Lititz Record Express

              T H U R S D A Y , J U L Y 9 , 1 9 9 8
Lititz Record Express ^ j a r d - W i u ^
K H S T O N ! J
P u b l i c a t io n
122ND YEAR 26 Pages - No. 13 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 30 Cents
□ INSIDE i All things considered, a great Fourth
&Queen of Candles
Tina Booth is
crowned Queen
At the Fourth of July
Celebration, recent Warwick
grad and reigning Homecom­ing
Queen Tina Booth was
crowned by 1997 Queen,
Sarah Eshleman. Page 26.
□ Entertainment
Lititz guitarist to play
* at Spill the Beans
Geoff Hamer Lititz has
been performing for several
years, has only recently
recorded his own tunes. It
was worth the wait, as his
debut effort, “No Looking
Back,” will attest. Hamer will
perform several of the songs
solo this Saturday night at
Spill the Beans. For the full
story, see Page 12.
Tent Troupe to
perform ‘Miracle’
On July 20, Luther Acres in
Lititz will host a traveling per­formance
of “The Miracle
Worker” — the story of Helen
Keller — for the community.
For more, see Page 8.
□ Manheim
2 Penn-Elm Lions
receive top honor
Recently, Penn-Elm Lions
Club members Raymond
Shreiner and Harold Gelbach
were recognized for their
community service with the
Melvin Jones Fellowship, the
highest honor awarded by the
>club. Page 20.
□ Meetings
Wednesday, July 15, 7
p.m. — Warwick Twp. super­visors,
315 Clay Road.
□ Index
Births......................... ...........14
Business................... ......18-19
"hurch...................... ......16-17
classified.................. ......22-25
Editorial / Letters.... ............. 4
Entertainment.......... ...........12
Manheim News........ ...........20
Obituaries................. ..........2-3
Out of the Past........ ......21-22
Police Log................. ...........19
School News........... ..........6-7
Social........................ .... 14-15
Sports....................... ........8-11
STEPHEN SEEBER
AND RICHARD REITZ_________
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — The threat of rain
loomed most of the day, but when the
181st Lititz Fourth of July Celebra­tion
came to a close on Saturday, the
only people who got soaked were the
youngsters panning for gold in the
stream.
Still, that threat may have kept the
numbers down at this year’s celebra­tion,
as organizers estimate atten­dance
— while still quite respectable
— dropped from last year’s event.
“When news broadcasters say the
thunderstorms are coming, then
some people just stay home,” said
Tom Sexton, vice chairman of the
Fourth of July Committee. “Even
though the storms never showed up.”
Despite the smaller crowd, Sexton
said it was certainly large enough for
the Park Board to meet its expenses
and more. Though he did not have
exact figures, Sexton said the
revenue was “more than adequate for
fundraising purposes.”
By 6:30 pm. the crowd began to
appear, preparing for the evening
events and entertainment, he said.
One of the main attractions, the
fireworks, unfortunately exper­ienced
a delay in the action, as the
anxious crowd gathered near the
Ambucs softball field ended up wait­ing
more than a half-hour for the
show.
The problem occurred when the
pyrotechnic experts were faced with
a malfunctioning computer mere
moments before die show was set to
begin. As a result, the crew suddenly
had to light the boomers manually.
The show finally started shortly
before 11 p.m.
The show proved worth the wait,
as the rockets’ red glare was set to the
sounds of toe-tapping rock tunes, fol­lowed
by blasts set to patriotic music.
(See Fourth, Page 4)
Photo by Stephen Seeber
Fife player Thad W eaver parades his way down Cedar Street with fellow German Regiment soldier Brian
Good. Both men were part of the Revolutionary W a r encampment during last weekend’s Fourth of July
celebration. Train Station groundbreaking
sparks memories of Lititz past
RICHARD REITZ __________
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — Bill Dussinger Sr.
remembers when he was a young
man working at Weaver’s Restaur­ant,
looking across the street at the
train station.
At that time, Dussinger admitted it
wasn’t much to look at. No longer
used for its intended purpose, by the
mid- 1950s it had become an eyesore.
“When they were remodeling die
park, they tore it down,” Master of
Ceremonies Dussinger told a crowd
of about 300 people gathered at the
Lititz Springs Park entrance on
Saturday morning. It seemed like the
right thing to do at the time. “Now we
think it might have been a mistake.”
If it was a mistake, it is one that is
about to be corrected.
