Month: May 2021

Derry Church is blessed by the many people who make up our church family. In addition to their roles and leadership at church, they have often played important roles in the growth and development of the larger Hershey community.  Hershey Community Archives’ oral history collection holds interviews with many Derry Presbyterian Church members. These interviews provide information about their lives and contributions to Derry and the community. Thanks to elder and retired Archives Director Pam Whitenack, who compiled John’s history for this week’s message.

Born into a military family, John Rawley spent much of his youth traveling and living around the United States and in the Philippines and Panama as his father was posted to new assignments. He spent every summer with his father’s parents who lived in Philadelphia and had a home in Avalon, New Jersey. His mother’s father, John Hershey, also lived in Philadelphia. While not related to Milton Hershey, his grandfather was a Hershey and as a boy John Rawley recalled attending two Hershey family reunions in Hershey, PA.

Immediately after graduating high school, John enlisted and served as a pilot during World War II, flying B29s and later B26s during the Korean conflict. In 1950, John married Linda Murray. After his discharge from service in Korea, John went to work for the Scott Paper Company, and held a variety of sales management positions. In 1964 he was serving as the company’s director of marketing.

One day in 1964, John Rawley got a letter from Bill Dearden, then Hershey Chocolate vice-president for sales, inviting him to come meet Bill in Hershey if he ever happened to be in the area. John related the story in his 1991 oral history interview:

So I got a letter from Bill Dearden one day, if I was in Hershey–this was in 1964–if I’d stop in to visit him, that they were considering starting a marketing department. As it happened, I was doing something with a task force that the governor had on business and government, and I had to go to Harrisburg. 

So I called and made an appointment. It was on a Thursday that I was going to come up, because I had to be in Harrisburg on Friday, and I thought, “Well, I’ll stop in and meet Mr. Dearden.” On Thursday morning, it turned out that I had to change my plans, so I called and cancelled that appointment. 

Shortly after lunch that day, a business associate of mine from Scott Paper Company called me and said, “John, I met a really remarkable man today at St. Joseph’s College.” I said, “Is that right?” He said, “Yeah. You’re going to meet him tomorrow. His name is Bill Dearden.” I said, “Vern, I cancelled that appointment.” He said, “John, don’t cancel it. Find a way to meet this man. It’ll be a very special experience for you.” So I called back and I said that I was able to come on Friday, and I then came up and met Bill that day. I met Harold [Mohler] and I met Gil Nurick. Gil was on Hershey’s board of directors. Three weeks later, I sold my home and moved to Hershey.

The Rawley connection to Derry happened quickly after they moved here.

We developed, immediately upon coming to Hershey, a close affiliation with the Derry Presbyterian Church, which is right adjacent to us, as a family, and became very active in the programs for that church. I served as an elder and a trustee in the church for a number of years, and our kids, we found, got great strength from our Christian friends there, as well as from Ira Reed, who was the minister at that time.

John had a daunting assignment at Hershey Chocolate. He was charged with establishing the company’s first marketing department. Hershey Chocolate was widely known for being a wildly successful brand that had achieved its success without the benefit of consumer marketing, but rather on the strength and quality of its products. As John described it, the company’s sales division was operating much as it had during Milton Hershey’s lifetime.

For the first four years, a very significant part of my energies was directed to the sales organization–restructuring it; introducing modern techniques of selling; identifying our customers; developing a reservoir of knowledge to build a sales organization, because you could not possibly invest in advertising and more sophisticated promotion unless you had a sales organization that had the capacity to implement those plans in the field.

To build the department, John recruited some of his colleagues from Scott Paper, a few of whom also became part of the Derry family, including Vern (and Joyce) Tessier. Vern Tessier was the person who had urged him to not cancel his appointment with Bill Dearden. 

John retired from Hershey Foods Corporation in 1991 after having held several positions with the company including Director of Marketing, Director of Strategic Planning and finally Assistant to the CEO, Dick Zimmerman.

I have exciting news for the children and families of the church: Sunday School, fellowship fun times, and our newest special programs will continue through the summer!  In a year that has been full of change, stress, and distance, we want to use the summer months as a time to reconnect and have fun as a church family. 

