Lampeter-Strasburg SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 9,190 HOMES
L-S YMCA Will Help Guests Build a Sense of Community BY GEORGE DEIBEL
A
See YMCA pg 2
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Leo’s Helping Paws Is All About the Dogs BY GEORGE DEIBEL
1955 Beaver Valley Pike, just N. of Quarryville
(717) 786-4713 Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm, Sat. 8am-4pm
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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.
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local organization wants to help people get 2026 off and running. And biking. And swimming. T he L ampeterStrasburg (L - S) YMCA, 800 Village Road, Lancaster, is hosting L-S Future Varsity Swim Night and spearheading two other activities: Lampeter-Strasburg senior swim team members (from left) Adam Zook, Noah Staley, the IronMemb er Kelsey Spaulding, Madelyn Juba, Jaden Hoffman, and Audrey Wieand will be honored Challenge and the prior to a meet on Jan. 22. in conjunction with a meet against and diving team, middle school 100-Mile Swim Challenge. students who are interested in L-S Future Varsity Swim Night McCaskey. In addition to honoring the joining the swim squad are invited will be held at the Y’s indoor pool at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, seniors on the Pioneers’ swimming to meet the high school swimmers
“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 Beth Buchter (left) and Kathy Styer See Helping Paws pg 9 with Darla. Photo by George Deibel
VOL LXII • NO 36
Feats of Clay BY GEORGE DEIBEL
Emily Smucker-Beidler said that she doesn’t know if she prefers teaching art or being an artist. The West Hempfield Township resident will be able to do both during the hands-on Redware Ornaments Workshop, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 17, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Mennonite Life Community Room, 2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster. The event is for people 13 years old and up. There is a fee to participate; Mennonite Life members receive a discount on tickets. The cost of materials is included. Anyone who wishes to take part must register at https://mennonite life.org/events by Thursday, Jan. 15. Guests will make their own redware ornaments that they can pick up at Mennonite Life four weeks after the activity. “Redware refers to the kind of clay which was used by the early American potters,” SmuckerBeidler said. “Many of them were farmers, and they would find a vein of clay in their field. The legend is that they would walk around the field, and wherever it didn’t make a footprint they knew that there was clay underneath there. They’d dig up that clay and process it and make it into functional items. This was something that was brought over from Europe, but it’s a very early American craft. They needed functional items to use. They started making pottery, and the potters would make it and then sell it.” Smucker-Beidler explained how the process works. “In my workshops, everyone has a prepared slab of clay,” she said. “The slab has been rolled out, smoothed, painted with the white slip (which is watered-down clay), and gotten See Feats of Clay pg 3
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