and hidden art projects [fairy doors and stone faces, anyone?!?!] Dickinson activities, etc.
It’s location is also perfect. a getaway to the mountains/woods or the big city are both just a one-tank-trip away. There’s such a sense of community here. I love that it hasn’t become just an anonymous city of faces – that I can still walk down the streets or go downstairs to the pub and feel like everybody knows your name.
I think the biggest struggle Carlisle has had, and still deals with, is the idea that there are “two” Carlisles in people’s minds. There’s still an undercurrent of racial division and tension in town that alienates certain neighborhoods, and some people still have the perception that areas of town are unsafe or undesirable, which is no more true than anywhere else. There’s still some low-key, and not so low-key racism and bigotry that exist here, and we need to continue to acknowledge our problematic past and work toward a more equitable, reconciled future. Acknowledging the cemetery in Memorial Park is a great first step toward righting some of those wrongs, as is the creation of the human relations committee, and the returning of the native children in the Indian School Cemetery to their tribes.
What do I hope for the future for Carlisle? Gosh – so many things! I hope that Carlisle continues to strive for diversity and acceptance of all our residents. I hope that our downtown continues to thrive, and maintain an independent, little town feel. I want to see our arts community to continue to grow, with street art, galleries, public sculpture, sidewalk and crosswalk art, etc, playing a part. I’d love to see even more of a bridge between Dickinson and the town, with students being more involved in the community, and the community being more involved on campus. I also would love to see the rental housing market be more reasonable so that people aren’t gentrified out of town, and that the folks experiencing homelessness can afford to live with a roof over their heads. I’d love to see us, as a community, take solid steps toward becoming a truly walkable/bikable community [i.e. a grocery store on the North East Side, etc] to help combat climate change on a town-wide level. It’s probably a pipe dream, but easy access to regional public transit would be great too! Oh, and beehives! I’ve love to see community beehives in one of the parks or at borough hall. – Chris Kapp