Lititz Record Express

              TH E B E Ir ì § 5 : - f ;
SERVING THE WARWICK AREA FOR NEARLY A CENTURY
98th Year E s t a b l i s h e d A p r il, 1877, a s T h e S u n b e am
(C o n s o lid a te d w i th T h e L i t i t z R e c o rd , 1937) Lititz, Lancaster County, Penna. 17543, Thursday, March 28,1974 10 c e n to a C o p y ; $4.00 p e r y e a r b y m a l l
w i th in L a n c a s t e r C o u n ty 22 PAGES — No. 1
Police to Join County
Network in January
Boro Council voted Tuesday to transfer all police
communications to the Lancaster County network on or
about Jan. 1, 1975, and to notify both the Ephrata Com­munications
Center and the Lancaster network of their
decision.
The change will mean an expenditure of $10,300 for
radio equipment for local police. However, yearly cost of
belonging to the county hookup will mean a savings to the
borough. Cost with the county is $700 a year, and with the
Ephrata center, $3,000 a year.
Council first directed Police Chief George Hicks to take
a look at the county setup last December. Following this,
Police Chief George Hicks and Assistant Chief Jim Fritz
recommended that the borough join the county hookup.
This recommendation drew objections from the War­wick
Ambulance Association, whose representatives said
they wanted to maintain direct voice contact with the
police department. As a result of these objections,
members of the ambulance association, several Coun-cilmen,
and representatives from the borough and
Warwick Township police departments met with people
from both the Ephrata and the County center to discuss
the pro’s and con’s of the decision.
The Council representatives, Bill York and Donald
Stauffer, both said Tuesday night that they still recom­mended
joining the county network.
Record-Express Observing
98th Birthday This Week
The Lititz Record-Express is observing its 98th an­niversary
this week, completing another year of major
local news coverage.
The paper was founded as the Sunbeam by John G.
Zook, and originally was a monthly publication, nine by 12
inches in size. Zook continued as editor for many years,
with offices at 22 E. Main St., location of the present
Record-Express.
Its name was changed to the Lititz Express in 1881.
Meanwhile, the Lititz Record had been founded elsewhere
by Frank Buch in 1877 and merged with the Express in
1937, becoming the Record-Express.
Ralph Buch succeeded his father as owner of the
Record, eventually selling out to Edward Fulweiler and
James R. Johnson. They in turn sold the merged paper to
William Young, who continued as publisher and editor for
nearly 25 years.
In January 1962 the paper was acquired by Robert G.
Campbell, the present owner and publisher. Under his
supervision, the paper converted with the Sept. 23, 1971
issue from letter press to the present offset printing
process used today.
A new format was adopted at that time, with the paper
appearing in one secion, instead of two and sometimes
three sections as before. In the Dec. 2, 1971 issue, a new
masthead was introduced, designed by Mrs. George R.
Garrett for a contest conducted by the paper.
With the Jan. 10, 1974 issue, the paper took on another
new look when it changed its page size to a more con­venient,
easier to hold size, and added a new more
readable type face.
‘Grand Prize' Winners
Listed by Retailers
L o w e r B u s
l i i n u e d b y
■ JVm ^i>.
The two types of street lights
shown above are the subject of
current discussion by Boro Council,
which is considering converting the
luminary part of the Washington
Boulevard lights downtown (shown
at left) to Early American mercury
• i i *
I i i t i t z B e c o r d E x p r e s s P h o to s
vapor lights (right), like those in
Lititz Springs Park. Council now
wants to try an experiment of putting
one of the traditional luminaries atop
one of the “downtown” light stan­dards,
to see how it looks.
New Street Lights Considered
The borough has received
a cost estimate of $5,968
annually (plus tax) from
Pennsylvania Power and
Light Company to convert 49
of the present downtown
street lights to mercury
vapor lights like those in
Lititz Springs Park.
In addition, conversion .
would cost an initial $65 per
light.
This would be the cost of
putting 6,650 lumen mercury
vapor light bulbs on top of
the Washington Boulevard
standards now used along
Broad and Main Streets.
These lights would be
brighter than those now used
on local streets, with 6,650
lumens as compared with
the 4,000 lumens from the
present lights.
