Lititz Record Express

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124TH YEAR LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA Two sections 30 Cents
Lititz will remember fallen heroes
Memorial Day
Mav 28th
Final
R o ll Call
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RICHARD REITZ
Gerald Kochel
R e co rd Express Editor
LITITZ — Gerald L. Kochel knows all too well the
sacrifice that service men and women make to defend
their country.
The Lititz man served 19 months of active duty
with the 318th Tank Battalion during the Korean
Conflict, and at one point was a coin toss away from
heading overseas.
He said when soldiers from his battalion were being
selected for duty in Korea, only one soldier with his
specialty was needed, and he was one of two soldiers
who met those qualifications.
“They weren’t sure who to pick, so they flipped a
coin, and the other guy went,” he said. It was only
afterward that he learned that this was how the deci­sion
was made. And though he was prepared to fight
and serve his country, the call never came.
Kochel never forgot that moment — especially
knowing that his counterpart eventually sustained se­rious
injuries in combat. “He never knew who I was;
but I think about him a lot.”
Kochel, who also served 18 years in the Pa. Nation­al
Guard, will be the featured speaker when Lititz and
Rothsville honor fallen American service men and
women during Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday,
May 28.
He said this will be the second time that Lititz has
called upon “the old sergeant” to address the commu­nity
at the two services, and promises to speak to the
audience from his heart, not just from a pre-written
speech.
“My message mainly will be to try to get people to
remember that Memorial Day is not just a backyard
barbecue, and to honor and remember all those who
fought to protect our freedom,” Kochel said.
“Many brave souls fought and died to keep our
homeland free. Let’s remember that they are why we
are able to have that backyard barbecue.”
Kochel, an Ephrata native who lived in Lititz from
1953-69, and again since 1980, said he has partici-
More MEMORIAL DAY on A-16
The following list honors those
Lititz area soldiers known to have
perished or were missing in action
while serving in the United States
Armed Forces during wartime,
since the Civil War.
Civil War
John Bear
Jacob Christ
Levi G. Decker
Abraham Ditzler
Henry Irwin
Samuel G. Kemper
George Kittle
Joseph K. Meyers
David Miller
Henry Miller
Daniel M. Ressler
Peter Saylor
John Snearer
Martin M. Stark
Uriah Wallace
David Wolf
John Wolf
Jacob Young
Peter Young
Benjamin Zentmyer
More ROLL CALL on A-16
Memorial Day monologue
Brethren pacifist John Kline was killed by
Confederate soldiers during the Civil War
LITITZ — Pastor Robert Ket­tering
will be portraying Civil
War-era Brethren leader John
Kline in a peaceful perspective on
Memorial Day.
Kline was a doctor and traveling
pastor with the Church of the
Brethren, trekking over 100,000
miles, much of it on his famous
horse Nell, to preach non-violence
in a time of much violence. A
group of Confederate soldiers who
were convinced that Kline was a
Union sympathizer, shot the un­armed
Brethren leader just a few
miles from his home in Virginia,
making him a martyr for peace.
Pastor Kettering of Lititz
Church of the Brethren will deliver
a monologue on Kline, emphasiz­ing
the Brethren doctrine of paci­fism
for this Memorial Day.
“You really identify with the
person when you do a monologue
like I’m doing,” he said. “And
emotionally you feel a real kinship
with that person as you share their
story.”
The portrayal will be the high­light
of two worship services, 8 and
10:30 a.m., on May 27 at the Lititz
Church of the Brethren, 300 W.
Orange St. His horse Nell, played
by Barney’s Big Boy, an American
quarter horse, will make an ap­pearance
in the church parking lot
More JOHN KLINE on A-16
Photo by Stephen Seeber
19th Century martyr John Kline and his faithful horse Nell will
be portrayed by Lititz Church of the Brethren Pastor Robert Ket­tering
and Barney’s Big Boy this Sunday
Local
hero
19-year-old Lititz
sports star made
ultimate sacrifice
STEPHEN SEEBER_________
R e co rd Express S ta ff
LITITZ — Mother’s Day, 1945.
Roses arrived at 113 S. Spruce
St. for Margie Kline, a thoughtful
gift from her son Bobby on what
may have been more of a mother’s
nightmare than a holiday.
Bobby had been killed in Ger­many
one month earlier, becoming
the 19th and final Lititz man to
perish in the European Theater
during World War II, just a few
weeks before Germany’s surrender.
More BOBBY KLINE on A-19
INSIDE
□ School
Education Foundation
The technology department
at Lititz Area Mennonite School
found a way to enhance stu­dent
typing skills, and pur­chased
the program thanks to
the Warwick Education Foun­dation.
Page 6.
□ Business
Oakcrest Opens
The Oakcrest Business Com­plex
is up and running in War­wick
Township. Already, seven
businesess are in and more are
on the way. Page 18.
□ Religion
Summer Missions
With summer approaching,
most local congregations are
preparing for summer mission
projects. Page 14.
Entertainment
Library Birthday
The Lititz Public Library will
soon mark its second birthday
with a special party that will
feature the Vaudeville act of
Kinnier and Townsend of Lititz.
Page 24.
□ Out of the Past
Decoration Day
See how Lititz has marked
Decoration Day/Memorial Day
in decades past. Out of the
Past is on Pages 2 1 ,2 6 .
□ Sports
Track Gold
Warwick High School found
success at the District Track
meet, winning three gold med­als,
along with other medal win­ners.
Page 8.