Sunday School will continue virtually to allow children to join together from anywhere.  As always, we love seeing kids every week, but we also love to see kids when it fits with their family’s schedule, so please log in anytime!  Our studies will take us on a “wild adventure” as we discover and learn about various animals mentioned in the bible.  

Fellowship opportunities will include field trips, art programs, mission projects, story time on the playground, and Kids Week 2021.  Our Christian Education team is busy creating these opportunities for all ages to find something they can enjoy together as a family or for just the kids. Please keep a close eye on the weekly children’s emails to see what’s coming up!

This summer we’ll be offering field trips for families to meet up, spend quality time together, and maybe even find some of the biblical creatures we’ve learned about in Sunday School at our local zoos or out in nature. These field trips will be awesome for every age and are a wonderful opportunity to meet other families at the church.

For our youngest members, we will offer story time on the playground. We’ll introduce you to the newly updated church library and share some of our favorite books with you.  After we finish reading, your family can enjoy playtime together on the playground.  This is a wonderful way to make new church friends.

Families who prefer coming to events together will want to join us for our monthly family worship services, “Art Nights in the Grove,” “Hands on Ministry” mission projects, and our summer field trips.  These offerings are created with all ages in mind and will bring families together to help grow their faith. 

Kids Week 2021 will take the place of our traditional VBS program. Kids Week has been created specifically for the children of Derry Church (members and all who have joined us in the past year). In the week of July 12-14, children entering grades 3 through 7 are invited to gather with us in the evenings. Children age 4 through entering second grade are invited to gather with us in the mornings of July 14-16.  We will be taking over the front lawn and transforming the space into our very own church camp. Our week together will offer the children a fun, comfortable, safe and exciting opportunity to gather with their church friends and grow closer to God and Jesus. This week will be memorable for sure! 

Whether you have come to everything all year long or you took some needed time to focus simply on work and school, I invite you to rejoin your church family this summer.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In May we’re lifting up one recipient of the Pentecost Offering: the Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg.

Along with the rest of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the Boys & Girls of Harrisburg, but we remain steadfast in our mission to provide a safe place for children to learn and develop into productive citizens. In a time when the future is uncertain and adults find it challenging to remain positive, our children’s safety and their access to quality opportunity continue to be our highest priority. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed the Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg to expand our mission by intently supporting the “whole family.” Since March 2020, the Boys & Girls Club has partnered with Harrisburg City Police Department, Harrisburg City School District, Camp Curtin YMCA, and Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, distributing grab-and-go dinners at both of our facilities helping to serve over 1,000 families per week. We continue to distribute meals today with our bi-weekly food pantries in collaboration with Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Mid-West food Bank serving over 140 families. 

The Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg (BGCHBG) also collaborates with Representative Patty Kim’s “Community Schools” initiative at the John N Hall clubhouse, and has established multiple programs using a virtual platform model designed to impact our members such as Science Explorers, ABii, an education assistant robot and arts & crafts activities. 

Our 2021 Summer Program begins June 14 and is expected to serve more than 100 children spanning the ages of 6 to 18. We have planned a fun and exciting experience for our members including S.T.E.A.M programs, computer literacy, vocational and gardening classes. The Camp will be stretched out over a full 12 hours where our membership will be divided into three age groups over the course of the day. We are thrilled to offer our children several new opportunities. The Boys & Girls of Harrisburg will receive a High Tunnel Greenhouse from the United States Department of Agriculture. The greenhouse is going to be a phenomenal opportunity to teach our children sustainable life lessons. BGCHBG will be a part of a pilot project across 12 cities that includes 200 Connectivity Zones. Through the Connectivity “LIFT” Zones, we are building a continuum of connectivity to support students and community members who need access to the internet and provide them with a connected experience in as many spaces as possible in this new environment. 

Finally, we will embark on a great health care initiative called the “Scrubs Program” which focuses on health care careers such as Infection Prevention, Medical Lab Technician, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Paramedic & EMT, Nurses, and  Respiratory Therapist for middle school students. 

Your support continues to enable us to live up to our motto. “THE SAFE POSITIVE PLACE FOR KIDS! GREAT FUTURES START HERE!!”