Lititz Record Express

              T H E R E S S
S E R U IN d T H E W A R W I C K A R E A E O R M O R E T H A IS A C E N T U R Y
107th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL 1877 AS THE SUNBEAM Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 1937 March 24,1__9_8_3_
25 CENTS A COPY: $7.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 22 Pages-No. 1
The three story 1850’s Federal style addition to the Congregational store was
created as a community store and has remained a store throughout its
existence.
Lititz Police Investigate
Burglaries, Thefts
Lititz police are in­vestigating
burglaries which
occurred sometime late
Monday night or early
Tuesday morning at Bella’s
Bakery and Grandma’s
Attic, both located at 35 N.
Cedar St.
According to Lititz Police
Chief George Hicks,
someone apparently jim­mied
open a first floor
window entering the bakery.
Record Express
Marks
107th Year
The Record Express
is beginning its 107th
year of publication this
year.
See this week’s
editorial (on page 4) for
a short history of the
newspaper.
Stolen from the bakery was d
small calculator with
display and printout. Hicks
said the burglar(s) ap­parently
entered Grandma’s
Attic on the second floor
through an inside door.
The calculator, stolen
from Bella’s Bakery, was a
Unisonic Model XL114,
serial number 8021864, Hicks
said.
An inventory of items was
s till being compiled
Tuesday, Hicks said, but
missing from Grandma’s
Attic were a radio,
calculator, handmade dolls,
quilts, doilies, ladies’
sweaters and half-slips.
Lititz police are also in­vestigating
a burglary and
th e ft which occurred
sometime between March 13
and 16.
Lloyd E. Beamesderfer, 15
N. Cedar St., told police that
someone stole a .22 calibre
Harrington and Richardson
revolver from his home.
According to Chief Hicks,
the revolver serial number
AC59119, is blue with a black
plastic grip, seven-inch
barrell and holds nine shots.
Hicks said the revolver
was loaded at the time of its
theft.
Also stolen was a brown
leather holster in which the
revolver was stored.
Julie Biemiller, 102 E.
Main St., reported to the
police that four chrome
wheel covers with the
Chevrolet logo were stolen
from her vehicle on March
16.
Lititz police recently
referred a 14-year-old Lititz
area male to juvenile
authorities for theft from the
lockers of 11 students at the
Warwick Middle School.
Police also referred
another 14-year-old Lititz
male to juvenile authorities
for stealing Atari game
tapes.
(Turn to Page 4)
Was Eighth Lititz Residence
Congregational Store Named
To Historic Register
The Congregational Store,
at 120, 122 Main Street, has
been named to the National
Register of Historic Places
giving it recognition to its
historical and architectural
merits of structure.
Mr. and Mrs. William
Hazlett, owners of the
historic Lititz property, were
notified earlier this month
that the building had
r e c e iv e d n a tio n a l
recognition.
The property is described
as two buildings, attached,
and according to the Penn­sylvania
Historic survey the
Georgian style stucco over
stone home at 120 East Main
and the three story brick
Federal style building at 122
East Main date from the
1850’s.
The pale colored stucco
building is about 85 percent
original, according to the
survey, with three existing
fireplaces, an entire wall in
raised panel around one of
the fireplaces in a bedroom,
the original doors with
original hardware, an open
staircase, wide pine floors
In This Issue
and a smoke house in the
attic in original condition.
The Congregational store
next door to the dwelling has
what is considered a unique
front which includes shutters
concealed behind wooden-hinged
columns, two show
windows and large security
doors. Raised panel work
inside the display windows
amplifies the craftsmanship
of the times. The building
has the original mud
scraper, marble steps - well
wornby many customers’
footsteps - and an outside
cellar door with original
hardware.T
he Store
The Georgian style “ store
in-home” was the original
Moravian Congregational
store for all of Lititz and was
built in 1762 for Matthew
Schady and opened in 1764.
It was the eighth residence
built on Main Street and is
but a few doors away from
Built in 1762 for Matthew Schady, the Georgian style stucco over stone
building was the eighth residence in Lititz and served as the first store with
business being conducted on the first floor east side.
