Lititz Record Express

              T H E RESS
SERUINH THE WARWICK AREA EOR MORE THAIS A CENTURY
106th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL 1877 AS THE SUNBEAM
CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LlTlTZ RECORD 1937 Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, March 3,1983 25 CENTS A COPY: $7.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 22 Pages-No. 50
Record Express Photo/Dana King
Jeanette and Norman Adair have been hosts to nearly 50 international
students from 18 different countries over the last 14 years.
T h e y B r in g T h e W o r ld
T o T h e i r L iv in g R o o m
By Kathleen King
During the Second World
War, Norman Adair of Lititz
was stationed in England as
an Air Force information
officer.One weekend he was
waiting for a train to return
to his duty station and saw
a couple saying goodbye
to their soldier-son. Ap­parently
realizing that Adair
had a considerable wait for
his own train, they invited
him to their home for tea.
That English couple’s
hospitality and warmth so
impressed him that Adair
resolved someday to do
something similiar.
Adair has many times
over returned the hospitality
to others that he received
from that English couple. In
the last 14 years he and his
wife Jeanette have hosted
“ 50-60” in te rn a tion a l
students for a weekend stay
at their home at 321 Front St.
Like Adair was, these men
are in the military, far from
home. Stationed at Aberdeen,
Maryland, thevmen who come
as guests to his home are in
the United States to study
weaponry and mechanics.
They come from the U.S.’s
allied countries all over the
The Warwick Community
Drug and Alcohol Action
Committee is sponsoring a
series of three workshops to
be conducted by Barbara
Busko, a family counselor,
for parents and interested
persons, on how to improve
their relationships within the
family and with others by
using the r e s o u r c e s
available through these
r e la t io n s h ip s . The
workshops will be held in the
Warwick High School
Library on three Thursdays,
March 10,17 and 24 from 7 to
8 p.m.
The fragmentation of
relationships is seen in in­creasing
divorce rates,
school and job failures, drug
and alcohol abuse, and a
general sense of loneliness.
The purpose of the
workshops will be to help
persons identify and use
approaches that will lead to
greater personal satisfaction
and a real sense of family
closeness. Anyone interested
in improving their un­world,
and are of all races,
creeds, nationalities and
backgrounds. But Adair
treats them with the same
warmth and openness that
he remembers from nearly
40 years ago.
The Adairs’ involvement
in this program came about
almost as uniquely as his
long-ago experience in
England. He and his wife
met an unusual woman,
Christina Tsai, at a funeral
14 years ago. According to
Adair, Miss Tsai, a Chinese
refugee who lives in
Paradise, had come into
contact with some of these
men at Aberdeen because of
their Chinese nationality.
The United States govern­ment
apparently asked her
to help find host families for
these men to give them an
opportunity to meet
Americans in a face-to-face,
family-oriented situation.
The Adairs agreed to open
their home and since then
have hosted international
students three weekends a
year, in February, June and
November.
The host program is now
coordinated by the First
Presbyterian Church of
derstanding and im­p
ro v em en t of th e ir
relationships with others and
within their family are
encouraged to attend.
Other programs being
offered during March are the
regular meetings of the
Parent Support Group held
at 8 p.m. at the St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church on Orange
Street. On March 3, Jim
Dowdy from the Juvenile
Probation Office of Lan­caster
County will meet with
parents and on March 31,
Carl Snyder from the
N a tio n a l C ou n cil of
Alcoholism will meet with
the group. Support Group
members will be available
on each Thursday evening to
meet new parents and those
persons not attending the
workshops on the family.
Anyone interested in
joining the Community Drug
and Alcohol Action Com­mittee
should contact Dr.
John Bonfield, Superin­tendent
of Warwick Schools
at 626-2061.
Strasburg, Adair said. He
said the students are picked
up at Aberdeen on Saturday
morning and given a tour of
the county. The host families
go to Strasburg Saturday
afternoon and bring their
guests home.
Adair said it has always
been his custom to take his
guest to church with him
Sunday morning. Although
many of the students are of a
faith other than Christian,
they are attentive and in­terested
in the church ser­vice,
he said.
Khelifi Mohamed Lamine
- most recent visitor.
Sunday evenings the
families and their guests
return to the church in
Strasburg for a covered-dish
supper, after which the men
go back to Aberdeen.
“The purpose of the
program,” Adair said, “is to
let the visitors know people
here aren’t like on TV. It’s
not like ‘Dallas’ or like the
‘Dukes of Hazzard.’ They
have the idea that the
American people are all
rich.”
Adair said his guests “are
impressed by the love that is
shown, by the hospitality and
the Christian attitude of the
(Turn to Page 4)
i NOTICE i
♦ The monthly meeting ♦
♦ of the Lititz Retailer’s ♦
♦ Association has been ♦
♦ scheduled for the second ♦
♦ Wednesday of this ♦
♦ month. The March ♦
♦ meeting will be held ♦
♦ next Wednesday, March ♦
♦ 9th at 7:30 P.M. at Wells ♦
♦ Warwick House. ♦
♦ All area businessmen ♦
♦ are welcome and invited ♦
♦ to attend. ♦
♦ ♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ «
Committee To Sponsor
Series Of Workshops
Warwick School District Budget
Projected Goal Is No Tax Hike
No tax hike and less than
three percent budget in­crease
is the forecast for the
Warwick School District as
the committees and board
have their early looks at the
various budget categories.
