It’s that time of year when thousands of Pennsylvanians typically pack their bags and head to New York City for the gabfest and party atmosphere that attracts anyone and everyone who is active in Pennsylvania politics - or wants to be.
But this year’s Pennsylvania Society weekend that kicks off on Friday will be different.
Concerns about COVID-19 - variants, vaccinations and new mask mandates - means this long weekend tradition of networking, gossiping and seeing a politico-filled conga line move from party to party across Manhattan is shaping up to be a shell of what it has been in years past.
Fewer events are planned. Fewer people plan to attend. All that translates to fewer opportunities to speak to decision-makers or shake loose some campaign contributions, which if not for the pandemic, would make this year’s Society weekend a must-stop for the army of candidates vying for Pennsylvania’s open seats for U.S. Senate and governor.
For the first time in decades, The Pennsylvania Society returning after a one-year break will more closely resemble the event that got it started 123 years ago when Pennsylvania industrialists who had moved to the Empire State gathered for a dinner to wheel and deal and catch up on happenings in their home state.
Back then, it was just a dinner. Over the years, it evolved into a Thursday night to Sunday morning affair with dozens of receptions, seminars, fundraisers, and parties in the lead-up and follow-up to what this year will be a $600-a-plate Saturday evening dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Last year’s pandemic-driven cancellation of the Society dinner - a first in its history - resulted in the entire weekend of events being called off. Society President Edward Sheehan Jr. said that just proves to anyone who had any doubt, the annual dinner is the heart of Society weekend.
“I think this weekend will show that,” he said. “Because there are fewer receptions, that will remind people of the importance of the dinner.”
So its return – and getting it back on people’s calendar – makes Sheehan very happy. After all, the dinner is the major fundraiser for the nonprofit organization that has contributed millions of dollars over the years to charitable organizations and scholarships.
“We’re very pleased and excited about our dinner,” he said. “When you have to cancel it, that’s a lot of momentum that comes to a stop. So we’re very excited about getting that going and realize we have to rebuild that momentum.”
This year’s dinner will celebrate the efforts of Pennsylvania’s front-line workers who helped their communities navigate the pandemic. Special recognition will be paid to Dr. Ala Stanford of Philadelphia, who founded the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. She was chosen to receive the Society’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement.
Stanford, along with her team, created a COVID-19 testing and vaccination program that went into communities of color in Pennsylvania to reduce the incidence of and deaths from the virus.
“She touched the lives of at least 80,000 people and so we’re so proud of her and what she has done to help her fellow Pennsylvanians,” Sheehan said. “We’re just elated with the fact that she’s accepted our Gold Medal.”
Attendance will be down
Attendance at the dinner, where individuals must show proof of vaccination to gain entry, is expected to be around 450, Sheehan said.
That is down from the 700 to 800 who typically have attended the dinner since it moved in 2017 to the Hilton from the historic Waldorf Astoria, which closed while undergoing major renovations.
“Attendance will be lower this year. That’s not unexpected,” Sheehan said. “We know some people are still not quite comfortable getting out in public and so on and we appreciate and respect that. We welcome them next year when we have our dinner in 2022.”
This is a scene outside a reception held during a 2018 Pennsylvania Society weekend. This year's return of the Society's annual dinner and ancillary events following a one-year break due to COVID-19, is expected to draw less of a crowd. File/PennLive.com
Another big draw to Society weekend is the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association annual Saturday morning seminar and luncheon at the posh Metropolitan Club. Attendance at this invitation-only event, sponsored this year by Exton-based Bentley Systems, also is expected to be lighter – about half of the usual 300 to 350 who typically attend, said David Taylor, PMA’s president and CEO.
He attributes the decline to the cancellation of many of the weekend’s ancillary events. Still, he said as long as the Society dinner is being held, PMA’s event will go on.
ColdSpark, a Republican political consulting firm, plans to hold its Friday afternoon reception, one of just a few events listed on Politics Pa’s line-up of Society events.
“Ours is a much more laid-back event at an Irish pub,” said Mark Harris, a founding partner of ColdSpark. “People come and have appetizers and a beer and leave.”
He said he is looking forward to it.
“There’s a lot of folks I haven’t seen since the pandemic,” Harris said. “So it’ll be good to reconnect with them.”
Meanwhile, The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry that traditionally drew a packed crowd to its Friday morning breakfast decided to take a pass this year.
Gene Barr, the chamber’s president and CEO, said after hearing that a lot of the chamber’s members weren’t going to New York and many other events he attended in the past weren’t being held, “it didn’t make sense to put on the event we do.”
The Bravo Group, a Harrisburg-based public affairs and marketing group, also decided to call off their reception as well.
“Tough decision but with recent news about variants, breakthroughs and New York City looking at further restrictions, we thought packing a couple hundred friends in Maggie’s Pub didn’t make sense this year,” said Dennis Walsh, Bravo’s government relations president.
