Lititz Record Express

              THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1999
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
^ a t d - W i n ^
^ ü b ü c a t i ö 1^
122ND YEAR 28 Pages - No. 3 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 3 0 C e n t s
□ INSIDE
□Sports
Play ball!
- Warwick Little League
kicked off its new season on
Saturday. For a look at the
Ceremony and the first day of
games, plus other local
sports news, P a g e s 8-11.
□ School
Warwick news
Student profiles include
Amy Vacirca, a Warwick
Middle School eighth grader
honored for an essay on
racism, a class at Kissel Hill
doing its part to aid the refu­gees
in Kosovo, and other
school news. Pages 6-7.
□ Out of the Past
Electric railway
One hundred years ago
this week, Lititz Borough
Council approved a plan to
bring an electric railway into
town along the borough
streets. For this and other
news from the past 120 years,
see Pages 13, 23,
□ Back Page
To promote the Schreiber
Pediatric Center’s Coffee Day,
young ambassador Carly
Young paid a visit to the
Chimney Corner Restaurant in
Lititz. For more on her visit,
see Page 28.
Train Station
Plans are being finalized
for the Lititz Train Station ded­ication
on May 8, and the
parade route has been estab­lished.
For more details, turn
to Page 28.
□ Government
Newport Square
■; With an approval from
Warwick Township super­visors,
the 400-unit Newport
Square development is be­ginning
the first phase of con­struction
in both Warwick and
Lititz Borough. Page 22.
□ Church
Moravian Concert
As part of its 250th anniver­sary
celebration, the Lititz
Moravian Church will host a
concert on May 2 featuring
the Lititz Moravian Trombone
Choir and Keith Davis on
organ. Page 16.
□ Index
Births..................................... 14
Business..........................18-19
Church............................ 16-17
Classified........................26-29
Editorial / Letters................... 4
■Entertainment.......................12
Government.........................22
■Manheim News.................... 20
Obituaries............................2-3
Out of the Past..............13, 23
Police.....................................21
School News..... .................6-7
Social...............................14-15
Sports................................ 8-11
investigates three Warwick threat incidents
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Borough police will
soon begin to patrol the halls of War-wick
High School as security mea­sures
are being reviewed in the wake
of last week’s tragic murders at Col­umbine
High School in Littleton,
Colo.
The April 20 rampage that left 12
students and one teacher dead has
devastated a small Colorado com­munity
and reminded the entire
nation that violence is a very real part
of our schools. Since then, three inci­dents
involving possible threats of
violence have taken place in the War­wick
School District.
Dr. Steve Iovino, superintendent
of the district, is not releasing specif­ic
details as investigations continue
into each case, one occuring at the
high school and the others at War­wick
Middle School and Lititz
Elementaiy.
Lititz police are assisting in these
investigations, and during Tuesday’s
borough council meeting, Mayor
Russell Pettyjohn informed the local
govennent that borough police will
be stepping up their presence at the
schools, including the use of K-9
units, possibly by this fall.
Details as to how threatening these
recent local incidents were are not
being released because of the dis­trict’s
policy on student privacy, but
Iovino said that each situation is
being dealt with very seriously.
School officials around the coun­try
will be extra cautious over the
next few weeks to make sure the Col­umbine
violence, which was con­ducted
by at least two students, does
not inspire copy cat crimes.
At Warwick, nothing is being
implemented as a direct result of
what happened in Colorado, but Iovi­no
indicated that school staffs and
police are reviewing procedures.
The school currently offers
intervention programs for students
who may have mental health prob­lems
or are struggling with drug use.
A “lock down” program was started
several weeks before the Colorado
incident in which most school build­ing
entrances are being secured
throughout the day. And instructors
are being encouraged, now more
than ever, to hold open discussions
with students about what appears to
be an age of youth rage in America.
While the local school district has
been reassessing procedures, calls
from concerned parents have been
coming in.