“We have a couple of
things working for us,” said
Dr. John Bonfield, district
superintendent, of the
aspects which will enable the
district to realize that
projected “no tax increase”
goal.
“We’re beginning to
realize some of the benefits
of our en e rg y co n ­servation...
insulation, clos­ing
in windows, energy
management...And the cost
of energy is coming down,”
he pointed out as one of the
“for us” facets.
The second aspect that Dr.
Bonfield pointed out as
working in the district’s
favor is the reduction in debt
service which, with the eprly
pay off on the Kissel Hill
School, dropped from
$832,000 in 1982-83 to $580,000
for 1983-84.
Energy Conservation
Dr. Bonfield explained the
en e rg y c o n s e rv a tio n
measures taken in the
district schools as an
ongoing matter constantly
under review.
“Right now we are
looking, with the buildings
and Property Committee, at
the heat costs per square
foot in the school buildings,
just to see what sort of
figures we come up with”
and ultimately, where to
save both money and
energy.
“We want to see if some
buildings are more energy
efficient than others.” Dr.
Bonfield explained that 5400
was the approximate
average for degree days,
and that 5787 was the base
degree days figure for the
1981-82. He showed that
heating costs at the all
electric, air conditioned
middle school during that
period were .82 per square
foot; at Kissel Hill, also all
electric, .60 per square foot;
at Lititz Elementary, .64 per
square foot; at John Beck,
,76 per square foot; and at
the high school, .62 per
square foot.
He continued, “We will
save an undetermined
amount because of this mild
winter, but we had a mild
winter in ‘80-81’, too and
comparative figures show
that it cost us .84 per square
foot to heat John Beck School
that year compared to the .76
for 81-82.”
Dr. Bonfield expects to see
significant savings for the
1982- 83 school year, but the
tallies haven’t been com­piled
yet.
“ We are seeing the
benefits of our energy
management systems,” he
remarked and explained
that all of those savings
would be reflected in the
upcoming budget.
Debt Service
Debt Service is that
portion of the budget which
is usually compared to a
mortgage.
It is regulated by payment
schedules and includes
payment for the Lititz
E lem e n ta r y S ch oo l
renovation, the Middle
School and the deferred
maintenance loan used to re­roof
Lititz Elementary, the
high school and a portion of
the middle school.
With the early payoff on
the Kissel Hill School the
debt service portion of the
1983- 84 budget will drop
significantly, but Dr. Bon­field
was careful to point out
that there will be a jump
again the the debt service
payment schedule for the
following year.
“We can take advantage of
a savings this year” but in
future years there will be a
fluctuation. Funds for the
early payoff came from
investments made by the
Authority. .
This year Warwick ex­pects
to budget about seven
----------------------------- * ¥ *
" We’re beginning to
realize some of the
benefits of our energy
conservation ... debt
service has dropped
with the early pay o ff
of Kissel H ill School.’'
-Dr. John Bonfield
---------------------------------- ¥ ¥ ¥
percent for debt service as
opposed to the ten to eleven
percent of previous years.
Projections
“We are aware of the oc­cur
ranees in the economy,”
Dr. Bonfield nodded, and
explained that the district
¥ ¥
¥ ¥
notes the hardships.
“Families are using income
to meet basic family needs,”
he emphasized, “And the
District’s goal is to keep
costs down.”
Some portions of the
budget are dictated by
outside influences and the
board has little control over
amounts in those cases.
Other portions of the budget
will show reductions this
year due to investments and
up to date maintenance.
Transporation costs are
one of the areas which
reflect the outside influence
and is anticipated to be up
about two percent his year
according to Dr. Bonfield.
“We constantly review both
the public and non-public
transportation arrangeme­n
t s ,” he commented,
“looking for ways to save.”
Contracted transportation
costs are determined by a
state mandated formula.
Hospitalization and
Retirement are other areas
for which the budget makers
must set aside funds ac-
(Turnto Page 12)
A n d e rso n T e lls C om m iss io n
Water R e p o rt Was 'G a rb le d ’
Reports on recent con­tamination
of Lititz Borough
wells were “garbled” in the
Lancaster newspapers and
on some radio stations,
David Anderson, director of
public works for the
borough, told the Planning
Commission Tuesday night.
Anderson sa id the
reportedly high levels of
nitrate were not out of line
with the normal range of
nitrate levels Lititz has
experienced over the last
several years.
“For the past five years,”
Anderson said, “we have
been doing a weekly nitrate
level study in cooperation
with DER (Department of
Environmental Resouces)
and EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency). The
level stays within the 13-15
milligrams per liter level
with 15 milligrams per liter
being on the rare side. Most
of the time the level is 13.9
milligrams per liter.”
