Lititz Record Express

              T H E R E S S
S E R V IN G T H E W A R W IC K A R E A F O R M O R E T H A N A C E N T U R Y
101st Year ESTABLISHED APRIL, 1877, AS THE SUNBEAM
| CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD, 19371 Lititz, Lancaster County, PA 17543, Thursday, April 28,1977 15 CENTS A COPY; S5.Q0 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 22 Pages—-No. 5
Federal Agents Raid Rothsville
Farmer’s Collection of 133 Guns
Wentling Withdraws From
School Board Primary Race
By Bonnie Szymanski
Chief Paul Haines of the
Warwick Township police
expressed only mild surprise
about the Tuesday morning
raid by Federal firearms
agents on dairy farmer
Jacob B. Reiff’s collection of
133 guns, including
“Saturday Night Specials”
(cheap hand guns) and old
rifles.
Though Warwick Town­ship
police had not been
aware of the extent of Reiff’s
collection of guns, nor of his
alleged sales, they had
“heard” that he had been
buying guns, according to
Chief Paul Haines.
Said Haines, “I wouldn’t
put anything past him.
We’ve had dealings with him
before.”
Haines explained these
“dealings” by saying that
Reiff and some of his sons
had been charged with
disorderly conduct several
times in the past, allegedly
for driving their tractors on
township roads “with no
farm intent.”
Reiff’s collection of guns
was confiscated Tuesday
during a raid that began a
little after 8 a.m. Agents
from the Reading-based
Federal office, firearms
division, assisted by Penn­sylvania
state police from
the Ephrata sub-station,
served a search warrant on
Reiff. The warrant had been
obtained through the U.S.
Attorney’s office following a
two-month investigation of
Reiff’s activities sparked by
“information” received on
the farmer’s collection of
guns, and several alleged
sales by Reiff of hand guns to
an undercover agent.
Haines noted that he oas
sorry his department hadn't
been contacted on the
matter.
“I could have filled them
in on a few things,” he said.
“It really bothers me,” he
added, referring to the fact
that state police were called
in on a search in the town­ship
while Warwick
Township police had not
been informed.
“ I ’m really concerned
about what goes on around
here,” he emphasized.
Contacted later by phone,
Special Agent William Riehl
of the Reading office said
agents usually contact local
authorities to accompany
them with a marked car so
the persons under suspicion
are aware they are dealing
with police officers
"It's a courtesy ■ id local
offic eisi," he explained,
iiolmg they bring local polo.»
into an investigation as pan
of procedure. He said he
hadn't contacted Warwick
Township police because he
thought the Rothsville area
was under the jurisdiction of
state police.
“It was a total and com­plete
oversight,” he stated.
Though Reiff had allegedly
contended he had been a
collector of guns for years
and had sold only a few,
Reihl explained that under
the federal firearms act, he
was liable to up to five years
in jail and-or $5,000 fine for
selling hand guns without a
license.
Reihl said the in­vestigation
is continuing and
since the U.S. Attorney’s
office had found the evidence
sufficient to issue the search
warrant he «¡aid there
psoL-ab'y v. 1.» ».i in-cu
¡Men!
Jacob llciif coukl not be
'•cached tor i nir.mcm at she
of this report mg.
I \
Dale F. Diehrn C. William Dussinger
Roundup Triggers Vandalism Spree
Half of Drug Raid Suspects Out On Ball
Six of the 11 persons over
17 years old arrested in the
April 19 drug sellers’
roundup in Lititz are now out
on bail, and the four 16 and 17
year old youths arrested
have now been released from
detention.
The other five adult
suspects arrested April 19
remain in Lancaster County
Prison in lieu of bail, pending
hearings or postings of bail.
A 16th person sought in the
raid, but not found, has still
not been located, police said.
A warrant has been issued
for his arrest.
All those released had 10
percent of their bail posted
for them by others, either in
cash or in real estate.
Released on bail were:
Sebastian Soto, Jr., 20, 651
E. Main St., with 10 percent
of his $20,000 bad posted in
real estate.
Douglas Getz, 22, 125 S.
Cedar St., with 10 percent of
his $25,000 bail posted for
him in cash.
William Getz, his brother,
22, 104 N. Broad St., with 10
percent of his $25,000 bail
posted for his in real estate.
