Lititz Record Express

              THURSDAYOctober 19, 1995
119TH YEAR 32 Pages- No. 27 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA Two sections 30 cents
Fry's Pontiac
auction set Tuesday
The public sale of the former
Fry's Pontiac dealership, which
closed in August after 67 years
in business at 529 E. Main St. in
Lititz, will be held at the proper­ty
on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m.
in the showroom of the dealer­ship.
The companies assets, includ­ing
two properties, the show­room,
equipment and old signs
will be auctioned off by E.M.
Murray and Associates Inc. to .
raise cash, which will be distrib­uted
among the owners of the
business. ■'
When William B. Fry died in
1981, the buisness was divided
equally between his children,
Ruth Fry-McKennon, Gladys
J. Crowl, Lee B. Fry and the
late William D. Fry.
A 1992 law suit eventually led
to an Aug. 28 court order to
close the dealership and liquidate
the assets.
Inside The Record
DARE to grow
at Warwick schools
Warwick’s DARE drug aware­ness
program is expanding this
year to cover all schools and
more grades. Now students in
grades K-4f will participate in the
educational program
For more details, see School
News on page 6.
Lititz thundercars
finish season strong
Three local men who make up
the Lititz Swedish Racing Team
finished strong for the 1995
thundercar season at Linda’s
Speedway in Jonestown.
For all of the racing excite­ment,
see page 32.. ‘ . . . .
New antique furniture
shop opens in Lititz
A family-owned antique furni­ture
store has arrived in down­town
Lititz, with over 60 years
of experience behind it.
To find out more about “The
Furniture Store”, and for more
business news, see page 24.
‘Little Men’ coming
First Stage Theatre’s produc­tion
of Louisa May Alcott’s “Lit­tle
Men” arrives on stage in
Lititz on Friday.
, For more details, see Enter­tainment
on page 22.
Warriors stun Hempfield
The Warwick football team
didn’t look like the underdog as
they upset the heavily favored
Black Knights 28-20 on Friday,
with a strong performance from
the entire team.
For more on the game and oth­er
local sports action, see page 8.
Girls hockey heading
to league tournament
, The Lady Warriors field hock­ey
team qualified for the Lan-caster-
Lebanon League Playoffs
for-the first time in five years
with a victory over Solanco last
week.
For more details, see page 9.
Index
Business............................. 24-25
Church.................................16-17
Classified........................... 27-29.
Editorial/Letters........................ 4
Entertainment............................ 22 ,
Manheim News................. 18-19
Obituaries............................2, 26
Out of the Past......................... 20
Police Log................................12
School News.... 6-7
Social..................................14-15
Sports....................................8-11
-------------------- - \
Meetings
Thursday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. —
Warwick School District Strategic
Planning Committee, IMC Room,
Warwick Middle School..
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. —
Warwick Twp. Planning Commis­sion,
municipal building, 315 Clay
Road.
V___________ _________ ______z
Stained glass
attracts 250
C h a p e l a u c t io n s e lls a l l
STEPHEN SEEBER_________
Record Express Staff
Going, going, gone!
That’s the story of the 84-year-old
church fixtures at the old Lutheran
Church at 2 W. Grange St.
Last Saturday’s Chapel Properties
auction, managed by Witman Auc­tioneers
Inc. of Manheim, attracted
close to 250 people. The main attrac­tion
was the church’s 53 stained glass
windows — all up for grabs.
Of those in attendance, 77 were
registered buyers. Inspections began
at 9 a.m. and the bidding took off at
11 a.m. By thé end of the day the
entire lot was sold.
“We had great expectations and
we had no expectations,” said Chapel
Properties owner Edward Cericola.
“We were pleased with the results.”
In addition to the windows, items
sold included interior and exterior
doors, Muller pipe organ, altar rail­ing
and red sandstone steps.
The church’s stained glass depic­tion
of Jesus Christ with children,
sold to a ministry in Willow Street,
brought in the biggest purse at
$12,200.
Other window prices included:
Christ’s ascension, $4,200; flowers,
$1,850; Noah’s Ark, $1,050; com­munion,
$1,050; grapes and a wine
cup, $1,000; an open Bible, $850;
and lilies, $750. Window dedications
were also sold for $500 to $800 each.
