Lititz Record Express

              ! THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1998
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
121 ST YEAR Pages - No. 53 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 30 Cents
□ INSIDE
□ Lititz Springs Park
Park clean-up is Sat.
The annua! Lititz Jaycees
Lititz Springs Park community
ciean-up will be held this
Saturday, April 18, starting at
8 a.m. For more details, see
¿ special graphic on Page 28.
□Special Inside
April Showers bring
spring values
Register to win over $950
in gift certificates and
merchandise prizes at Lititz
stores now through April 25.
Check inside this issue for
■¿tails, and look for the “April
ohowers” posters when you
shop!
□ Coloring Contest
Grand prize winner
named in final week
It was the last week for the
Record Express Easter Color­ing
Contest, as three more
winners were selected, as
well as the grand prize winner
of $25 Lititz Shopping Dollars.
For more details, plus a list of
every young artist whose
drawings were received, see
Page 21.
□ School
Back from the Gulf
Warwick graduate at
Marine CpI. Matthew Good-hart
returned from service in
the Persian Gulf recently, and
shared some of his experienc­es
with fifth graders at
Bonfield Elementary. Page 6.
Show Choir is bound
for California
The Warwick High School
Show Choir is traveling to
Anaheim, Calif, of a magical
performance at Disneyland.
For more, see Page 6
□ Entertainment
The talent will come
out at First Stage
This year’s audition work­shop
at First Stage Theatre
features an actress whose
auditioning skills landed her a
role in the original Broadway
run of “Annie.” For more, see
Page 12.
□Business
Beanie Babies Club
T Beanie Babies-mania has
reached a new plateau as the
Teddy Bear Emporium in Lititz
is introducing the official
Beanie Babies Club. What will
this mean for collectors? See
Page 18.
m m m m ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■M l
L i b r a r y d o n o r
s e t s c h a l l e n g e
Photo by Richard Reitz
Warwick Township Riparian Park, one of the many initiatives in the Lititz Run watershed improvements,
has become a popular site for nature watchers and fishermen.
DEP officals plan visit to Lititz Run
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Last week local offi­cals
were surprised to see Lititz Run
on the state’s list of most polluted
waterways. So, Mayor Russell Petty­john
decided to do some digging.
As expected, the data used to
determine the local stream’s chemi­cal
status was collected by Depart­ment
of Environmental Protection
technicians in 1996.
Since that time, the Lititz Run
Watershed Alliance has been created
with a non-profit status, and local
municipalities arc celebrated as mod­el
communities in effective conser­vation
techniques.
So, a lot has changed since 1996.
Karen Sitler, a spokesperson for
DEP, said that the report that listed
Lititz Run on the list of big polluters
of the Chesapeake. Bay watershed
was not inaccurate. It shows that
there is a problem here, and that
should translate into some federal
funding to help improve on what the
Watershed Alliance has already
begun.
No one involved in the local
improvements over the past two
year, including streambank stabiliza­tion
projects near Broad Street and in
Warwick Township at Clay Road,
denies that pollution is a problem
here. In fact, most are hoping lo
increase public interest in the local
watershed through this most recent
report.
Sitler and a DEP scientist a re sche
duled to attend the May 26
Watershed Alliance meeting it. War
wick Township.
Pettyjohn believes that it will lie a
fruitful meeting. He also Ix-lieves
that long term studies funded by iJk
federal government (the Lit ¡tv Rim
data was collected as part ol the
EPA’s requirements for eveiv state
in the country) is not the besi use ol
taxpayer dollars.
“We’ve shown, through tl-. . m
profit status of the Lititz Kun
Watershed Alliance, that the solu­tions
are right here at the local level,”
he said.
As chairman of the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation’s Local Govern­ment
Advisory Committee, Petty­john
said that he oversees an annual Concert tribute for
fire victims is Sat.
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — This Saturday, three
local bands will let their music do the
talking at a tribute for three Warwick
High School graduates who perished
in a cabin fire last month.
The Warwick chapter of the
National Art Honor Society is spon­soring
the April 18 concert in the
small gymnasium at the high school
from 8-11 p.m. The proceeds will
benefit funds established in the mem­ory
of 1995 graduates Jimmy Gil-iberti,
Erik Gray and Nick Berkey.
