Pennsylvania Society takes its money to New York
Scores of A-list Pennsylvania politicians will be in the Big Apple next weekend for the 117th annual dinner of The Pennsylvania Society.
Wait a second: Pennsylvania politicians, pledged to help the business climate and employment picture in the commonwealth during these tough budgetary and economic times, are off spending millions of dollars in New York City? What's wrong with this picture?
Absolutely nothing, say the staunch backers of the society. They point with pride to the 116-year-old tradition that started in 1899 when native Pennsylvanian James Barr Ferree, who was living in New York City at the time, invited 55 other fellow Pennsylvanians living in New York to join him for dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.
"While feasting on oysters and Delmonico steaks, they decided to form a group originally known as the Pennsylvania Society of New York," according to the Society's historical records. The lavish menu items at New York's famed hotel continue to this very day. In 1903, the group shortened its name to "The Pennsylvania Society."
According to its mission statement, the goal was to unite "all Pennsylvanians at home and away from home in bonds of friendship to their native or adopted state." They also decided to meet every year, same time (second weekend in December), same place.
It is not affiliated with any particular political party, business or profession. Its purpose, the mission statement continues, is to honor achievement, to reward excellence, to promote good will and understanding and to celebrate service to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to humanity in general.
For example, the society sponsors the annual Benjamin Franklin essay contest for high school students. Recent local winners of scholarships (this year valued at $6,000 for the top winner) were Olivia Morrison of Tamaqua Area High School, first prize, in 2013, and Karl Pielmeier of Palmerton Area High School, first prize, in 2010.
"More and more, interest in this organization springs from the opportunities we are creating to improve the commonwealth we all love," says Executive Director Carol McCullough Fitzgerald.
"We have quickened our step to keep pace with the times, and, in so doing, we are driving change, rather than being driven by it," says society President Nick DeBenedictis, 70, chair and former CEO of Aqua America, the Bryn Mawr utility that operates in eight states, including Pennsylvania.
Among the luminaries will be most of the top tier cast of characters from both sides of the political aisle, along with behind-the-scenes movers and shakers, captains of business and industry and, yes, lobbyists. They will gather in prolific numbers at the Waldorf for the sumptuous feast. They also will be planning, schmoozing, attending private parties and fundraisers and, generally, getting to know each other better and to bank some political capital for a rainy day.
The Republicans are tying in a fundraiser with the event and will have as a major draw the front-running GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump, in attendance.
The society will honor former Pennsylvania governor and ex-Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, with its Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Past gold medal winners include George H.W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joe Paterno, Tom Ridge, Arlen Specter and Bill Cosby.
Among members of the society's board of directors are William H. Spence, chairman, president and CEO of PPL Corporation, and F. John White, CEO of Public Financial Management of Philadelphia and a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown. The society has two members from Carbon County, 18 from Schuylkill, 47 from Northampton, eight from Monroe and 74 from Lehigh.
Politicians, officeholder wannabes, lobbyists and others will be attracted to the Waldorf political feeding. An aide to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the cream of the crop in Pennsylvania politics will be on hand. "We're happy to have them and the money they spend," he says. This is big money that should be staying in Pennsylvania.
Becoming a member of The Pennsylvania Society is relatively easy. One needs be a native-born Pennsylvanian, a descendant of a native-born Pennsylvanian, a former Pennsylvania resident who has been back for seven consecutive years or a graduate of a Pennsylvania college or university. There's a one-time fee of $300 and annual dues of $75. One can become a lifetime member with a payment of $1,500.
It costs members $400 to attend the Waldorf Astoria dinner gala, $400 for the first guest and $450 for additional guests. But don't think any run-of-the-mill member can get into some of the other exclusive weekend events. Most are by invitation only and some can be quite pricey.
Society officials are quick to point out that although the annual dinner is held in New York City, the annual spring luncheons/annual meetings are alternated throughout the commonwealth. Next year's will be held on April 22 in Scranton, but the luncheon is not in the same league and certainly doesn't have the same star-power draw or cachet as the annual holiday extravaganza. The issue of holding the society's annual dinner in the Big Apple comes up periodically. Some politicians have even talked about bucking tradition and trying to move the event to a large venue in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or maybe even the rejuvenated Allentown area or the Poconos, but, in the end, it has been just that - talk.
We can only imagine what the thousands of minimum-wage workers and unemployed Pennsylvanians, who are getting by on meager meals and trying to cut corners to save a buck, are thinking about the weekend's events as their elected politicians are off enjoying filet mignon, fine wines and top entertainment. At the very least, couldn't this small fortune be spent in Pennsylvania to help our residents?
BRUCE FRASSINELLI | tneditor@tnonline.com
