Lititz Record Express

              T H E R E S S
SER VING THE WAR WICK AREA FOR NEARLY A CENTUR Y
96th Year
E s ta b lis h e d A p ril, 1877, a s T h e S u n b e am
(C o n so lid a te d w ith T h e l i t i t z B e co rd , 1937) Lititz Record-ExDress. Thursday, March Ì, 1973
10 c e n ts a Copy; $4.00 p e r y e a r b y m a il
w ith in L a n c a s te r C o u n ty 16 PAGES — No. 49
Ok Given fo r
Light In d u s try
In Penn Twp.
The way was cleared for light
industry to come into Penn
Township last Friday night at a
special public meeting of the
township supervisors. The
supervisors adopted an amend­ment
to the existing zoning or­dinance
which will allow light
industry to go into existing
structures in commercial
districts. Only buildings which
had been utilized for permitted
uses are included in the new
ruling. No new buildings may be
erected for light industrial
purposes.
The immediate impact of the
ruling will probably be the
renting of a former Bomberger’s
Store building to a clothing
manufacturer.
Under the provisions of the
ordinance, the zoning, hearing
board shall determine that any
proposed use is a light industrial
use and will not be offensive to
adjoining uses and properties.
Firms will not be allowed to
create offensive noise, vibration,
smoke, odors, lighting glare,
hazards of fire or other ob­jectionable
effects.
Adequate parking facilities
must be provided under the
terms of the ordinance. Also, the
zoning hearing board may im­pose
additional requirements to
insure that the proposed use will
not detract from the use of ad­joining
properties for any of the
permitted uses.
L ititz R e co rd E x p re s s P h o to s
Homemade products are featured at the
stands of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Minnich at
Lititz Central Market. Above, two clerks
display some of the popular items, Mrs.
Central Market Has Variety
Of Meats, Homemade Foods
NOTICE
The Lititz Retailer’s
Association Will Meet
Wednesday, March 7, at
7:30 p.m. at the General
Sutter Inn.
ALL AREA BUSINESS
MEN ARE INVITED
TO ATTEND.
(Editor’s Note: This is the 58th
in a series of articles to acquaint
our readers with our local
retailers. The 59th article will
appear next week.)
One of the busiest places in
town on Fridays and Saturdays is
Lititz Central Market, where a
small group of stand owners offer
a tempting variety of fresh meats
and chicken, farm fresh eggs,
and homemade goodies that
range from chicken corn soup to
bread, cakes and pies.
Located at 53 E. Main St., the
market is the former Lutz
Central Market, and is now run
by Mr. and Mrs. Earl Minnich,
who operate the bakery, salad,
and produce stands, and James
E. Benedict, who owns the meat
department.
Two other farm stands are
open one day a week, Saturdays,
one of them run by Mr. and Mrs.
Isaac Musser, Lititz RD4, and the
other by Mildred R. Shreiner,
Lititz.
Fridays and Saturdays, the two
days of the week that the market
is in operation, sees a steady flow
of customers to the various
stands.
The ones which the Minnichs
own feature mainly homemade
Mearig Files Petition
For School Director
Richard L. Mearig, 521 Lincoln
Rd., Warwick Township, will be a
candidate for Warwick District
School Board in the spring
primaries.
Mearig, a Republican, filed a
nomination petition with the
Lancaster County Board of
Elections. As of press time this
week, he was the only person
filing for any of the three school
director positions in the
primaries.
Mearig is chairman of the
social studies department at
Hempfield High School, and a
member of the Warwick
Township Municipal Authority.
From 1968-1972, he served as
Councilman from the Second
Ward on Lititz Boro Council,
resigning as of Feb. l, 1972 when
he moved out of the borough.
He is married to the former
Judith Ruebman and has two
sons. Keith. 10, and Neal, 8.
Three school board terms will
Richard L Mearig
Candidate for
School Board
expire Dec. 31, those of David E.
Buckwalter, current president of
the board, Paul Wissler, and
Kenneth Weaver.
The area Republican Com­mittee
has indicated that Wissler
and Weaver will not be running
again the spring primaries, but
did not comment on whether or
not Buckwalter will run.
