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WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 20 Pages-No. 68
Lightning shatters tree
A violent thunder and lightning storm July 20
caused this 40 foot spruce tree, located in the
picnic area behind the Lititz Moravian Church, to
split in several directions and the upper three-quarters
to snap off. The tree, estimated to be
about 75 years old, was to be cut down and
chipped later in the week, according to B.B. Ibach
of Manheim, whose firm has been contracted to
deal with the tree. Ibach noted that evergreens are
susceptible to lightning strikes because of the
moisture they contain. The heat generated by the
lightning causes the moisture to heat and expand
causing the tree to explode. Pieces of the tree, as
long as six feet, were found 100 or more feet away
as well as atop a nearby garage.
Lititz police
seek missing teen
Lititz police are asking for
anyone having seen Shirley
L. Brewer, 14, of 16 Maple
St., to contact them. Diane
Schaak, the girl’s mother,
told Officer Ron Sandhaus
that she last saw her
daughter about 10 p.m. July
14. The girl reportedly left
home during the night and is
reported to have numerous
friends in the Ephrata area.
Sandhaus took the report
July 19 at 2:55 p.m.
On a less serious note,
police are also seeking to
reunite a Cabbage Patch doll
with its owner. Elmer Fritz,
752 Woodcrest Drive, told
Officer Sandhaus that he
saw the doll fall from a red
Camaro as it turned from
Lincoln Avenue onto Route
501 on July 20. The owner
may reclaim the doll at the
police station by describing
it to officers.
Police investigated three
alcohol-related incidents.
Randolph Don Ruoss, 31, of
16 E. Orange St., was cited
for public drunkeness July 19
at 2:10 a.m. after he was
found passed out in the street
in the 400 block of East Main
Street by Officer Harry
Yochum.
William A. Nixdorf, 20, of
720 Water Edge Road, was
cited for minor and alcohol
offenses July 19 at 12:53 a.m.
Nixdorf was a passenger in
a vehicle stopped by Officer
Kerry Nye for suspicious
activity. At the time the
vehicle was stopped Nixdorf
was found to be drinking
beer. The incident took
place in the 600 block of East
Main Street.
Debra L. Gehman, 27, of
242 Pitney Drive, Lancaster,
was cited for driving under
the influence (DUI) and
failing to obey flashing
traffic signals following an
accident July 13 at 4:53 a.m.
at Cedar and Main streets.
Officer Yochum reported
that the Gehman vehicle was
being driven north on South
Cedar Street and the driver
failed to stop at the in­tersection
of Cedar and East
Main Streets. The impact
caused the vehicle to turn 180
degrees and to strike a
vehicle being driven west on
East Main Street by Dorothy
M. Landis, 12 Lititz Run
Road, which also spun 180
degrees. Legally parked
vehicles owned by Edward
E. Fox, 71 E. Main St., and
Brandon K. Ehrart, 270
Lania Drive, Landisville,
were also struck.
Gehman admitted to not
stopping for flashing red
lights and to having been
drinking earlier. She was
transported to Lancaster
General Hospital for
treatment of multiple
contusions and facial
(Turn to Page 11)
Anna Mae Cassel, 80, Lititz, was taken to the
Lancaster General Hospital last Thursday, after
being struck by a car driven by her husband, Paul
S. According to police, Cassel had been attempting
to pull into a parking slot at the south side of the
Burger King on Kissel Hill, when he hit the gas
pedal, crashing the car into the greenhouse
window. Two people were injured by flying glass.
Greg Winters of Lititz, who was sitting just inside
the window when the car smashed through, said
he “got out of the way” when he heard the wheel
of the cars squeal and "looked up to see smoke
and this guy flying up."
C a r r a m s B u r g e r K i n g
WÊ&lgÊmà
Shirley Brewer
Anna Mae Cassel, 80, of St.
John’s Circle, was listed in
fair condition July 22 at
Lancaster General Hospital
where she was taken
following an accident at
Burger King, 834 Lititz Pike,
July 17 at 11:56 a.m.
Warwick Township Police
Officers William Fasnacht
and Ed Tobin responded to
the scene of the accident to
find a 1974 Ford Maverick
partially in the greenhouse
section of the Burger King.
Fasnacht reported that,
Anna Mae Cassel had driven
the car in which her
husband, Paul S. Cassel, 81,
was a passenger, into the
parking lot. Unable to
position the car in a parking
space, she left the vehicle
asking her husband to park
it. While attempting to park
the car, Cassel hit the ac­celerator
causing the car to
jump the sidewalk curb and
strike his wife knocking her
to the ground before being
stopped by the building’s
brick foundation. Window
glasss in the greenhouse
section located to the south
side of the building was
shattered cutting several
patrons.
