Chambersburg, 1981, right there on YouTube
So Jim DeLorenzo’s dad Jimmie passed away back in 2009. (Jimmie was the owner for 50 years of Jimmie’s Camera Shop on the corner of Hudson and Swan, next door to his brother Chick’s tomato pie joint, you might’ve heard of it. Anyway ...)
Anyway, when Jim was rummaging through his dad’s belongings, he came across a VHS tape from 1981 called “The Burg - A State of Mind” and it’s exactly what it sounds like.
It was a documentary created by Dr. Peter A. Peroni and it’s 30 minutes of Chambersburg in 1981. It is video gold to anyone interested in seeing what life was like in the then-Italian enclave, and it must be video heaven to anyone who actually grew up there during that time. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the only video document of that era.
And last week, DeLorenzo had it digitized and posted it on YouTube. As you might imagine, the response has been bananas. At the time of this writing, over 7,000 views.
“The response has been overwhelming,” DeLorenzo said. “But what I’m most surprised about is how it’s reconnected so many people. I flip a switch, put it up on YouTube, share it with all these different groups, and all of a sudden people who are seeing it are sending it to their friends, to people they grew up with. I love that it connected so many people so quickly.”
It is a legit fascinating look at a time that is gone. The footage and the interviews … wow. A lot of mustaches, for one thing. (“I think me and my dad are the only two guys in it without one,” DeLorenzo quipped.) It features video and interviews about the Feast of Lights, about how men and women were expected to behave, about St. Joachim’s school, about how neighbors looked out for one another …
“The streets are safe, you can walk around at three, four in the morning,” said a guy wielding a loaf of Italian bread.
I’m telling you - this is the real stuff. Here’s the link. Get some popcorn. https://bit. ly/2TvDe3j
The film, which aired on the now-defunct NJN, was narrated, co-produced, and directed by Peroni, who created the film as his doctoral dissertation in psychology.
Today, Peroni lives in Robbinsville. I tracked him down and rang his doorbell. We chatted about the film, about his career, about the ‘Burg. I asked him what he thinks has been lost as people — himself included — moved out to the suburbs.
“I think we’ve lost the sense of community. The sense of pride,” he said. “Even to this day, on YouTube, some of the comments were along the lines of ‘I wish I had been there at this time.’ I don’t think anyone who lived there would say it was a terrible way to live. People for the most part never locked their doors or did what you just did. They didn’t ring the bell. They’d just knock and walk in.”
Times change, and people change with them. For instance, Peroni said he got some blowback when the film originally aired,
“I think it’s unfortunate that some people thought it was prejudicial,” he said. “But they fail to understand it had to do with the times. This was a neighborhood defending itself from outside influences that would change its culture.”
Today, of course, Chambersburg is home to probably the largest Latino community in the city, and Peroni noted it wouldn’t surprise him one bit if in 50 or so years another immigrant group will start moving in, and the next-generation Latino kids start moving to the suburbs and there’s a Latino version of Peroni documenting the whole thing.
For Peroni, though, the one thing that comes across more than anything in the film is the sense of community, the sense that everyone knew everyone else.
In fact, one of the first lines Peroni says in the film is “I remember my father and I in the evening would walk along here and it would seem like it would take forever to walk a block because we’d stop and talk to all the neighbors.” He says this line right after an old woman stops him on the street to ask about his mother.
It wasn’t scripted.
“I didn’t even see the woman,” Peroni said. “She was just sitting on the porch and started talking to me.”
There’s so much more to see in the jam-packed 30 minutes I don’t want to spoil it for you. But if you were there during those times, I’m willing to bet this will take you right back. If you weren’t, it’s a fascinating look at a time gone by. My only wish is that I was part of it. I would’ve made a fantastic Chambersburg Italian, I just know it.