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CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 1977 Lititz, Lancaster County PA, 17543. Thursday, October 8, 1987 25 CENTS A COPY. $8.50 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 24 Pages-No. 27
Township officers
assist at KKK rally
by Linda A. Harris
When plans to hold a Ku
Klux Klan rally in Ephrata
surfaced the end of Septem­ber,
reactions ranged from
indifference to disbelief to
shock and anger. A number
of area civic, church and
brotherhood organizations
an n o u n c ed p lan s for
counter-rallies to demons­trate
the county’s solidarity
against ideas such as those
espoused by the KKK.
Ephrata Township Police
Chief R. Mull, on the other
hand, knew the potential for
trouble was real and that his
department would need
assistance in protecting the
lives and property of Klans-men,
neighbors of the
KKK’s host, Alexander
Lithgow, and anti-KKK pro­testors.
By Oct. 3, he had
lined up support from the
state police, Denver and
Ephrata borough police
departments, and East Coca­lico,
West Cocalico and
Warwick townships, Man-heim
Township Emergency
Management, and county
radio dispatchers.
Township Officers
A total of 53 officers,
including Chief Harry Aich-ele,
and Officers Bill Fas-nacht,
Gary Hutchinson, Al
Olsen, Darren Stoltzfus and
Ed Tobin, of Warwick
Township P.D., helped to
control the 100 or so specta­tors
and Klansmen at the
Lithgow residence as well as
anti-protest meeting sites.
Aichele said that most of
the time, Warwick Town­ship
officers were assigned
near the Lithgow residence
and that at one point he and
Denver Borough Police
Chief John McComsey used
ATVs (all-terrain vehicles)
to patrol the perimeter of the
Lithgow residence.
He emphasized that the
officers who accompanied
him were volunteers on
overtime and that the town­ship
had full police coverage
throughout the six-and one-half
hours that he and the
officers were on duty in
Ephrata Township. “We
arrived about 4:30 in the
afternoon and stayed until
the end of the rally to help
disperse the crowd,” he said.
He said Oct. 6 that the
officers were there “to keep
the peace and to protect
those attending from physi­cal
harm.” He added that in
such situations officers must
be prepared for any eventu­ality
because they don’t
know if weapons will be
used or if tempers will flare
into physical violence.
“ I was p e rs o n a lly
(Turn to Page 4)
Candidates debate
reassessment,
ag preservation
Members of the 1987 Warwick Homecoming
Honor Court are, left ro right, front row: Brittany
Johnson, Gretchen Byler, Amy Nuss, Maura
Rowlands, Amy Landis and Debbie Haddad; back
row: Kerry Buckwalter, Dawn Hollis, Angie Forry,
Stephanie Keebler, Jenny Swan and Sonya
Weber.
Homecoming — Oct. 17
Warwick students prepare
to celebrate ‘Spirit Week’
“Spirit Week,” the week
preceeding Homecoming
weekend at Warwick High
School, will begin on Mon­day,
Oct. 12 with “College
Apparel Day,” followed by
“Red & Black Day” on
Tuesday and “Hat Day” on
Wednesday.
On Thursday, students
will dress in a manner appro­priate
to the “International
Day” theme, while on Fri­day,
“Dress Up Day,” each
student will arrive at school
in a top-of-the-line outfit
from his or her wardrobe.
Carnations ordered earlier
Pen pals’ letters span half-century,
join two families
by Becky Collins
Forty-eight years ago
Katharine Cook was a
sophomore at Chambers-burg
High School.
An assignment for her
social studies class included
establishing a pen pal rela­tionship
with a youngster in
Europe. She, being a normal
teen-ager, decided that she
would rather correspond
with a boy than a girl, so she
chose a young German man,
Seigfried Schwerdtner.
Seigfried wrote back almost
instantly, and their corres­p
o n d e n c e c o n tin u e d
throughout her high school
and college years, inter­rupted
only by the outbreak
of World War II.
After the war the pair
began exchanging letters
again. This time, however,
the correspondence was ini­tiated
by Seigfried.