A potential candidate for one of
the seats will be Wallace E.
Hofferth, Republican from the
borough’s Third ward, who told
the Record-Express this week
that he “is considering” running
for school board.
Since school directors are
elected “at large,” rather than
by wards and townships, this
spring’s primaries could prove a
wide open contest if Hofferth, and
another potential candidate
unofficially reported to be con­sidering
running, should an­nounce
their candidacies.
Hofferth has a history of ap­pointments
in the borough. He
served eight years on the Zoning
Hearing Board, was appointed to
fill an unexpired two and a half
vear term on the School Board,
ran for re-election but was
defeated for the same post in the
next election, and immediately
after that, served a term on the
borough Planning Commission.
The local GOP committee has
not indicated yet what candidates
it will endorse in the primaries,
although Raymond Reedy, area
chairman, said the committee
should have its endorsed slate
ready in another week. Final date
for filing and circulating
nomination petitions is March 6.
Three new petitions from the
Record-Express circulation area
(Continued On Page 14)
Jim Benedict, who owns and operates the meat depart­ment
at the Lititz Central Market, is shown at work at his
cutting block.
Street Resurfacing Studied
Boro Council Tuesday night
considered a $30,000 street'
resurfacing schedule for the
year, involving 21 streets and
lanes in the borough.'
The streets will be reviewed
again at the March meeting.
Streets being considered are:
West Second Avenue, from
South Spruce to West Orange, at
an estimated cost of $5,041.
Robin Road, from Blue Bird
Road to cul-de-sac, estimated
cost. $1,053.
Rome Road Cul-de-sac, form
North Elm to Cul-de-sac, $1,002.
Forney Drive from Kissel Hill
Road to Plum Street, $2,970.
South Locust Street from
proposed Lemon Street to East
Second Ave., $2,871.
Kissel Hill Road Intersection,
from Forney Drive to South
Locust, $685.
East Second Avenue from
South Cedar to Laurel Avenue,
plus 250 feet east of Cherry,
$1,553.
Hensley Street, from West
Marion east to End, $1,042.
Spring Avenue, from West
Marion west to End, $3,225.
West Sixth Avenue, from East
of Golden Street to west of
Marion Street, $2,089.
North Elm Street, from East
Main to North Lane, $759.
Liberty Street from Front
Street to East Lincoln, $1,668.
Rome Road from North Oak to
Balmer Road, $595.
South Spruce Street from West
Fourth Avenue to West Sixth,
$2,584.
(Continued on Page 14)
Council Postpones Burning
Law After Citizens Protest
Anna May Martin, Rothsville (left) holding
pies, and Mrs. Martha Shenk, Lititz RD2,
holding containers of soup.
items which Mrs. Minnich
prepares in the kitchen and small
bakery at her home at Lititz RD3.
Available are stuffed peppers,
chow chow, slaws and potato
salads, red beet eggs, fruit jello
salads, rice and tapioca pud­dings,
applesauce, baked beans,
chicken and ham salads, and
fresh produce in season.
The Minnichs’ stands also
feature a variety of homemade
(Continued On Page 14)
A proposed trash burning or­dinance
and Market Street
parking restrictions drew
another full house to Boro Council
meeting Tuesday night.
Although Council was expected
to enact an ordinance prohibiting
all outdoor burning in the
borough, it instead tabled the
matter for another month in the
face of protests from citizens,
including one petition containing
76 names, many of them
businessmen in the area.
Regarding the trial ban on
parking on the north side of
Market Street, Council left the
restrictions in force for the
remainder of the trial period,
ending April 15.
Wayne G. Hummer, local at­torney,
speaking on behalf of
Glenn McElroy and also as a
private citizen, turned over a
petition to Council President Curt
Amidon containing 76 names of
citizens, many of them
businessmen, protesting the
proposed ordinance against
outdoor burning in the borough.
Hummer said the way the
proposed ordinance is written,
even charcoal cooking fires
would not be allowed.
