Manheim Central townlively.com
JUNE 4, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Backpacks, Binoculars and Badges
BY CAT SHANNON
Andrew Robertson Black
public is invited. The celebration will begin with worship at 10:30 a.m., featuring special music by the church choir and spiritual readings by pastor Kathryn Warn. Prior to the service, refreshments will be served in the church’s Rose Parlor, courtesy of the Manheim Historical Society. See Rose pg 8
A World of Wonder Awaits Inside the Bookmobile A child completes an activity in the Junior Naturalist program.
a patch and become a Junior Naturalist. “Each backpack has a Junior Naturalist booklet and a packet of activities to complete,” Casey said. “There are usually three activities. For the birds backpack, for example, the first activity is to look for birds and see if you can identify them. The second activity is bird anatomy, where kids are challenged to consider, ‚ÄòIf you were a bird, what would you be called? What would you look like?’ and a third activity, bird
bingo, where you might have to find a red bird, for instance.” Each backpack contains childsize binoculars, pencils and crayons, ID guides, pamphlets and children’s books on the backpack’s subject that parents can enjoy with their child. Along with the Junior Naturalist program, parents can check out their own binoculars to use alongside the backpack activities or individually. Casey explained that the idea for the Junior Naturalist program
BY JEFF FALK
It ’s more than books on wheels. The Library System of Lancaster County’s (LSLC) bookmobile delivers knowledge, creativity, inspiration and joy. The bookmobile is kind of like a food truck serving up nourishment for the mind and soul. “Reading in general is very important,” said Audrey Lilley, the bookmobile’s driver, curator and full-time coordinator. “It’s important for kids to be reading. It’s important for them to
be able to pick up a book and see characters who look like them. Reading can be inspirational, and with retirees, it kind of comes full circle. I think retirees can find comfort in reading. For all people in between, it’s a way to relax and unwind.” When not on the go to multiple locations all across Lancaster County, Lilley parks the bookmobile at LSLC’s main office at 1866 Colonial Village Lane, Suite 107, Lancaster. The bookmobile is a 22-foot-long box truck with a single entrance and See Bookmobile pg 3
See Backpacks pg 7
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W
hen kids take a walk in C larence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick, they can now become even more conne cte d w ith nature. The park has launched a Junior Naturalist program, inviting participants of all ages to check out an activity backpack and spend time in the park completing activities to fill a Junior Naturalist passport and receive a badge. “We started a Backpacks and B inoculars pro gram, where people could check out either, but then we thought, ‘What if we incentivize people to check this out and make it kind of like a challenge?’” said park naturalist Taylor Casey. “We wanted something to encourage people to participate.” The program is offered free of charge. Participants just need to come to the environmental center at the park, 3283 Pinch Road, Mount Gretna. They can either check out a backpack and just enjoy exploring the park or they can go for their Junior Naturalist badge, Casey said. “We have created a passport card, and there are areas for five stamps on it - one stamp for each of the backpacks,” she explained. “Each backpack is full of goodies.” The program is geared toward the youngest children who can read and write up to tweens, Casey stated. Backpacks cover the topics of birds (separated by backpacks for big kids and ones for little kids), insects, trees, navigation and mammals. When a child completes the activities in all five backpacks, he or she will receive
Paying the Rent With a Rose Two hundred and fifty-three years ago, Henry William Stiegel envisioned a future for both Manheim and its Lutheran congregation. Together with his second wife, Elizabeth Holtz Stiegel, he gifted a parcel of land at the corner of Wolf and East High streets to fellow Lutherans for the purpose of building their first church. The deed, dated Dec. 4, 1772, reads in part, “for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings yielding and paying unto the said Henry William Stiegel, his heirs or assigns at the said town of Manheim in the month of June yearly forever hereafter the Rent of One Red Rose if the same shall be lawfully demanded.” On Sunday, June 8, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, located at 2 S. Hazel St., Manheim, will host the 133rd annual Festival of the Red Rose, and the
BY CAT SHANNON
VOL LXVI • NO 19
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