Shannon Connelly, a senior at
Warwick and organizer for the bene­fit
concert, said NAHS was planning
to sponsor a concert, but had no spe­cific
cause in mind to support. Auction,
District
settle tax
JILL IVEY
□ Index
□ Sports
Warwick nine fall
The Warriors baseball team
lost a key match-up to
Manheim Township Tuesday,
falling 7-2 in a game that Record Express staff
established the leader in p e n n t o w n s h i p—The Man-
Section One. P a g e 8. heim Auto Auction and Manheim
Central School District have reached
a tentative agreement.
A press statement released from
Sirths.....................................14 Mark Singel’s office stated that the
Business................................18-19 auction will make a donation of
Church............................... ..16-17 $150,000 per year for at least the next
Classified 2 4-27 20 years. In addition, the auction vol-
Friitnrial / ¡ Pttprs A unleered to contribute $250,000
Entertainment..................... i 2 m o x e m e a e h o f ^ d ^ w s ^
m„ .,_ nn bmp the school district address its
Manheim News..... .............20 im£ ediate budget concerns.
O b itu a rie s.................................... 2 “Manheim Auto Auction has been
Out of the Past........................23 a good citizen for 53 years,” Greg
Police Log...... .....................19 Gehman, General Manager of the
School News...................... 6-7 Manheim Auto Auction, said in die
Social.............. ................ . 14-15 press statement “We would like to
Sports................. ....................8-11 (See Settled, Page 20)
“Then the tragedy happened,” said
Ian Eckert. “We thought it was the
perfect place to give the money. It
made sense.”
“We are a community organiza­tion,”
Shannon said. “So this is a way
to do something for the community. I
think it’s a good way for the kids of
Warwick to show their support.
(Erik, Jimmy and Nick) were well-liked.”
Several members of the NAHS
knew the three boys. Shannon
recalled Erik coming to all of her vol­leyball
games while he was a student
at Warwick.
Ian said he has a special wall at
home where visitors sign their name
and date it. One of those signatures
was Jimmy Giliberti, and was dated
March 22,1995 — three years to the
day before the fatal fire.
The concert will feature perfor­mances
by the bands Innerface at 8
p.m., Bota at 9 p.m., and Quadra­phonic
at 10 p.m.
Tickets for the show are $5 per
person, and the concert is open to all
ages. Shannon said Tait Towers and
Clair Bros, of Lititz are providing the
staging and sound equipment for the
concert.
Money collected from the show
will be divided equally between
funds established in memory of the
three 20-year-olds.
Contributions in memory of Gil­iberti
will be donated to the Lititz
Public Library Building Fund.
Memorial funds for Berkey are being
used to establish a Warwick baseball
scholarship in his memory.
An investigation into the Centre
County cabin fire that killed 11 is
continuing, according to State Police
Trooper Terry Miller. Miller said
that lab results have not returned
from Harrisburg as of Monday, and
does not anticipate additional infor­mation
concerning the cause of the
fire for the next few weeks.
The concert will begin with a per­formance
by Innerface, an original
rock band featuring seniors from
(See Concert, Page 21)
budget of about $150,000 that pays
for a small staff, newsletters, and
(See Lititz Run, Page 21)
a*»**,.
Ss „ . ,
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — An anonymous local
philanthropist is willing to contribute
up to $100,000 to the Lititz Public
Library fund, with just one request:
It must be matched by “small
g if ts ” d o n a tio n s from the
community-at-large.
The donor has the following
expectation: “I expect the campaign
to be conducted with dignity and I am
sure it will be. However, this part is
to be aimed at children, youth and the
poor and should come only after the
affluent have committed.”
“This person wants everyone to
participate,” said Matyann Rich­mond,
president of the Lititz Libraiy
Board. “To let people know that their
$10 donation is as important as the
large corporate donation.”
So when students at John Beck
Elementary School collect spare
change in upside-down umbrellas for
the library; if small entrepreneurial
business owners hold a fundraising
sale; if a PTO holds a bake sale; or if a
community organization sponsors a
car wash, that money will count tow­ard
the “Anonymous Gift Donor
Challenge.”