He asked why such a strict
ordinance was needed and
suggested that the borough
toughen up its present ordinance
without ruling out certain things
like burning paper.
He said the proposed ordinance
would mean that his client,
McElroy, would have to spend $35
a month to have his trash hauled
away, whereas it now costs him
$6 as long as he can burn part of
it.
Hummer said that the feeling
and sentiment in the borough “is
overwhelming” against the
proposed ordinance. He said the
question of air pollution is not
raised by trash burning, but that
it comes from automobiles and
industrial smoke stacks.
Council President Curt Amidon
replied that if the persons who
wanted this ordinance sought a
petition, they could probably get
up an impressive list of names,
too.
He agreed with Hummer,
however, that the proposed or­dinance
“is silent” on the matter
of charcoal cooking fires, and
said this should be clarified,
adding that it was not Boro
Council’s intention to prohibit
this type of fire.
Another resident, Mrs. Gerald
Weaver, whose husband is an
Elizabeth Twp., School
District Disagree On
Realty Transfer Tax
Elizabeth Township super­visors
are expected to pass an
ordinance Friday night which
will enable them to collect half of
all realty transfer taxes paid on
properties sold in the township.
The measure is expected to add
some $5000 annually to the
township treasury. Presently,
all the tax is paid to the Warwick
School District. The tax amounts
to one percent of the selling price
on each property transferred.
Dr. H. Dale Winger, superin­tendent
of the Warwick School
District, has voiced his opposition
to the Elizabeth Township move.
The school district is comprised
of Elizabeth and Warwick
townships, plus Lititz borough.
All real estate transfer taxes
throughout the school district are
presently paid into the district’s
coffers. If Warwick Township
and the borough were to follow
Elizabeth Township’s example,
Winger says the school district
would be losing $31,000 in
revenue.
“If they take it away from us
one place, we’ll have to raise the
money some other way,” Winger
38- Year Old Theater
Tom Down This Week
The old Lititz Community
Theater, which opened its doors
38 years ago, was demolished this
week, thus ending another era of
history that brought some of
filmdom’s greats to the Lititz
screen.
The last remains of the
building, now owned by Lititz
Improvement, Inc., will be
cleared away to make way for a
new downtown parking lot.
The grand opening of the old
theater on March 21, 1935 was
heralded by many months of
watching and waiting by citizens
of Lititz, as the 818-seat theater
with its historic murals painted
by a French artist, took shape.
More than 1200 persons flocked
to inspect the new $60,000 theater
the afternoon of its opening,
virtually blocking Main Street as
they waited entrance to the
building, according to accounts
taken from The Lititz Record.
Crowds also filled the theater
for its first film, “The Gilded
Lilly,” (admission 30cents and 15
cents), which was presented
along with a dedicatory
ceremony on March 21.
Flowers filled the lobby and
space in front of the stage, all
gifts from businessmen in town,
contractors who had worked on
the building, and friends of the
owner and builder, Harry
Chertcoff.
Robert Posey, Lancaster, was
master of ceremonies, and the
Burgess, John C. Brenneman,
officially received the theater in
the name of Lititz. Prof. M.C.
Demmy, who was supervising
principal of schools, and Dr. F.W.
Stengel, of Linden Hall, spoke on
the educational value of the
motion picture, and W.H. Muth,
then president of the local Rotary
Club, spoke of the pride Lititz had
in the new theater.
One of the biggest attractions
in the theater were murals
denoting Lititz history, painted
on the walls of the lobby by Franz
de Merlier of Belgium, who was
present for the opening night
ceremonies. The murals included
paintings of the Lititz Springs
Park, General Sutter Inn, the
first fire hall and East Main
Street houses.
Prof. H.H. Beck, local
historian, who was consulted on
the design of the murals, also
attended opening ceremonies and
spoke on the value the murals
would have in preserving local
history.
Recalling some of the theater’s
history, John J. Heisey, 109 W.
Third Ave., who was projectionist
at the theater until it was closed
in 1962, explained that the murals
were covered up about 1948, when
the theater was redecorated.
There was much controversy
about covering them up, Heisey
said, but cinemascope was
coming in then, and the engineers
said the murals were posing an
acoustical problem.
