Conestoga Valley OCTOBER 9, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Trunk or Treat to emphasize Steps to Success’ role in CV community BY JEFF FALK
Look Inside
VIA is part of village raising local students BY JEFF FALK
Learning is important, and teaching is tough. It is at that educational intersection where the work of Volunteers in Action (VIA) becomes essential. VIA exists to cooperate with and support the faculty, administrators and staff members of the Conestoga Valley School District. It doesn’t teach students directly, but VIA plays a huge role in the learning process. “If we don’t learn, we can’t grow,” said Lisa VIA district coordinator Lisa Smith Smith, who’s been CV’s interacts with another volunteer at a recent VIA district coordinator Conestoga Valley School District event. for three years. “I don’t think we gotten harder. We save teachers can care deeply about things if a few minutes each day. We’re we don’t learn about them. I was not helping to teach. We’re helpnever a teacher, but teaching is ing to free them up to teach. We hard. It’s tough, and with every- try to take some of the burden thing going on in the world, it’s off their plates.” See Volunteers in Action pg 6
A young child dressed as Buzz Lightyear explores a bounce house at Steps to Success’ Trunk or Treat event last year.
very busy. There’s a lot to do. It’s very high energy, and there’s a lot of engagement.” The event will feature up to 40 vehicle trunks decorated for the Halloween season. Children may visit the trunks to receive candies, goodies and snacks. Prizes will be awarded for the best decorated trunk and the best costume. The event will also feature bounce houses, hot dogs, drinks, information booths hosted by community partners and food trucks. Individuals seeking to host trunks can register at www.steps
tosuccessinc.com/trunkortreat. “You can come and have fun for free,” said Witman. “My favorite thing is seeing kids have fun, but I also like seeing our community partners. It’s more than the usual interaction. I just love the coming together.” Up to 300 members of young families and members of the CV community and beyond are expected to attend. “The event used to be a trick-ortreat parade,” said Witman. “We wanted to have an event where kids could come out, spend time with each other and have a good
Landis Valley will highlight the harvest BY JEFF FALK
Lancaster County residents have been celebrating the harvest at 2451 Kissel Hill Road, Lancaster, for a very long time, even before it was an official address. It’s a tradition that Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum has grown through its Harvest Days event. Growing traditions is just one of the things that Landis Valley is good at. “(Harvest Days) really transforms everyone back to another
time, just to see how things were done back then,” said Brian Dom, who’s been Landis Valley’s marketing and events coordinator for a year. “Basically, it’s a celebration of the end of the harvest in Lancaster County. We use it to highlight the crafts and trades used in the harvest. When people are here, we see personal reflection, and we don’t see a lot of cell phones. The focus is on family time and realizing the beautiful history we have here in Lancaster County.” Landis Valley will stage this
See Trunk or Treat pg 8
See Harvest Days pg 12
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eing part of a community comes with certain responsibilities. Being part of a community fosters various types of relationships. Being part of a community results in specific perks. Steps to Success plays an important role in the Conestoga Valley community. Not only is the local nonprofit’s upcoming Trunk or Treat and book fair event a celebration of the CV community, but it’s also Steps to Success’ way of celebrating being part of that community. “We’ve definitely become more prominent in the community,” said Adriana Witman, who’s been Steps to Success’ early education administrative director for the past year. “We might be a child care center, but we really take our position in the community seriously. We want to be the voice for kids. This event provides just a small glimpse into the amazing things we do every day.” While Steps to Success does conduct fundraisers to support its mission of providing affordable child care, the Trunk or Treat and Scholastic book fair is the only community-wide outreach event it conducts each year. This year’s edition, the fourth annual, will be staged on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Zion Lutheran Church, 18 Quarry Road, Leola. The event is free to attend, and the fair will offer Scholastic books for purchase. “It’s a lot of fun,” said Witman. “Everybody’s having a really good time. It’s a lot of community. It’s
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