Construction on the building, a
replica of the 1884 Lititz Passenger
Depot and Express Station of the
Reading and Columbia Rail Road, is
expected to begin after Labor Day,
with an anticipated completion in
early March.
The brick building, about 80 per­cent
the size of the original, will
house an information center, a meet­ing
hall, rest rooms, an office for the
Lititz Springs Park Board, and a dis­play
area. The capital improvement
project also includes other renova­tions
to the park.
“We wanted to see the station here
for the good of the community,” said
Jim Wynkoop, chairman of the Lititz
Springs Park Capital Improvements
Committee.
Park Board President David Heck-el
said that 41 years after the station
was tom down, he is pleased to see it
(See Train Station, Page 7)
Reenactors
relive fight
for freedom
STEPHEN S E E B E R ___________
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Being on the front line
with the German Regiment of the
American Revolution was not an
easy lifestyle.
Battling England with guns that
didn’t always work, far away from
wives and children, lots of beans, and
not a lot of bathing. But hey, we won
the war for independence.
We’ve been celebrating the sacri­fices
that the men of this andother
American regiments made for well
over 200 years, and to keep the mem­ory
alive, about 50 men and women
reorganized the German Regiment in
1974.
This authentic reenactment group
has been coming to Lititz Springs
Park for the last three Fourth of Julys,
and group leader Brian Good plans to
be back in ’99.
“We love coming to Lititz,” he
said. “It’s a great opportunity to teach
people about what ac tu a lly
happened.”
The actual German Regiment was
approved by Congress in 1776 and
was comprised of four companies
from Maryland and five from Pen­nsylvania.
Most of the regiment’s
400 men were German.
Good said that the current group of
reenactors is an educational organi­zation
that tries to portray life during
the revolutionary era.
Commonly asked questions
included “Are you hot in those
clothes?” and “Why are there so
many different uniforms?”
Three of the members of the regi­ment
are from Lititz. The Myers fam-
(See Revolutionary, Page 17)
Municipal marriage
Lititz-Warwick leaders make vow to think
regionally as joint planning moves forward
STEPHEN SEEBER
□ School
WMS honor rolls
This week, the Warwick
Middle School honor roll for
the fourth marking period
appears on Page 6.
□ Sports
Sload to coach first
Mason-Dixon game
Once upon a time the Big
33 game featured Pennsyl­vania’s
best high school play­ers
going head-to-head with
Maryland’s all-stars. Though
Ohio is now the Keystone
•State opponent, a new game
will debut this year with our
neighbors to the south, and
legendary Warwick coach
Mick Sload will be a coach for
the squad. Page 10.
Record Express Staff
WARWICK TWP. — There is
no more Lititz and Warwick Town­ship
in the eyes of the new age plan­ner.
It’s all regional now.
The neighboring municipalities
will always maintain their own tradi­tional
identities, but the realization
that development, traffic and water­ways
know no boundries demands
that cooperative efforts be made.
While the regional steering com­mittee
for a joint strategic com­prehensive
plan between Lititz and
Warwick Township continues to
map out the parameters of its func­tions,
the picture is becoming more
and more clear that we the people are
the masters of our own destiny. A
$70,000 commitment from the coun­ty
commissioners to fund the project
puts the ball in our court.
The steering committee, made up
of leaders from both municipalités
met at the Warwick Township super-visors
building on Clay Road Mon­day
night
The two and a half hour discussion
touched on a strong desire to involve
the Amish community and the role
that local media should play, but the
key accomplishment of the evening,
according to consultant team mem­ber
Linda Harper, was the further
establishment of public involvement.
“For me it was a joy to see the level
of commitment and the emphasis on
building a process by which the two
communities can build bridges,” she
said. “And our goal is to get as much
public participation as possible.”
Bridges appear to be the theme
that has captured this group’s atten­tion,
and in the next month the com­mittee
will pursue local residents to
design a logo for the project, as well
(See Regional, Page 18)
New resident jumps right
into community involvement
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — One of the borough’s
newest residents has wasted no time
in getting involved with the
community.
Lisa Nicks moved here with her
husband David and stepson James
last November. The former San
RICHARD REITZ
Turtles raised, released
by two Lititz brothers
for them, the Falkowski boys didalot
of research on the turtles, and did
their best to provide the elements
necessary to hatch the eggs.
They were kept steady in a con­tainer
filled with soil, trying to recre­ate
their conditions, and in Septem­ber,
five of the turtles hatched — a
much higher percentage than they
would have had in the wilderness.
