Donegal townlively.com
MAY 8, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXV • NO 13
Rolling along to grant wishes BY CATHY MOLITORIS
When the Make-AWish Mother ’s Day Tr uck Convoy rolls through town on Sunday, May 12, it will honor a tradition that began 35 years ago with the wish of one child. “It all began with Wish Kid Matt Strawser,” said Michelle Ruel, director of marketing and communications for Make-AWish Philadelphia, Delaware and Susquehanna Valley. “Matt was fascinated with big rig
trucks, so it was no surprise he wished to ride in a big rig and talk to his sister, Heather, on the CB radio.” Since 1990, almost 12,000 tr ucks have driven in the Convoy, and the event has raised more than $9.2 million, granting wishes to more than 900 children in the Susquehanna Valley. This year’s Convoy will kick off with a carnival beginning at 9 a.m. at the Manheim Pennsylvania Auto Auction, 1190 Lancaster Road, Manheim. The Convoy will See Wishes pg 3
The Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys of “Grease”
“Grease” celebrates teenage life and love BY CATHY MOLITORIS
“A good coming-of-age plot never really goes out of style.” around more of the characters and gives them more of a personality and a heart,” said Titus Newswanger, a McCaskey High School junior who plays Danny. Maeve Sasse, an eighth-grader in Wilson School District who plays Patty, agreed, adding, “All of the characters have very unique
personalities. That’s a really cool aspect to this show. Everyone has a completely different back story and what their intentions are.” Even though the show takes place in the 1950s, its themes are still relevant today, said Riley Fidler, a Conestoga Valley High School sophomore who plays Rizzo. “I feel like in schools, there is always going to be the good kids and the bad kids, and there’s always going to be conflict with that,” she said. “I feel like a good coming-of-age plot never really goes out of style.” In fact, the cast members say they can identify with their characters. “Teenagers are really the same as they always were in how they act and how they interact with each other,” said Charlotte Evans, a Commonwealth Charter Academy freshman who plays
Trucks gear up for last year’s Make-A-Wish Mother’s Day Truck Convoy.
A passion for Agatha Christie BY CATHY MOLITORIS
To say Teresa Peschel loves Agatha Christie would be an understatement . T he Hershey-based author spent almost three years watching ever y Christie film ever made - all 201 of them - and reviewing them and publishing a book called “Agatha Christie, She Watched: One Woman’s Plot to Watch 201 Agatha Christie Movies Without Murdering the Director, Screenwriter, Cast, or Her Husband.” She and her husband, Bill, who
See “Grease” pg 3
together own the publishing company Peschel Press, will discuss their labor of love at the Milanof-Schock Library, 1184 Anderson Ferr y Road, M o u n t J o y, o n S a t u rd a y, May 18, at 1 p.m. As Teresa recalls, the project was not pre-planned. “In July of 2020, I brought home the DVD of ‘Crooked House’ from the library,” she said. “We watched it and enjoyed it.” She reviewed it, and Bill published it on the couple’s book-focused website. A few weeks later, while working on See Agatha Christie pg 8
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t’s a classic boy-meets-girl love story when Susquehanna Stage presents “Grease.” The show, part of the theater’s youth and teen production series, will be performed on select dates from Friday, May 10, through Sunday, May 19. “This show follows a group of high school kids that are known as the bad kids,” said Paige Fairbanks, a sophomore at Manheim Township High School who plays Marty. “A new girl is introduced, and she’s a goody two shoes. She sees the guy she fell in love with over the summer, but he’s a completely different person, and the show goes through her finding herself and finding out about him.” W hile audiences may be
familiar with the 1970s movie “Grease,” the cast members emphasize that the stage show provides a different look at the characters. “Where the movie revolves around Danny and Sandy, the stage show revolves