Same goes for the Friday evening dessert & coffee (and liquor) event Ceisler Media has hosted, said the firm’s founder Larry Ceisler.
Charlie Gerow, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and CEO of Quantum Communications, also called off his firm’s Friday morning policy briefing event that has been another weekend fixture. He said while he will attend, uncertainty about COVID-19 restrictions led to the cancellation of his briefing.
House Republican Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland County, said he’s going but made the call to cancel that committee’s events as well as another one he sponsors on his own.
“There’s a lot of pre-expenses that go into it that if you cancel, you lose a lot of money,” he said.
Who’s going, not going
House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton is going. McClinton, the first female floor leader in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, is hosting a Friday afternoon reception. https://www.politicspa.com/the-full-2021-pa-society-list-of-events/99361/
Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, the state’s first female floor leader in that chamber, is not attending. Neither is her counterpart in the House, Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, who is quarantining at home after testing positive for a breakthrough case of the coronavirus, or House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County plans to attend on Friday and Saturday. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre County, another Republican gubernatorial candidate, is also going and speaking at the PMA event.
But presumed Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who also was invited to speak, is not going, citing COVID-19 concerns, a spokesman said.
Other Republican gubernatorial candidates scheduled to speak at the PMA event include former Congressman Lou Barletta, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain and former Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry president and CEO Guy Ciarrocchi, Taylor said.
Joining them will be Montgomery County real estate developer Jeff Bartos, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a Democrat, both of whom are among the field of candidates seeking the open seat that U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is vacating. Toomey also is in the line-up to speak at the PMA seminar. Taylor said television personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a recently declared candidate for that U.S. Senate seat, is unable to attend the PMA event as is another GOP Senate candidate Carla Sands.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who has held a holiday reception in the past, is going to be a no-show this year. Same goes with Democratic U.S. Senate candidates – Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta – both of whom have a scheduling conflict.
Gov. Tom Wolf is holding true to his general avoidance of attending the Society weekend. Also on the list of no-shows are former Govs. Tom Corbett, Mark Schweiker and Tom Ridge, their spokesmen said. A spokesperson for Gov. Ed Rendell said as of Wednesday that Rendell was not planning to attend.
Some like state Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia, said after last year’s cancellation of Society weekend, he didn’t put it on his calendar.
“Yesterday, someone asked me, ‘Hey, I guess I’ll see you up in New York.’ I said for what?” Solomon said on Tuesday. “I completely forgot it was PA Society weekend. So I assume that is the malaise we’re all in in losing sight of those typical dates on our calendar because of COVID.”
Regardless of which politicians show up or not, some regular attendees say there’s a good chance they will be talked about as folks with a strong appetite for politics gather.
“I think the nomination battles and general election are going to dominate the informal discussions,” said longtime Society attendee and political observer Terry Madonna. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. When you got a lot of people with a great deal of influence who will be attending, it always is.”
Why New York?
The age-old question that surrounds this event is: why New York?
Some wonder if last year’s cancellation and this year’s low attendance present an opportunity to pivot to another location – maybe one in Pennsylvania.
But Sheehan, Society president, said that is not in the cards.
Since those captains of industry from Pennsylvania first gathered in 1899, the event always has been staged in New York City.
“It comes down to tradition. That’s how it started. That’s where we began and we will continue to do that,” Sheehan said.
Besides, he said, if the event was held in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, it might not attract the same numbers, since many people tend to get to those cities at other times during the year.
“But a lot of people don’t get to New York all that often so it’s a draw,” Sheehan said. “We can tell by the numbers of people who come, not just to the dinner but to these receptions, it’s a big deal. It’s a big draw.”
Sheehan said he has been going to Society weekend for more than 20 years. He loves its history, the tradition, the networking and simply, the chance to celebrate Pennsylvania and recognize a Pennsylvanian with its Gold Medal has done something exceptional.
“That’s the one thing PA Society has always, always offered,” Ceisler said. “It offered a chance for people to talk and realize even if someone is on the other side of an issue, they are person. When you are at PA Society, you cannot attack people via social media. You have to talk face to face. "
Rothman, who is one of the society’s life members, said, “You would go there and talk to people that live in your same hometown but you would spend more time talking with them in New York than maybe that you would back in Harrisburg.”
Sheehan said he has been going to Society weekend for more than 20 years. He loves its history, the tradition, the networking, the city’s attractions, and simply the chance to celebrate Pennsylvania and recognize a Pennsylvanian with its Gold Medal for doing something exceptional.
“It brings people together and there’s a lot of other things to do while you are there,” he said. “We’re together [in Pennsylvania] 364 days a year. We can take one day and all be in New York and have a good time.”
*This story was updated to reflect Sen. Jay Costa’s plans to attend Society weekend.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.