Our family reunion comprising fourteen children and fourteen adults was an All-American holiday at Hershey Lodge. There’s a reason Hershey has a kid-friendly karma. This resort community is known as “The sweetest place on earth,” hometown of Hershey Chocolate. Founder, Milton Hershey, not only developed and brought the first American milk chocolate candy bars into USA households in 1900, but he and his wife Catherine who had no offspring, were dedicated to children in another way too. They created the Hershey Non-Profit Academic and Technical School for orphan boys in 1935. “The Milton Hershey School today is a private, residential, coeducational school that provides a home, quality education, food and clothing to students in financial and social need free-of-cost to the students and their families. Students no longer have to be an orphan to be enrolled.” Says Ruthanne Herzing: Public Relations Specialist in the Milton Hershey School Office of Communications.  Additionally, Pamela Whitenack, Hershey Community Archive Director refers to Yale’s endowment at about 12.8 billion second only to Harvard and says, “The endowment for the Milton Hershey School is currently valued at 8 billion… it is in the top ten academic funds.” The Penn State College of Medicine and a Children’s Hospital were also established by the Hershey School Trust. In Fact, the entire Hershey community is well grounded in the Hershey Foundation.  

Back at the Hershey Lodge, mornings start with a walk down long hallways towards a choice of breakfast rooms. Families go into and come out from several of the 665 rooms in every shape and size, age, hair length, wearing tee shirts, jeans or casual skirts, slacks and shorts. From a pre-coffee vantage point while ambling, of about three to six-hundred feet, it was easy to mistake any group of American families for my own extended family of 28 present, with nieces and nephews ranging from a few months to 18 years old. Kids everywhere were yelling and jumping along the hallway, or yawning in their parent’s arms. I almost said hello as I approached each mirror image of another American family. These reflections gave the feeling of walking through a Norman Rockwell painting. Coincidentally, Rockwell’s success promulgated on the covers of Saturday Evening Post, published by Curtis, a Pennsylvanian Company.

More family fun at The Lodge is generated by three swimming pools: afternoons the giant outdoor pool fills up with parents and their kids, or like me, relatives (I’m an aunt and great aunt) playing and swimming together. Moments captured symmetrical sentiments among all families as kids clamored for someone to watch their longest breath underwater, or newest stroke. I had a blast with my niece Meg, who is basically part fish, and loves to swim as much as I ever did. She showed me her flips and swam through crowds of kids in no time flat. Special play time with my nieces and nephews is always a treat for an aunt without kids of her own. Meg is my step-brother David and sister-in-law Caroline’s daughter, who we later met up with and her brother, my nephew Cooper for a cool drink after our swim. Vacationers in need of a serious workout, swim their laps in the early morning hours at the large outdoor and indoor pools; both adjacent to an exercise room. The following day our family met at the upper outdoor pool containing a kiddie area and we had a lot of fun playing with the younger kids for hours. A few of us sat on the pool ledge, when my step-mother Fran said “I’m glad to have your dad here, it’s so important for him to see everyone together.” I smiled, knowing he loved it. A few weeks later when I was visiting my sister Jan in northern California, the passing of time hit me during a phone call to our father who sounded so elated simply because I was visiting my sister! Back at the pool dusk was setting in, when my sister Berta, brother-in-law Arnold and niece Regina came up with the great idea of ordering pizzas for the gang. The boys joined us, returning from their golf games! Before sundown, my sister-in-law Lisa took my nephew Dylan right through the gate behind the pool to play miniature golf. The rest of us sat around the outdoor tables lounging in swimsuits or shorts and enjoyed some laughter, imagining each other dressed at our prospective jobs.   

During the long weekend at The Hershey Resort Complex my brothers and nephews went out to the 18-hole golf course and the girls partook in Fran’s pre-arranged day of being pampered at Hershey’s exquisite European landscape Spa. Highly recommended is a special Hershey Cocoa bath! Plus we all spent time at the Hershey Amusement Park, where many daring men and boys returned late at night to ride the old-fashioned rollercoaster or the “Sooperdooperlooper” and the Comet until midnight. At first entering the park, my sister Ruth put my niece Ella on a kiddie ride; we watched her fly around in the contraption holding hands with a little boy beside her. Shortly before noon, my brother Stew gave my nephew Cole still in his stroller, some french fries before lunch. Stewart, used a napkin insisting it was important to “wipe away any ketchup from the baby’s mouth, leaving no evidence for his mother (my sister-in-law Lisa) to see!” Near the end of our amusement park day, I joined my niece Regina with my great nephews David and Jason on the chocolate factory tour ride revealing how our favorite food is developed.

