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📌 What’s Inside This Issue:
❤ Foster Dog Chaos
🧡 An Exciting Newsletter Update
💛 The YSPCAS Needs Your Help
💚 Meet Brutus Animal Aid
💙 Plant & Produce Swap
💜 Utz Retail Yard Sale
🖤 Tribute To Foreigner & Journey
🤍 Honor Our Heroes
👋 Welcome Back!
I disappeared for a few weeks and, honestly, it was for a very good reason.
The day after we got back from our impromptu trip to South Carolina, our family took in a foster dog named Nene through the YSPCA. He’s a 2-year-old poodle with the longest legs and the squishiest of faces… one that makes you forgive him instantly claiming your bed as his own.
Which he did. Immediately.
When we picked him up, he had just been shaved down after arriving severely matted. He was healing from a cherry eye, had recently been neutered, and was on a good bit of antibiotics.
His first day here, he sprinted around the backyard like he’d won the lottery. Full-speed zoomies up and down the yard. Then he came inside, bolted upstairs to our bedroom, jumped onto the bed, circled twice, and quietly decided he lived there now.
Over the next few days, he slowly started trusting us, but going outside was another story.
He hated it.
Like… full-body-planted-on-the-bed, laying-like-a-limp-noodle, hated it.
Eventually I learned he had spent most of his previous life outdoors, so every trip into the yard felt loaded. You could almost see the question running through his head: Are you leaving me out here too?
Other than that, he was a cuddle bug. Wherever I went, he was only two steps behind me. I can’t count the number of times I turned around and called out for him only to realize he was already there… but he was so close to me that I didn’t even see him.
Then one night things took a turn.
He barely ate anything. Getting him outside became increasingly difficult. And he started scooting… incessantly. Despite wearing the Cone of Shame, this tiny furry contortionist still managed to lick where he absolutely should not have been licking.
Which is how we ended up spending an entire day at Mason Dixon Pet ER in Shrewsbury after he developed an anal gland abscess.
If you’ve ever spent hours in an emergency vet waiting room, you know the drill. Hours are spent pacing under those fluorescent lights. There is a quiet exhaustion on everyone’s face while somebody’s pet whimpers behind a closed door. I spend the entire day trying not to catastrophize (but I always end up playing out every worst-case-scenario over and over).
The poor guy had an anal gland abscess. He needed a procedure, more medication, and an even bigger cone (which he hated with the passion of a thousand suns).
For the next week and a half, I was a full-time professional dog watcher.
I was administering four different medications (which was NOT EASY at first but became an art form by the end), monitoring food and water intake, bribing him into going outside, checking bowel movements, and keeping a medical chart like I was training for a veterinary degree.
I slept TERRIBLY because every strange sound launched me upright in bed. Very glamorous stuff.
But somewhere in the middle of all that stress, his personality started showing up too.
The cautious little guy who refused to leave the bed started getting curious. He took an interest to all of the toys he initially ignored. His favorite activity was playing tug-of-war with his stuffed dinosaur.
He slowly became more adventurous and began exploring the yard (after I carried him out there, of course). Then one day he decided he was brave enough to walk out the back door on his own four legs. That’s when I knew he felt safe again.
He affirmed this belief by resting his head on my lap with these long, heavy sighs that made it seem like his nervous system was finally starting to settle. And if you’ve ever watched an animal realize they’re safe for the first time, you know exactly what I mean.
Today, we took him to meet his forever family. And they were perfect for him.
I cried anyway, obviously.
But I genuinely loved fostering him. Even the stressful parts. Especially the stressful parts, honestly. There’s something really powerful about watching trust rebuild itself in real time.
As it turns out, the YSPCA is currently assisting local law enforcement with what they’ve described as their largest hoarding case to date. I’ll be heading back tomorrow to help however I can, and our community is going to be needed in a big way.
I’ll share more about that later in this newsletter.
🌱 Founding Supporters
Every big idea starts with a few people who believe in it early. These are ours:
Darlene · Brian · Holly · Andy · Kara · Justine
When you become a Founding Supporter, you’re not just funding a newsletter. You’re helping build a movement of neighbors who believe connection, kindness, and local pride.
If Heart of Hanover has ever made you smile, helped you discover a new favorite place, or reminded you that you belong here, I’d be honored to have you in our circle of supporters.
❤ Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Grant
I also have some exciting Heart of Hanover updates to share.
I was recently awarded a $2,000 Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Grant through the Cultural Alliance of York County, which honestly still feels a little surreal to type out. This funding is helping me build the next phase of Heart of Hanover, including a proper WordPress website with a searchable community events calendar, Meta ads to help grow the newsletter, LLC filing/legal admin stuff, merch, and a few other behind-the-scenes pieces that make this whole thing feel a little less like “woman yelling into the void with a laptop” and a little more sustainable.
One of the things I also invested in was a creative writing program taught by Ash Ambirge, the same mentor who helped inspire me to start this newsletter in the first place.
