Lititz Record Express

              from the staff o f
T H E B E S S
SER VIMi THE it ARUKK AREA FOR MORE THAS A ( E\Tl RY
105th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL 1877 AS THE SUNBEAM
CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 1937
Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Tuesday, December 22,1981 2 0CENTS A COPY; S6 0 0 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 22 Pag«$*No. 39
'Snow Bunny’ Keeps Multiplying!
Wfe trad trouble keeping up with this "Dolly
Parton-built" snow bunny and her little bunnies on
East Second Avenue. It seems every time we pass
by, there are more bunnies! Mrs. Bunny is the
$40,000 Damage Estimated
After Fire Guts Home
A Rothsville family lost
their home Wednesday af­ternoon
after fire gutted
their two-story home at 3
Shirley Lane, Rothsville,
causing an estimated $40,000
damage to the house and its
contents. None of the family
was home at the time of the
fire.
According to Claude
Young Sr., Rothsville Fire
Chief, Rothsville and Akron
firemen were called to the
scene at 1:3£ p.m. by a
neighbor who lived next door
and spotted smoke coming
from the building.
The house, owned by
Bruce Kirby, received ex­tensive
damage to the kit­chen,
completely gutting it,
and did major damage to the
u p s ta ir s rooms and
bathroom, Young said.
The Rothsville Fire Chief
also said that firemen had to
remove both interior and
exterior walls at the rear
and sides of the two-story
home to get to the fire.
Firemen were able to save
some of the Kirby’s furniture
from the front of the house.
The Lititz Air Truck was
called to the scene to refill
air tanks which had been
used to fight the smoky
blaze.
Young said Kirby had been
home for lunch earlier and
apparently had left one of
the burners lighted on the
gas stove when he went out
to do Christmas shopping.
The walls had apparently
been smoldering for some
time before the smoke was
noticed by a neighbor. He
said the house was not
ablaze when firemen
arrived. The Rothsville
Ambulance was also on the
scene.
Between 50 and 60 firemen
were on the scene until 5:15
p.m.
The Red Cross was
notified and will assist the
family, who will be staying
with Kirby’s parents in
Neffsville. Firemen said the
family lost appliances,
clothing and furniture.
Record Express
To Publish Early
Next week’s edition
(New Year’s) will be
printed several days
earlier than usual. The
edition will be on the
newsstand late Monday,
Dec. 28 and will be
received in the mail by
subscribers Tuesday,
Dec. 29.
Deadline for sub­mitting
classified and
display advertising will
be Monday at 12 noon.
Deadline for all news
is Monday at 9 a.m.
We urge that news be
sent in as early as
possible. It may be
dropped in the mail slot
at the Record Express
office, 22 E. Main St.,
rear, Lititz, anytime
over the weekend.
Trash Collections
Rescheduled
Due to the Christmas
Holiday, Friday’s trash
collection (northeast
section of the Borough)
is rescheduled to be
picked up THURSDAY,
the day b e fo re
Christmas. Please
make certain your trash
is put out Wednesday
night, December 23rd.
Due to the New Year’s
Holiday, Friday’s trash
collection (northeast
section of the Borough)
is rescheduled to be
picked up the day before
New Year’s Day, along
with the regularly
scheduled Thursday
pickup. Please make
certain your trash is put
out Wednesday night,
December 30th.
\ti ■ V
' ' ; 'K ; ' •’
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Winter Is Officially Served
As Frosted 'Sugar Plum’
By Mildred Spear
With visions of sugar
plums on eveybody’s mind,
the weather gathered the
ingredients for a seasonal
confection and iced it with a
whipped topping and swirls
of frosting.
Monday marked the of­ficial
“ serving-up” of
winter, with the charted
moment listed as 5:55 p.m.
In a rather haphazard
approach to her recipe, the
weather started her glazed
Christmas dish/ with a
brilliant sparkling frosting
of snow, about seven inches
thick, then was expected to
switch, according to Monday
forecasts, to a sprinkled
icing which could have been
made of rain, freezing rain,
sleet or even more snow.
The well-chilled, icebox
selection, was expected to he
served on a silver grey
background as skies were
forecast to become cloudy
Monday (yesterday) and,
depending on the tem­perature,
ice or rain could
become the added toppings.
