Lititz Record Express

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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
102nd Year ESTABLISHED APRIL, 1877, AS THE SUNBEAM
¡CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD, 1937! lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, December 28,1978 15 CENTS A COPY; $5.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 18 Pages-No. 38
Pewter Plates Stolen
From Mueller House Four valuable antique
pewter plates, on display for
years at the Johannes
Mueller House on East Main
Street, have been discovered
missing and members of the
Lititz Historical Foundation,
the owners, voice little doubt
that the plates were stolen.
Missing are three English
pewter plates, with English
tax stamps embossed on the
back, and one American
pewter plate, which has no
markings on the back.
The plates are about 200
years old, according to Mrs.
Dorothy Earhart, hostess at
the small museum at 137 E.
Main St. Their value has
been estimated so far at
between $150 and $200 a
piece, but could be higher,
Mrs. Earhart said.
The American pewter
plate is the most valuable of
the four, because so much
Early American pewter was
melted down for bullets
during the American
Revolutionary War that little
was left.
The three English pewter
plates were donated to the
historical foundation by
Mrs. Owen Hershey. Mrs.
Earhart said she does not
know where the American
pewter plate came from.
Four tax stamps are
embossed on each of the
three English plates, in­dicating
that a tax was paid
on the plates. Mrs. Earhart
said the stamps are not all
clear — they are oval
shaped, with parts of words
and figures showing. The
word “London” is visable on
one of them, another has a
figure that could be the royal
lion, she said, but this is
partially rubbed out.
The plates have been on
display along with other
tableware as place settings
on a table in the kitchen area
of the museum for about the
585,183
in At 23
Boro Council
Appoints Five
To Posts
Lititz Boro Council made
the following appointments
Tuesday night:
Zoning Hearing Board -
William B. Oehme, 423
Laurel Ave., to a three year
term, replacing Robert I.
Derek, who asked not to be
reappointed when his term
expires Dec. 31.
Lititz Sewer Authority -
Michael H. Brenner, 114 S.
Oak St., to a five year term,
r e p la c in g W a rren
Newcomer, who asked not to
be reappointed when his
term expires Dec. 31.
Historical Area Advisory
Helen Miksch
to a five year
Lititz Police Chief George Hicks holds a replica of
the antique pewter plates stolen from the Lititz
Historical Foundation headquarters, the Johannes
Mueller House on East Main Street. Four of the
plates were taken. The replicas were made by Tom
Stauffer for the Historical Foundation for the
nation's
Photo)
past
Bicentennial in 1976. (Record Express
Committee
reappointed
term.
Health & Sanitation Ad­visory
Committee - Dr.
Charles W. Eshelman
reappointed to a four year
term.
The law firm of Barley
Snyder Cooper and Barber
was appointed borough
solicitor, with Attorney John
Kershner to represent the
borough. The firm replaced
the law firm of Morgan
Hallgren and Heinly, which
resigned earlier this month
as borough solicitor.
nine years, Mrs.
Earhart estimates.
She noticed they were
missing when she began
cleaning up for the historical
fo u n d a tio n ’s a n n u a l
Christmas party at the
Mueller House. At first she
(Turn to Page 2)
Burglars Steal From
Two Warwick Schools
*
Markings on the back of replica indicate the
plate’s number in the limited edition series and
bear the initials of pewter craftsman Tom Stauffer.
Three of the original plates that were stolen were
made in England, and bear English tax stamps.
Thieves broke into two
schools in Warwick district
the night of Dec. 20, stealing
over $200 from the band and
vocal departments, and
nearly $200 out of a safe at
Kissel Hill School. Burglars
Maybe His Clothes
Were In The Wash!
Strange things can happen
at the laundromat, and they
did on Dec. 21 at 6:55 p.m.
Two women were doing
their laundry at the New
Street Laundromat when
they saw a white middle-aged
male at the window
(his age reportedly deter­mined
by his pot belly). The
man was wearing a stocking
over his head. And nothing
else.
The women called the
police, but before police
could get there, the nude
man had disappeared into
the 38-degree night.
Garbage Collection
Schedule Changes
Trash collection days will
be changed in the borough
starting next week, and the
price of tags for pickup of
extra trash will be in­creased.
Starting on New Year’s
Day (Monday, Jan. 1) trash
collection days will be
Mondays, Thursdays, and
Fridays, instead of the
former Tuesdays, Wed­nesdays,
and Thursdays.
The price of tags for extra
garbage will be increased to
$1.25 for four tags, $2.50 for
nine tags, and $5 for 20 tags.