James Smith, 20, of 104
Bellvue Avenue, Ephrata,
was treated at the scene for
cuts to both legs. Vickie
Klaasen, 19, of 271 Meadow
Valley Road, was treated at
the scene for cuts to the
thigh. Both were advised to
go to a hospital. Mrs. Cassel
was transported to Lan­caster
General Hospital by
(Turn to Page 4)
Dr. Griswold, ex-Lititz mayor dies
You’re gonna hear from Jason Brown
by Bonnie Szymanski
Jason Brown lives in Lititz
with his mother and father
and twin sisters.
On his bedroom door
hangs a list of goals he wants
to attain during the next
year.
One of them is to meet Bill
Cosby.
On June 24, Jason Brown
m is s e d m e e tin g the
comedian “by that much.”
How did it happen?
Well, even though Jason is
only 8 years old...it’s still a
long, long story.
Jason, the son of Linda and
Wilfred Brown, 852 Cindy
Lane, has been active in
area theater since 1983,
when he was bitten by the
show business bug after
being chosen crown-bearer
for the July 4th Queen of
Candles Pageant that year.
He recently joined the
Screen Actors Guild so he
could begin shooting his
«econd “Rambo” com­mercial
for the Coleco Toy
Co.
Unlike the first com­mercial.
in which Jason
played a supporting role, he
has a principal role in this
one.
The mid-June shooting
was demanding, said his
mother recently.
Jason had to stand for
s e v en hours during
rehearsals and taping of the
30-second spot.
There were people there to
support his back and he was
given water to drink about
every half hour, reported
Linda, who was allowed into
the studio for the last hour
and a half to watch the final
taping.
Not a typical 8-year-old’s
day.
The rest of the tired crew
was glad when it was over.
But, laughed Linda, Jason
wasn’t: “I want to do some
more,” he told his mother.
A cute story, but where
does Bill Cosby come in?
Continue reading, please.
Jason also had a featured
role this suiimer in the
Ephrata Performing Arts
production of “The Great
Grey Ghost of Old Spook
Lane,” a written-for-
When Jason Brown, 8, son of Linda and Wilfred Brown of Lititz, discusses the
various roles he’s played in local theater, he speaks with the assurance and
maturity of a trouper beyond his years. The inset above left shows Jason
rehearsing the song, “Gary, Indiana,” one of two solos he performed when he
appeared locally in “The Music Man.”
television play about a new
boy in town who takes a dare
to visit a local haunted
house.
Jason was the new boy.
He was in rehearsal for
opening night, Friday, June
24.
His parents had “booked
out” of the agency that
handles Jason’s auditions so
that he could concentrate on
the play and not be con­cerned
about running to New
York on audition calls.
Nevertheless, he received
a call early that same week
from a representative of
another agency, the Steve
Horn Agency, telling the
Browns that Jason had been
scheduled to shoot a com­mercial
for Jello Pudding
Pops with Bill Cosby.
And when had the shooting
been scheduled?
On opening night for
“Great Grey Ghost,” of
course.
Recalling that day, Linda
still can’t believe she ac­tually
asked the represen­tative
if Jason could leave by
3:30 to make the evening’s
performance.
“That’s unheard of...when
you’re dealing with stars like
Bill Cosby,” she explains.
Of course, no such
promises could be made.
“It was what we’d been
waiting for,” lamented
Linda, noting, “I think he
knew right from the
beginning that he wasn’t
going to be able to do it.”
The show must go on
Excited at first, Jason
soon realized that he had
other obligations that
couldn’t be ignored.
“It was something no one
could anything about,” says
Linda now.
“They couldn’t do the
show without him,” she
continued, stressing, “We
are trying to teach him about
committment. There were
other children involved.”
Jason is a trouper.
After an 8-year-old burst of
tears, Jason told his parents
he was going to take a
shower.
According to his mother,
he makes some of his most
important decisions in the
shower.
“I know I’ll meet Bill
Cosby another time,” the
squeaky-clean boy later told
his parents.
“I just can’t let those other
kids down.”
And he didn’t. He went on­stage
that opening night.
According to the director,
D.D. Delaney, who’s worked
with Jason in other
productions, Jason cried
again just before stepping
onto the stage.
Delaney assumed it was
opening night jitters,
although, he admits, Jason
rarely seems to be nervous
about going on stage.