In 1952, they met for the
first time while Katharine
was on a tour of Europe, a
graduation trip that was
postponed because of the
war.
This week, Seigfried and
his wife, Irmgard, were( in
Lititz to visit with Katharine
“Cookie” Steffy and her
husband, Gene.
It wasn’t their first visit in
the United States or with the
Steffy family, but was made
even more momentous as
the pen pals celebrated near­ly
50 years of correspon­dence
which has spanned the
Atlantic and linked two very
different ideologies.
The Early Years
Seigfried was a member
RETAILERS
TO MEET
TUES.
The monthly meeting
of the Lititz Retailer’s
Association has been
scheduled for the sec­ond
Tuesday of this
month. The October
meeting will be held
next Tuesday, Oct. 13 at
7:30 P.M. at Binge-man’s
Restaurant.
All area businessmen
are welcome and invited
to attend.
of the Nazi Youth Move­ment
from the time he was
twelve years of age. He was
studying to be an engineer,
and was living in his home­town
of Dresden, now in
East Germany.
Cookie graduated from
Chambersburg High School
and went on to Wilson Col­lege
where she studied the
humanities and majored in
English. At the outbreak of
World War II, she was a stu­dent
at Wilson College, and
vividly remembers Presi­dent
Roosevelt declaring
war after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor.
Chambersburg was the
site of one of the country’s
largest underground ordi­nance
depots. “There were
vast underground igloos full
of ammunition, about 800
acres of farmland hid it,” she
recalls. The townspeople
soon realized that an urgent
need for workers at the mun­itions
depot signaled an
escalation of the war in Eur­ope.
As the war went on the
people of the community
became aware of much more
about our country’s defense.
Seigfried, meanwhile,
was assigned a position in
the army of the Third Reich.
His unit was shipped out to
Czechoslovakia, then to
Vienna where he served in
the specialized capacity of
telegraphy and message
decoder.
From Vienna, Seigfried’s
unit moved up into Eastern
Prussia, now East Germany,
before marching on to
Copenhagen, Denmark
where he was stationed until
the end of the war.
Coincidentally, a young
Lititz man, Eugene Steffy,
received his draft notifica­tion
just following the
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
“I was 19 when I received
my greetings from President
Roosevelt,” Gene recalled.
“Roosevelt was a good talk­er.
When he got on the radio
and talked about keeping
Europe free, we listened,
and lots o f yo u n g m en went
out and signed up.”
Steffy left Lititz for 10 to
12 weeks of boot camp, “it
did more for me than the
next ten years of my life,” he
remembers.
In Lititz forthe week to visit his pen pal of many
years, Seigfried and Irmgard Schwerdtner (left)
and Eugene and Cookie Steffy reminisced about
old times. The couple will travel to California
before leaving the states to go home to West
Germany.
Sgt. Steffy’s unit was
shipped overseas and sta­tioned
in southern Germany,
fighting against the Nazi
occupation and the cause
Seigfried was involved in.
The two never met on the
battlefield.
Seigfried’s unit was sta­tioned
in the northern part of
Germany while Eugene’s
unit was stationed in the
south.
Both agree that the war
dramatically changed their
lives. Eugene remembers
“growing up real fast,” while
Seigfried recalls with sad­ness
the destruction of his
homeland and the following
occupation of the area by
Russian forces.
Going West
After four years as a sol­dier
Seigfried returned to
Dresden, his family’s home.
He worked for a time as an
engineer, helping to rebuild
the war-shattered city.
It was during this time that
Cookie was on tour with a
group of Americans. She
broke away from the tour in
Germany and met Seigfried
in Heidelburg where he
(Turn to Page 21)
will be delivered on Friday
to complete Dress Up Day
festivities.
This year’s Homecoming
theme is “Nursery Rhymes.”
H om e c om in g f l o a t s ,
designed to reflect this
theme, will be exhibited dur­ing
Saturday’s half-time
activities for the Warwick
Warriors’ football game
with Ephrata High School.
Featured will be the
Ephrata and Warwick bands.
