Lititz Record Express

              T H U R S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 2 4 , 1 9 9 8
ÜÜ
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
^ a r d - W m m
P u b l i c a t io n
122ND YEAR 26 Pages - No. 24 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 30 Cents
«NSIDE Brickerville
mourns loss
of its ‘mom’
STEPHEN SEEBER
.- o n v r .v . , - upports
Planting Day
On Saturday morning,
about 75 volunteers put on
their old clothes, brought
along a shovel and came to
Warwick’s Linear Park to help
create a natural filtration sys­tem
along the Santo Domingo
Creek, planting greens like
the ones pictured above,
eside a layout of what the
project will look like when it is
completed. For more on the
project, turn to the back page,
Page 26.
□ Entertainment
Hamer makes most
of Chameleon show
It was a tremendous venue
for Lititz musician Geoff
Hamer to debut his new band,
NYPA, and Hamer took full
advantage of his opportunity
to perform on the stage of the
Chameleon club in Lancaster
last Saturday. For a review of
the concert, plus more on the
the band, see Page 12.
□ Business
Lititz business
celebrates a century
An industrial giant celebrat­ed
100 years of business last
weekend. Lititz Borough
Council • President Dennis
Stuckey (above) and other
local dignitaries were on hand
for a gala event at the NTN-BCA
facility along Lincoln
Avenue on Saturday. Page
18.
□ Out of the Past
Hang on Sloopy
Forty years ago, a local
business played a role in pro­viding
an important part for
the American yacht defending
the America Cup in Rhode
Island. Page 16.
□ Editorial
Lititz Speaks Out
This week, Stephen Seeber
asks local folks if they will uti­lize
the' new Lititz Library
more than the old. Page 4.
□ Sports
Warwick dominates
Manheim Central
On the hockey field
Tuesday, the Lady Warriors
took command of the Barons,
as Danielle Barr hat trick
paced the team to a 6-2 vic­tory.
The win was Warwick’s
fourth as they remain unde­feated
in league play. Page 8.
□ Index
Record Express Staff
ELIZABETH TWP. — Mildred
Strauss embodied the meaning of
community, which is why the entire
town o f Brickerville is mourning her
loss.
Last Thursday afternoon, the lire
company auxiliaiy president was
killed in a car accident on Route 501,
just minutes after taking care o f some
business at the Brickerville Fire
Company.
The 6 9 -y ea r -o ld “firehou se
mom,” as she is affectionately called
by her peers, was pronounced dead at
the scene by Lancaster County Cor­oner
Dr. Bany Walp. It is believed
that she lost control o f her vehicle
just south o f the Route 501-322
intersection and collided head on
with a minivan.
The driver of the van, James Bock,
46, o f Lititz, was taken to Lancaster
General Hospital in serious condi­tion.
A passenger, John Conway, 37,
also o f Lititz, was treated and
released.
„ Millie was one o f the fire com­pany’s
charter members, an extreme­ly
active participant in fundraising
for the volunteer group since 1947. It
was her own boys, including her hus­band
Russ and son Jeff, both veterans
with the Brickerville company, that
responded to the accident scene.
“When you lose somebody that
close, it’s difficult. It’s very diffi­cult,”
said Nevin May, deputy lire
chief.
(See Millie, Page 21)
Traffic woes,
development
are key focus
of community
RICHARD REITZ______________
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TWP. — Atten­dance
was down at the final two
focus group sessions for the Joint
Strategic Planning process, but a
lower-than-hoped turnout did little to
stifle the creative process.
The 90 citizens that contributed to
the three-day process were moti­vated,
thoughtful, and gave the com­mittee
a lot o f ideas to consider,
according to Cheiyn Fogarty, con­sultant
for the project involving the
Lititz and Warwick communities.
“The really exciting thing was that
most said they will come to the Nov.
14 community forum,” Fogarty said.
