Interviewed by Mary Pannabecker Steiner
When did you move to Bluffton? When did you graduate from high school?
My family moved to Bluffton in August of 1985. We moved into our house just two or three days before I started the third grade. I graduated from BHS in 1995.
What are your favorite memories of your school years in Bluffton?
There are so many! Mr. Kooker was my favorite teacher in elementary school. I was in his last class before he retired. I remember that our class threw him a luau as a going away party. In high school, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Goode. I used to show up to school early and hang out in her classroom talking with her. But, my fondest memories from high school would have to involve marching band (especially my senior year when I was the senior field commander and it was Mr. Sycks' first year with us). Hands down, though, my favorite memory from high school would have to be when I played Dolly in "Hello, Dolly!" my senior year.
You were pretty involved in Girl Scouts. Any special memories of that? Are you now, or do you think you might be, a leader someday?
Yes, I was very involved in Girl Scouts. For several years, my mom was the coordinator for the area, and she also served as the leader for not only my troop, but also both of my sisters' troops. I do remember being the top cookie sales person for two or three years and having my picture in the paper for that. Also, the trips to COSI in Columbus (which were an overnight) were always an annual highlight. I haven't been involved with Girl Scouts since my junior year of high school. That year, the Girl Scouts of the USA decided to change the wording of their pledge to leave the word "God" open to any entity you might want to put in there. Many of us took a stand against that action by dropping out of Girl Scouts. Every once in a while, I regret that decision... I would definitely be open to the possibility of being a leader some day, although right now, life is pretty full!
You went to Taylor, correct? What was your major? What did you plan to do after college? Did you ever consider teaching music or did you want to perform?
Yes, I went to Taylor University. I started out as a piano performance major with a minor in voice, but switched to a vocal performance major with a minor in piano after the first semester. I also tacked on a theater arts minor along the way. I didn't really have any plans for after college.
Once my husband and I started to get serious while we were dating, it became clear that my major role right after college would be supporting him while he was in seminary. I definitely considered teaching music, but only privately.
I actually had one piano student while I was in high school... Matt Steinmetz. Once in college, I started giving private voice lessons and have continued to teach voice and piano privately ever since.
Did you meet your husband at Taylor?
Yes. I met my husband, Cory Hartman at Taylor. We met during the summer orientation at Taylor and at the time were both music majors. He switched his major to Biblical Literature soon after we got to Taylor in the fall, but maintained a church music minor, so we had a lot of classes together and were in the chorale together as well.
At the end of our freshman year, I was asked to accompany a men's quartet to which he belonged. We got to be really good friends through that, and a year later started dating.
When you graduated from college, what was your next step?
Well, Cory and I were engaged by the time we graduated. So, the next step was getting married 2 1/2 months after graduation. Then, we moved to the Boston, Massachusetts area where my husband attended seminary. We were there for four years.
Where have you lived since college? What kinds of job? How did you get to your present home?
Well, as I mentioned, we lived in the Boston area for four years. We lived mostly on the North Shore, but our church was located in a southern neighborhood of Boston called Dorchester. Cory was getting his Masters of Divinity with a focus in urban ministry, so we went to church in the 'hood. Our last three months there, we lived in Dorchester.
After seminary, we moved to Syracuse, NY (Cory's hometown) to live with his parents for a year and recuperate from seminary. During that year, Cory started looking for churches. We were called by First Baptist Church of Passaic, NJ and moved there in September 2004. Passaic is in North Jersey (nine miles from NYC).
There were challenges, but we enjoyed it. After three years, we felt like the Lord was calling us to move on. In August 2007, we were called to First Baptist Church of Hollidaysburg, Pa., (about an hour south of State College - the home of Penn State) and are thrilled to be here. The town is so similar to Bluffton and just great for raising kids!
As far as jobs, I spent the first nine months of our marriage as a nanny, which I quickly found out was not for me! But, I did find out that I had a knack for insurance and spent about two years as a customer service agent, where I managed to earn my associates degree in personal lines insurance. Also, during that time,
I spent about 18 months as the Minister of Music at our church, which was a little out of my comfort zone as it was a black church. But, I loved it and black gospel has since become my favorite genre. Since leaving Boston, I've been blessed to be a stay-at-home mom and teach piano and voice privately.
Tell me about your family - husband, kids? Do your kids love music, too? Are they performers even at their young ages?
I've told you quite a bit about Cory already. He's my best friend, and has been since before we were dating. He's also a singer and pianist, although he doesn't get to do as much of that anymore. However, when he decides he needs me to do special music for church at the last minute, he's usually the one to accompany me.
Yes, we have three kids. Jack is 8 and was born when we were in Massachusetts. He loves all sports, but particularly baseball and football. He was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes four years ago and wears an insulin pump. We support JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation) whenever we have the chance. Not many people realize that we could be as close as four years to a cure for juvenile diabetes. He loves music too. In fact, he's recently become a big fan of the Beatles after having seen "Beatlemania" last summer. He's also getting into musical theater and will be making his stage debut as Tiny Tim in a musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" this holiday season.