(Turn to Page 11)
Stranded by Weather, Flat Tires
Biker Finds Warm Welcome In Lititz
Editorial
Sports Section
Social
Classified
Church
4
6,7,8,9
10
12,13
18
Business Directory 20
By Kathleen King
On the second day of a 300-
mile fund-raising bike trip
from Westminster, Md., to
Bedford, N.Y., Bob Rorke
came across a sign which
said, “Are you sure you’re
on the right road?” He was
sure, and went on his way,
only to discover some miles
Stebro Decision To Be Rendered
At April 13 Meeting
The Warwick
Township Supervisors
will render a decision in
the Stobro rezoning case
at their regular monthly
meeting on Wednesday,
April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in
the municipal building
on Clay Road.
According to Karen
Koncle, township ad­ministrator,
the Stobro
decision will be the first
item of business on the
supervisors’ agenda for
the evening.
The supervisors
conducted a public
hearing on March 9,
during which Stobro
representatives prese­nted
a plan for rezoning
approximately 20 acres
of land located at the
corner of Millport Road
and Route 501 from
rural to commercial.
Stobro, the real estate
company for Stauffer’s
of Kissel Hill, is seeking
to have the tract
rezoned to commercial
so that the company can
construct a retail store
on the property.
down the road when he got to
Lititz that he was, quite
literally, on the wrong road.
And not only was he some
miles out of his way, he was
stranded on a Sunday with
two flat tires that wouldn’t
respond to air.
Rorke, no stranger to long­distance
biking, jh e and, a,
group of college friends once
rode from North Carolina to
Oregon) said he asked some
young men in Lititz Springs
Park where the local bike
shop was and was told to go
to Bicycle World. But he said
he was also informed, much
to his dismay, that the shop
was closed Mondays. He said
they told him, “Call Rodney
Moseman anyway.”
Much to Rorke’s delight,
Moseman not only offered to
open up his shop right then,
but he came and picked
Rorke up so he’d be able to
get his parts sooner.
After purchasing the
required valves from
Bicycle World, Rorke said he
then began looking for „ a
place to spend the night.
He went to the police
station to inquire if there
was a youth hostel or park in
which he could stay, and was
sent on to the General Sutter
for information. Rorke said
at the Sutter he was sent to
the Moravian Church to seek
out the headmaster of
Linden Hall.
Instead of the headmaster,
he found the Rev. Craig and
Martha VanKouwenberg at
home, who told him he could
pitch his tent on the church
grounds for the night, then,
when th e w ea th e r
threatened rain, Rorke said
they invited him to share
their son’s room for the
night.
“Unfortunately, I was a
few inches too long for the
extra bed,” Rorke said with
a laugh. But the floor was all
he required for shelter out of
the rain, and a home-cooked
dinner and breakfast later,
Monday morning he was
(Turn to Page 14)
Candidates May
Submit Articles
The Lititz Record Express will again maike space
available to candidates in the spring primaries who wish
to submit articles on their qualifications and viewpoints,
addressing only the issues and not personalities.
Candidates may submit articles now for publication in
the issue of April 28. No articles will be accepted after
Monday, April 18.
Articles should be typewritten, double-spaced ion 8 by 11
inch paper and should be limited to one typewritten page.
They should be addressed to the editor and must be
received by Monday noon. Articles are subjectt to stan­dard
editing.
Candidates should also submit a black amd white
photograph of themselves.
'911...D0 you Have An Emergency?'
By Mildred Spear
“911, Do you have an emergency?”
Those are the first words you hear if you dial 911 in an
emergency situation.
The call will have been answered by one of six 911
operators working in a small, semi-lighted room equipped
for efficiency.
The operator who answers your call will move your cry
for help to the appropriate dispatcher, after determining
if you need fire, ambulance or police help and finding out
where the help should be sent, in general.
The dispatcher who next handles the 911 emergency
needs the more specific information and within seconds
the help you need is on the way.
What you may not know is that the operator or
dispatcher who deals with your emergency could very
well be the guy or gal next door.
The Lititz-Rothsville-Manheim area seems to be home
for a surprisingly large number of people who man the
control panels. One of the six 911 operators makes her
home in Lititz and eight of the 41 dispatchers, one of whom
is the chief dispatcher and two of whom are assistant chief
dispatchers, live in our area.