The outdoor sets of red sandstone
steps went for $1,300, $1,100, and
$600.
According to Cericola, purchasers
are required to remove their stained
glass within 30 days. Several win­dows
have already been removed,
andhe expects 10-12 more to be gone
by Thursday of this week.
Cericola plans to replace most of
the windows with clear or frosted
glass, and said the open windows will
be temporarily boarded for about two
weeks, until new glass arrives for
installation.
Amid the buyers were some brow­sers,
who came with nò intention to
bid on the pricey items, but only to
witness the amazing architecture for
one last time.
“I’m just here because everything
is so pretty...and to see how much
things were going for,” said Kathy
Barnett of Columbia. ‘These things
are a work of art.”
While last Saturday’s highest bid­ders
relocate their newfound trea­sures
over the next few wèeks, Cer­icola
said Chapel Properties will con­tinue
in finishing up renovations on
the old building.
Photo by Stephen Seeber
Paul Miller will talk about flags of the world during United Nations
Day, Oct. 24, at the Lititz Public Library, 7:30 p.m.
Lititz Library gets
flagged for U.N. Day
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
A quick trip around the world is set
to take off from the Lititz Public
Library next Tuesday.
Children and parents are invited to
celebrate the 50th Anniversary of
United Nations Day at an informa­tive
and fun program on flags and
geography with local flag enthusiast
Paul Miller.
Miller is the head custodian at
John Beck Elementary School and
has been collecting and studying
flags from around the world since he
was a child. And with 192 flags to
display, 185 of which areUJN. mem-
(See U.N. Day, Page 12)
Photo by Jill Ivey
The Johannes Mueller House, one of the firsthouses in Lititz, is one of the museums that displays artifacts
of early life in Lititz.
M u e l l e r H o u s e a n d M u s e u m
p r e s e r v e L i t i t z ’s r i c h h i s t o r y
JILL IVEY__________________
Record Express Staff
When Lititz celebrated its bicen­tennial
in 1956, several citizens
decided that something should be
done to preserve the history of Lititz.
According to Ed Crowl, vice-president
of the Historical Founda­tion,
one year later, with money left
over from the celebration, the Lititz
Historical Foundation was bom.
Some of the early members such
as Dr. Baron Horne, Mildred
McElroy, and Earla Templeton
started raising funds so that they
could buy a building.
“They had started looking for a
building that they could share with
the library, which at the time was in
the school,” said Crowl. “Howevef,
they realized that wouldn’t work.”
In 1962, the foundation bought the
Johannes Mueller House. Crowl said
that it is uncertain whether the found­ation
approached the church or if the
church offered the house to the
foundation.
“Everyone on the original board
was Moravian,” said Crowl. “They
were mainly interested in Moravian
history.”
According to Crowl, there is a
restriction on the deed that says that
if the building is not used as a
museum, the church will regain
ownership.
Crowl said that the 200-year-old
building was originally owned by
Johannes Mueller who lived there
with his family.
A local businessman, Mueller
lived in the house with his wife, four
children, and three apprentices.
Although the furnishings in the
museum are not Mueller’s, they are
from the same time period,
1790-1800.
“The house was built as you see
it,” said Crowl. “There have been no
major changes.”
Mueller died in the 1840’s and
eventually, the house became the
property of the Moravian Church.
They would rent the wooden half,
and the stone half was used for
widows.
According to Crowl, the last
widow to livé there was Mamie
Spangler, a poor widow who did
washing and ironing for the Linden
Hall girls.
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In 1965, the house was officially
opened for tours. Tours are still given
at the Mueller House from Memorial
Day through the last weekend in
October.
Over the years, the museum
acquired more artifacts than the
building could hold, plus the board
wanted to add a library and a gift
shop. One possibility, according to
Crowl, was building a replica of the
Kline bam in the back.
“ft is supposedly the oldest build­ing
in town,” said Crowl of the Kline
bam which is now the apartment
building that sits at the comer of
Front and Water streets.
According to Crowl, building the
replica would not be feasible because
it would have cost too much.