Iovino said that several parents
(See Schools, Page 22)
Warwick strengthens
weapons punishment
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — On the same day that
13 people were killed by two gunmen
at Columbine High School in Little­ton,
Colo., the Warwick School
Board voted to strengthen the dis­trict’s
own weapons policy.
On April 20, the board unanim­ously
approved the second and final
reading of its revised weapons poli­cy,
which allows for a longer expul­sion
for a student in violation.
The previous policy called for an
explosion throughout the rest of the
school year for a student that brings
in a gun, knife or other weapon,
regardless of intent. Under that poli­cy,
a student found in violation in
May would be expelled for one
month.
Now, any student in violation
would face an expulsion of not less
than one full year from the date of the
infraction, unless a shorter sentence
is r e c o m m e n d e d b y th e
superintendent
Students in grades 7-12 will still
be required to appear before the
School Board for a hearing before a
punishment is levied.
Though the policy change has
been in the works for the past few
months, passing its first reading in
(See Weapons, Page 21)
Spruce Street work
will begin by June
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Borough drivers will
enjoy some major traffic relief by the
end of July.
Construction of a Spruce Street
extension, from Sixth to Seventh
streets behind Keller Brothers Ford,
Three hurt
in crash at
Clay-N’port
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TWP. — Three
people were hurt in one of two vehi­cle
crashes at the intersection of
Newport and Clay roads on Sunday,
both caused by driver error.
At 6:30 p.m. on April 25, police
said Jennifer L. Amico, 17, of the
first block of Marie Drive, Lititz, was
travelling north on Clay Road, and
had stopped at the Newport Road
intersection.
As she pulled out, Amico’s 1988
Honda Accord entered the path of a
1985 Plymouth Voyager driven by
Lenore Koffoth, 60, of the 100 block
of Weidler Lane, Lititz, which was
travelling west on Newport Road.
Kofroth’s van struck the passen­ger’s
side of the Accord, causing
both vehicles to slide into a third veh-
(See Crash, Page 21)
could begin in about a month.
The highlight of the $ 112,800 pro­ject
is the creation of one block of
new roadway; and while that may not
sound as earth-shattering as a new
borough hall, this particular exten­sion
will create a viable north-south
corridor parallel to Route 501, alle­viating
downtown congestion and
add jessing the increased traffic
generated by the Crosswinds deve­lopment
in neighboring Warwick
Township.
Factoring in engineering bills, the
total project cost greatly exceeds
$112,800, but the borough is getting
some significant aid as the county
government, Weis Market and
Crosswinds developer Garland Con­struction
has fronted support in the
neighborhood of $154,000. The bor­ough
will cover approximately
$60,000 of the cost.
The county’s $67,000 contribu­tion
comes through two LATS
grants, a reimbursement agreement
between the borough and the county
in which Lititz foots the bill and will
be paid back with county funds
sometime after the work is complete.
The borough secured these grants in
1996 and 98.
After years of negotiating with
Norman Keller for the use of the land
needed, council is eager to see the
plan become reality.
“We’ve worked on this for quite
some time and now were ready to
move forward to completion,” said
(See Borough, Page 22)
Swing the night away
Photo by Jill Gagllano
DANCE FOR A CAUSE — Katy Clair and her son, Shaun,
demonstrate some of the moves they will be doing at the first annual
Kissel Hill Adult Dance and Tricky Tray on Saturday, May 1 from
7:30-11:30 p.m. at St. James Catholic Church. The dance and tricky
tray, a silent basket auction, will help raise money for the refugees in
Kosovo. The dance is sponsored by the Kissel Hill PTO. For more
information on the event see page 7.
Lititz Historical Foundation volunteer Rufina Lynn Ebersol displays some examples of garden-related
items that would be perfect for swapping at the annual Plant Exchange on Sunday afternoon. Garden varieties
Plant exchange includes garden items
RICHARD REITZ______________
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — This Sunday, you can
trade more than just your abundant
garden foliage at the annual Lititz
H isto ric a l F o u n d a tio n P lan t
Exchange.
