Lititz Record Express

              T H U R S D A Y , A P R I L 3 0 , 1 9 9 8
L ititz R e c o rd E x p re ss
28 Pages - No. 3 LITITZ, PENNSYLVJ
□ INSIDE
□Loyalty Day
Students honored fo r
p o s ter de s ig ns
: Loyalty Day, celebrated in
honor of our country’s heri­tage,
is on May 1, and several
young people from the Lititz
and Manheim areas were rec­ognized
for their outstanding
Loyalty Day posters. A special
feature is on Page 21.
□ Entertainment
Broadway performers
com in g to First Stage
On Saturday night, several
oadway actors will appear
at Lititz’s First Stage
Theatre for a
special reading
of “A Connect­icut
Yankee,” a
„ , musical written
riftfr*W 1 0P by Scott Warfel
the at « H r & Craig Davis
that will pre­miere
in New York City later
this year. For more on the
show, see Page 12.
□ Back Page
L ititz Llamas to jo in
annual fe s tiva l
Llamas like these pictured
here from Marj Gerhart’s Lititz
farm will be joining in the fun
at the Eastern Llama and
Alpaca Festival near Reading
this weekend. Find out more
on Page 28.
■
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m m H H B
□Out of the Past
Gen. Sutter retu rn s
from D.G.
This week 120 years ago,
Lititz resident Gen. John A.
Sutter returned from Washing­ton,
D.C. after attempting to
convince the government that
he should be reimbursed for
the land he lost during the
California Gold Rush of 1848.
The outcome of his mission,,
plus other items from Lititz
past, are on Pages 22-23.
□School
J u n io r earns firs t
: ch a ir at State Band
Warwick High School junior
Stacey Leidig was among the
el i te musicians in
Pennsylvania last weekend at
the State Band Festival in
Erie, where she was named
"■st chair for French horn. For
.,«ore, see Page 6.
□ Sports
Warwick tra c k fa lls at
fin a l home meet
The boys and girls track
teams both lost to McCaskey
on Monday, the final Warwick
track meet of the season... but
not without getting several
outstanding performances
from its athletes, including
running standout Courtney
Boyack for the girls, and dou­ble-
winner Justin Babcock for
the boys. Page 10.
□ In d e x
Births.................................. 15
Business................. ...... 18-19
Church.................... ...... 16-17
classified................ ...... 23-27
Editorial / Letters.... .... .........4
Entertainment......... ........... 12
Manheim News...... ........ ...20
Obituaries....................2-3, 17
Out of the Past....... .......22-23
Police Log...... . ............. 4
School News.......... .......... 6-7
Social...................... .....14-15
Sports...... .......... . ........8-11
¡ B a ck y a rd sw am p d r iv in g
i b o r o u g h r e s id e n ts b u g g y
PHEN SEÈBER
Photo by Bruce Morgan
Rookie Marlins’ players Andy Scheid (right) and Robby Lessig get
into the excitement of Warwick Little League’s Opening Day by cheer­ing
for other teams who are introduced in the player procession.
Little League’s big day
Under sunny skies and crisp temp­eratures,
Warwick Little League
officially got its fourth season under­way
with Opening Day Ceremonies
at the Wilbur Chocolate fields last
Saturday.
About 600 kids took center stage,
O ran g e St.
w ill c lo s e
fo r 2 d a y s
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — Downtown traffic
headaches will reach migraine status
next week as PennDOT workers are
planning to shut down West Orange
Street for two days.
In an effort to give everyone some
fair warning, Lititz Police Chief
Douglas Shertzer announced this
week that from noon on Monday,
May 4, until 5 p.m., Wednesday,
May 6, a state transforation work
crew will be repaving the street
During that period, West Orange
will be closed to all traffic, including
parking, from South Broad Street to
Second Avenue (across from War­wick
High School).
(See Orange S t, Page 21)
Murder trial
scheduled to
begin May 4
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LANCASTER — The murder
trial for Lititz resident Larry
Mowrer, who is charged with stran­gling
his ex-girlfriend April Smith to
death in his father’s East Main Street
garage last June, is set to begin May
4.