The foundation was interested in
the property beside the Mueller
house which was owned by Emma
Gross. According to Crowl, they had
mentioned to Gross’s niece that if
Gross ever wanted to sell her house,
they would be interested in buying it.
Gross lived there until her health
started failing, and she moved into
Moravian Manor where she lived
until her death in 1991.
“She gave the church first chance
to buy the house and the museum
second chance,” said Crowl. ‘The
church turned it down.”
In September 1992, the Lititz
Museum opened its doors.
According to Crowl, the museum
operates debt-free on private dona­tions
and fund raisers. Crowl said
that they receive no state or federal
money, and their biggest fundraiser
is the Antique Show that runs during
the Fourth of July.
“Henry R. Gibble deserves a lot
of credit,” said Crowl. “He chaired
the Capital Fund Drive.”
Crowl said that there are nine
members plus the secretary on the
board, but added that there are over
500 members in the Historical
Foundation. He said that there are
also a number of people who are not
part of the foundation, but that still
volunteer.
“We are trying to appeal to all age
groups,” said Crowl. “We have
something every month of the year.”
Crowl said they have a, lecture
series from January through April.
He also said that they have loan
exhibits.
“Ruth Spacht finds a new loan
exhibit every year so that local peo­ple
can come to the museum and not
see the same thing year after year,”
he said.
The current loan exhibit is 19th
Century China. Last year, the
museum displayed pedal cars and
toys.
(See Mueller, Page 12)
Strategic planners
examine ‘vision’
for Warwick schools
RICHARD REiTZ____________
Record E xp re ss Editor
The Strategic Planning Committee
will work on its mission statement
when the group meets for the third
time this Thursday.
At their meeting Monday, the
37-member group reviewed and
explored changing trendsTn modem
society, and began to evaluate how
those changes need to be addressed'
in education.
Breaking into groups of seven,
each group then discussed general
trends, economic trends, demo­graphic
trends, organizational trends,
cultural trends and educational
trends. Many of those trends deal
with a gravitation toward an informa­tion
society.
“How, do they influence what
schools will be about in five or six
years?” asked Lee Rhodes, one of
the IU13 facilitators with the
(See Vision, Page 12)
P la n n e d W a rw ic k p a r k to f e a tu r e ‘o u td o o r c la s s r o om ’
Photo by Richard Reitz
. Plans for the Lititz Run Riparian Park at the intersection of Rothsville
and Clay roads should improve the habitat for fish and other wildlife.
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
A popular fishing spot in Warwick
Township is about to get an environ­mentally
beneficial face lift.
Two local groups are planning to
create the Lititz Run Riparian Park
on approximately six acres of land
owned by the township and the town­ship
municipal authority, near the
intersection of Rothsville and Clay
roads.
Greg Wilson from the Donegal
Chapter of Trout Unlimited is hoping
the project will enhance theif ongo­ing
efforts to improve the habitat for
fish and other wildlife along the
Lititz Run. They are working with
the Lititz Sportsman’s Association
on the park plan.
The site has grown in popularity
for fishermen, especially last spring
when it was set aside for children to
fish. The response was tremendous.
“I always thought it would be a
good, area for a stream restoration
project,” he said.
The public park would be unlike
any other in the township, either
existing or planned, with trails wind­ing
through natural growth and wet­land
areas. ,
Currently, the land is primarily
manicured grass, maintained by the
township, with a few picnic tables
lining the stream.
The riparian park plan would have
a maintained grass area, but would
create a .20 acre, wetlands area, as
well as planting of trees and shrubs
along the stream and a meadow area.
The project would also include
improvements to the stream itself,
using various natural dams and boul­der
placements to stabilize an
800-foot section of Lititz Run, which
improves the habitat.
The environment would create an
outdoor classroom that Wilson hopes
the local schools will use.
“We wanted to tie Warwick
School District into the wetland pro­ject,”
Wilson said. And so far, the
teachers and officials he has talked to
have been “really excited about i t ”
Dr. John Bonfield, superinten­dent
at Warwick, said they fully
intend to assist
“We are very supportive of this
project” Bonfield said, adding that
the district has submitted a state edu­cational
grant request that, if
approved, would fund the riparian
park project.
(See Park, Page 12)