Elizabethtown
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JANUARY 14, 2026
SERVING THE
JUNE 11, 2025
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SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
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VOL LXVI •
1954
NO 18
t Shine Brigh 5K in at Hope With
at 19, beginning Saturday, July Gables Estate, N 8 a.m. at Stone Elizabethtown. BY CAT SHANNO er Lane, a ofit, 1 Hollingidea came about as local nonpr “The s what Hope Suppo rt a to represent ful surrou nding enjoy beauti exercise all at the means Ministries is - a health and get some partic ipatin g in Withindenta l and couns eling by care, Reiche rt, same time n Minis tries’ center,” said Laurie for the the Hope Withi Shine 5K Walk/ r of development Let Your Light will be held on directo See 5K pg 2 Run. The event
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In your mailbox & online
BY CAT SHANNON
providing produce for its summer food program. In its first year, the farm produced a few thousand pounds of food. Now, it is in its 10th growing season, farming about nine acres intensively and growing more than 20 varieties of fruits and vegetables, including plums, berries, pawpaws, greens, cucumbers, pumpkins, beans, peppers and potatoes. Along the way, Lenahan embraced regenerative agriculture, a chemical-free approach that focuses on See Root pg 9
See Candyland pg 12
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Volunteers work at Wittel Farm.
in the county, Lenahan asked a question: “What if we grow food together and give it away?” From that idea, a communitybased effort to produce food for Lancaster County ’s charitable food system began to grow. Wittel Farm partners with the Lancaster County Food Hub, the Elizabethtown Community C upboard, Power Packs, Water Street Mission and other organizations to distribute its harvest. This summer, the farm will partner with Columbia Dream Center for the first time,
BY CAT SHANNON
A winter evening in Elizabethtown is about to get a whole lot brighter - and a whole lot sweeter as well. On Friday, Feb. 13, girls and their fathers or other male role models may step out of the February cold and into a reallife Candyland, complete with vibrant colors, oversized sweets, music, dancing and just enough sparkle to make the night feel magical. GEARS will transform Salon 1 at Masonic Village into a candycolored world of imagination for its annual Daddy/Daughter Dance. The event is designed to help families slow down, laugh together and make memories that linger long after the last song plays. “This event is more than just a dance. It is a chance to celebrate and get together as a community,” shared Erin Thomas, special events coordinator for GEARS. “There are activities for everyone, not just dancing!” The dance will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Salon 1 at Masonic Village, 1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown. “ This year ’s theme is the Daddy/Daughter ‘Sweetheart’ Dance,” Thomas said, noting that people can expect a colorful, immersive atmosphere. “I plan to bring Candyland to life! This theme allows for lots of colorful decorations and (oversized) candy. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about love; it’s about candy, too.” Along with the candy theme, t h e p a r t y w i l l fe a t u re D J entertainment by Occasions Disc Jockeys, dancing, guest appearances by Princess Belle and Adam (the prince the Beast
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n a stretch of preserved ... EL WITH US farmland in Elizabethtown, COME TRAV transformation happens every day at a space that offers reconnection - with the land, with one another and with the essential act of growing food. This is Wittel Farm, a nonprofit on 85 acres of land with a long history of care, now being reimagined as a place where food, community and environmental stewardship meet. Records date the property to the mid-1700s, and long before that it was cared for by the Susquehannock people. In the 1980s, Chuck and Katie Wittel placed the property into a land trust, gifting it to the Lutheran Camping Corporation. While not much was produced at the farm for many years, that changed in 2016, when the farm’s current manager, the Rev. Matt Lenahan, began the Growing Project, a partnership between the Lutheran Camping Corp., the Lower Susquehanna Synod and Hunger-Free Lancaster County. Lenahan, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Akron, grew up on a large commercial farm in New York and once thought he would never farm again after entering ministry. His thinking shifted as he became more aware of food insecurity and the fragility of modern food systems. “I really started to think about the food system and how fooddependent we are because so few of us are actually participating in the food production,” he said. “We’ve really stepped away as a culture from agriculture as a principal way people live, and I think that’s problematic.” Knowing that access to fresh, locally grown food was a challenge
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