Ivan Utter was the first
manager of the theater. During
two years of World War II, when
Heisey was away, John Worth
took over his job as projectionist.
When television came into the
picture, the theater met the
financial problems typical of
many neighborhood theaters.
Before it closed its doors in 1962,
Heisey recalls, it hadn’t been
paying for itself, and was in fact
being carried by other theaters.
A lack of free parking also hurt
the theater somewhat after
parking meters were installed in
the borough, Heisey recalled, and
the Lititz theater was one of
about 13 owned by Chertcoff that
eventually closed.
said. “And the only way we can
do that is by raising real estate
taxes throughout the district.”
Winger also feels that Penn­sylvania
law will compel the
school district to relinquish half
the realty transfer tax in the
borough and Warwick township.
“The law says that school
districts must levy taxes equally
on every municipality within the
district,” Winger said. “And our
opinion is that if one municipality
gets half the transfer tax, then all
the municipalities have to get
half the tax.”
A spokesman for the law firm
of Roda, Morgan, Hallgren &
Heinly disagreed with Winger,
however. The firm is thè solicitor
for Elizabeth Township. The
representative said that this
research had led him to believe
that the district would not be
forced to drop half the tax in
other municipalities if Elizabeth
Township adopted the ordinance.
“Besides,” he said, “Elizabeth
Township needs the money.”
The ordinance will be discussed
at a public meeting on Friday
night at the Brickerville Fire
Hall. The meeting will begin at
7:30 p.m.
osteopath with offices at 4 Kissel
Hill Rd., told Council she and her
husband were concerned about
the proposed ordinance, because
her husband always burns
d is c a r d e d c o n tam in a te d
dressings and medicianes, like
pills.
Mrs. Weaver was informed by
Council that gas injected in­cinerators
for the home or office
are available, and could be used
with a permit issued in Lan­caster.
Another citizen, Ford
Gochnauer, 411 Woodcrest Ave.,
told Council that the whole issue
was not an “environment thing
but a neighbor thing” and asked:
“Why don’t you call it what it
is?”
Clyde Hendricks, 318 S. Spruce
St., also speaking out against the
proposed ordinance, said Council
was “going overboard on this
pollution thing” and that they
were being too hard on
businessmen. ’
Council agreed to resubmit the
proposed ordinance to borough
solicitor George Morgan to have
included several items brought
up at the meeting, like charcoal
cooking fires, and take it up again
at their March meeting.
Market Street
About 15 residents of Market
Street were present at the
meeting, most of them opposing
the trial parking ban and asking
Council to put the street back to
two side parking.
Jim Weaver, 26 E. Market St.,
who was a spokesman for the
group at last month’s meeting,
said he and Council had
misunderstood each other last
month, and that he had not in­tended
for Council to change the
side of the street where the
parking ban was placed, but
rather to do away with the ban all
together.
The borough had imposed no
parking restrictions on the south
side of the street as of Jan. 15 for
(Continued On Page 14)
II
• v W i ü
L ititz R e co rd E x p re s s P h o to s
These pictures show the steps in demolition of the old
Lititz Theater, as crews went about tearing down the old
building this week to make way for a downtown parking lot.
LITITZ STORES NOW OPEN
j THURSDAY NIGHTS TIL 9 P .M
ARMOLD JEWELERS, INC.
B & V OUTLET
BENNER’S PHARMACY
BINGEMAN’S CLOTHING STORE
D.p. FURLOW VARIETY CENTER
GLADELL SHOP
HAGY’S WESTERN AUTO
J.B. HESS MEN’S WEAR
Shop these Stores on Thursday Nites
KLOTZ KLENERS
LADS & LASSIES CHILDREN’S APPAREL
LIPPART’S OF LITITZ
LITITZ BOOK STORE
LITITZ SEWING CENTER
McELROY PHARMACY
TRUDI K SHOP
WHITE SHIELD DISCOUNT CENTER
THIS IS IN
ADDITION TO
THE REGULAR
FRIDAY NIGHT
HOURS.