Warwick’s 12 members of
the Homecoming Honor
Court will ride in the floats
as they circle the field.
At the culmination of the
festivities, the 1987 Home­coming
Queen will be
crowned. She, her court and
their escorts will be intro­duced
to the public.
A Homecoming dance,
from 8 to 11 p.m., will end
the day’s festivities.
The Honor Court
K e rry B u c kw a lte r,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Irel
Buckwalter, 1011 Lititz
Pike, will be escorted by
Eric Flickinger.
Kerry is on the junior var­sity
field hockey team and
participated in track during
her freshman year. Kerry has
been a member of student
government for the past two
years. She enjoys water ski­ing,
snow skiing and spend­ing
time with her friends.
Gretchen Joy Byler,
escorted by her brother Jus-ten,
is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Chris Byler, 41
Longenecker Road.
Gretchen has been a varsi­ty
cheerleader for the past
three years and serves as
senior co-captain this year.
Lititz police charge
man with theft
A Lititz man has been
been committed to Lancas­ter
County on charges filed
by Lititz Borough police.
T H E F T C H A R G E S
FILED
EAST MAIN STREET:
Officer Charles Shenenber-ger
filed charges of passing
bad checks and theft by
deception against David Lee
Post Office
closed on
Columbus Day
The Lititz Post Office
will be closed on Mon­day,
Oct. 12 for the
observance of Colum­bus
Day. There will be
no carrier delivery ser­vice
or window service.
Outgoing mail will be
accepted and dispatched
at the Main Office, 74 E.
Main St., at 4 p.m.
Kreischer, 22, of 226 Park
Ave., Oct. 6. The charges
stemmed from a July 20 inci­dent
at White Shield, 23 E.
Main St. Francis Shelly,
manager, told Shenenberger
that Kreischer had paid for
$52.48 worth of merchan­dise
with a check drawn on a
closed account.
THEFT REPORTED
LITITZ MANOR APTS.:
Officer Kevin Meil is inves­tigating
the theft of a front
end car bra, valued at $ 100,
from a Toyota Supra owned
by Andrew Kessler, 630
Lititz Manor Apartments.
The theft is thought to have
occurred between 9 p.m.
Sept. 28 and 6 a.m. Sept. 29.
The theft was reported Sept.
29.
CRIMINAL MISCHIEF
MARION ST.: Officer
Shenenberger is investigat­ing
an incident of criminal
mischief reported Oct. 3 at
8:48 a.m. by Stanley Hollis,
Turn to Page 20)
She is a member of National
Honor Society and Varsity
Club.
Gretchen also partici­pated
in class activities her
freshmen through senior
years and served as a prom
chairman her junior year.
She was the recipient of a
Spanish award her junior
year. Gretchen’s post­graduation
plans include
attending a four-year college
to major in international
business.
A n g e la Jo F o r r y ,
escorted by Troy May, is the
(Turn to Page 19)
by Bonnie Szymanski
Among the four candi­dates
for county commis­sioner
posts debating county
issues in Lititz Tuesday
night, none, with the possi­ble
exception of Democratic
candidate Billie Jo Herr,
seemed willing to be candid­ly
critical of the present
county commission.
The debate was sponsored
by Pennsylvania Common
Cause. Panel members were
Peg Wentworth, president of
the Lancaster League of
Women Voters, and Bob
Thompson, of radio station
WLPA, Lancaster.
Scheduled for an hour and
a-half, the debate barely
lasted to the 9 o’clock hour.
It didn’t matter; the candi­dates
were beginning to
repeat themselves by that
time.
Generally, the incum­bents
- James Huber and
Brad Fisher — tended to
defend present policies and
procedures, while Herr and
Republican candidate Bob
Brenneman suggested areas
for change.
Questions for the debaters
In this issue
Editorial 4
Sports Section 6,7,8
Social 14,15
Manheim 16
Church 18
Business 19,20
Classified 21,22,23
covered county-wide reas­sessment,
agricultural pre­servation
and solid waste
incineration.
On the issue of reassess­ment,
the candidates finally
came alive.