Charles Gray, 21, 840
Clearview Ave., Ephrata,
with 10 percent of his$5,000
bail posted for him in cash.
Greg Harding, 19, 521
Hackman Rd., Brunnerville,
With 10 percent of his $15,000
bail posted for him in cash.
Kay Needles, 24,16 N. Oak
St., Manheim, with 10 per­cent
of her bail posted for her
in cash. Needles’ bail
Originally was set at $50,000
but was reduced to $15,000 by
order of the Court of Com­mon
Pleas.
Two 17-year old Lititz girls
were released the day of the
roundup, one to the custody
of her parents and the other
on her own recognizance.
A 17-year old Lititz R2 boy
and a 16-year old Lititz boy
were released from deten­tion
at Barnes Hall to the
custody of the county
probation office.
Still in Lancaster County
Prison are:
Wallace Storch, 21, 123
Oxford Dr., in lieu of $65,000
bail, the highest bail set in
the roundup.
; Jack Munro, 21, 2 Steigel
St., Manheim, in lieu of
$50,000 bail.
James Miller, 21, 50 S.
Broad St., in lieu of $15,006
bail.
Steve Reppert, 21, 501
Motel,1 Lititz R2, in lieu of
$20,000 bail.
Dennis Rosenberg, 21, 112
W. Third Ave., in lieu of
$25,000 bail.
llie roundup, termed by
the district attorney as the
largest single marijuana
dealer roundup in a single
borough, triggered a wave of
vandalism in Lititz borough
last week, as friends of the
m£t
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f . . P V A S
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Vandals retaliated against local
police for the April 19 drug raid by
spray painting the front of Boro Hall
with obscenities and knocking out a
pane of glass in the door to the police
By Peggy Frailey
William A. Wentling, 2176
Main St., Rothsville, has
withdrawn from the May 17
Spring Primary race for
Warwick School Board,
leaving seven persons
seeking nominations for the
four available slots.
Three of the openings are
for full six-year terms, and
one is for a four-year term to
replace John M. Evans, who
resigned last December.
Wentling, who had cross-filed
on both Republican and
Democratic ballots, said he
withdrew in order to back
candidate Raymond C.
Groff, also from Rothsville,
rather than endanger the
Rothsville District’s chances
for representation on the
School Board by causing a
possible split vote between
himself and Groff.
“ Since the area
Republican Party has
chosen not to endorse anyone
from the Rothsville District,
I don’t want to jeopardize
R o th sv ille ’s c h a n c e s ,”
Wentling told the Record
Express this week.
Wentling told the Record
he was afraid that if
Rothsville lost its
representation on the School
Board, the school district
would “find a way to get the
Rothsville School closed.”
station (far right) last week. The
scratched-out scribbling on the door
to the former fire house is visable in
the picture above.
Gaylord E. Poling, Jr. Jack S. Watson
a r r e s t e d s u s p e c t s
“ reta lia ted” by spray
painting some buildings,
breaking windows, and
creating general nuisances
in downtown Lititz.
Police Chief George Hicks
termed the acts
“harassment” by a gang of
teenagers in revenge for the
drug raid. He said that one of
the juveniles arrested in the
vandalism spree told police
that some of the gangs’ good
friends had been arrested in
the raid.
The spree of vandalism
started the night of the drug
roundup, when the message
“Smoke Pot” and an obscene
remark were sprayed on a
wall of the Lititz Rec Center
in blue and orange paint.
Then a rock was thrown
through the front door to the
police station, breaking a
pane of the glass.
Thursday night, a number
of youths made a nuisance of
themselves running through
back yards in the first block
of South Broad Street,
disturbing residents there.
Mark Brubaker, 18, 36 E.
Lincoln Ave., was arrested
for disorderly conduct in this
spree and a 17-year old Lititz
R2 boy who was with him
was taken home to his
grandmother by local police.
About 4 a.m. Friday,
police noticed blue and
orange paint sprayed on the
door to the police station and
In This Issue
on the big garage door beside
it, where the fire house used
to be located.
Police have a suspect in
the spray painting incidents,
Chief Hicks said, and Officer
Charles Shenenberger is
investigating them.
Just after midnight last
Friday (about 12:25 a.m.