Delaney said recently he
hasn’t found “many adults
committed to the theater as
he is - and anxious to work.”
“He continues to grow,”
said the writer/director, who
has noticed in Jason “an
understanding that sur­passes
his age.”
“In an audition he is all
certainty and assuredness,”
continued Delaney, who
readily admits that Jason
has a future in the theater “if
he wants it.”
There is little doubt that
this is exactly what Jason
does want.
Unlike the typical stage
parents, the Browns have
not been pushing Jason onto
the stage.
On the contrary, he has
been pushing himself.
Reagan sends his regrets
President Reagan might
be a little sorry someday
that he turned down Jason’s
invitation two seasons ago to
come see him in the play
“On Borrowed Time” at the
Fulton Theater in Lancaster.
“Unfortunately, due to an
already heavily committed
schedule...,” said the
president, he would not be
able to attend.
(Turn to Page 10)
In this issue
Editorial 4
Sports Section 5,6,7
Social 8
Church 9
Manheim 12
Business
Directory 14,15,16
Classified 17,18,19
Dr. Arthur S. Griswold, a
physician and former Lititz
mayor, died July 18 at his
home, 518 S. Broad St., after
an illness of several months.
He was 68.
He was the husband of
Elizabeth “Betty” Mumma
Griswold.
Mayor of Lititz from 1962
to 1966, Griswold had been in
family practice in Lititz for
the past 34 years. He retired
this year. He was a staff
member of Lancaster
General Hospital and a
member of the courtesy staff
of St. Joseph Hospital.
Griswold was also staff
physician for the Warner
Lambert Co. in Lititz for 29
years and physician at
Warwick School District
elementary schools. He also
served on the Pennsylvania
State Committee on Drug
Abuse during the early 1980s.
Griswold graduated in 1939
from the American In­ternational
College in
Springfield, Mass. He
studied marine biology at
the University of Maine in
1940 before serving during
World War II as chief
pharmacist with the U.S.
Navy Fleet Marines in the
South Pacific.
He graduated in 1950 from
the Boston University School
of Medicine and served an
internship at Lancaster
General Hospital from 1950-
51.
Griswold was a charter
fellow of the American
A cadem y of F am ily
Physicians and a member of
the Pennsylvania and
Lancaster County medical
societies. He was a board
member of the Edward
Hand Medical Heritage
Foundation and a former
member of the state
Physicians Art Association,
through which he won
several awards.
Griswold was a char-ter/
life member and past
president of the American
Business Club of Lititz and
was instrumental in getting
the club to organize the
Warwick Ambulance
Association during the 1950s.
Griswold was also a
charter member of the
Woodridge Swim Club in
Lititz and a charter member
of the Lititz Historical
Foundation Inc.
Additionally, he was a
member of Lodge 587, Free
and Accepted Masons,
Manheim; the Harrisburg
Consistory, 32nd degree;
Zembo Temple, Harrisburg;
and the Lancaster County
Shrine Club.
Y
Dr. Arthur S. Griswold
He was an honorary
member of the Warwick
High School Marching Band
and accompanied the group
to band competitions.
A member of St. Paul
Lutheran Church, Lititz, he
served the church as council
member, Sunday school
superintendent and teacher.
He developed a course in
religious art appreciation,
which he taught in several
county churches.
Bom in Mystic, Conn., he
was the son of the late
George H. and Ettabelle
Woodmansee Griswold.
Surviving besides his wife
are three daughters: Diane
L., New York City; Sally A.,
Lancaster; and Rebecca S.,
wife of Kenneth Reidenbach
III, Lancaster; a son,
Thomas H., at home; and a
granddaughter.
A memorial service was
held July 21 at 10:30 a.m. at
St Paul’s Evangelical
Lutheran Church, 200 W.
Orange St., with the Rev.
Richard M. Rutter and the
Rev. Ernest W. Huston of­ficiating.
Memorial con­tributions
may be made to
the Lancaster Area Kidney
Foundation, Box 1446,
Lancaster, Pa. 17604.
Richard H. Heisey Funeral
Home, 216 S. Broad St., was
in charge of arrangements.
Giving a lift to Lititz Elementary
This crane, owned by Greiner Welding and
Fabricating of Elizabethtown, is being used to lift
roofing materials to the top of the Lititz
Elementary School. The re-roofing project, being
completed by the J.M. Young Co.»of Belleville, is
part of a maintenance program for two elementary
schools in the district-John Beck and Lititz-and
the middle school.