Greater Hershey Area ALSO SERVING HUMMELSTOWN AND MIDDLETOWN
townlively.com
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXVI • NO 10
Local Girl Scouts complete Silver Award project BY FRANCINE FULTON
embers of a local Girl Scout troop recently completed their Silver Award project at Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (SSBVM) Catholic School in Middletown. Students will be able to enjoy the Scouts’ work for years to come. The Scouts, led by troop leader Kay Livelsberger and mentor Angela Waner, SSBVM principal, installed five drums for the younger students to play with and painted multiplication tables in the outdoor recess lot. Scouts who completed the project were Gwen Hoover and Kaylee Meisinger, students at Elizabethtown Area Middle School, and Trinity Garcia, Ava Livelsberger and Meadow May, students at Donegal Junior High School. The girls are members of Troop 71686, which meets at Conoy Brethren in Christ Church, Elizabethtown.
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“The Girl Scouts did a great job. The drums are in our preschool Play Lab,” noted Mindy Kennedy, SSBVM director of development, explaining that the Play Lab is an outdoor classroom used in early childhood education. “The multiplication table is on our recess lot. Kindergarten
“The best part of the Silver Award is that you create something that keeps going on after the project.” through eighth-grade students can access them during daily outdoor recess. Our teachers may also take their math lessons outside for games on the table.” Meadow explained that the Silver Award is the second-highest award in Girl Scouts. “Each girl must put in 50 hours,” she said, noting that
the Scouts completed a total of 251 hours working on the project. The idea for the project originated with Ava, whose family members are parishioners at SSBVM Catholic Church. “Our troop leader told us to ask around in order to figure out what was (a need) in the community,” said Meadow. “Ava asked the pastor and people at the church, and they said that that they needed the five musical drums to be put in. We came up with the multiplication tables.” The troop, along with help from family members, completed the project on weekends from April through August. “The school had the drums, and we had to put them in concrete,” Meadow explained. “We had to raise the money, but we got a donation from Home Depot in Lancaster.” JB Hostetter & Sons of Mount Joy donated the use of a cement mixer. “The multiplication tables took See Girl Scouts pg 3
Gildea named Lower Dauphin superintendent
BY FRANCINE FULTON
Pumpkin Fest weekend will be celebrated at The Middletown Home on Friday, Sept. 15, through Sunday, Sept. 17. Events will include live musical entertainment, food, children’s activities, a sale by artisan vendors and an opportunity to win prizes. In keeping with the theme, there will be a pumpkin patch, pumpkin painting and pumpkin chunkin’. This event will kick off at 7 p.m. on Sept 15 with a free concert by country musicians Chris Woodward
One of the highlights of Pumpkin Fest will be children’s activities, including a pumpkin patch.
The Lower Dauphin Board of School Directors named Robert Gildea as district superintendent at a special meeting on Aug. 28. Gildea was selected by the board to replace Rob Schultz, who resigned in April. Gildea will be the Lower Dauphin School District’s sixth superintendent of schools since the district’s founding in the 1960s. Gildea has served as superintendent of schools in the Hollidaysburg Area School District since 2013. “It is truly an honor to be chosen by the Lower Dauphin Board of School Directors to lead what, in my
view, is an amazing school district!” Gildea said. “I am looking forward to becoming part of the community and getting to know the students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents and community supporters. “With everyone I have had the pleasure of meeting through the selection process there is a common theme - a strong sense of school and community pride. I am looking forward to building upon the great things that are happening here to ensure every student is empowered with the skills needed to successfully See Superintendent pg 2 R098509
See Pumpkin Fest pg 3
Let us show you the difference a caring neighbor can make. Rothermel-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. Palmyra | 717-838-9211 Travis S. Finkenbinder, Supervisor
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The Middletown Home to present Pumpkin Fest
The drums were installed by Girl Scouts (front to back) Kaylee Meisinger, Trinity Garcia, Meadow May, Ava Livelsberger and Gwen Hoover.
Miller-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory Elizabethtown | 717-367-1543 Thomas W. Ford, Supervisor
Fager-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. Middletown | 717-944-7413 Alana A. Ace, Supervisor