April 23) a gang of youths
stained creating a distur­bance
again by running
through back yards, this
time in the first block of East
Main Street.
A police cruiser flushed
one of the young men bet­ween
the buildings on East
Main, where he reportedly
hid behind a chimney
against one of the walls.
Chief Hicks, checking bet­ween
the buildings, spotted
him there and grabbed him.
The youth, Lonnie Leh­man,
19, 36 W. Main St.
(rear), smelled of alcohol,
Chief Hicks said, and will be
issued citations for a minor
and alcohol offense and
disorderly conduct.
Chief Hicks said that since
these are summary offenses,
the youth was not detained,
but, according to law, has
seven days to appear before
the district justice and plead
guilty or not guilty.
Chief Hicks said that in all,
he believes 12 or 14 youths
were involved in the sprees
of vandalism, and guessed
that their ages ranged from
15 to 19.
He said these acts would
not be tolerated without
arrest if police can deter­mine
who is doing them.
He said he considers the
acts of vandalism
“outrageous,” and said
parents should check on
where their children are at
night.
“If they are not aware,
they may be made aware by
a policeman at the door,” he
said.
Council Wants Boro Hall
To Stay Where It Is
Business Directory 18
Church News 16
Classified Ads 20,21
Editorial Page 4
Sports Section 6,7,8
Social 10,11
2 Being Considered for
School Superintendent
The selection process for a new superintendent for
Warwick School District has been narrowed down to
two candidates, Wallace Hofferth, chairman of the School
Board’s selection committee, said this week.
Hofferth declined to identify the two candidates, but
said both are highly qualified for the position and both
have expressed a “sincere interest” in the job.
Of the approximately 50 applicants for the post, the
School Board interviewed six the weekend of April 16-17,
and then re-interviewed two of these persons.
Today, a contingent of school directors will visit the
home district of one of the candidates for further input,
and then visit the district of the second candidate as soon
as possible, Hofferth said.
Both may be brought back to Lititz for another in­terview,
he added.
He said the Board should be in a position to make a final
decision about mid-May.
Boro Council took the bull
by the horns Tuesday night,
at the suggestion of Coun­cilman
Wendel Hower, and
stated flatly they would keep
Boro Hall in its present
location, rather than look for
another building or construct
a new one.
Hower suggested that the
first floor be turned over to
the police department, and
the second floor be used for
other municipal offices.
Council authorized the
borough manager to look
into what steps must be
taken to renovate the
building with the “ least
amount of red tape.” Hower
also suggested that
renovation be done in stages,
so that the borough doesn’t
have to borrow any money
for the project.
Zoning Changes
Council approved a
number of zoning changes
that will pave the way for an
expansion of Lititz Mutual
Insurance Company, a new
office building on East Main
Street to house Faith Visual
Ventures, and a new
warehouse for Woodstream
Corporation.
During a public hearing
Tuesday, Council rezoned
from Residential R-2 to
Office and Professional a
block bounded by West Main
Street, North Spruce Street,
Wentworth Lane, and Pine
Lane. Lititz Mutual plans to
expand its parking area to
the west, after demolishing
three houses it owns along
West Main Street. Later, the
company reportedly plans to
expand its building to the
north.
A public hearing also was
held for a Woodstream
rezoning ordinance. Courfcil
approved rezoning from
Residential R-l to industrial
a piece of land bordered by
the west edge of North Elm
Street and the center line of
East New Street. Wood-stream
plans to build a
warehouse on the high part
of this land.
Also during public hearing
Council voted to rezone from
Residential R-l to
Residential R-A (which
permits apartments) a
triangular shaped piece of
land on Main Street, between
Forney Drive and South Oak
Street, on which Hurst
Brothers Developers plans to
build an apartment.
A public hearing was
scheduled for May 31, after
Council voted approval of
another rezoning request
from Hurst Brothers for two
lots on the southwest comer
of East Main Street, at
Forney Drive, next to the
Memorial Plot (cemetery).
Hurst wants the land rezoned
from Residential R-l to R-A
in order to construct an
office building for Faith
Visual Ventures, now located
at 220 Cardinal Road.
