Pequea Valley townlively.com
JUNE 19, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LX • NO 26
Special Needs Benefit Auction scheduled in Ronks BY ANN MEAD ASH
M
ervin Beiler, who has been attending the Sunny Sunbeam Center, located south of Route 30, for about 10 years, loves to greet visitors with the words, “Welcome to Sunny Sunbeam Center.” Beiler is the unofficial assistant to teacher Esther King, and he hurried to help answer questions for this article on the upcoming fundraiser that helps support Sunny Sunbeam and seven other area centers for members of the Plain community with special needs. The 18th annual Special Needs Benefit Auction will be held on Monday, July 1, at Fisher’s Quality Dairy Sales, 3304 B Old Philadelphia Pike, Ronks. The auction will begin at 10 a.m., but a variety of foods will be offered for sale beginning at 5:30 a.m.
S u n ny S u n b e a m a n d t h e other centers - Special Hearts Circle, Sunbeam, Caring Hearts, New Horizons, Upper Valley Workshop, Shady Hollow, and Sunnyside Specials - together give the more than 100 adults who attend a chance to socialize and do productive work. Beiler noted that two of the 28 Sunny Sunbeam attendees come from Maryland. Sunny Sunbeam attendees visit the center on Mondays and Wednesdays over the summer, and three days a week during the other seasons. Some days lunch is prepared at the center, and other days participants bring their own lunches. According to King, participants arrive at 9 a.m., and the day begins with devotions, which includes reading a chapter from the Bible, praying, and singing. Beiler noted that lessons are part
Items made by participants at Sunny Sunbeam Center will be sold at the annual Special Needs Benefit Auction.
of each morning session, featuring arithmetic, reading, spelling, and English, before lunch at 11:30 a.m. After lunch, there is a story time,
followed by projects to be worked keychains with beads and, in the on. King said a group will focus summer, mowing the yard. on packaging poly clothespins, Highlights of this year’s auction and other projects include making will include carriages, swing sets, See Benefit auction pg 2
BY ANN MEAD ASH
The Paradise Township Lions Club has a long tradition of giving a scholarship to a Pequea Valley Hig h School (PVHS) graduating senior, but in 2024, for the first time, the scholarship is named after a longtime member. “This year, our award was renamed to the Skip Lichty Memorial Scholarship. (It is) presented by the Paradise Township Lions Club to honor a Lion who embodied the spirit of ‘We Serve’ (the Lions Club’s motto) over his
PV students excel at track and field BY FRANCINE FULTON
lifetime,” announced Paradise Lion’s president Anita Fieldsa at the May 21 senior awards ceremony held at PVHS. Lichty was a teacher and substitute in the Pequea Valley School District. When Lichty died in November of 2023, he had been a Lion for more than 50 years. “(As a Lion, Lichty spent) many decades serving his community and continually displaying a commitment to the betterment of our area,” Fieldsa said. The 2024 recipient of the scholarship was Grant Shaubach. The See Lions Club pg 3
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Paradise Lions present first Skip Lichty Scholarship
Pequea Valley (PV) High School student-athletes who are part of a newly formed track and field co-op with Lancaster Mennonite School participated in the PIAA District III Championships track and field event held in May at Shippensburg University. PV students who excelled and received medals at the competition included Jonah Zink, who placed eighth in the 1,600-meter; Aubrey Ressler, who placed sixth in the 4x800 relay and sixth in the Grant Shaubach
3,200 meter; and Jorja Eby, who placed eighth in the 300-meter hurdles. Caleigh Vincent placed sixth in the 4x800 relay; sixth in the 1,600 meter; and fourth in the 3,200 meter. According to head coach Keith Andrew, the partnership between the two schools this past season was a great success, allowing both high school and middle school teams from PV to compete in track and field for the first time. “Pequea Valley does not have a track. … For their athletes to participate in track, (they can See PVHS pg 4
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