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Investing in Tomorrow’s Leaders BY CAT SHANNON
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ornerstone Youth Center seeks to provide opportunities for youths to experience personal growth, and LINKBANK wants to support that mission. LINKBANK recently presented Cornerstone with a check for $3,000 to help with the costs of the youth center’s Empower program. “ T his program is aimed at empowering at-risk youth within our community and is designed to provide these individuals with the skills, resources and support necessary to unlock their leadership potential and become positive influencers in our community,” said Jim Bush, executive director of Cornerstone Youth Center. As Bush explained, the program focuses on five key pillars: Building a Life of Character and Integrity, Developing Healthy Relationships and Establishing Boundaries, Conflict Resolution and Overcoming Sammi Simmons (left) and Jim Bush (second from left) of Cornerstone Youth Center with LINKBANK representatives Missy Hartman (second
See Leaders pg 5 from right) and Ben Vollmer
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Roaring Into the New Year for Veterans BY CAT SHANNON
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Every New Year’s Day, the roar of engines becomes a rallying cry for local veterans as hundreds of motorcycle riders hit the road for a cause. The tradition will continue on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, with the 17th annual benefit ride, an energetic kickoff to the year that blends camaraderie, charity and a 25-mile scenic convoy along the Susquehanna River. R e g istrat ion w ill b e g in at 10 a.m. at the Walter S. Ebersole See Veterans pg 3 Participants prepare for last year’s benefit ride.
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A Lasting Tribute to World War II Soldiers BY CAT SHANNON
As the Rotary Club of Mount Joy approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, the organization is preparing to mark that milestone with a project rooted in remembrance. The club has a long history of enhancing the town, from installing the Main Street clock to helping build Rotary Park and contributing significantly to the rebuild of Kids Joyland. Now, Rotarians are turning their efforts toward a project that carries deep local meaning: the creation of a Malmedy Massacre Memorial at Veterans War Memorial Park. The memorial will honor the more than 80 American soldiers who were executed during the Malmedy Massacre on Dec. 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. It will also pay special tribute to the 10 Lancaster County soldiers from Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, among them Mount Joy’s own Harold Billow, the last-known survivor of the World War II massacre, who passed away in 2022 at age 99. “The Rotary Club of Mount Joy has always been committed to enhancing their local Mount Joy community in the Rotary spirit of Service Above Self,” said Rotarian Dave Christian. “The club’s primary focus for the memorial is to tell the story of that horrific day, so it is never forgotten.” The massacre unfolded on a bitterly cold morning near Malmedy, Belgium. An American convoy of about 30 vehicles unknowingly approached a crossroads from the east at the same moment a heavily armed German SS unit See Tribute pg 2
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