The Lititz Planning
Commission had recom­mended
that this zoning
change not be made, mainly
because they felt it con­stituted
spot zoning, and also
because they wanted to
retain a residential area.
However, Council said
Tuesday the land was a poor
choice for residential and no
one would want to build a
house there. Council noted
that it was next to a garage,
a used car lot, and a
cemetery, and commented
that it was “lucky someone
wanted it for something.”
Council approved a sub­division
of the former Henry
Hackman property, an L-shaped
piece of land that
fronts on both North Water
and North Locust Streets.
The subdivision was
requested by Glenn E.
Keebler.
In further business Council
approved buying some new
water plant test equipment
at a cost of $1,335. The
borough will purchase an
Orion model ion meter,
which probes for chlorine,
fluoride and PH. The
Department of En­vironmental
Resources
requires that the borough
send daily test results on
fluoride to Harrisburg.
Council also approved the
purchase of a new Wayne
street sweeper from Rhodes
Machine, at a cost of $27,399,
$18,500 of which will be paid
in 1977, and the remainder in
1978.
New Radio Station
Council was asked by Tony
Batta of Reading about any
availabel land in the borough
or around it which he could
lease to establish a new radio
station for the Lititz-
Manheim area.
Batta said he would need
10 to 12 acres of flat land with
a pond or other water on it,
even wetlands or swamp,
within five to seven miles of
[Continued on Page 19)
He said other people in
Rothsville are afraid of the
same thing.
The question of closing
Rothsville E lem en ta ry
School, and busing the
students there to other
elementary schools within
the district, comes up before
the School Board
periodically as a possible
way to cut expenses in the
school district.
Wentling said he hopes to
run for School Board again in
another two years.
Although he has with­drawn
from the Primary, his
name will still appear on the
ballot this year.
Terms Expiring
Three full terms on School
Board expire this year, those
of William C. Owens, who is
current Board president,
Raymond C. Groff, and Dr.
Roy Yeager. Of these, only
Owens and Groff are seeking
re-election.
A four-year term also is up
for election. 'This is the term
originally held by John
Evans, who resigned, and is
now held by C. William
Dussinger, who was ap­pointed
by the Board.
Dussinger is seeking elec­tion,
but for a full six-year
term.
Dale F. Diehm of Elm and
W. Bruce Holland of 954 Log
Cabin Rd., Leola (both
residing in Warwick School
District) are seeking the
nomination for the four-year
term. Diehm’s name will
appear only on the
Republican ballot. Holland
has cross-filed and his name
will appear on both the
Republican and Democratic
ballots.
Seeking nominations for
the three six-year terms, all
cross-filed on both ballots,
are: Dussinger, who lives at
401W. Woods Dr., Groff, who
lives at 1601 Hollywood
Blvd., Rothsville; Owens,
who lives at 218 Swarthmore
Rd.; Jack S. Watson, 301 N.
Broad St.; and Gaylord E.
Poling, Jr., 119 N. Cedar St.
Employment
Dussinger is a senior in­dustrial
engineer with
Sperry New Holland and
prior to his appointment to
the School Board last
December had been a
supervisor in Warwick
Township for five years.
Groff is in the milk tanker
tr u c k tr a n s p o r ta tio n
business for Cloister Dairies
and in the school bus tran­sportation
business for
Lancaster-Lebanon In ­termediate
Unit 13. He has
been on the School Board for
nearly 24 years.
Owens is a research
chemist for Armstrong Cork
Company and is completing
his sixth year on the School
Board. He was elected
president last December,
after having served both as
vice-president and chief
negotiator.
Watson is chairman of
Farmers First Bank, now
retired from active
management, and was a
member of the Lititz
Planning Commission in the
1960’s.
Poling is manager of
systems and data processing
for The Quaker Oats Com­pany.
He has no previous
local government ex­perience.
Diehm is a partner in
Diehm & Sons, Surveyors.
He has been a member of the
Elizabeth Township Zoning
Hearing Board for the past
five years, was an Elizabeth
Township auditor prior to his
zoning board appointment,
was sewage enforcement
officer for both Eiizahetn
and Warwick Townships for
two years, and served on the
Warwick Area School
Authority in the 1960’s
Holland is a staff engineer
in the Central Engineering
Department at Armstrong
Cork Company. He has no
previous local government
experience.