Despite attendance numbers around
20 on Wednesday evening at Roths-ville
Fire Hall, and about 30 at John
Beck Elementary on Thursday, she
felt the experience was overwhelm-ingly
positive.
“There were a lot o f similarities in
the ideas, and some differences,” she
said.
As expected, traffic and overdeve­lopment
were the primaty concerns
expressed by the different groups.
“There was also a lot of positive
things said about this community’s
character,” she added.
While it is easy to identify traffic
as a problem, finding a solution that
the committee can put into motion is
where the challenge lies.
(See Traffic, Page 26)
: ï . . -.i.
Sr.
.iS
* vV
i-
Photo by Richard Reitz
READY TO DIG — As the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lititz Public Library progressed, young
participants like J.J. Boettger, 4, son of Doug and Donna Boettger of Lititz, patiently and anxiously
awaited the call to start digging. Near the end of the road
300 join in Lititz Library groundbreaking
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — In the early morning hours before
ground was broken for the new Lititz Public Libraty,
Donna Hammond paid a visit to the freshly cut com
field, quietly contemplating how far the project has
progressed in such a short span o f time.
It was an emotional moment for Hammond, who
has served as librarian at the current facility at 301
South Broad Street for 17 years... and recognized a
need for more space during about 15 of those years.
“It’s hard for me to believe it’s finally here,” Ham­mond
said, looking over the four acre field that will
soon be home to her dream. “There were lots o f tears
today.”
It was a dream was shared by many, and by 10 p.m.
on Saturday, when the ceremony began on the Siegrist
farm along Kissel Hill Road at the end of Sixth Street,
that was even more apparent, as about 300 supporters
were on hand to witness the culmination o f a year o f
fundraising... and many more years of searching for
the perfect site, returning to the drawing board, and
hoping that one day, a new library would arrive.
“I am veiy excited, and glad the community could
support a library they deserved and needed,” Ham­mond
said. “It’s wonderful to be able to share this
dream with all o f these people.”
With three giant yellow excavation machines in the
background, and scores o f young eyes in the audience
eager for a chance to check them out, the ceremony
began with comments from local officials and library
organizers.
Mark Barabas, who chaired the capital campaign,
expressed his gratitude for the variety o f gifts and sup­port
they have received to bring them close to their
goal of nearly $1.5 million.
He expressed his gratitude to the anonymous donor
of the $100,000 matching community challenge grant,
and later he expressed the appreciation the donor had
for the community response.
“I have been in contact with the challenge grant giv­er
and this most generous person has expressed
extreme pride and pleasure in the wonderful response
of the people o f Lititz to the Lititz Public Library Cap­ital
Campaign,” Barabas said.
He said the donor was especially pleased with the
children and youth groups that “identified the library
as an extremely important project for the community,
(See Library, Page 26)
Defiant or merely misunderstood?
Daniel Groff
explains his
battle with
Eliz. Twp.
STEPHEN SEEBER
Sacramento
group meets
Gen. Sutter
STEPHEN SEEBER___________
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — A group of Sacramen­to
tourists paid homage to their fair
city Tuesday with a visit to Gen. John
Sutter’s grave.
Thirty-eight Californians spent the
day in the borough, learning how to
twist pretzels, being introduced to
Moravianism and discovering why
one o f America’s most famous pion­eers
chose to make Lititz his final
resting place.
“California doesn’t have the his­tory
that the East Coast does,” said
Mike Garver of Fairfield, a city near
Sacramento. “California is so new
and congested. We’re not used to
beautiful homes with all this open
space.”
Garver and his co-travelers were
given the red carpet treatment this
week as Moravians in 18 th century
costumes guided them through the
grounds to the sounds of the church’s
trombone choir.
The group asked Pastor Derek
French a few questions about the
unique aspects of being Moravian,
questions like, “Are Moravian pas­tors
allowed to be married?” and
“What kind of training do you need
to do to become a Moravian pastor?”
The answers to both questions,
“Yes.” and “A college degree and
three years at seminary in Beth­lehem,”
proved to further intrigue the
group.
