It's not every day that a small town like Harmony, Pennsylvania, becomes the focus of Hollywood's attention. Still, with the production of the "Hershey" movie rolling into town, that's precisely what's happened. Residents and business owners have found themselves amid a buzzworthy transformation as their community doubles for early 1900s Pennsylvania, the cradle of Milton Hershey's chocolate empire.
For Harmony, the spotlight isn't entirely new; according to a WPXI report, this is the fourth time the historic district has welcomed film crews. Autobody shop owner Mark Sapienza told WPXI, "Everything was wonderful. They filmed right here beside me a scene but I have no complaints." And while the excitement of Hollywood coming to town is palpable, local businesses had to adjust, with some, like the Harmony Inn, experiencing logistical hurdles. "Some of our customers did have a hard time coming here just because the detours were a little bit long and harmony is already so restricted with parking," admitted Terri Lynn Halbleib, the inn's Director of Operations. Yet, aware of the bigger picture, community members navigated the hubbub with a sense of pride that outweighed the inconvenience.
Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh's South Side, the scent of tobacco will be replaced by the visual flavor of a bygone era, if only temporarily. Bedford Square off East Carson Street has been decked out in all the trappings of a vintage film set, with local businesses bracing for a day of closure during filming. "They're bringing in dirt to put all in the streets, and they’ve got it piled up over in the parking lot over there," Bloom Cigar Company owner Marc Adams described in a Pittsburgh's Action News 4 interview. Despite missing the mark to be staged as a candy shop, Adams and others on the block view the disruption as a welcome trade-off for the allure of the silver screen.
What's clear is that "Hershey" is leaving both a literal and figurative mark on western Pennsylvania. Business owners like Krista Burton, who owns Harmony Emporium, laugh off the temporary gray hue of her usually vibrant tie-dye shop, knowing it will be repainted at no cost post-production. She told WPXI, "I own a tie-dye shop…so gray really isn’t my color." Nevertheless, the promise of renewed recognition for these towns, as Burton highlighted that without attractions like these, "you’re not" going to visit, seems to be a compensating factor for the temporary bouts of construction and cleanup. With "Hershey" shoots slated to continue through June 27, this confectionery tale is still unraveling its local impact, piece by piece, on the communities it touches.