The trial has already been post­poned
twice, once in January, shortly
after Mowrer suffered a heart attack
in Lancaster County Prison, and a
second time in March, when Judge
Lawrence Stengel needed time to
decide whether or not psychiatric tes­timony
would be allowed in court.
Neither John Pyfer, Mowrer’s
attorney, nor Don Totary, assistant
district attorney, could be reached for
comment; but earlier this week,
Lititz Police Chief Douglas Shertzer
confirmed that the trial is scheduled
to begin next Monday.
On June 1, 1997, Mowrer, 37,
reportedly took Smith, 23, to his
father’s workshop to talk. According
to recorded testimony from Mowrer,
he used an orange extension cord to
strangle her after she refused a sexual
advance.
Smith, who lived on East Main
Street with her mother, had three
young boys, two of which were
fathered by Mowrer. The children are
now being cared for by their
grandmother.
as they filed onto the field in front of
cheering family members and
friends.
The day had everything it was sup­posed
to, with dignitaries such as
State Senator Noah Wenger offering
some encouraging remarks for the
players and Lititz Mayor Russell Pet­tyjohn
throwing out the .first pitch.
Evv.ii JaTiobiirg 3. ^ mascot
Uncle Slam stopped by for the
festivities.
The favorite part of the day for
most kids, however, was actually
playing their first baseball game of
the year.
For more details from Opening
Day, turn to page 8 in Sports.
- ■ 'ord Express Staff
lilTITZ — Did a developer do
enough to warn prospective buyers
about a nuisance swamp in their
backyards? Or are homeowners
along Partridge Drive and Bridled
Tern, in the northeast section of the
borough, guilty of not taking a close
enough look at their deed before
buying?
Regardless, the problem exists,
and about half a dozen homeowners
came before borough council Tues­day
in attempt to find a remedy.
Borough Council President
May Day
Festival
returns to
Gardens
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
LITITZ — A celebration of
springtime fun is returning to The
Gardens at Lititz Museum this
Sunday.
The second annual May Day
Celebration will be held from 1-3
p.m. on May 3 on the upper level of
the garden, located behind the Lititz
Museum and Mueller House,
137-145 E. Main St.
The event coincides with the Plant
Exchange, which will be held on the
lower level of the garden from 1-3
p.m. (See related story, page 28.)
Kathy Gelatka, who is co-chair of
the event with Maureen Morrell and
Mary Lou Scicchitano, is hoping to
l‘-"e aVv ’ ifiO children ready for
some fun at 1 p.m. when the festivi­ties
begin.
One of the features will be an anti­que
clothing and doll collection
demonstration by Susan Fry.
“I still play with dolls and dress-up,”
Fry said about her collection.
(See May Day, Page 28)
referred to the dilemma as a private
matter between property owners and
the developer, but residents say the
excessive amounts of flowing water
have created a health hazard, and
that’s when local government needs
to step in and do something.
“The contractor told us that there
was a little bit of dampness,” John
Kubinec, 338 Bridled Tem, told
council members. “It’s turning into a
swamp back there.”
“My concern is the bugs and mos­quitoes,”
said Randy Kurtz, 342
Bridled Tem. “You’re going to have
rats and snakes.”
“It’s disgusting,” added Neil
Mearig, 312 Partridge Drive.
The problem, according to resi­dents,
concerns a spring that con­stantly
adds water to a swale area to
the rear of their homes, along the bor­der
between the borough and War­wick
Township.
Extreme dampness that dominates
the area from September through
June, make it impossible for home
owners to cut the grass, and as weeds
grow over a period of months, the
nuisance of bugs and other animals
begin to encroach toward their back
(See Swamp, Page 21)
w m Ê s m
Susan Fry will share her antique dolls, hats emu doming wun cntiaren
attending the May Day Celebration on the upper level of The Gardens
at the Lititz Museum on Sunday from 1-3 p.m.
H e r i ta g e to u r fe a tu r e s L i t i t z s ite
Attracting local interest
key to Heritage Month
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
The rich heritage of Lancaster County has attracted
travellers from all over for many years.