Fisher began by defend­ing
the “review and appeals
process” now in use in the
county. He opposed not only
the term “spot reassess­ment,”
but insisted that the
process allows equitable
reassessment of county
properties on a site by site
basis.
“I believe the present
review and appeals works,”
contended Fisher, noting
that not every appeal made
results in lowered tax rates.
Some appeals result in an
increase, he said, while
others stay the same follow­ing
the appeal process.
Huber agreed, noting that
most municipal officials
hold to “the myth” that prop­erty
assessments are made to
increase taxes.
Arguing that “Lancaster
County is among the most
equitable counties in Pen­nsylvania”
with regard to
real estate taxes, Huber
explained that “assessments
and reassessments are to
build equity into the systehi
of assessment, not to
increase taxes,”
He explained that the pre­sent
county commission had
studied the concept of
county-wide reassessment
(Turn to Pago 2 i)
On Sept. 29, the Lititz VFW Auxiliary presented Lititz Borough with a new
American flag. Making the presentation were Minnie Meek, Lititz VFW A presi­dent
(far right), and June Weller, Americanism chairman for the auxiliary.
Accepting forthe borough were Mayor Roy Clair (far left) and borough council
President Clyde Tshudy.
Veterans Parade set for Nov. 11
will March through Lititz
by Bonnie Szymanski
James B. Shultz, com­mander
of Lititz Springs
VFW post 1463, continues
to keep members of borough
council updated on continu­ing
plans for the Nov. 11
county Veterans Day parade
to be held in Lititz.
Shultz reported that 13
bands, including the War­wick
High School Marching
Band, and “numerous”
marching units have dec­lared
their intention to parti­cipate
in the parade, while
five Shreiner groups from
the Reading and York areas
have expressed interest in
coming to Lititz for the
event, said Shultz.
Also featured in the pa­rade
will be the band from
the Scotland School for Vet­erans
Children, a Vietnam
veterans motorcycle club,
and POW/MIA families.
The commander esti­mated
that, with the groups
already scheduled, the pa­rade
will last two-and-a-half
hours.
With the addition of any
units who have so far only
expressed interest, the pa­rade
could easily extend to
three or more hours,
reported Shultz.
He noted that local Boy
and Girl Scout troops are
encouraged to participate in
the parade and asked troops
wishing to march in the Nov.
11 parade to contact him.
Previous time estimates
had been set at one to one-and-
a-half hours. Shultz cre­dited
the enthusiastic
response of veterans organi­zations
both within and out­side
of the county for expan­sion
of the Lititz parade.
Local officials also are
scheduled to participate in
the parade, with cars avail­able
for council members
and the mayor.
The parade is being spon­sored
by the United Veter­ans
Council of Lancaster
County. Serving on the pa­rade
committee are Shultz,
representing the Lititz
VFW; Paul Spickler, repre­senting
the Lititz American
Legion Garden Spot Post 56;
Lititz Chief of Police James
Fritz; and Russell Pettyjohn,
member of Lititz Borough
Council and the Lititz VFW,
who is acting as council’s
representative to the parade
committee.
Also on the committee are
William Risser, commander
of the county United Veter­ans
Council, and Lester Bell,
parade chairman.
Lititz Borough P. D.
Chief Jim Fritz has
asked the cooperation of
area residents in keep­ing
East Main Street
free of parked vehicles
beginning at 5 p.m.
Nov. 11 in order to
accommodate the Lititz
Veterans Day parade.
Vehicles parking will be
permitted following the
parade.
The parade, which begins
at Warwick High School at
6:30 p.m., will move east on
Orange Street to Broad
Street, turn north on Broad
Street toward Lititz Square,
turn east on Main Street,
then march down Main
Street to the Revolutionary
War Memorial, located in
the 500 block of East Main
Street.
Permission to close this
parade route has been
granted by the Pennsylvania
D e p a r tmen t o f
Transportation.
Members of the county
veterans council will meet
Monday, Oct. 12, at 7:30
p.m. at the Lititz VFW, 14N.
Spruce St., to announce final
plans for the parade.