I’ve shouted her out before, but her book, The Middle Finger Project, genuinely changed the trajectory of my life. Especially as someone who spent a long time convinced I needed permission before taking up space publicly.
So if you’ve ever wanted to share your voice more openly, start a creative project, write online, launch something meaningful, or simply stop shrinking yourself every time you have a good idea… I cannot recommend it enough (especially if you’ve spent years saying things like, “I’m not really a writer,” despite writing paragraphs longer than the Constitution in text messages).
THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS SPONSORED BY SPOT & TANGO:
🐕 The YSPCA Needs Your Help
The York County SPCA is currently responding to what may become one of the largest dog hoarding cases in the organization’s history.
More than 50 dogs could enter their care in the coming weeks.
And if you’ve ever walked through the SPCA during summer intake season, you already know how quickly resources stretch thin. Kennels fill. Supplies disappear. Staff and volunteers move at lightning speed trying to keep up with medical care, feeding schedules, behavioral support, cleaning, paperwork, transport, foster coordination… all of it.
Now multiply that by fifty.
The situation is still active and evolving, so identifying details about the family and location have not been released. The SPCA also emphasized something important in their statement: animal hoarding situations are often deeply complex and tied to mental health, financial hardship, and social isolation. Their focus right now is on the welfare of the animals while approaching the people involved with compassion and respect.
Which matters.
Because it’s easy for the internet to turn suffering into spectacle. Much harder to build actual solutions.
Right now, the York County SPCA needs community support in a very real, practical way.
They especially need:
Large and XL dog crates
Large breed dog food
Foster homes
Adopters
People willing to share adoptable dogs online
And yes, they can accept clean used crates and even opened bags of unexpired dog food.
I’ve spent the last couple weeks fostering a YSPCA dog myself, and I can tell you firsthand: fostering genuinely changes outcomes. One temporary home opens one kennel. One open kennel creates space for another dog. And suddenly a situation that feels overwhelming becomes slightly more manageable because enough people decided to help in small ways.
Not everybody can foster. I get that.
But maybe you can drop off a bag of food. Maybe you have a crate sitting in your basement collecting dust. Maybe you can share an adoptable dog’s photo instead of another doomscroll post tonight.
That stuff counts too.
And honestly? This is the kind of moment that quietly reveals who a community really is.
You can learn more, donate, foster, or browse adoptable pets through the York County SPCA website.
🐶 Meet Brutus Animal Aid
I was scrolling on TikTok the other day and stumbled across a 22-year-old woman in York County building the kind of community safety net most people don’t realize exists until they desperately need it.
Her name is Jazlyn Wertz, and she is the founder of Brutus Animal Aid. They have a Pet Food & Supply Assistance program for York County families facing financial hardship. They provide supplemental pet food and essential supplies so your pet can stay fed, cared for, and out of shelters.
Jazlyn is a vet tech from Red Lion who somehow manages to balance nonprofit work, classes, married life, and a small zoo of beloved animals at home. She and her husband Ethan share their house with two dogs, Brutus and Roscoe, two cats named Scooby and Scrappy, and, because apparently life wasn’t chaotic enough already, a few Poison Dart Frogs.
But honestly? You can tell immediately she’s a dog person.
Jazlyn grew up with a red-nose Pitbull named Ruby, who passed away before her teenage years. Years later, when she got Brutus, something clicked. He didn’t just become her dog. He helped uncover a much bigger passion for animal advocacy and community support.
That eventually became Brutus Animal Aid.
The organization was created in response to something Jazlyn kept seeing over and over again in York County: families surrendering pets they deeply loved simply because food, supplies, or basic care had become financially out of reach.
It doesn’t take a catastrophic emergency for someone to need help. Sometimes it’s just one rough month, one lost paycheck, or one grocery trip that suddenly costs twice what it used to. And in a world where even basic necessities keep getting more expensive, programs like this can be the difference between a family keeping their pet or surrendering them.
So instead of judging people for struggling, she built a safety net.
The goal of Brutus Animal Aid is simple but deeply important: help keep pets where they belong, at home with the people who love them.
There’s something about that mission that feels especially meaningful right now. A lot of people are struggling. Pet food is expensive. Life is expensive. And yet animals remain one of the few steady sources of comfort many people have.
Which makes this work matter. A lot.
There are several ways to support Brutus Animal Aid, whether that means donating supplies, contributing financially, or simply sharing their work online so more people know help exists.
If you’re interested in helping, visit their LinkTree to learn more.
🫛 Plant & Produce Swap
📆 Saturday, May 16 | 🕐 10 AM – 1 PM
📍 The Serpent’s Key, 28 Carlisle Street
Got more veggies than your household can realistically consume before they achieve sentience on the counter? We’re still a little early for the giant tomato overflow era, but the herbs, greens, and overachieving lettuce are definitely starting to roll in.