Purchases of the commemorative
red stoneware tiles, which will be
part of a permanent display on the
Gallery Tile Wall, will also count
toward the challenge, Richmond
said.
The $ 100,000 contributions would
be given over a three-year period.
The Community Gifts campaign is
(See Library, Page 21)
Zerbe optimistic as fraud
probe finds a new focus
STEPHEN SEEBER
Warwick and Lititz are proud
Chesapeake Bay partners.
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Warwick School Dis­trict
plans to accept a second distri­bution
of $522,000 as recommended
by Dick Thornburgh, whose ongoing
investigation into the alleged fraudu­lent
investments of Devon Manage­ment
is coming to a close.
David Zcrbe, Warwick’s business
manager, said that all investors
involved have until April 29 to
decide whether or not to go with
Thornburgh’s suggestion.
“I think we’re going to accept the
distribution,” said Zerbe. “It’s in our
best interest to follow through with
Thornburgh’s recommendation.”
Zerbe and Roger Reist, Warwick’s
attorney, traveled to Pittsburgh on
April 3 for a complete report from
Price Waterhouse, the accounting
firm hired by Thornburgh, on the six-month
investigation.
“It was a good meeting,” said
Zerbe. “They basically delineated
the history of Devon and everything
that went through to the point of the
SEC shutdown.”
Last September, following a rou­tine
audit, ilie Security and Exchange
Commission discovered that $71
million was missing from over $200
million that was invested with John
G. Black, Devon’s owner. Black’s
alleged fraudulent activity involved
50 school districts statewide and is
(See Fraud, Page 21)
Photo by Stan Hall
Route 501 at Loop Road was the scene of a fatal accident last Friday as a car and garbage truck collided
around 3:30 p.m., killing the driver of the car, Sharon Marie Houck. Fatal in Elizabeth Township
S t a t e p o l i c e
c o n t i n u e t o
i n v e s t i g a t e
ELIZABETH TWP. — A New
Holland woman was killed along
Route 501 Friday afternoon when
she swerved in front of a garbage
truck.
Sharon Marie Houck, 41, was
travelling south on Route 501 shortly
before 3:45 p.m., according to state
police, when she apparently
attempted to cross the northbound
lane to enter Loop Road.
As Houck crossed, a Lebanon
Farms Disposal Co. truck, driven by
Jerry L. Tobias, 32, of Lebanon, was
approaching from the northbound
lane. Tobias reportedly hit Ms
brakes, attempting to avoid a colli­sion
with Houck’s gold Buick
Century.
Houck then swerved back toward
the southbound lahe, but was unable
to avoid die garbage truck, which had
begun to slide into the southbound
lane.
The front of the truck slammed
into the driver’s side of the Buickand
crushed the vehicle into the wire
guiderail, which prevented both veh­icles
from tumbling over the side of a
steep wooded incline.
Houck was pronounced dead at the
scene by Lancaster County Coroner
Dr. Barry Walp.
Traffic along Route 501 was nar­rowed
to one lane for a short time,
and was eventually rerouted for near­ly
two hours as emergency crews and
investigators worked at the scene,
examining the debris and skid marks
to piece together what had happened.
Police interviewed Tobias and two
passengers in the truck at the time of
the crash, Corey J. Roth, 21, of Man­heim,
and William G. Singer, 41, of
Lebanon. All three were not hurt.
Houck’s body was trapped in the
car wMle emergency crews waited
for a tow truck to remove the wedged
vehicles. Crews then used power
tools to pry open the car and lift
Houck out
Several local residents had
gathered nearby the accident scene,
and some commented on their own
safety concerns about cars that use
that Loop Road intersection.
Among the responding depart­ments
assisting State Police were the
Brickerville Fire Co., Brickerville
Ambulance, Lancaster General Hos­pital
Advance Life Support, and
Warwick TownsMp police.
An investigation into the accident
is continuing.
For the past Vk years, Houck
worked as a registered nurse for
Apria Healthcare Agency. She was a
1974 graduate of Lebanon Catholic
High School, and a 1995 graduate of
(See Fatal, Page 19)