New Cumberland Noise

When I first came up with the idea to write about noise in New Cumberland, I was looking to vent about my neighbor's wind chimes that seem to wake me at 3 am with their relentless "BONGing" noises.  To be honest, my one neighbor's chimes are so loud, it's like living next to a church and  listening to broken church bells at odd times of the day and night.  Before these neighbors moved in, another neighbor's smaller chimes bothered me a little. However, since the new neighbor's gigantic bonging chimes have been placed about 10 feet from my bedroom window, I hardly notice the subtle tinkling from chimes across the street anymore.

All these wind chimes got me to thinking about other noises that we live with here in town.  I live in close proximity to the fire department, so when the siren goes off, it pretty much drowns out everything.  If I'm having a conversation, I have to stop and wait for the siren to be done before continuing.  Every time a family with a baby moves onto the street, there's always a discussion about trying to get the thing shut off, but to no avail.  It's something we all have come to live with.  My children, and generations of children before them have survived the fire siren, it's just part of life here in the lower part of town.  When my oldest was born, the siren upset him, so we got a creative and renamed it.  We called it the "Hug Siren" and whenever it would go off, we'd get a hug.  Nice little benefit from such a noisy thing. 

New Cumberland Fire Department's Siren

In the past year, the helicopters have been making a comeback and their noise seems to agitate those who live in the higher elevations of the town from time to time.  My husband, who grew up here, tells me that the presence of helicopters today is nothing compared to when he was a kid, and no one seemed to complain.  Since we have not one, but two airports nearby, airplane noise is just another sound we hardly notice in our every day lives.  There are the tiny two seaters buzzing in and out of the Capital City Airport and the big guys making their approach to Harrisburg International. 

One of the helicopters that fly over New Cumberland.

Summertime brings a whole different set of noises. The laughter and sounds children at play is a wonderful summertime noise.  Another pleasant summertime sound is the roar of the crowd from the sports fields.  Occasionally, you'll hear that "bat meets ball" sound or the whistles from the football game to complete the effect.  Other warm weather noises aren't so welcome.  One year, there was a young man who lived nearby, who, at least once a week,  thought everyone in the neighborhood wanted to listen to his music.  It was like he was hosting his own little block party that no one wanted to attend.  Then there's those guys who have the thumping music radiating from their tinted window sportscars.   They are usually the same guys who leave the sound of screeching wheels behind when they pull out of a side street too quickly. Of course, there's the occasional dog barking or a parent yelling at their kids.  Around Independence Day, we have our fair share of fireworks crackling from all directions.

As I was finishing this entry, I opened my back door to let the dog in and I was reminded of another pleasant sound that fills the air of New Cumberland.  The sounds of church bells.  On Sundays, there a several bells that echo through town, but other days, the bells that I hear are coming from Trinity United Methodist Church on Bridge Street.  I'm not sure of the exact schedule of music, but I know we get bells on the hour and songs at certain times of the day.  These are welcome chimes that have a a tune that is pleasing to the ear, and a set reason behind then.  Now, if I could only get the my neighbor's chimes to play a tune, and at normal times of the day to boot

I'm sure there are many more sounds that fill the air of New Cumberland.  What sounds do you hear in your part of town? 

Trinity United Methodist Church on Bridge Street.

2011 Year in Review Part 1 January-July

As I look back on the year, there have been many newsworthy events here in New Cumberland.  Listed below are some happenings that I recall.

January  Unfortunately, the first major event of the year was the discovery of Trisha Edelman's murdered body in a Fifteenth Street apartment.  Police allege that Adam Trump  murdered her elsewhere and moved her body to his New Cumberland apartment. Trump sits in the Cumberland County Jail awaiting trial for criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, possession of a firearm and theft by unlawful taking.

March  After 3.1 million dollars and 16 months of renovations, the historic Iroquois Hotel celebrated it's grand reopening in March.  The building was converted into senior housing and retail space.  The hotel, which dates back to 1906 , fell into disrepair and was most recently was the site of a Meth lab bust in 2005.  In it's rehabilitated form, it houses low income senior citizens and retail space.

Iroquois Hotel, New Cumberland, PA 2011

April-May-June  The spring storms rattled our nerves and set the tone for the next several months.  These violent storms were just  a warning for what was to come later in the year.  The local parks like Borough, Memorial field and others were soaked.  Many baseball and softball games, as well as other outdoor activities, were postponed or canceled.  Some storms had us hiding in our basements and had the Yellow Breeches Creek spilling out over her banks.  By the end of the spring, we had thought we had seen the worst of it.  Little did we know what was in store for us later in the year.

The baseball fields at Borough Park were soaked in 2011.

April through present brought us more noise from the skies, but this time in the form of helicopters.  People first started noticing the military helicopters flying low last spring.  The choppers are part of National Guard training exercises taking place at Capital City Airport.  While things seemed to calm down in May, the noise picked up again in September.  Things have calmed down once again, and we hope for the residents affected, it stays quiet.  New Cumberland and the military have a good, longstanding relationship. The National Guard has tried to adjust their flight plans as to not bother the residents as much, and that action is appreciated. 

Military Helicopter flying over New Cumberland, PA

June and July brought us an unusual sight.  "Clown nose man," as he came to be known, started appearing on our streets and created quite a stir. A young man wearing a red clown nose and carrying a plastic toy gun roamed our streets.  Some claimed he was harmless, while others alleged he attacked cars and pointed his toy guns at children.  With so much violence in the news, New Cumberland residents didn't seem too patient on waiting it out to see if this guy was harmless or not.  After much discussion and controversy,  he soon disappeared from our landscape. 

July A pedestrian was struck by a car on Bridge Street.  I hope the man who was hit is recovering and wish him well.  It was an unfortunate reminder to drivers to slow down and keep an eye out for pedestrians as well as a reminder to pedestrians to use crosswalks and not to assume a driver sees you or will stop.

July thorough September. The long awaited demolition of the Old Hillside school started in Mid July and was finally completed late September.  The building served as a the site for education, activities and friendships from 1956-2011. This old building held many memories for both children and adults.  It was sad to see it go.  For more photo's of Hillside Elementary, before, during and after demolition, go to the Facebook page Hillside Teardown 2011

Hillside Elementary School awaiting demolition.

Partially demolished first floor at Hillside Elementary.

Partially demolished second floor at Hillside Elementary.

Tearing down the multi-purpose room at Hillside elementary.

The old Hillside Elementary site.

This just covers the a little more than first half of the year.  Next week, I will cover August through December.

Did I miss an event?  Do you wish to add anything?  Please share your remarks and memories in the comments section.  Thanks for your support and please click an advertisement to support this page while you are here.