These changes go into
effect Jan. 1 under a new
three-year contract between
the borough and the Lebanon
Farms Disposal, owned by
Stephen Barry. All other
conditions of trash collection
will be the same as before,
when United Disposal was
collector for the borough.
West Area
Starting Monday, Jan. 1
(New Year’s Day), the area
west of Broad Street, in­cluding
the west side of
Broad Street, will be
collected on Mondays. This
is the area formerly
collected on Tuesdays.
Northeast Area
The area east of North
Broad Street and north of
East Main Street, including
the east side of North Broad
Street and the north side of
East Main Street, will be
collected on Fridays,
starting Friday, Jan. 5. This
is the area that used to be
collected on Wednesdays.
Southeast Area
The area east of South
Broad Street and south of
East Main Street, including
the east sides of South Broad
and East Main streets, will
continue to be collected on
Thursdays.
The new collector plans to
start pickups at 6 a.m., so
trash and garbage must be
placed at the curb before
that time.
also vandalized the teachers’
lounge at Kissel Hill.
The thefts at the High
School occurred sometime
between 7:30 and 11:15 p.m.,
police said. Apparently
someone had been hiding in
the building, according to
Chief George Hicks, because
the window of an inner door
was smashed, and the door
then unlocked by reaching,
through to the inside.
Money from two student
funds kept in Band Director
Dale Weller’s office was
stolen - $168 from one fund
and $50 from another.
Thieves also entered the
vocal department and stole
$9.
At Kissel Hill School,
burglars probably entered
through a window that was
found open on the west side,
police said.
A safe in the office was
pried open, and from it was
stolen $6 in social funds, $15
in cracker money, $20 in
lunch loan money, and $24 in
picture money.
A calculator valued at $70
was stolen from the office.
Burglars also took $10
from the teachers’ lounge
and broke into the coke
machine in the lounge,
taking an undetermined
amoung of money from that.
They also made a general
mess in the lounge, police
said, leaving crackers and
cookies crumbled on the
floor and smearing mustard
on the walls.
In this issue
Editorial 4
Sports Section 6,7,8
Social 10,11
Church News 14
Business Directory 9
Classified 16,17
A 585,183 budget that calls
for no real estate tax in­crease
in 1979 was passed
Tuesday night by Lititz Boro
Council.
The tax rate will remain at
23 mills in the borough. The
per capita tax remains at $10
for every resident over 18
years of age. The $10 oc­cupational
privilege tax for
persons who work in the
borough was continued, and
the one percent realty
transfer tax was re-enacted.
There are no drastic
changes in the general fund
of the budget. The borough
projects spending $112,759 on
g e n e ra l g o v e rnm e n t,
$133,598 on protection to
persons and property
(salary for one hew police
officer is included here),
$61,950 for health and
sanitation, $132,370 for
highways, $23,756 for
recreation, and $120,750 for
miscellaneous.
The borough is starting the
year with a $35,067 beginning
balance, and expects to end
with a $15,284 balance.
It anticipates taking in
$232,000 in real estate taxes,
$168,000 in local enabling
taxes, $7,500 in licenses and
permits, $16,000 in fines,
forfeits, and costs, $9,000 in
interest and rent, $10,300 in
grants and gifts, $15,000 in
departmental earnings,
$29,900 from miscellaneous,
and will transfer $77,700
from other funds.
The most drastic budget
changes are in the Sewer
Fund, where sewer service
charges will increase from
$240,000 in 1978 to $442,000 in
1979.
Federal Revenue Sharing
Funds, expected to be $48,440
in 1979, will be used in this
way:
Police telephone, $2,250;
police communication, $707;
contribution to fire com­pany,
$6,600; street lighting,
$28,000; contribution to Lititz
Public Library, $1,500;
contribution to Lititz Rec
Center, $1,850 (up $100);
Lititz Springs park con­tribution,
$1,200; fire in­surance,
$2,300 (up from
$2,087); automobile casulty
insurance, $4,200 (up from
$3,761).
Sewer Rates
Sewer rates will be set in a
special session Jan. 11 at
7:30 p.m. Sewer bills are
expected to increase 50
percent, in an addition to a $9
service charge each quarter
for residents.
Police Car
In further business,
Council authorized ad­vertising
for bids for a new
police cruiser, to replace
department’s oldest car.
Bids will be received at the
January Council meeting.
Tree Pickup
Council announced that
the annual Christmas tree
pickup will start Jan. 2 and
be completed by Jan. 12.
