Conestoga Valley townlively.com
JUNE 7, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LIX • NO 24
Honoring veterans in Leola BY ANN MEAD ASH
RRR to host Summer Field Day BY ANN MEAD ASH
hile placing flags on veterans’ graves, Bob Zook paused to discuss his own family’s service to this country. Bob served from 1965 to 1968 with the Marines, and his son Jon served four years in Alaska with the Air Force before being deployed to Afghanistan, where he was assigned to remove weapons from a plane that overran the runway into an area laden with landmines.
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On May 25, Bob and his wife, Barb, along with Jon, Jon’s wife, Michele, and Jon and Michele’s two children - Gavin, age 17, and Joelle, age 16 - gathered with Nancy George and Bob Ranck at the Bareville Cemetery, Brethren Church Road in Leola, to decorate 40 graves prior to Memorial Day. Barb reported that Gavin and Joelle have been helping with the flag placement since they were small children. The group represents members of the board of trustees of the Upper Leacock Township War Memorial Association (ULTWMA). Bob Zook is president of ULTWMA. The vice president is Tim Chopp, and George serves as secretary. Board members include Donna Chopp, Connie Gross, Harold Hoover, Lin Pickel, Ranck, Gene and Janet Rodgers, and Jean Summers. Pickel orders flags to decorate the veterans’ graves in Conestoga Valley-area cemeteries. She picked
Members of the board of trustees of the Upper Leacock Township War Memorial Association, along with other volunteers, placed flags on graves of veterans in Conestoga Valley-area cemeteries prior to Memorial Day.
up more than 400 for distribution at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center and delivered them to board members, who then placed them at six area cemeteries. In addition to Bareville, flags are placed at the Salem Hellers Evangelical Reformed Church, Zion Lutheran Church cemetery, and Trumbauer Memorial Cemetery, where members of local Boy and Girl Scout troops help out. Flags are also used to
mark veterans’ graves at Eby’s Cemetery at Monterey Chapel and the cemetery at Stumptown Mennonite Church. ULTWMA is a nonprofit, volunteer organization located at 54 W. Main St., Leola. ULTWMA organizes and hosts community events that honor the military service of all local residents. On May 25, the organization gave out four $1,000 scholarships to Conestoga Valley High School
seniors who are children of veterans. This year, all four seniors were children of Army veterans. The 2023 recipients were Victoria Rhoads, daughter of Matt Rhoads; Trey Miller, son of Timothy Miller, Sr.; Gwen Wilde, daughter of Shane Wilde; and Lily Ennis, daughter of Sylvia Weber. Readers who would like to learn more about the organization may visit www.facebook.com/ULTWMA.
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U LT WM A o r g a n i z e s and hosts community events that honor the military service of all local residents.
“This is the open house of our hobby,” said Alex Van Patten, public information officer with Red Rose Repeater Association (RRR), a local organization that will participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day. “It’s our chance to show people who have no or limited exposure to this hobby what it’s all about,” stated Van Patten. This year’s event, known to RRR members as “Summer Field Day,” will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25, at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, 750 E. King St., Lancaster. This event is open to the public, and the club particularly recommends stopping by on Saturday between 2 and 8 p.m. The event will close by 2 p.m. on Sunday. RRR president Ralph Hess noted that antennae setup will be held on Saturday between 8 and 9 a.m. “There are a lot of new hams who want to see that,” said Hess. “Ham” is another term for amateur radio. The hobby invites interested persons to experiment with electronics and communications techniques. Hams also provide a free public service to communities during a disaster or emergency - all without needing a cellphone or the internet. “Thaddeus Stevens is a perfect spot (to hold field day),” noted Van Patten. “People will have their radio stations set up, and the focus is to contact other clubs across the country doing the same thing. We hope to talk to a couple hundred (individuals) or more.” This is the 90th year hams have used field day to demonstrate radio’s ability to create reliable communications independent of commercial networks from
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