Orphie is 4 and named after a great aunt of mine. She was born in New Jersey. She loves all things princess and is following in my footsteps as she is now taking tap and ballet lessons. She's a great singer. She's also going to be making her stage debut in "A Christmas Carol" as Gretl Cratchett. (I will be portraying Mrs. Cratchett).
Arwen is our little elf. She's named after a character from "Lord of the Rings." She was born three months after we moved to Pennsylvania. She'll be 2 in December. She's always happy and has started singing just recently, so I think we're three for three in the music area. She performs daily in her crib, but will not be joining her brother, sister and me on stage quite yet.
Where are your parents by now? Sisters?
My dad got a job about two weeks before my wedding as the Associate Dean for Residence Life at Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky. So, when I left my house on the morning of my wedding, I left my house for good. My parents are still living in Wilmore.
My dad is finishing up his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky and my mom is an office manager for a claims company. Stephanie is married and living in Lexington, Ky. She works as an administrative assistant for a CPA firm and is pursuing her Masters of Social Work. Leslie is married and living in Cincinnati. She works for the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, and also teaches a theater appreciation course at a local community college.
According to FB, you're applying to grad school. Music, I assume, but what degree?
Yes! I have finally taken the plunge and applied to grad school. I started up voice lessons again about 15 months ago and am really excited with where I am headed vocally. I'm applying to Penn State University for a Master's in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. There will probably be a musical theater concentration thrown in there somewhere too. I'm hoping to start next fall.
I know your husband is a pastor - is he the lead pastor of your church? How do you feel about being a "pastor's wife"? What is your involvement in the church?
Cory is the solo pastor of our church. We have a small congregation... about 60 in attendance on Sunday mornings. I really enjoy being a pastor's wife. I feel I was very well-prepared for the role.
Both of my grandfathers are pastors, and my dad pastored a church in Rawson for about eight years. So, I don't think I could've received better training than watching my grandmothers and mom as pastor's wives. I don't consider myself the stereotypical pastor's wife, but I probably am more than I think.
I make sure that I have a good group of friends completely unconnected to the church that I can just be myself with, which is essential. That being said, I am pretty involved with the church. I serve on the Board of Education and lead a women's Bible study.
I have a passion for women to understand the Word of God and love that group. I also am involved with the 7-12 grade girls. This was something that kind of fell into my lap in the last year and has been a tremendous blessing. And, as I mentioned before, I do solo work whenever the pastor requests.
It appears that you're involved in some drama/theater-type performing. Tell me about what plays/musicals, etc. you've performed in. Do you do any solo performing? Ever sung a solo in the Messiah?
Well, I did do quite a bit of theater in Bluffton. I was involved in many church plays as a kid, and then the musicals in 8th, 10th and 12th grades. I portrayed the Munchkin Coroner in 1991's "The Wizard of Oz", Moonbeam McSwine in 1993's "Li'l Abner" and Dolly Levi in 1995's "Hello, Dolly!"
Since high school, I hadn't done much. But, last spring, our local community theater was doing "The Sound of Music", so I auditioned and was cast as a nun. I got bit by the bug again, and auditioned for another show that just closed. It's called "Ghosts: The Musical" and in it, I portrayed the ghost of an opera singer named Hilda Hess. It's written by a local guy here and we had a wonderful run.
The same playwright has written the musical "A Christmas Caroled" that Jack and Orphie will be doing with me next month. So, I'm slowly starting to get back into theater. I'm planning to audition for two shows in the spring/summer of next year before I take a break from it while working on my master's.
My voice coach at Penn State is the head of the musical theater department, so we've really been working on that side of my voice. I do some solo work in the community. I've sung the National Anthem and "God Bless America" for our local minor league team on a number of occasions, as well as some other church/community events.
I have not yet sung a solo in the Messiah, but would love the opportunity to sing the soprano solos for that. Some day!
What do you miss most about Bluffton? Do you stay in touch with any friends here?
This time of the year is always the worst for me when it comes to missing Bluffton. I really miss Friday night football games and the homecoming parade. I miss my parents' store - The Sports Warehouse (but am glad it's still in business). Hollidaysburg is very close to Bluffton, but it's just not the same.
I miss the people I grew up with who remember things about me like the fact that I was heavily involved in Girl Scouts. Mostly, I miss the people. I remember a few years ago when Ricky Matter passed away and all I wanted to do when I found out was get in the car and drive to Bluffton and just be there.
There is something special about that place! I do stay in touch with a few friends, but many of my friends from Bluffton have moved away and even have parents that have moved away. Facebook has been great, as it has enabled me to be in touch with many of my classmates.
Where do you see you and your family in 10 years from now?
This is a tricky question as I've been laboring over this for the last couple of days for my grad school application. The easy answer is wherever God wants us. I would like to still be in Hollidaysburg.
Ideally, all my kids will be able to grow up here and graduate from high school here. But, honestly, I do not know what the future holds in store, especially as I go forward with my music career. I know that things I thought were only dreams a few years ago seem much closer to reality now. And that's exciting!