But starting May 1, a county-wide effort to expose
local residents to die sites important to the history of
the region begins..
Lancaster County Heritage Month is a cooperative
effort involving the Lancaster County Planning Com­mission,
Visitors Bureau, and the Historic Preserva­tion
Trust.
An extensive study was undertaken to determine
which Lancaster County sites are essential in piecing
together the history and culture of the area.
Among the 45 Heritage Sites deemed most essen­tial
were five located in Lititz Borough: Wilbur Cho­colate,
Lititz Museum and Mueller House, Lititz Mor­avian
Church, Sturgis Pretzel House, and the Heritage
Map Museum.
During this month, special Heritage Events are
being scheduled, and three tours have been regionally-designed
to accommodate participants.
“It’s been going even better than we thought,” said
Cindy Hampton from the Visitors Bureau. “We have
received a number of calls from people interested in
participating.”
Since this is the first year of what they hope will
become an annual observance, Hampton said they are
not sure how many people this will attract. “We do
expect to see a lot of people out there exploring the
sites and back roads of the area. We wanted to show
local residents what this county has.
(See Heritage, Page 6)'
-i
•ft
L_
Roths ville
practice
is bought
JILL IVEY
Record Express Staff
ROTHSVILLE — Rothsville
Family Practice will now be part of
something larger.
As of March 2 the doctors, who
owned the practice, have become
part of the Northern Lancaster Coun­ty
Medical Group. The group con­sists
of primary care physicians that
work with the Ephrata Community
Hospital Foundation, which super­vises
Ephrata Community Hospital.
The practice was started 17 years
ago by Dr. Carlton Busko, who was
later joined by partners Dr. Michael
Cowan and Dr. Steven Bade. The
doctors declined comment on the
purchase.
In November 1996 the practice
completed $1.2 million in renova­tions
to the offices at 1810 Rothsville
Road. The amount of the recent
purchase was not disclosed.
Director of Public Relations for
Ephrata Community Hospital Joanne
Eshelman, said that the merger is
nothing new. Rothsville Family
Practice is one of ten practices,
including Brownstown and Conesto­ga
Family Practices, in the Northern
Lancaster County Medical Group.
(See Rothsville, Page 18) Students put on a concert to remember
HEATHER MOYER
Special to She Record
LITITZ — A memorial concert,
held on April 18 at Warwick High
School, raised over $1,000 in honor
of the three Warwick graduates that
perished in a cabin fire last month.
The National Art Honor Society
put together a great concert with the
hard work of the students, Warwick
graduates and the Warwick High
School maintenance department.
The concert not only provided
some cool music for it’s audience,
but also raised $ 1,002 for the memor­ial
funds set up by the families of
Erik Gray, James Giliberti and Nick
Berkey, who died March 22 in an ear­ly
morning cabin fire in Centre
County that claimed the lives of 11
people.
Some concert goers even gave
extra donations beyond the $5 admis­sion
charge to see performances by
the bands Beta, Quadraphonic and
Innerface.
Nancy Williams, high school art
teacher and advisor of the Warwick
National Art Honor Society, praised
“the work ethic and energy of this
highly motivated group of young
adults.” Mrs. Williams said everyone
involved worked hard to put together
the Saturday evening show.
NAHS member Ian Eckert lined
up Beta and Quadrophonic for the
show. He also served as emcee for
the event and helped with setting up
and tearing down the stage and
equipment.
Ian thought the show was a suc­cess
and that “everyone was into it. It
felt even better because it went to a
good cause.”
Shannon Connelly said it was a lot
of fun to help out with show and
evetyone else seemed to be having
fun.
NAHS vice president Kristen
Conville said that “everything ran
smoothly and everyone helped o u t”
She also noted that “it was a wonder­ful
way to end our senior year.”
Although she had hoped there
would be a larger turnout, she said
that they were happy with the num­bers.
It was a “no meshing” concert
and the faculty and parent chaperons
did a good job of enforcing a peace­ful
atmosphere.
Bota member Mike Crawford also
enjoyed the concert as a performer
(See Concert, Page 7)