Lititz Record Express

              THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2000
Lititz Record Express ^ a r d - W in n ijj
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124TH YEAR 32 Pages- No. 5 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA Two sections 30 Cents
IN BRIEF
Mail carriers will
help food drive Sat.
LITITZ — On Saturday, May
13, Lititz mail carriers will be
picking up nonperishable food
and personal care items to help
local families in need. This will
only be done on borough
routes, and residents can par­ticipate
by placing these items
by their mailboxes on that day.
Items include canned meats,
soup, juice, pasta, cereal,
toothpaste, shampoo and deo­dorant.
This is a United Way
project done in conjunction with
the National Association of
Letter Carriers.
All local donations will go to
the Lititz-Warwick Community
Chest, our local food bank. Res­idents
living outside of Lititz can
also participate by bringing
items to the Lititz Post Office.
INSIDE
□ School
Art award
Warwick senior Abby Sullivan
recently won Best of Show in
the Congressional Art Contest.
Page 6.
□ Entertainment
□ Also Inside
Pooch and Partner
The first Pooch and Partner
Run to benefit the Lancaster
County Human League’s
Animal Fund will be held on May
21 at the Warwick Township
Linear Park. For more details,
see Page 16.
□ Editorial
Why does Glenn Knight thank
a man lived long ago in a shack
along a Lititz creek? Page 4.
Photo by Richard Reitz
ONE IN A MILLENNIUM - The Warwick High School Show Choir will recreate the New Orleans French Quarter at this weekend’s
Spring Concert. Performers in the show include (front row, left to right) Kyle Metzger, Dave Raiser, Amanda Adams, April Winebarger, Kyle
Busey, Jordan Young, (back row, l-r) Jill Newberry, Adrienne Vigunas, Gabe Whitman, Kimberly Nagle, Chris Moyer, Kathleen Nuffort,
Jason Vigunas, Priscilla Parrett, Joel Brschoff and Sandra J.Garman. Missing from the photo are Abby Sullivan, Rick Delk, Kristin Pfeiffer
and Jon Fitzgerald.
W a rw ic k is ja z z e d fo r M ille n n ium
Writing tips
Duncan Weymouth, director
of the Rabbit Hill Writer’s Group
in Lititz, will present a free writ­ing
workshop at the Lititz Public
Library next Monday, where
creative writers will learn and
participate in games like “Ex­quisite
Corpse.” Find out more
on Page 24.
□ Church
Happy Mother’s Day!
Sunday, May 14 is Mom’s
special day, and local churches
are planning congregational
Mother’s Day celebrations,
wfiich are highlighted on Page
15.M
other’s Day is also the
focus of this week’s “In Sites”
column, as Kathy Blankenbiller
takes a look at web sites that
cater to Mom’s. Page 3.
And 10 months after the
Promise Keeper’s event in Phil­adelphia,
where men gather in
hopes of becoming better hus­bands
and fathers, Harry Bidel-spach
Jr. talks to local men who
attended about the impact it
has had on their lives. Page 14-
15.
LITITZ — The French Quarter
will come to life this weekend as the
Warwick High School Vocal Music
Department presents “Mardi
Gras... A Celebration into thè Mil­lennium”
for its spring concert per­formance.
I he show will be performed on
Saturday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m., and
again on Sunday, May 14 at 3 p.m.
in the Warwick High School audi­torium.
The concert is under the di­rection
of Mrs. Debra A. Kline-
Smith.
This spectacular production will
take the audience on a celebration
of the history of American song
styles, beginning with African-
American spirituals, through Rag­time,
Dixieland Jazz, and
concluding with a Millennium cele­bration
in a New Orleans-style
MardiGras.
Set on the banks of the Missis­sippi
River, the program begins
with a performance by the 20-
member Warwick Show Choir, per­forming
selections from the
Broadway musical “Big River.
Then the 150-member Concert
Choir will perform four songs, in­cluding
“ Festival Sanctus,”
“Canon in D,” “Sing Me to
Heaven,” and “Cindy.”
Following a 10-minute intermis­sion,
there will be a special perform­ance
by the new, all-male vocal
group, dubbed The Millennium
Men. This 22-member chorus will
present three songs with a Southern
flavor, including “Soon-Ah-Will
Be Done,” “Shenandoah,” and
“Mame.”
The Show Choir will then return
to the stage and the Mississippi
River setting to perform more
southern blues and Dixieland Jazz
selections. Their second set will in­clude
songs from the Broadway
musicals “Ragtime” and “Show
Boat.”
After a brief second intermission,
the Show Choir and Concert Choir
will combine for an imaginary visit
to the New Orleans French Quarter
on Bourbon Street for a Mardi Gras
celebration. Included in this act is a
senior tribute, “Make Them Hear
You,” from the musical “Rag-
See MARDI GRAS, page 7
L a n d n e a r lib ra ry m a y b e
c o n s id e re d fo r n ew s c h o o l
RICHARD REITZ AND
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Warwick School
District is reportedly looking at
land near the new Lititz Public Li­brary
as a possible location for a
new elementary school.
The Record Express has re­cently
learned that the District is
now looking at 20 acres of the
Siegrist farm, adjacent to the new
Lititz Public Library along Kissel
Hill Road.
As the District prepares for a
May 15 public hearing to address
its growing enrollment concerns,
landowner Wayne Siegrist con­firmed
Tuesday that school offi­cials
have inquired about the
availability of his family’s land.
Siegrist said that he would be in­terested
in selling a tract to the
school if it was determined to be
the District’s best option. But at
this point, no formal negotiations
on the matter have taken place.
Dr. Stephen Iovino, superin­tendent,
confirmed that Warwick
has been in contact with the
Siegrist family concerning then-land.