Anderson sa id the
maximum, nitrate level
permitted under DER/EPA
standards is 10 mg/1, after
which the borough is
required to notify residents
of the problem and to
recommend that certain
classes of residents do not
drink borough water.
High nitrate levels in the
40 mg/1 range can adversely
affect the natural immunity
system of a newborn baby,
Anderson said. “This
generally affects infants
only in the first six weeks of
life,” he said. “However,”
he added, “we recommend
that children under six
months of age are not given
(borough) water when the
nitrate level exceeds 10
mg/1.”
Anderson stressed the fact
that boiling the water will
not alleviate the problem,
but will in fact intensify it
because the nitrates become
concentrated in the water
when it is boiled.
He also said that there has
heen “ nothing to sub­stantiate”
that drinking
water with high nitrate
levels will cause harm to a
pregnant woman and her
unborn child, or to a nursing
woman and her baby.
“EPA and DER are
having real problems
(Turn to Page 12)
In This Issue
Editorial 4
Sports Section 6,7,8,9
Classified 12,13
Social 10,11
Church 18
Business Directory 20
American Packaging Closing Plant
A little moii than two
weeks after Frank Bittner,
business manager of
A m e r ic a n P a c k a g in g
Corporation’s Lititz Division
specifically stated “we are
not leaving Lititz,” the
corporation announced it
will shut down the Lititz
plant permanently.
On F rid ay Stanley
Schottland, president of the
Philadelphia based Cor­poration
announced in a
surprise move that the Lititz
plant will close within the
next two to three weeks.
This reversal came on the
heels of the corporation’s
Feb. 9 announcement that it
was changing its product
line from commercial
printing to the printing of
labels for jars, cans and
boxes. At that time Bittner
had said the plant would be
closed until mid to late April
when they would begin
printing the labels.
The shutdown will idle the
remaining 45 employees of
the plant except for a few
maintenance workers.
American Packaging had
laid off 120 employees since
the beginning of 1983, but
Bittner said it hoped to bring
back “a good number” of
laid-off employees when the
conversion to the new
product line was completed.
The company has no plans
to sell the 100,000 square feet
building located at 525
Furnace Hills Pike, ac­cording
to Schottland.
Schottland said American
Packaging intends to con­vert
the building into a
"printer’s mall” , which
would involve leasing space
to a number of small
businesses that would run
d if f e r e n t p r in tin g
operations. This concept was
once a fairly common
practice in larger cities,
during the 30’s and 40’s and
is apparently making a come
back.
The decision came about
because the change to label
printing would require a
much more research and
development, Schottland
said. However, he also said
American Packaging hoped
to operate a label production
business in one part of the
printer’s mall, but he did not
know how soon his company
would be ready to begin that
operation.
The converesion to a
printer’s mall is expected to
take place in the next
several months, according to
Schottland, who remarked
that the company had
already begun talks with
several prospective renters.
A carton production side of
the business, which was
upgraded last year with the
addition of a modern gluer,
will be removed, and the
equipment will be sold or
shipped to American
Packaging’s Middletown,
Ohio plant.
In the original an­nouncement
of a change of
product line, Bittner said the
corporation was getting out
of the commercial printing
business because “ the
commercial and specialty
printing business is not
predictable.” He said that
the company wanted to have
its Lititz plant “fit into the
corporation’s ‘niche’, ”
which he explained is
packaging and labeling.
Bittner had said then that
during the peak production
times from October to
December the plant em­ployed
as many as 200
people.
Bittner said Tuesday that
he had no additional com­ments
to make beyond what
was reported by the daily
papers and that he “was not
authorized to give an in­terview”
on the matter.
History of Acquistion
According to Harry
Wagaman, who with his
brother Charles founded
Wagaman Brothers in 1945,
the plant was first sold to a
conglomerate, Pubco, of
Washington D.C. in 1968.
Wagaman said he and his
brother then bought the
plant back in 1976 and again
sold the controlling stock,
several years later, to Zabel
Brothers of Philadelphia.
Charles Wagaman died in
February of 1977. His widow,
Mrs. Peg Wagaman, told the
Record Express that she’s
“glad he’s not here to see
what’s happening. He
couldn’t have taken it
standing up. It would have
broken his heart.” Mrs.
Wagaman said her husband
“was a printer from, the
word ‘go’” and that “he lived
for” the business, which he
and his brother “built up
from nothing.”
Zabel B ro th e rs was
acquired by American
Packaging, then known as
American Bag and Paper, in
1981.
American Packaging has
seven divisions, 1000 em­ployees
and does about $100
million in sales annually,
according to Schottland.
One former employee, who
is now looking for a job, said
she will miss the atmosphere
of the plant because “it was
sort of a like a family there.”
American Packaging Corporation's shutdown of start of 1983, 120 workers have been laid off by
its Lititz plant will idle the remaining 45 employees the Philadelphia based company,
except for a few maintenance workers. Since the