(See Sutter, Page 26) Twp. police
create unit
for traffic
RICHARD REITZ__________
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TWP. — A.s traffic
continues to be a primary concern
among residents in the community,
Warwick police have increased their
commitment to the problem.
At the Warwick Township super­visors
meeting on Sept. 16, three
officers from the department were
recognized by Sgt. Gary Hutchinson
as part o f the newly-formed Special
Traffic Unit.
“These were the three highest-qualified
officers,” Hutchinson said
of Richard Groff, Josh Kilgore, and
Thomas Lynch, as he presented each
with a pin recognizing them as mem­ber
of the unit.
They will focus their duties to all
aspects of traffic-related concerns,
Hutchinson told the board. They will
seek out problem traffic areas, in the
hopes o f finding practical solutions.
“This is an effort to head-off prob­lems
before they become problems,”
he said, “to ensure the safe and free-flowing
movement o f traffic in War­wick
Township.”
Supervisor Vice Chairman Bruce
Bucher commended the department
for taking this approach to the grow­ing
traffic concerns in the township.
“Today police work is even more
complicated and technical, and it is
essential that you guys specialize,”
Bucher said. “It takes a lot o f training
to keep up to speed.”
Recycler honored
Stauffers o f Kissel Hill was recog­nized
as the township’s outstanding
(See Warwick, Page 26)
Births...........................................14 Record Express Staff
Business..............................18-19 ELIZABETH TWP. — Daniel
Church..................................16-17 Groff is not sure whether or not he
Classified .21-25 will collect on an $ 18 million lawsuit
Editorial / Letters 4 serve<i to the government last
F ntortainmont .............. i o week, but his is determined to fight
S S SK K fc z iIIj» f“ » ** “ ^ ■** » * Obituarie s o q property.
n f i d " ..................■■■■■4-3 ^ week, Groff, a 65-year-old
Out Ot th e P a s t................17, 19 self-employed hay hauler at 1651
Police Log................................. 19 Furnace Hills Pike, filed a civil rights
School News.....................r...6-7 suit against Elizabeth Township, the
Social................................ .14-15 state court system and Gov. Tom
Sports............. ........................8-11 Ridge, claiming that he has been
treated like a peon.
The source of the trouble stems
from zoning violation notices con­cerning
a junkyard on his land. The
township wants Groff to clean up, but
Groff said that he is the victim o f an
oppressive government.
“They denied me my fifth amend­ment
rights,” he said during an inter­view
last week. “The township’s
attorney denied me the right to
defend these so-called violations.”
Josele Cleary, attorney for the
township, said that GrofFs claims
amount to nothing more than a waste
of taxpayer money as the township
tries to enforce its laws through the
court system.
“He is in violation of the township
zoning ordinance and the township
has the legal right to enforce it,” she
said, adding that Groff is being
treated like any other resident in
violation.
In fact, Groff may be enjoying
more freedom than most violators as
he has managed to avoid compliance
for more than three years.
The township first issued a \ iola
tion notice to Groff in 1995. Gmli
said he has been cleaning up bis 2
acre plot, but the death o f his wile
and a serious injury he sustained
slowed the process.
“What the township can’t si i m u>
understand is that cleaning up ibis
stuff is a time consuming pi 'in ss.”
Groff said. “I have to separak bud*
metal from the cars and then i.iM- the
engines apart. It’s not like y>u pi i
snap your fingers and its all dum."
Such an explanation sounds I eg it i
mate, but the township has heard
GrofFs excuses before.
“This has been going on for
years,” said Cleary, “and he just does
not admit that there is a problem.”
Groff said that he takes offense to
people calling his property a junk­yard,
explaining that the mounds of
(See Groff, Page 26)
Daniel Groff says that he has been cleaning up his 1651 Furnace
Hills Pike property and he does not understand why the Elizabeth
Township government is, as he puts it, “picking oh him.”