Lititz Record Express

              T H U R S D A Y , A u g u s t 2 3 , 2 0 0 1
Lititz Record Express
125TH YEAR 28 Pages - No. 18 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA Two sections 30 Cents
IN BRIEF
Pool Party
The Lititz Police Department
will once again hold its back to
school pool party at the Lititz
Springs Pool next Wednesday,
Aug. 29, from 7-10 p.m. This is
for Warwick School District stu­dents
only, grades 7 through
12. Drinks, food, swimming and
dancing are all free of charge.
LCC Closed
Lititz Community Center
members should keep in mind
that Aug. 27-Sept. 3 is mainte­nance
week at the facility.
Some programs will be closed
or relocated, so contact the
community center for specifics.
626-5096.
INSIDE
Running in Color
This week, the new, full-color
front page of the Lititz Record
Express sports section debuts,
featuring a look at some of the
upcoming fall sports teams at
Warwick High School. Pictured
above (left to right) are out­standing
Warwick runners Gor­don
Hall and Patrick Link. The
new look of Lititz sports is on
Pages 19-22.
□ School
Bus Schedules
The Warwick School District
bus schedule appears in this
week’s issue. To find your bus
stop, see Pages 6-7.
□ Special Deadlines
Labor Day
Due to the Labor Day Holi­day,
special deadlines for edit­orial
copy and advertising will
change as follows:
Retail and classified display
ads and all editorial copy for
the Sept. 6 issue of the Lititz
Record Express must be in the
office by 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug.
31.
Classified reader ads will be
accepted until Tuesday, Sept. 4
at noon.
The offices of the Lititz Re­cord
Express will be closed on
Monday, Sept. 3.
□ Religion
Quilt Blitz is On
Lutheran volunteers are
nearly finished creating their
new quilt, which will symbolize
Lutheran involvement in Habitat
for Humanity. Read about this
ongoing Quilt Blitz on Page 12.
A Child’s Prayer
A new weekly feature on the
prayers of local children debuts
this week on Page 12.
□ Index
Arts/Entertainment..................16
Births......................................... 10
Business.............................14-15
Classified............................24-27
Commentary/Letters................ 4
Obituaries............................... 8-9
Out of the Past................. 28, 23
Police/Fire Log...................... 2-3
Religion............................... 12-13
School News...........................6-7
Social.................................. 10-11
Sports.................................. 19-22
7 7 4 9 0 M4 3 0 0 0
Judge: Discrimination suit proceeds
NAACP support of civil suit against Warwick Twp. reaches state, national level
RICHARD REITZ_____________________
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TWP. — Last week, a feder­al
judge refused to throw out a lawsuit
claiming that a police officer candidate was
not hired by Warwick Township because he
is black.
The ruling came several days before Mon­day’s
public meeting of the NAACP at the
Warwick Township municipal building,
where Lancaster NAACP President Rev.
Ronald Taliaferro announced they were re­questing
assistance at the state and national
level, and called the township’s rejection of
the hiring of Ron Simril “economic homi­cide.”
On Aug. 15, Warwick Township officials
again publicly rejected the allegations of dis­crimination
“in the strongest possible
terms.”
Federal Court Ruling
On Aug. 13, U.S. Eastern District Court
Judge Robert F. Kelly denied a motion to
dismiss the civil action filed by Simril, and
former Police Chief Alfred Olsen and Sgt.
Gary Hutchinson and their wives, which
claims that Warwick Township and 14 em­ployees
and elected officials, as well as a
consultant hired by the township to conduct
a police department assessment, conspired
to keep Simril from being hired on three sep­arate
occasions in 1999 and 2000, contend­ing
that Simril was the most qualified candi­date
for the position.
However, on Aug. 10, Kelly ruled to dis­miss
similar charges against Robert Balleng-er
and Ephrata Borough. Ballenger, an Eph-rata
police officer who was involved in the
hiring process, was cleared of the charges by
the judge.
The ruling concerning the Warwick
Township officials, however, allows the law­suit
to proceed to the depositions and dis­covery
stage. A court date to hear arguments
on the matter has not been set.
“The Court is not convinced that the
plaintiffs could not be entitled to relief under
any set of facts that could be established in
support of their claims,” Kelly wrote in his
decision. “As for the specific pleading re­quirement
for a civil rights action based
upon a claim of conspiracy, the plaintiffs’ al­legations
in their amended complaint are
sufficiently specific and particular to put the
defendants on notice about the period of the
conspiracy, the object of the conspiracy and
certain actions of the conspirators taken to
More LAWSUIT on A-4
Lawsuit filed on
hidden camera issue
STEPHEN SE E B E R __________
R eco rd Express S ta ff
LITITZ — The borough is being
sued.
Official word was received this
week that the Lititz police officer
who was the subject of a hidden
camera investigation last year has
filed a lawsuit in federal court.
To date, the officer’s name has
not been released to the public.
Both Borough Council President
Dennis Stuckey and Borough
Manager Sue Barry confirmed
Tuesday that the local government
received a summons on Aug. 14.
The Record Express was not grant­ed
access to the document and bor­ough
solicitor Mike Davis, of the
Lancaster law firm Barley, Snyder,
Senft & Cohen, did not return
phone calls to the newspaper office
this past Tuesday.
“A lawsuit has been filed,”
Stuckey said. “We disagree with
the content and the borough will
make an appropriate response
through legal counsel.”
That response is expected to be
released within the next two weeks.