At this year’s event, participants
are encouraged to bring in their
garden-related items as well as their
plants, with an opportunity to
exchange tools, decorations and
other items.
The popular plant exchange will
be held on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. in
The Gardens behind the Lititz
Museum, 137-145 E. Main S t It will
be held rain or shine.
The way the exchange works is
simple: If you have an abundance of
a particular perennial, annual or herb,
bring it along in a labeled pot, and
exchange it for another plant that you
wish to add to your garden.
“You can go home with as many
plants as you bring,” said Missy Dci-bler,
one of the event’s organizers.
Each year the exchange has a fea­tured
plant, and this year’s is the
shade-loving native plant cimifuga,
more commonly known as “black
snakeroot.”
“It has magnificent purplish-black
foliage, and grows to be five-feet
high,” Deibler said. It also has fra­grant
white flowers when in bloom.
The idea behind the event is to
encourage the spreading of local
plants, especially those difficult to
find elsewhere.
“It’s a way to keep them from
extinction,” Deibler said. In fact,
plants like the Moravian Peony are
only available through sharing pro­jects
like this, she said.
(See Plant Exchange, Page 21)
Photos by Richard Reitz
Lititz Historical Foundation officers for 1999 include (from left to
right) Ed Crowl, president; Dr. Gail Eckstrand, program committee; and
Ruth Spacht, vice president.
Crowl assumes leadership
of Historical Foundation
RICHARD REITZ_____________
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — Ed Crowl served as
vice president of the Lititz Historical
Foundation during its greatest period
of growth.
So when Charles Steffy stepped
down as president after 13 years in
Januaiy, Crowl was the logical
choice to serve as his successor.
As the Foundation prepares for a
new millennium, Crowl said his first
goal is to focus on membership.
“What we want to do is get more
younger blood involved,” Crowl
said. “We need to get a lot of people
to help.”
For a town as historically-conscious
as Lititz, the Historical
Foundation serves as one of its most
important organizations, protecting
the archives and artifacts that piece
together the story of life in this com­munity
since its founding in the early
18th Centuiy.
“We have been entrusted with the
(See Crowl, Page 19)
Walkathon steps off Saturday
LITITZ — Get your walking
shoes out this Saturday and see inside
the new library building.
The library’s Walkathon is being
held this Saturday and as part of the
walk, the new library will be open to
the public. Walkers can expect to see
the carpeted and plastered empty
shell of the 15,000 square foot
building.
Organizer Anita Lipkowski said
that she hopes the emptiness will
make people realize that they really
do need a lot more books.
“They will get an awesome look of
the total empty interior,” she said.
“Just to get to stand there and see the
vastness of it all.”
The Warwick Education Associa­tion
and the Friends of the Lititz
Public Library have joined together
to plan the 4.3 mile walk through
town. The walk will start at the War­wick
Middle School, go past the old
library and then continue to the new
library. From there, walkers will go
down East Main Street, through
Lititz Springs Park, and end back at
the school.
The walk is free, but for a $10
donation walkers will receive a com­memorative
mug or a “Friends of the
Library” t-shirt. The proceeds will
help buy books for the new library.
Along the route, several local ser­vice
organizations will help walkers.
To start the day, the Lititz Rec
Center is offering a free pancake
breakfast from 7:15-8:30 a.m. for
those walking. Registration for the
Walkathon is from 8-9 a.m.
The Lititz Women of Today will
have snacks at two different check­points,
and the Lititz Jaycees will
have lunch items available at their
snack stand in the Lititz Springs
Park.
The Lititz Historical Society will
have a display of photos showing the
history of the library and several old
books.
The brochure for the Walkathon
was designed by Warwick senior
Matt Beuke. His design was chosen
out of five entries submitted by stu­dents
in Nancy Williams’s art class.
Beuke was awarded a $200 prize.
The library will hold its official
grand opening on June 5.