□ Index
Arts/Entertainment..................24
Births......................................... 22
Business................. 18-19
Classified........................... 26-29
Commentary/Letters................ 4
Obituaries...........................12-13
Out of the Past...................21,26
Police/Fire Log.......................2-3
Religion......................... .....14-15
School News...........................6-7
Social.................................. 22-23
Sports.................................. ..8-11
77490 43000
Riinnin’ with the big dogs
Photo by Kathy Blankenbiller
POOCH AND PARTNER RUN RETURNS - On a pleasant
Sunday afternoon, Warwick Township Linear Park was packed
with pooches and their partners for the second annual event
to benefit the Lancaster County Humane League, Animal Res­cue
Fund and the K-9 units from Lititz Borough and Warwick
Township. Prizes were awarded in various categories, includ­ing
the well-deserved honor of “Biggest Dog” to D’Artagnan, a
1-year-old Great Dane pictured with owner Alexandra Clayton
of Centerville, who already weighs in at 150 pounds. The two-mile
walk and run took place around the trail in the park, as
dogs and owners strolled or jogged to the sounds of music,
beginning with — of course — “Who Let the Dogs Out?” The
event was sponsored by Work Site Wellness and Woodstream,
and included a K-9 obstacle course demonstration after the
run.
Senior Center coupon clippers
are lifesavers for Armed Forces
KATHY BLANKENBILLER
R e co rd Express S ta ff
LITITZ — Lititz Senior Center,
sponsored by Lancaster County
Office of Aging, has taken on an
outreach project that reaches out
to armed forces families stationed
around the globe.
Bertha Ford, manager of Lititz
Senior Center and president of the
American Legion Auxiliary in
Ephrata, was contacted by the Le­gion
Auxiliary at the state level,
More COUPONS on A-17
C ou n td ow n to L ititz’ 250th b eg in s
Steering committee v
R. RONALD REEDY________
Special to the R e co rd
LITITZ — In just five years, our
community will celebrate the 250th
anniversary of the naming of Li­titz.
As we look at the history of our
community, it sets the stage as to
where we were; so we know where
we are; so we know where we are
going.
In 1722, Christian Bomberger
became the first European settler
in the Lititz area. He lived in a
dugout about a mile north of the
Lititz Springs.
Then came Richard Carter of
Warwickshire, England, who was
a prominent figure in the early life
of the region. For many years, the
Lititz Springs Creek was known as
Carter’s Run, and in 1729 he
named Warwick Township.
In 1742, Count Zinzendorf of
Saxony, the leader and organizer
of the modem Moravian Church,
preached at A tavern north of Li­titz.
Through his preaching, John
George Klein turned over 491
acres along Carter’s Rim, to the
Moravian community, which the
Count planned.
Thus, on June 12, 1756, word
came from Count Zinzendorf that
ill meet on May 24
the religious community, which he
had planned on Klein’s tract was
to be called Lititz, named after the
castle of Lidice in Moravian.
Thus, the Community of Lititz
was born (original spelling was
Litiz).
200 years later, in 1956, Lititz
celebrated its Bicentennial from
June 28 to July 4.
My father and former Mayor of
Lititz, Raymond S. Reedy, was ap­pointed
by the then Lititz Chamber
of Commerce, to be the Chairman
of the Bicentennial Committee.
However, because of health rea­sons,
he was not able to see the cel­ebration
through as chairman, and
had to step down. Out of the cele­bration
committee was formed the
Lititz Historical Foundation (see
this week’s Out of the Past).
Now you have appointed me as
Chairman of the 250th Anniver­sary
of the community of Lititz,
and I am grateful for that. I was 17
years of age and still remember
many of the planned activities of
the 200th anniversary.
The above was Ron Reedy’s re­port
to Lititz Borough Council in
March, when he announced the
formation of a steering committee
to begin research and planning for
Graphic by Bill Dussinger
the upcoming anniversary. This
steering committee, with members
listed below, will meet for the first
time this Thursday, May 24, at the
Lititz Train Station.
250th Anniversary
Executive Steering Committee
• R. Ronald Reedy, chairman -
executive director of Blue Ridge
Communications Cable-11, former
president of Lititz Springs Park
Board of Trustees and chairman of
the Fourth of July Celebration in
Lititz Springs Park.
• Michelle E. (Clair) Deibler,
vice chairman - property manager
of Clair Bros. Audio. Active in
many community activities, former
member of the Lititz Historical
More LITITZ 250 on A-17
Lititz Springs Pool opens 1 p.m. Saturday
LITITZ — The community pool
opens this week for its 39th season.
First day is officially Saturday,
May 26, at 1 p.m.
Andy Amway will return as pool
manager, his 25th season, with a
new assistant manager. Craig Wa-gaman,
who has been Amway’s as­sistant
for the past two decades,
has retired to spend more time
with his family. He is being re­placed
by Stephen Keim.
Family passes for the entire fam­ily
are available at the borough of­fice
for $150. Single season is $80,
senior citizen family is $100, senior
citizen single is $50, and daily ad­missions
range from $1.50 to $5.
In 2001, Amway will lead a staff
of 19 employees. The borough is
budgeting about $133,000 for the
pool this year, and in most cases
pool revenue equals costs.
Last year’s opening day week­end
was a “total disaster” accord­ing
to Amway’s annual report to
the borough, as only 51 swimmers
showed up between 1 and 8 p.m.
Better attendance is expected this
year.
Photo by Stephen Seeber
Mike Shreiner, of the borough works crew, gets the pool ready
for the season. Pool hours throughout the summer will be Monday
through Saturday, 12:30 to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 8 p.m.
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