It’s a coincidence, of course, but it certainly reinforces
the local feeling of neighbor helping neighbor.
Donna Ridgway of Lititz, could well be the 911 operator
who first picks up the phone for that initial step in the
progress of an emergency call.
The 911 operators work permanent shifts as opposed to
the rotating or swing shifts that the dispatchers work, and
according to Donna, “They are MUCH better. It makes it
easier to get your life in order.”
Donna’s schedule, for example, is the four to midnight
shift. She works seven days, then has two days off, then
three days on, another two days off and back to the seven
day schedule.
The 911 operators are efficient and speedy.
They have to be.
Their job is to determine what kind of emergency must
be dealt with and transfer the caller to the appropriate
dispatcher. It is not the operators themselves who send
the ambulance, fire department or police to the scene. It is
the dispatcher.
Donna and the other 911 operators want to know what
kind of emergency the caller has and a general descrip­tion
of where they live.
“We don’t want a lot of other information,” Donna
explained, but with a slightly wistful look. “Of course we
get curious,” she answered, smiling, but the job requires
rapid work without error and in order to get that ac­complished,
the operator wants only the bare bones of the
problem.
The key for people calling in with emergencies, is to
remember that they are not directly connected to the fire,
police or ambulance departments. They are talking to an
operator and it is up to her to determine where that call
needs to be routed.
“Is it fire, police or ambulance emergency,” the
operator asks, and then will want to know in what city,
borough or township the emergency exists.
“You’d be surprised how many people don’t know where
they live,” Donna said, shaking her head. The operator
needs to know that primary information so the call can be
passed to the proper dispatcher.
Dispatcher
Once the nature of the emergency is discerned, the call
is moved along its path to the dispatch room which is
divided approximately in half. One side of the room is
devoted to police calls and the other to fire and am­bulance.
According to Assistant Chief Dispatcher Carlton “Skip”
Walls, of Lititz, most of the police calls dealt with at the
eletronic panels are routine, but there are emergencies as
well, and a lighted panel of buttons keeps track of the
police departments’ cars and their duty status. Colored
lights indicate whether or not the car is on a call, on a call
that needs to be rechecked, off duty, etc.
Walls is an old timer to the emergency call routine,
having joined the 911 workers about ten years ago and
having helped in compiling of many of the records which
are the foundation of the underground unit.
The dispatchers must get more detailed information
from the caller and to help them in that job, they can
consult “running files” which in turn send them to card
files with the basic information broken down into
workable units.
For example, if a fire emergency call comes in from the
Woodstream Corporation, the dispatcher would get the
location and type of emergency from the caller and could
instantly consult his files to find out which fire companies
are to be called as back up units, which are on stand-by,
and which pieces of equipment can be called out on sub­sequent
alarms.
The emergency vehicle would be dispatched and the
entire operation will have taken very little time. Seconds
count!
Roy Deck of Lititz is an assistant chief dispatcher as is
Skip. It is part of the job of these men to know all the other
jobs in the emergency room. They are leaders. But their
primary function like all the dispatchers is to get as much
information about the emergency as possible and route
the proper emergency service - fire, ambulance of police -
to the scene.
Included among those people standing by to help in an
emergency are Nevin Steffy, Rothsville; Tobye Bushong,
Lititz; Julia Zagorski, formerly of Lititz; Marie Bullock,
Manheim; and Jill Weidman, Manheim.
You won’t know whether it is a neighbor or who answers
your call. They don’t identify themselves and they work
too fast to chat, but they are pulling for you.
Tim Hackman, Rothsville, is Chief Dispatcher and it is
his job to oversee the day ot day operation of the
emergency facility. He has been at his post as long as Skip
Walls.
“We started ten years ago when the dispatch center
started,” he commented. “I was with the civil defense
system before that. We sort of grew up with the system.”
The 911 Room
According to Skip, the dispatchers “dispatch everything
except the Lancaster City Police and Ephrata Borough
Police.” Every other emergency service unit in the
(Turn to Page 14)
Nevin Steffy (right), Rothstfte.,
dispatch room under Lancaster Countyy Cour­thouse.
The spotlights prevent glare on th*e status
boards and keep workers’ headachess at a
minimum.