Subdivision
Council approved sub­dividing
a property at 148
and 150 E. Front St. with the
stip u la tio n th a t each
property have separate
water and sewer service
laterals and that an escrow
fund of $500 be established to
guarantee installation of
these.
Driver Knocks Over Gas Pump
A driver luckily escaped a
possible inferno during a
bizarre accident Christmas
night at 11:25 p.m.
Angela R. Brown, Athens,
Ohio, pulled into the lot at
Keller Bros., 730 S. Broad
St., to make a phone call at a
public phone on the lot. As
she slowed to a stop, she
began rummaging in her
purse for the phone number
she wanted. She did not
realize it, but her 1975 Honda
sedan was still moving
forward. With Ms. Brown
still in the car, it went up
onto an island and knocked
over a gas pump.
Lititz Fire Company was
called to stand by while a
tow truck from Keller Bros,
pulled the sedan off the gas
pump.
There was severe damage
to the pump, light damage to
the car, and no injury to the
“very lucky” driver, ac­cording
to Officer Ronald
Sandhaus, who investigated.
The old Simplex Paper Box factory on Water
Street is destined for a new life as the “Water
Street Studios” under the direction of sound
system experts Gene and Roy Clair along with
production technician Michael Tait, all of Lititz.
The old warehouse is being converted to sound
studios with the capacity for film production as
well as recording.
Old Paper Box Co. To Become
Water Street Recording Studio By Bonnie Szymanski
The Clair Brothers and
Australian Michael Tait are
in the process of creating an
en te rp rise th a t could
possibly make Lititz a
household word in the world
of recording and specialized
film production within the
next few years.
“Water Street Studios,” a
partnership formed by Tait
and Gene and Roy Clair, will
be based in the old Simplex
Paper Box factory on Water
Street.
The p a r tn e r s h ip
re p re sen ts an am a l­gamation
of ta len ts:
the Clairs’ well-established
reputation as sound experts
and Tait’s technical and
lighting expertise.
Together they intend to
convert what is now a huge
warehouse full of “millions
of wires and parts”
other memorabilia of
industrial past into a
recording studio large
enough to accommodate a
“full symphony,” according
to Tait.
Tait explained that there
and
its
are three floors in the main
wing of the building, which
will be torn out to construct
the main recording studio.
The studio, which will be
soundproofed “to keep sound
from getting in, not out,”
explained Tait, will contain
60 by 65 feet of floor space
and be 35 feet high. It will be
supported by a 4-ton beam
which will span the 65-foot
length of the studio, he said.
The building’s immensity
is particularly important to
Tait, whose last project - a
circular, rotating stage he
designed for the “Yes”
concert tour in early fall -
was built in cramped
quarters in the Lititz
Elementary School. (See
September 7 Record.)
In spite of that handicap,
Tait managed to construct a
set for the tour that was to
become the rock group’s
most successful ever,
breaking house records in
twelve cities across the
United States because the
rotating stage provided
more and better seating.
In fact, the musicians,
initially very skeptical about
Tait’s design, were so
pleased with the results that
they purchased the stage for
their exclusive use.
“It’s paid for itself a
couple of times over,”
revealed Tait, who is
already looking forward to
building another set for the
group in January at the new
Water Street studio.
Tait is presently con­verting
one wing of the old
warehouse for his own
business, “Tait Towers
Lighting.” He estimates that
within 12 to 18 months, the
main studio will be ready for
film production as weil as
recording sessions.
Noting that they already
have a couple of videotape
cameras available, Tait
emphasized that a Lititz
location can have a lot of
advantages over large cities
for bands and film makers.
In addition to lower costs,
he explained, a small town
setting offers almost no
traffic and parking problems
and a less hectic atmosphere
to work.
Tait said he thinks the
studio will be an ideal place
to tape advertisements and
stressed that the reputation
of Clair Bros. Audio, Inc.
within the sound systems
community will undoubtedly
bring many groups to Water
Street Studios for future
recording sessions.
“ ‘Yes’ is hoping to make
an album here,” said Tait,
adding that the group plans
to quit touring within the
next few years and film a
documentary of its “entire
history,” using old news film
clips, live performance films
and rehearsals filmed here.
The Water Street Studios
partners plan to landscape
the outside of the old
warehouse and cover most of
the now-broken windows
with cedar.
Even the railroad spur
along the south side of the
building will be put to use.
Tait and the Clairs would
like to purchase an old
railroad car, refurbish it and
place it on the tracks im­mediately
outside the large
loading door, where it could
be used as a lounge for
musicians and filmakers on
break.
Water Street Studios-it’s a
name to remember.