Pequea Valley APRIL 8, 2026
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 7,160 HOMES
VOL LXII • NO 16
Pequea Valley Seventh-Grader Publishes First Book BY LOGAN MOYER
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See Published pg 7 Adventure That Awaits,” at a book signing event.
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717-768-8811 Aidan Stiger of Smoker Door Sales shoots a free throw at the 2026 b.i.g. Shots event.
Aidan Stiger’s arms started to feel heavy. Shooting 100 free throws in a row is a sneakily physically daunting task, but knowing it’s for charity can provide some relief. On March 27, the Factory Ministries held its annual b.i.g. Shots event, a fundraiser where participants shoot 100 free throws for charity. “It’s a mental game,” Stiger said. “You’ve got to keep yourself in it
and try to stay focused.” The Factory Ministries, 3293 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, holds programming with the goal of addressing poverty and empowering those who are affected by it in eastern Lancaster County and the surrounding areas. Its annual b.i.g. Shots event, a collaboration with Baron Insurance Group, has been held since 2018. Community members can sponsor shooters either at a flat rate or per shot made. It’s certainly more unique than
the average fundraiser. “I was trying to get that muscle memory down,” said Stiger, who was representing Smoker Door Sales. “Then you get one or two there where you lose it for a little bit.” Stiger, once a prep basketball player for Lampeter-Strasburg, wound up making 65 of his 100 attempts. His brother, Caleb, is also heavily involved with the fundraiser and manages Baron Insurance Group’s Gordonville branch. See Free Throws pg 8
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ost sources put an author’s chances of getting a manuscript professionally published at around 1% to 2%. Not great chances. But Harper Weber, 13, of Paradise, can say that she beat the odds. Weber, a seventh-grade student at Pequea Valley Secondary School, held a signing for her new book, “The Adventure That Awaits,” on Friday, March 27, at the school’s media center. The student had her work published through ReadyAimWrite Kids, an organization founded by Harrisburg resident Stephen Kozan that helps students across the country become published authors. Weber’s book is an eight-chapter, 55-page children’s piece that follows a pair of siblings who embark on a vacation to Australia without their parents. Their plane crashed en route to their destination,
forcing the siblings to swim to and survive on an abandoned island. “In fourth grade, we were writing an adventure story,” Weber said. “Then I kind of just took it from there.” The signing was attended by Weber’s classmates, teachers and family, many of whom were a part of her acknowledgments section: her parents, Crystal and Dana; her sisters, Lorelei and Maura; and various teachers. “If I gave her a task, she would go above and beyond with anything I gave her,” said Weber’s fourthgrade teacher, Kristen Rogers. “She was always willing to take any advice and feedback I gave her.” Weber took questions from the assembled crowd in a question-and-answer format before signing books. “It was really cool; I liked that my friends were here for the support,” she said. “My friends and family have always been there for me to support me.” Pequea Valley seventh-grader Harper Weber holds up her first book, “The