Elizabethtown JANUARY 7, 2026
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See Books pg 6
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Teaching With Heart BY CAT SHANNON
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For seven years, Jenna Love has been motivating, encouraging and educating students in the Elizabethtown Area School District. Now the Elizabethtown Area Middle School sixth-grade social studies teacher has been recognized for her efforts. Love competed in the 2026 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year awards. And while she did not take home the top honor, she did receive the Keystone Award of Excellence as one of 12 statewide
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Leo’s Helping Paws Is All About the Dogs BY GEORGE DEIBEL
t Elizabethtown Public Librar y, guests will swap books for bites during A Taste of Western Lancaster County, a culinary event happening Friday, Feb. 6, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at the library, 10 S. Market St., Elizabethtown. Held throughout the librar y on all three floors, A Taste of Wester n L ancaster County will feature more than 20 vendors offering samples of food and People enjoy a previous year’s Taste of Western Lancaster County. The event is open to people age (handicapped-accessible) or the beverages. Participants will include Coffee Company entrance (one step), Luongo Barbecue, The Spot Home- 21 and up. “Attendees will enter the library where they will be greeted and given town Deli, Troegs Independent Brewing and Grandview Vineyard. from either the parking lot entrance a bag of goodies and their voting
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VOL LXVI • NO 48
finalists during a ceremony on Dec. 8. Love was nominated for Teacher of the Year by a paraprofessional in her school who had spent time working with her in her classroom. She learned of the nomination in October of 2024, and after the third round of the competition, she discovered she was a finalist when an announcement was made by the governor’s office in May of 2025. “When I found out I was a finalist, I was thrilled, shocked and honored, all at once,” Love recalled. See Teaching pg 5
It’s fitting that the next fundraiser for the Leo’s Helping Paws nonprofit group will be held on Valentine’s Day. That’s emblematic of the love Kathy Styer and Beth Buchter have for dogs. Styer and Buchter co-founded Leo’s Helping Paws in July 2014. The pair were volunteers for another rescue organization before electing to branch out on their own. “At that time, we were seeing a lot of need,” said Styer, who is the president. “There were more rescues that were being formed, and the need for vet care was the No. 1 issue with all the dogs that they would rescue, and it’s costly. In order to get them adopted, first they had to be vetted, because that’s protocol for a rescue.” Leo’s Helping Paws’ mission is to provide financial assistance for veterinary care to nonprofit all-volunteer dog rescue groups in Pennsylvania and neighboring states. The organization, made up of 40 volunteers, has also assisted outfits in Ohio, Ne w York , Mar yland, Ne w Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia, Connecticut, and Delaware. Anyone wishing to donate, volunteer, or apply for a grant can go to www.leoshelpingpaws.org. Leo’s Helping Paws, based in Lancaster city, has awarded an average of more than 80 grants per year totaling approximately $780,000 in its existence. “I am a big dog lover,” said Buchter, who is the treasurer. “I’ve always had compassion for animals. It’s just in me. It’s my nurturing instinct.”
Jenna Love
See Dogs pg 4
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