Good news: the Second Annual Plant & Produce Swap is back for the season.
Every Saturday from 10 AM – 6 PM (March through November), you can swap extra veggies, fruit, herbs, and eggs with fellow community members. Any leftover produce will be donated or redistributed the following week, which honestly feels like the exact kind of old-school community care we need more of.
THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS SPONSORED BY PROTON MAIL:
🥔 Utz Retail Yard Sale
📆 Saturday, May 16 | 🕐 7 AM – 12 PM
📍 860 Carlisle Street, Parking Lot
The Utz Brands Retail Store is hosting its annual sale this Saturday from 7 AM – 12 PM (or until everything disappears into the trunks of determined snack people).
This is a cash-only outdoor sale where they empty the warehouse into the parking lot. You can expect massive discounts on case quantities of Utz snacks and special in-store deals.
Just know that there is a very real possibility of leaving with enough chips to survive an economic collapse.
Come early if you want the good stuff.
🎸 Tribute to Foreigner and Journey
📆 Saturday, May 16 | 🕐 7 PM
📍 Eichelberger Performing Arts Center, 195 Stock Street, Suite 200
🎟️ $40 Orchestra/Balcony, $45 Preferred | 🔗 Buy tickets online
Look. I know at least half of you just heard “Journey” and immediately started mentally preparing to scream-sing Don’t Stop Believin’ with strangers.
And, you know what? Respect.
Eichelberger Performing Arts Center is hosting Foreigners Journey, a high-energy tribute show bringing together the music of Foreigner and Journey for one extremely dad-rock-approved evening. The show now stars Constantine Maroulis, whose voice was basically engineered in a lab for theatrical rock vocals.
Expect big arena energy. Big hair energy. “This song still rules actually” energy.
THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS SPONSORED BY SIMPLE.LIFE:
🚓 Honor Our Heroes
St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church is hosting its annual Honoring Our Heroes community celebration, recognizing the people who spend their lives helping keep the rest of us safe, cared for, and upright during emergencies.
The event honors veterans, military members, first responders, medical personnel, law enforcement, firefighters, and other community helpers through an evening of food, music, and family-friendly activities.
Expect:
Fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars
Face painting
Root beer floats
Barbershop music
Veterans and support organizations
Community gathering energy in the purest small-town sense of the phrase
📆 Looking Ahead
🩸 First Church of Hanover Blood Drive
📅 Tuesday, May 19 | 1 PM – 6 PM
📍 *200 Frederick Street | 🔗 Schedule an Appointment
Donate blood and leave with a free pint certificate from Bruster’s and a Papa John’s BOGO pizza coupon. Honestly, that’s a solid Tuesday. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome.
🏭 KRS Open Interviews
📅 Wednesday, May 20 | 10 AM – 2 PM
📍 20 Industrial Drive
Kaydon Ring & Seal is hosting weekly open interviews for union positions. If you’re looking for stable work with strong pay and benefits, this is worth a look. (Greg has worked there for years and genuinely enjoys it, which feels rare enough to mention.)
🏃 Slow Pokes Running Club
📅 Saturday, May 23 | 8 AM
📍 Little Fox Coffee & Books, 125 Broadway
A conversational-paced 5K from Little Fox to the Trolley Trail and back every Saturday morning. Run first, coffee second, existential clarity optional.
🌿 Roots & Renewal Festival + Holistic Vibes Pop-Up
📅 Saturday, May 23 | 9 AM – 3 PM
📍 Wholly Holistic, 1150 Carlisle Street, Suite 8
A spring festival centered around local makers, mindful living, fresh starts, and community connection featuring artisans, vendors, and food from Holistic Vibes. Very “touch grass and support local businesses” energy.
✍️ The Community Collective
📅 Saturday, May 23 | 6 PM – 8 PM
📍 Cultivated Essentials Co., 28 Frederick Street
A free community gathering featuring postcard writing, DIY posters/buttons, an optional open mic, homemade soup, and space to connect with neighbors while doing something meaningful. Low-pressure, welcoming, and intentionally community-centered.
👋🏼Until Next Time…
This issue ended up being a lot about care.
Caring for animals.
Caring for neighbors.
Caring enough to make life feel a little safer, more connected, and more fun.
And that’s the kind of stuff that holds a town together.
Just people choosing to show up for each other any way they can.
So whether you spend this weekend fostering a dog, buying too many Utz chips, scream-singing Journey at The Eichelberger, tie-dyeing a shirt at Fat Bat, or simply resting because your nervous system has had enough lately… I hope you find at least one small moment that reminds you you’re part of something here.
Hanover’s not perfect.
But there’s still a whole lot of heart in it.
See you next week!
XoXo - Megan 💜
P.S. Some links in this newsletter are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. I only share things I genuinely use, love, or recommend. Supporting through these links helps keep Heart of Hanover running.
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