“When they hatched, all came out
within two hours of one another,”
Mrs. Falkowski said. She said their
was a crowd of kids that came over to
witness the event
When they first arrived, the turtles
were no bigger than a half dollar.
Even now, they are only modestly
larger and may take several years to
reach full growth.
“They can get really big,” Brendan
said. “Nineteen inches when fully
grown, and they can weigh quite a
bit.”
Though they have several exotic
(See Turtles, Page 19)
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — Brian and Brendan
Falkowski have an unusual assort­ment
of pets in their Peach Drive
home.
Sure, they have two cats in their
home, but they are more inclined to
talk to you about their frogs and
gekkos, and have had newts, sala­manders
and other exotic reptiles and
amphibians residing with them.
But last summer, they began a fas­cinating
and challenging project that
came to a conclusion on July 2.
Last July their aunt, who lives on a
farm in New Jersey, uncovered a nest
of 40-50 snapper turtle eggs that
were found underneath a tractor.
The eggs had to be moved, and
Brian, 14, and his brother Brendan,
11 — sons of Diane Falkowski —
became the caretaker of seven of
those eggs.
Though this was a new endeavor
Antonio, Texas architect said that
she was drawn to Lititz for its historic
charm and they settled in across the
street form Linden Hall on East Main
Street
Her neighbor, borough council­man
A1 Olah, quickly realized that
Nicks’ background was a natural fit
for the empty seat on Lititz’s Histori­cal
Area Advisory Committee. He
suggested that she get involved and
the rest is history.
Borough council approved her
addition to the advisory board last
week and Nicks’ is eager to get
involved in upcoming zoning meet­ings.
She said that she sat in on her
first meeting last month as the Lititz
Zoning Hearing Board addressed
concerns over a 180-foot cell tower
in the general business district.
“That was an exciting one,” she
said, realizing that she will be
focused on the small historical dis­trict
on the borough map.
While it has no legislative power,
the borough’s Historical Area Advis­ory
Committee offers comments on
zoning hearings that involve the
downtown historic district. Their
goal is to maintain consistency
through signage and architectural
styles when business and home own­ers
attempt to make changes that vary
from local law.
Her term ends Dec. 30, 2001.
Nicks was one of three residents
appointed last week by council to
serve their local government.
A1 Johnson was reappointed as a
(See Council, Page 18)
RICHARD REITZ
Photo by Richard Reitz
David Oberholtzer, T k months, son of Steve and Sheri Oberholtzer
of Lititz, was named the grand prize winner in the 13th annual Baby
Parade at the Lititz Fourth of July Celebration for his float, “Freedom to
Grow.”
Family effort blossoms
into Baby Parade win
for David. Several American flags
decorated the float, and displays
included a radio for “Freedom of
Speech,” a Bible for “Freedom of
Religion,” and several rolled-up
Lititz Record Express newspapers
for “Freedom of the Press.”
Mrs. Oberholtzer said they spent
several hours putting the float
together a few days before the Fourth
of July, and were pleased with the
final result. When they arrived at the
parade and took a look at some of the
competition, they knew they faced a
tough challenge.
For winning the grand prize,
David received a $50 U.S. Savings
Bond.
Several other floats were recog­nized
by judges Tammy Keishner,
Kim Uibel and Maiy Pekarek from
the Penn Valley Charter Chapter of
the American Business Women’s
Association.
In the Prettiest category, the first
place winner was four-year-old
Bethany Eisenhart, daughter of Den­nis
and Deb Eisenhart, 652 W. Bru­baker
Valley Road, Lititz, “Red,
White and Blue Express.” Second
(See Baby Parade, Page 26)
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — The grand prize win­ning
float at this year’s Baby Parade
was the result of a melting pot of
ideas.
David Oberholter, the l'h -month
son of Steve and Sheri Oberholtzer,
437 W. Marion St., Lititz, was the
captain of the “Freedom to Grow in
the U.S.A.” float, which earned the
top prize from among 21 contestants
on Saturday afternoon.
This was the first entry for the
Oberholtzers in the popular event
sponsored by the Lititz Women of
Today, although it was not the first
time they had enjoyed the procession
around the band shell area.
“We come here every year, and
saw others in the parade, so we just
had to do it,” Mrs. Oberholtzer said.
She said the idea for the float
began with David’s grandmother,
Rhoda Oberholtzer, then blossomed
when everyone added their own
ideas to what it should look like.
The result was a double-wagon
float featuring four giant flower pot,
the biggest of which served as a seat