The lawsuit stems from a hidden
surveillance camera that was in­stalled
in the police officers squad
room in early 2000. It was used for
the non-criminal investigation of a
Lititz officer. Ultimately the inves­tigation,
details of which have
never been released, was ruled in­conclusive.
When the camera was discov­ered
by on-duty officers last fall,
More LAWSUIT on A-17
Y o u n g v irtu o so to
p e rfo rm in L ititz
Photo by Richard Reitz
Enjoying their two weeks as part of the Fresh Air Fund program are the Calta family of Lititz (from
left to right) Wendy, Charles, Taylor, Alexus Goodridge from Brooklyn, Danielle and Nicole.
Like a breath of fresh air
Local family welcomes Brooklyn girl for two weeks of fun
RICHARD REITZ
R eco rd Express Editor
LITITZ — Nine-year-old Alexus Goodridge admits
she was a bit nervous about her first trip to Lancaster
County; that is, until she saw the light blue balloons
that greeted her arrival.
Alexus — known to her friends as “Lexi” — arrived
from Brooklyn, N.Y. on Aug. 9 to spend two weeks in
the country as part of the Fresh Air Fund. It was her
host family — Charles and Wendy Calta of Lititz, and
their daughters Nicole, Danielle and Taylor — who
were holding those balloons, so that Alexus would
know exactly where to go when she exited the bus that
day.
Since then, its been nothing but fun for the talkative
and bright young lady, who is returning home to
Brooklyn today (Thursday).
“We’ve had something planned every day,” said
Mrs. Calta — or as Lexi now calls her, “Sweet Mom.”
More FRESH AIR on A-17
A dynasty of outstanding service
Post 1463 returns from Philly with 5th consecutive state award
STEPHEN S E E B E R __________
R eco rd Express S ta ff
10-year-old violinist
began playing at 2
KATHY BLANKENBILLER
R eco rd Express S ta ff
LANCASTER — As other chil­dren
race to the playground, Joan
Cullen eagerly picks up her violin
and practices for her next profes­sional
engagement.
Cullen is a pleasant, well-spoken
young woman, her demeanor
poised and self-confident with ma­turity
far beyond her years. At age
10, the heart of this virtuoso
pounds with fierce and passionate
determination.
Amazingly, her musical roots
reach back to the tender age of 2,
when she began her studies of the
violin.
“I started with just the lesson
and a box,” Joan said. “Then,
when I was 3 years old I finally got
to play on my first real violin. It
was just a tiny one, a 1/6 size. I
loved it.”
Growing up seventh in a family
of nine children, her father, a
judge, and her mother, a law stu­dent,
immersed her in music even
before her birth.
“Three of her sisters and one of
Joan Cullen
violinist
her brothers were learning instru­ments
well before Joan was bom,”
said the musical artist’s mother,
MaryAnne Motter-Cullen. “After
she was bom we’d take her along
to all the lessons, four times a
week, every week. By the time
Joan was 2 she wanted to play, too.
I knew even then that because of
her personality she’d do well, so
she began her lessons.”
More Virtuoso on A-17
LITITZ — The helping hand of
local veterans has touched every­one
from nursing home residents
to free-styling skateboarders. This
summer the helping hand received
a well-deserved high five.
During the state convention for
Veterans of Foreign Wars, held
June 21-23 in Philadelphia, Lititz’
Post 1463 earned a fifth consec­utive
first place community activi­ties
award.
Pennsylvania is home to more
than 620 VFW posts, and to be
honored with five first place
awards in five years indicates an
unprecedented level of giving.
“It shows that we definitely have
a lot of motivation and initiative,”
said Don Garber, Lititz post com­mander
and Gulf War Air Force
veteran. “We’re second to none
More STATE’S BEST on A-17
Photo by Richard Reitz
Pictured at the presentation of $45,000 to the Warwick School District, are (from left to right) Pfizer
Site Leader Sharon Timmis, Warwick Assistant Superintendent Dr. Daniel Doremus, Bobette Wil­liams
of Pfizer, WMS Principal Mike O’Hara, WHS Principal Fred Cummins, John Bonfield Principal
Peggy Montgomery, and Darren Lewis of Pfizer.
Pfizer lays foundation
Sci Pfi initiative provides $45,000
to Warwick in the name of science
RICHARD REITZ____________
R eco rd Express Editor
LITITZ — To find the money in
the Warwick School District bud­get
for essential high-tech science
equipment, it would have taken
several years of “phasing in” those
purchases.
But thanks to a grant from the
Pfizer Foundation, the school dis­trict
will be able to purchase those
items — and other scientific appa­ratus
— as early as this fall.
And this initiative is one of
many educational relationships
that the pharmaceutical manufac­turer
and its neighboring school
district hope to establish.
The Pfizer Foundation pres­ented
$45,000 to the Warwick
School District on Aug. 16, ear­marked
for the purchase of scien-tific
equipment and supplies in
support of the Pfizer Educational
Initiative. The money will be used
to buy student and teaching micro­scopes,
a $2,100 video microscope
system, a $1,500 weather station,
oscilloscopes, other laboratory
equipment, and science kits for ele­mentary
school students.
It is also providing $2,000 for
the Warwick Education Founda­tion,
to be used to support the
foundation’s mini grant program,
specifically for initiatives involving
science and technology, and fund­ing
that will send Warwick Middle
School teacher Roy DeRemer to a
two-week Teacher Enhancement
Workshop at the Marine Biology
Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.
At a special ceremony held at
More SCI PFI on A-17
f
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