At the theme park and the Lodge, Hershey Characters in Hershey Bar and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup costumes frolic with the small kids everywhere. There’s a lovely Butterfly House for the children and we attended a Fire Pit S’more Making Event, because my step-sister Jennifer, like her mother Fran, knew what would be fun for the kids! Overlooking Swan Lake, it was a first S’more experience for my two nieces Lauren and Samantha, related through my step-sister and brother-in-law Jennifer and Christopher. The girls relished in toasting their marshmallows on a long stick and tasting the Hershey bar and graham cracker with melted marshmallow concoction. Grandparents: Jack and Fran Borgenicht, my father and step-mother watched the kids, played with them and told stories.

One afternoon, when my father and I enjoyed the sun at the big pool, he spoke about the non-profit status of Hershey and how the town takes great pride in their community. This talk led me to my research of the Hershey School as well as discovering the Hershey Foundation, a separate entity which includes the Hershey Theatre, Museum and Gardens. My father, Jack Borgenicht had an interest in foundations as he donated “One million dollars to support The College of Williams and Mary Reves Center for International Studies Borgenicht Peace Initiatives.” Professor and Fund Administrator Ken Kambis said. My father spoke with me about this donation at one time and had said, “These initiatives have an emphasis on the Middle East process and Israel in particular.”  Kambis, furthermore the Director of The Borgenicht Program for Aging Studies and Exercise Science added, “Your father also gave about $150,000 to the Kinesiology Department Fund. It has grown to about $250,000 and its proceeds have funded 18 research projects in Aging Studies and Exercise Science in a number of different departments by a number of different faculty members.” Initially, Ken Kambis and Jack Borgenicht climbed many mountains together and became good friends. Kambis trained Borgenicht for their treks. “In 1992 Borgenicht set the record for the oldest person to climb Mount Rainier. This record stood until July, 2004!” Kambis adds, “In one of my research studies of pulmonary function in older adults at high altitudes, Borgenicht ascended to over 13,500 ft. on Colorado’s highest mountain, Mount Elbert, at the age of 87.” In fact, accustomed to his unrelenting win over old age, the summer at Hershey was the first time our family saw my father mostly in a wheelchair. Not because he couldn’t walk or stand, but at 93, there was too much distance to maneuver between places and events. Fortunately Hershey Lodge has wheelchair access absolutely everywhere.

My step-mother, Fran is a remarkable woman too, bringing the whole family together for many occasions. Fran is from Pennsylvania and chose the location for our reunion. One night Fran arranged a fabulous dinner in a convention room instead of a restaurant, so all the little kids could “run around the room and play at their own table of crafts.” There was also special walking around uncle and aunt holding time of the two babies, both nephew’s Christopher Michael who is my step-sister Jennifer and brother-in-law Chris’s son as well as Eli, my sister Ruth and brother-in-law Jon’s son.  We were all delighted when another five family members consisting of my brother Yoel, nephew Orin, Fran’s sister and brother-in-law Sue and Rick and her mother May drove in for the festive night! As always, we missed relatives who were unable to arrange this trip. However in our large genealogy, none of us have always been able to attend every single family assemblage. My father, who naturally paid for Fran’s fabulous plans, quietly enjoyed her inventive events. They also gave me a beautiful bracelet and belated birthday surprise for my half century big one that weekend. Dad, having never been a person to outwardly believe in spoiling children, adored Fran and together they shared their love for each other and the family by embracing her open and their innate attentiveness to everyone. In one speech that evening, my nephew Chris raved about the goodie-bags Fran gave us all containing chocolates, books, an instamatic camera, apples, tissues and he signaled out “the best for last: a laminated wallet size card of everyone’s cell number!” Upon returning to Los Angeles I told a friend from Pennsylvania details of the speech and goodie bag, plus the convention craft area for kids and she said, “There’s a Martha Stewart Grandmother in all Pennsylvanian families who thinks of everything!” We are truly blessed for Fran, a very thoughtful step-mother and our dear pops who has always nurtured each of his children’s individuality in his own stealth way. Plus every one of us feels blessed for our individual parental and family lineages.  At Hershey, they manage to take into account the whole kit and caboodle too.

Equitably, the restaurants at the Lodge are well-rounded. Our father took my sister Lois and nephew Max and I one night to The Forbay for excellent filet mignon. As successful businessman and entrepreneur grandpa Jack recounted his youth, he took joy in making his teenage grandson laugh because he had never gone to college and was a terrible student. The Lodge also has a Sports Bar with good beer on tap and a breakfast bar at their Lebbie Lebkicher restaurant, named after a man who worked for Hershey, then lent him money to start up a new business and became the best of friends and business associates thereafter. Coffee or hot cocoa and muffins are a quick alternate at the Cocoa Beanery or a nightcap at the lobby bar. Moreover, relaxation on any one of the large cushioned foyer seats reveals numerous families circling, young children hiding from their parents behind columns, or running up to Hershey Characters parading through the lobby. A sort of massive spiritual unity coalesces, simply watching everyone’s children freely enjoying family time, at a place where kids are special and never bored in a too grown-up environment.

A month after our family reunion, our beloved father a few days shy of 94 years old, passed away. The depth of emotion from loss is only surpassed by the eternal memories we all share, reuniting us spiritually.