One of Lisa Pomeroy’s life philosophies is that she is going to live well past 100 years old and defy all odds.

The 10th annual Pennsylvania Horse World Expo will host some of the nation’s leading equestrian clinicians, entertainers and horse owners in Harrisburg for four nonstop days of education, entertainment and shopping, February 23-26.

Lying on my back, cold-cushioned by the packed-down snow of Ski Roundtop's bunny slope, I worked to catch my breath. This was somewhere around my 10th or 11th failed attempt at uprightness while strapped onto a snowboard. I lifted my head to see how far I had made it down the hill – barely halfway. In front of me, flapping in the wind, was a sign that warned the more coordinated skiers and snowboarders to slow down in case they came upon random individuals lying on the ground like myself. A little girl, no older than 5 or 6, dressed in a pink ski-suit merrily glided by on skis – without the assistance of poles, mind you – as if nothing in the world could be easier than coasting down the slope without falling to the ground....

In the world of local TV journalism, the daily grind is an unending hustle to be the first on the scene, to be the only source covering the angle, to be the top spot on the dial that viewers trust most...

The quietest time of night, just before dawn, when that unmistakable stillness of morning twilight struggles against the anticipation of sunrise vanishing away the dark, I stepped outside into a frost-covered parking lot a block off Cameron Street in the shadow of Allison Hill. The sapping chill of December in Harrisburg immediately made me appreciate the warmth of the Overnight Winter Shelter at Susquehanna Harbor Safe Haven....

A land of pointy-roofed Buddhist temples, ornate architecture and delicate blossoms quivering in the wind. I envision a kingdom of culture and courtesy, with a touch of the opulent and the exotic. These quintessential elements pervade Bangkok Wok, an unassuming Thai restaurant in the Gateway Square Shopping Center in Mechanicsburg. This popular restaurant, by TJ Maxx, Carrabba’s and the Navy Depot, is the favorite of my many Thai-food-fanatic friends....

As a teenager, Hetrick helped his father around the funeral home, but he did not envision the same future for himself. Growing up with a father whose schedule required him to always be on-call cemented in his mind that this was not a profession he wished to pursue. After he graduated from Susquehanna Township High School, Hetrick enrolled at York College only to drop out soon after. “I decided – in my own brilliance during the Vietnam War – to kick around awhile and not have my student deferments,” he remembers. “So then I was caught in the draft lottery.”

Former U.S. Army Captain Luis Carlos Montalván knows this firsthand. After serving two tours of duty overseas, Montalván returned home physically broken and emotionally scarred. A recipient of the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart, Montalván suffered from physical pain, debilitating agoraphobia and post-traumatic stress disorder after his time in Iraq. But with the help of a service dog named Tuesday, Montalván overcame these hurdles and found a new purpose for his life....

With the help of Elaine Seckar, manager of Lemoyne’s Arthur Murray franchise, and dance instructor Justin Howard, I got my first-ever taste of ballroom dancing. Among a group of 10 to 15 male and female ballroom-dancing beginners, all far more agile than I could hope to be with my two left feet, I learned the Waltz Box Step as well as a bit of East Coast Single-Time Swing....

A visit to the attractively decorated Mikado Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar on Mechanicsburg’s Carlisle Pike is a bit like attending a rock concert. There’s ample applause, riveting entertainment and even what one might deem “p