Cost of maintaining the
proposed new lights wo lii be
$121.80 per lamp an ua 1>
as compared with $94 20 an
nually per presei > l i p
with total annuel m n
tenance cost of the prc se t
new lights set at $5, 8
compared with the present
total annual maintenance of
$4,615.80.
Council tabled any action
on the proposed system
Tuesday night, after getting
word from PP&L that' the
borough’s request to buy the
lights outright was “under
study.”
However, Council did
move to ask PP&L for a free
\p riment of putting one of
tne traditional mercury
n r lights atop one of the
;nt standards, to see
* the two look together.
After voting to pay
Conestoga Transportation
Company another $500 for
the month of March, Boro
Council Tuesday night with­drew
a motion that was on
the floor to drop the lower
bus fare trial and reinstated
it until the middle of April.
Three councilmen, Jim
Yerger, Bill York, and
Lester Bingeman, were
adamant in their statements
that the program to increase
the number of riders through
lower bus fares had been a
flop and that it should be
ended before any more
borough money was put into
it.
However, after repeated
requests from Council
President Curt Amidon to
keep the program going at
least another two weeks,
York withdrew his motion to
bow out, and Yerger put a
second motion on the floor to
continue the trial until April
15, with the hopes of getting
daily revenues up to $150.
Before York’s first motion
to drop the program, Amidon
had acknowledged that the
plan had been a failure, and
said he took the “respon­sibility”
for it on himself.
This was rebutted by Yrok,
who said that since the plan
had been a decision by the
whole Council, all coun­cilmen
shared equal
responsibility for it.
Amidon said the failure
was due to no fault with the
CTC, that the bus company
had cooperated with the
borough to the fullest, but
noted that even through a
critical period of gas shor­tages,
lines at service
stations, etc., the number of
bus riders did not go up.
He said there was a
“slight” daily increase in
passengers in March but the
bus company would have to
take in $150 a day now for the
plan to work.
According to a previous
agreement with CTC, the
borough reimburses the bus
company up to $500 a month
if daily revenues are not up
to a pre-set figure. Total
deficits so far this month
were $887.
Amidon, asked by Yerger
if he had made some com­mitment
to the bus company
that Council did not know
about, said he had not made
any commitment, but that he
had told a member of the
Transit Authority that he
would recommend extending
the program at least through
the middle of April.
Amidon said he had so
much time tied up in the
program, and had had such
high hopes for it, that he
wanted the extra two weeks
as a “graceful way to get
out.” He said the program
had had some good aspects
to it, and he wanted to give
local citizens one last chance
to take advantage of the
lower rates.
“We’ve already given
them (CTC) $1,000,”
Councilman Bingeman said.
He said he saw no reason to
continue putting taxpayers
money into the bus company.
He susbsequently voted
fis This Issue
Business Directory 16
Church News - 14
Classified Ads 20,21
Editorial Page 4
Sports Section 6,7
Women’s 12
against extending the
program into April.
“If people are enjoying it
(the buses) so much, why
aren’t they using it?”
Bingeman asked.
Amidon replied: “I don’t
know.”
Both Yerger and
Bingeman said they had
been getting “a lot of static”
and negative reaction to the
bus plan since it was started.
“You aren’t in town all day
to hear it,” Bingeman told
Amidon.
In making the second
motion - to keep the
program running into April -
Yerger said that for the sake
of another $250, the Council
would stand behind Amidon
on his request.
Bus company figures from
March 1-20 showed a deficit
of $746 as a result of the
reduced fares. Another $141
from the last four days of
February was added to this,
bringing the total deficit in
this second period of the trial
to $887.
Total number of
passengers from March 1-20
was 2007,1409 of these senior
citizens who ride free during
certain hours of the day, and
pay 22 cents during peak
periods of the day.
The agreed-upon revenue
also fell short in February,
the first month of the trial,
and the borough paid CTC
$500 in subsidy. The subsidy
for March will bring this to
' $1,006, -and if revenues fall
short during the two weeks in
April, will add another $250
to the borough’s tab.