“The District is talking and will
continue to talk with anyone in the
community where property could
be considered for future school fa­cilities,
so we know what options
we have,” Iovino said.
After more than two years of
study and review of several op­tions,
Warwick officials are hold­ing
next Monday’s community
meeting to share the results of a
feasibility study to determine what
educational facilities are needed to
accommodate expected enroll­ment
increases in the district. This
meeting will be held at 7 p.m., in
the Warwick Middle School audi­torium.
The plan centers around the
future of Lititz Elementary School,
an 82-year-old, two-story educa­t
e LITITZ EL, page 76
Station exceeds expectations
Over 27,000 visitors passed through in first year
MARYANNE LAAGER
AND KARIRADVANSKY
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — One year after the
Lititz Train Station and Welcome
Center opened its doors for the first
time, its impact has far exceeded
the expectations of those who
planned its revival throughout the
latter half of the 1990s.
An estimated 27,000 visitors
have passed through those brass­framed
doors since the building at
the Lititz Springs Park entrance
opened at a dedication ceremony
on May 8.1999.
Although only a year old, the sta­tion
reflects a rich history that dates
back to the last half of the 19th cen­tury.
It’s first anniversary gives
Lititz cause to once again reflect on
its past, its present, and its future.
The train station is a replica of
the Lititz Passenger Depot and Ex­press
Station that operated from
1884 until shortly before it was torn
down in 1957 to make way for a new
park entrance. Although it is only
two-thirds of the original size, also
known as Disney-scale, the brick
building is an important facet to the
community and a link to the past.
Kay Moldenke, one of many vol­unteers
at the station who greet out-of-
town visitors and offer them
advice and answers to their ques­tions
about Lititz, explained that
the Welcome Center serves a prac­tical
purpose as well as a nostalgic,
historical one.
“I was delighted when this
opened. The tourist center was
needed for a longtime. I can’t imag­ine
how we ever got along without
it. It has charm, character, a touch
of the past,” she said.
Fellow volunteer Erma Miller
agreed. “It’s a good place to get in­formation.”
She also observed
many visitors who come back with
other people to enjoy it again.
“You get to talk to a lot of inter­esting
people. Everybody comes in
and says, ‘what a quaint town you
have—just beautiful’,” Miller said.
A daily tally is kept of the number
of visitors who come to the Station,
Sec TRAIN STATION, page 16
□ Sports
Cost estimates for new public
park could be unveiled May 30
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
□ Index
Soccer success
The Warwick girls soccer TrrTri,„ _ , „
■am advanced in the Lancast- LITITZ - Borough .Council
-Lebanon League playoffs members are now reviewmg a new
... . ci- „ set of plans for a public park at ,th a sem,-final win over Eliza- 0 ^ Broad | reets.
ethtown on Tuesday. PageS. De°ck & Edson> the Lititz-based
landscape architectural firm
which has graciously offered these
Rirtho pp sketches at no cost to the borough,
^ Irtns................................... 1 7 1 « completed a second round of
Business.............................1/-1o drawings last week and council
Church................................ 14-15 members got their first peak at
Classified............................26-31 that corner’s latest potential on
Editorial / Letters..................... 4 Friday.
Fntprtainmpnt 24 Council has moved cautiously
OKiti iarip<? 1? on the project because of the antic-
^ 01 ok ipation of high cost, but the wait
Out of the Past................ 2 1 ,2 5 may soon ^ over p erck & Edson
Police/Fire Log..........................2 j s reportedly preparing cost esti-
School News..........................6-7 mates and the plan is expected to
Social...................................22-23 be discussed at the next Borough
Sports..................................... 8-11 Council meeting on May 30.
The initial plan for the park, an
elaborate stone-enclosed garden
complete with bell tower and
grand entranceway, was reluc­tantly
scrapped for fear that ex­penses
would be too much of a
taxpayer burden in the wake of the
recent borough hall expansion.
The final price tag for the new
municipal complex at 7-9 S. Broad
St. has yet to be tabulated, and
council hopes to curtail big capital
improvement projects this year.
Even so, close to $250,000 has been
budgeted for the demolition of the
abandoned Lutheran Church and
the creation of a park in its place.
The new sketches were not
available for public release as of
Wednesday, but borough manager
Sue Barry described them as
“scaled down” from the originals.
She said the bell tower would be
lowered from a two-story structure
to one-story, stone pillars along
the sidewalks will be lowered or re­moved,
the entranceway would be
less elaborate, and less of the
church building will be used as
part of the park structure.
Those interested in examining
more details of the new sketches,
as well as hearing the first cost es­timates,
should plan to attend the
next Borough Council meeting,
Tuesday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, intersection im­provements
at Orange and Broad
streets, should begin by the end of
summer. These plans, which in­clude
an early traffic signal on
West Orange Street to improve the
turning radius for tractor trailer
trucks, are still awaiting approval
from the state’s transportation de­partment.
• See the related Derek & Edson
storvonvagel8.
balloon at the Bonfield Elementary School Carnival last Friday.
The unseasonably hot air that has gripped this area since then
has been less enjoyable, though relief is in sight.
Carnival heralds start
o f summer at Bonfield
joying games, food and fun at the
fifth-annual PTO-sponsored
carnival.
In front of the school, lines
formed to buy pizza, burgers,
soda or a variety of other snacks,
while some other children pre­ferred
to rush over to the volun-
See CARNIVAL, page 16
KARI RADVANSKY
RecordExpress Staff
LITITZ — Summer arrived a
little early last week, and many
students and their families took
advantage to the warm weather
at John Bonfield Elementary
School, last Friday evening, en-