Snow people began to
populate the area and it
seems that they may be the
only folks who can bear the
plummeting temperatures,
reported, unofficially at two
to five degrees.
A probably frost bitten,
winter smitten balloonist
was seen aloft, in the early
morning hours yesterday, in
the direction of the Lan­caster
Airoort. We’ve heard
tjiat cold weather is the best
time for balloonists to enjoy
their time aloft.
Richard Hess of the Great
Adventure Balloon Club
explained that cold air is
denser air and soaring aloft
on a frigid day actually
convserves fuel, a project we
are all supporting!
“A balloon floats better in
cold air and we actually take
less hot air to float,” he
explained.
Motorists are taking a
cautious approach to going
hither and yon on holiday
errands and with the ex­pectation
of icy roads for the
p re -C h ris tm a s week,
shoppers are jamming
stores/tolbe sure all the gifts
are wrapped and ready in
plenty of time.
Some /roads still had icy
ids
patches yesterday and the
forecast called for rain
changing to freezing ram
during the night. The high
was expected to be 33
degrees.
Rain is expected to con­tinue
into Tuesday with the
temperature reaching 40.
Sunday’s low temperature
was a 21 degree reading
between 5 and 8 a.m.
If the ingredients are
gathered and mixed in
e x a c tly the p ro p e r
proportions, Christmas will
be white and glazed with a
glistening, if treacherous
coating.
Slick Roads Cause Accidents
Penn Township Police Charge
Man With Harrassment
offspring of the imagination, hard work and time of
Barbara Schmertz, right, 315 E. Second Ave., with
whom the bunnies live, and Trixie Greiner, 208 E.
Second Ave.
In This Issue
Editorial 4
Sports Section 6,7,8,9
Social 12,13
Manheim News 14
Church 16
Business Directory 18
Classified 19,20,21
A Manheim man was
arrested by Penh Township
Police on two counts of
harrassment by com­munications.
J.L. Witmer, 30, of Marjo
Avenue, Manheim, was
arrested December 15 for
the offenses, which occurred
on December 10 and
December 14, police said.
Witmer allegedly called the
emergency number “911”
and played music for several
minutes; he also called
several times and made
false claims about a fire and
about a ban on music, ac­cording
to the police report.
After Officer Snavely
talked to Witmer about the
incidents, Witmer called 911
and accused the officer of
harrassing him, police said.
following tins incident,
Snavely filed the charges
against Witmer. After a
hearing before Justice
Stoner, Witmer was com­mitted
td Lancaster County
Prison.
Penn Township police
report a one vehicle accident
occurred December 14 at
11:25 p.m. on Penn Valley
(Turn to Page 15)
Santa Gives Gifts To Children
Gate House Opens Doors
To Spirit Of Christmas
By Emerson Moran
Small children were raised
up merrily in burly arms to
help decorate a tree and a
nervous Santa, toting a grab
bag of gifts, found his “Ho
Ho Ho” a few days early on
Dec. 19 as the men of The
Gate House shared in a
special Christmas party with
a group of needy youngsters
from lititz.
The Gate House, a con­verted
mansion set back
from East Main Street on the
edge of the borough, is a
halfway house for men
recovering from alcoholism
and drug addiction.
For many of the men, this
was the first Christmas in
years free from the despair
and struggle of addiction.
For the children it was an
occasion of holiday festivity
which otherwise may not
have touched them.
Funds for the party were
donated by Lititz and
Lancaster County mer­chants
and businessmen,
Gate House alumni, and
members of Alcoholics
Anonymous in the area. /
(Turn to Page 5)
The Kirby family of 3 Shirley Lane, Rothsville, were left homeless Wednesday
afternoon when fire gutted their house, causing an estimated $40,000 in
damages. (Photo by Pat Lamb)
Warwick’s School
District’s Office
Holiday Schedule
During the Christ-m
a s /N ew Y e a rs
Holiday period, the
Warwick School District
Offices will be closed on
December 24, 25, 31 and
January 1. All district
offices and buildings
will be open on
December 28, 29 and 30
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(Photos by Pat Herr )
Jolly Old St. ¡Nick, with his “Ho-Ho" and his “Have you been good this year?”
listens intently as these children reveal their fondest wishes for Christmas had
come true at the party Saturday afternoon. “Merry Christmas, Santa!”