OCTOBE
Manheim Central Agriculture
www.ManheimFa
AUGUST 21, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXV • NO 30
”
Look Inside
Book Premium
townlively.com
rmShow.org
2O24 R 7-11,
“Rooted in
Wrapping women in love BY CATHY MOLITORIS
As a nurse practitioner in the cancer unit of a local hospital, Bainbridge resident Kimberly Dodson saw firsthand how the disease affected families beyond their health. “As I took care of patients, they would say things like, ‘I can’t afford my chemo. I have to decide, do I take my chemo or do I pay for food for my kids?’
They had to made decisions that they should not have to make,” Dodson recalled. Inspired to help, Dodson formed the Teal Blanket Fund, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that raises money to help women with gynecological cancer. T he nonprofit formed in March of 2020 after Dodson and other volunteers organized a bingo in 2019 to raise money See Love pg 2
Ann Marie Edwards (second from left) with Koffee Konnect friends
Koffee Konnect brings people together
W
hen she moved to Lititz a few years ago, Ann Marie Edwards yearned to make connections. “I wanted to find my people,” she said. “I wanted to meet people in person.” Edwards had started a successful book club, and once she moved to Lancaster County from Montgomery County, she became the moderator for a Lititz community gifting Facebook page. Through those connections, she learned of a coffee klatch meeting in Parkesburg, so she reached
out to the group’s founder, Kathi Rendall, about starting a local coffee meetup. “I’m a connector,” Edwards said simply. “It’s easy for me to talk to people and bring people together.” Koffee Konnect Lititz, Manheim, Ephrata met for the first time earlier this month at New Holland Coffee Co. in Lititz. “Eight people showed up, including myself,” Edwards said, noting she was pleased with the turnout. “People want to connect with other people, face-to-face, in person.” Edwards envisions Koffee
Konnect as being an organic experience, with the group meeting at various places throughout the Lititz, Manheim and Ephrata areas on days and at times that suit various schedules. “ The biggest challenge I’ve faced with this has been finding a time that works for everyone,” she said. “So, I don’t want to have a set time and day. The idea is to just get people together to hang out or spend time together when they can.” Edwards will propose a meeting date, time and place through the Facebook group page, and others are invited to do the same. See Koffee Konnect pg 2
At Sky Bridge, kids’ imagination knows no boundaries BY JEFF FALK
Kids love to discover. Kids love to be independent. Kids love to think. Kids love Sky Bridge. The High Foundation Sky Bridge, designed and fabricated by Luckey Climbers, is the Lancaster Science Factory’s latest hands-on exhibit for young learners. It represents the best kind of ingenuity, the kind that inspires others to be creative.
“More than learning, it’s about inspiring children,” said Amanda Bakay, the Lancaster Science Factory’s director of programs and communications. “When they see it and get inside of it, they start to realize they could create something like this one day. It sparks an idea like, ‘What did someone have to do to think this thing up?’” Part jungle gym, part science project, part gateway to higher learning, Sky Bridge opened to See Sky Bridge pg 3
R110008
insidetrackpa.com 1026 Lititz Pike, Lititz • 223.258.2087 1659 Lititz Pike, Lancaster • 717.394.6439 POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER AUG. 21, 2024
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
Postal Patron
MC1
BY CATHY MOLITORIS
People enjoy a previous year’s bingo for the Teal Blanket Fund.