Boro Makes progress on Pedestrian Cross Signals
The Lititz Retailers who
participated in last
weekend’s “Grand Prize”
Giveaway have chosen
their winners. More than
$1100 worth of Cash, Mer­chandise
and Gift Cer­tificates
were given to
persons picked at random
from those who registered.
Here is a list of participating
merchants and their prize
winners:
B & V Outlet: Mystery
Trip to Mrs. Jack Keehn.
I Continued on Page 19]
The borough has received
new hope from PennDOT
that a pedestrian walk phase
may be permitted at the
Lititz square, and that all
lights at Broad and Main can
be activated to all-red during
fire emergencies.
Council Tuesday night
approved a new revised
traffic pattern for the square
from District 8 of PennDOT.
The plan must now go back
to central headquarters of
PennDOT for its approval.
This is a major step in
obtaining a pedestrian walk
phase, as PennDOT up until
now, has refused to permit
them at the square, main­taining
that the volume of
traffic did not warrant them.
Under PennDOT’s plan,
pedestrains will be able to
push buttons on corner
standards to activate an all-red
phase when they can
cross the intersections.
The plan also allows
firemen to turn all lights at'
the square red for fire
emergencies by pushing a
button at the new firehouse
on West Main Street. This
plan is suggested even if
West Main remains a one­way
street.
An amber light, facing the
fire company, will indicate
to fire engine drivers when
all the other lights are red,
and when they can proceed
through the intersection.
Council President Curt
Amidon said he is still
looking for a traffic engineer
to survey the lights at the
square.
Council indicated that
even after the plan is ap­proved,
it will be at least six
months before the actual
changes can be made.
Another facet of Council’s
plan is widening Pine Lane,
to make a two way street
from West Main to North
Broad. This is to make an
access to the new firehouse
for firemen coming from the
north end of town.
Council had previously
asked Lititz Mutual In­surance
Co. to donate land to
the borough so that Pine
Lane could be widened.
However, the board of
directors of Lititz Mutual
turned down this request.
A second request from the
borough brought word from
Henry H. Gibbel from Lititz
Mutual that they will not
reconsiderer their decision
until the borough takes some
action on traffic lights at the
square, and also makes a
decision on making West
Main a two-way street,
which Lititz Mutual had
asked for.
Council decided Tuesday
that they will go back to
Lititz Mutual with yet
another request, this time
for more land, so that Pine
Lane not only can be
widened but so that a
sidewalk can be put along
the road.
r a p i
Gordon Quits Race for Assembly
Former Candidate Calls ‘Foul Play’ In Lebanon Co. GOP Endorsement
Declaring a “foul play” in
the contest for endorsement
by Lebanon County’s GOP
committee for the 102nd
District Legislative seat,
Southern Lebanon Township
contestant Irwin Gordon has
dropped out of the race.
Gordon withdrew his
petition to run for the seat
after the Lebanon GOP
Committee gave its en­dorsement
to Nicholas
Moehlmann, a Lebanon
attorney. He said he with­drew
because he had given
his word to the executive
committee and the districts
that he would leave the race
if he did not get the com­mittee’s
endorsement.
, Gordon was one of three
Republicans from the
Lebanon area and two from
the Lititz area vying for the
-GOP nomination to the
Assembly post that Rep.
Robert Rowe (R-Lebanon)
will be vacating.
His withdrawal leaves
Gerald Husser and Stephen
Palkovic from Lititz, and
Moehlman and Luther
Swanger from Lebanon still
in the race for the GOP
Nomination in the May 21
primaries.
Gordon told the Record-
Express this week that
“there was no deal made”
when he withdrew, that he
had quit the race because he
had “given his word” to do
so if the Lebanon committee
endorsed another can­didate.
Moehlmann reportedly
made a similar commitment
before one district, but not to
the other, officials said.
Gordon told the Record he
was “disturbed” over the
way the endorsement and
events leading up to it had
been handled.
He said that some com­mitteemen
working on his
campaign had been
Stauffer Asks Special Park Guard Councilm an Dona ld
Stauffer Tuesday night
asked for a special guard for
Lititz Springs Park during
the summer months, and for
more police patrol on West
Maple Street.
Stauffer said West Maple
is becoming more and more
of a critical area because of
the number of young people
“hanging out there.”
He said he wanted a
special guard for the park
“to give back the park to our
citizens.”
He said he had asked the
park trustees if they could
afford to hire a guard, and
the answer had been no.
“So,” Stauffer said, “the
borough should do it.”
Stauffer said he doesn’t
care who “technically” hires
the guard, although he
realizes the borough will
have to pay the salary.
He said it was necessary
because of the number of
alleged illegal activities
going on in the park.
On Sunday morning,
Stauffer said, he walked
through the parking lot at the
park and counted 97 beer
cans.
He said many persons
were afraid to use the park,
or send their children there,
and he wanted a guard “to
protect our citizens.”
Police Chief George Hicks,
commenting on Stauffer’s
suggestion, said that if such
a guard were hired, he
should be trained and
qualified to make arrests.
Cou n c ilm an L e s te r
Bingeman, supporting
Stauffer’s request, told
Council: “I don’t think you
realize the mess down there
(in the park)—they see the
police coming a block away
and the cans fly and the kids
run.”
Chief Hicks pointed out
that his own force could not
be in the park “all the time,”
and stated that borough
funds could not be spent to
protect private property.
Council President Curt
Amidon said that such a
guard should be the em­ployee
of the park board.
A fte r c o n s id e r a b le
discussion on who should
employ a special guard,
Stauffer said he would
modify his statement, that
he didn’t care “who” em­ployed
the guard, so long as
one was hired.
threatened with loss of jobs,
one of who works for the
state and several who work
for the county. He declined to
name who these persons
were.
He said that shortly before
the endorsement, his wife
had been fired from her job
in the voter registration
office at the Lebanon County
courthouse, where she had
worked five years. He said
the reason given for her
firing was “inefficiency.”
He maintained that the
“deck was stacked against
him,” with committee
people coming to the final
vote session with proxy votes
“all typed on the same
paper.”
“in a fair fight, I’ll take
what comes,” he told the
Record, but he said he
definitely believed that the
endorsement had not been a
fair fight.
“There is a split in the
Lebanon County group,”
Gordon said, stating that the
“split” was between his
faction and Moehlmann’s.
He said Lebanon County is
now “totally controlled” by
the law firm with which
Moehlmann is affiliated,
with members of that office,
Gordon said, now holding
numerous county posts and
solicitorships.
“This seems like a conflict
of interest,” Gordon said.
L e b a n o n C o u n t y
Republican chairman,
George Jackson, questioned
by the Record-Express,
denied any split in the
Lebanon County committee,
stating that the committee
people “went along with the
executive committee” on the
endorsement.
He said that Gordon had
told him that some of his
campaign workers had been
threatened in their jobs, but
that Gordon would not name
names, and so he (Jackson)
had no way of verifying if
this had happened.
Jackson said that Gordon’s
wife had been “laid off”
from her job at the Lebanon
County courthouse, where he
said she worked part-time in
the voter registration office,
and that there was some
question as to whether the
person who had done this had
had the authourity to do so.
Gordon, who is a district
GOP chairman and serving
I Continued on Page 19]
P
nini SHOÜM» mm ■ **•.*■*»*
t MÊÈÊÈÈÊm
■ I S M
Record-Express Sponsoring
Easter Coloring Contest
The Lititz Record-Express
will sponsor an Easter
Coloring Contest for three
consecutive weeks beginning
with this Thursday, March
28.
The contest is open to all
children four to 10 years of
age. Paint, watercolor or
crayons may be used to coloi
the pictures.
Five Lititz Shopping
Dollars will be awarded to
the best entry received each
week and another Five Lititz
Shopping Dollars will be
awarded by drawing from all
entries received each week.
Pictures will appear in the
Record-Express March 28,
April 4 and April 11.
Entries should be mailed
to the Lititz Record-Express
office and- be received by
Monday of each week.
Judges for the contest will
be Mrs. Elspeth Brantley,
art instructor at Warwick
Middle School and A1 Taft,
local artist.
Contest rules and the first
picture to color can be found
on page 11.
Winners will be notified
and names published in
Record-Express.