Pequea Valley OCTOBER 22, 2025
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 7,160 HOMES
Children Invited to Paint-A-Pumpkin and Trunk or Treat
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
See Chili pg 7
See Restaurant pg 4
See Paint-A-Pumpkin pg 12
VOL LXI • NO 25
“Swing!” Will Connect Audiences With Their Mojo BY JEFF FALK
Swing music. And the performers of Servant Stage. What possesses the power to “Swing originated in the 1920s bring a tap to your toes, to put and was popular in the 1930s and a bounce in your step, to bring a ’40s,” said Johnathan Bauer, who snap to your fingers? founded Servant Stage in 2013. See “Swing!” pg 8
A Time for Chili and Grilled Cheese
Local residents watch birds during a recent East Lampeter Township recreation department activity.
Local Recreation Promotes Healthy Work-Life Balance
ast Lampeter Township is 12 months into its grand recreation exper iment. Time for an update. While results have been mostly mixed, some positive and quantifiable progress has been realized. But much work remains in the new recreation department’s mission to get the word out and provide activities that appeal to a majority of East Lampeter Township residents. “I always feel like we can be doing more and reaching more people,” said Lisa Cleveland, who as recreation director makes up East Lampeter Township’s one-person recreation department. “Growth
is not resting. Am I happy where we are in the time we got here? Yes. Do we have more work to do? Yes. The opportunities are endless, so there are always things that are going to be new.” Since officials made the commitment to provide recreational opportunities to the township’s citizens on May 28, 2024, by hiring Cleveland as recreation director, the newly formed East Lampeter Township Recreation Department has instituted a number of programs and activities, some of which have been well received. The department has provided community events like movie nights, a fall festival and an Easter egg hunt; youth events like Hero Hang-Out, Touch-a-Truck
and a summer playground program; fitness and yoga programs; and educational programs like a bird walk and Exploring the Night Sky. This spring, the department introduced a community gardens program that allows individuals and families to rent plots of land at Community Park for growing vegetables, plants and flowers. Twelve of the 16 available plots are currently being utilized. The recreation department has also placed a strong emphasis on promoting and utilizing township facilities like Community Park, Flory Park, Lafayette-Tower Park and Gibbons Park at Nolt’s Mill, as well as fostering relationships with like-minded community partners.
LCWG Is Made Up of a Bunch of Do-Gooders
BY JEFF FALK
Good is universal, timeless and objective. Because it mirrors God, good is good. The Lancaster County Women for Good (LCWG) group knows some things about the concept of doing good. It’s part of the all-volunteer organization’s mission, purpose and reason for existing. “We use that word a lot, ‘good,’” said Anna Horst, the chairperson of the five-member board that oversees LCWG’s operations. “It’s
in our name. I think it’s safe to say our connections and providing nonprofits with resources is part of the good we aim to do. I think there are a number of nonprofits in Lancaster County who have amazing missions. They’re real people trying to help real people. They are problems that a majority of us would agree need to be solved. Maybe we need to be more clear by what we mean by ‘good.’” LCWG, which does not operate from a physical office or building, conducts more than 15 membership events each year, including
See Recreation Department pg 4
See LCWG pg 9
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BY FRANCINE FULTON
Pastor Buck Mowday is organizing the first-time chili cook-off. R122580
Community members are welcome to visit WordUP Ministries on Sunday, Oct. 26, when the church will host a chili cook-off. The complimentary lunch will also include grilled cheese sandwiches, desserts and beverages. Activities will take place at
Photo by Francine Fulton
We’re in your neighborhood! With branches in Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse and Paradise, we’re your hometown community bank.
717-768-8811 POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER OCT. 22, 2025
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PEQ
Cast members perform a musical number from Servant Stage’s production of “Swing!”
In your mailbox & online BY JEFF FALK
BY JEFF FALK
11:45 a.m., immediately after the 10:45 a.m. church service. Visitors to the first-time event will be able to taste a number of chili dishes made by church members. “The ladies of the church are putting this together,” said pastor Buck Mowday, noting that the event will take place in the church’s café. “We will have at least seven
F
or the first time, The Factor y Ministries will hold its paint-apumpkin event as part of Paradise Township’s Trunk or Treat. The event will be held on Friday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Paradise Park, 6 London Vale Road, Gordonville. No registration is required. The collaboration came about after The Factory took part for the first time last year at the Trunk or Treat event by handing out candy from a decorated Last year’s paint-a-pumpkin activity was held at The Factory Ministries. This year, box truck. “We were in a planning it will be part of Paradise Township’s Trunk or Treat. process (for this year’s paint-a- explained Lisa Eckert, the senior to not overlap events, we asked pumpkin), and we knew there were director of youth services at The (the township) if we could come to other community events going on,” Factory Ministries. “In an effort their activity the same night. We
JUNE 11, 2025
Fire Was No Match for Restaurant’s Resilence Everybody faces adversity of one kind or another at one time or another. Bad things happen to good people. What matters is how we react to the difficulty, how we respond. John Smucker, who’s been the owner of Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant and Smorgasbord for nearly 40 years, knows some things about adversity and resolve, courage and resilience. “I’ve had some adversity from a business standpoint, as I’ve gone through life, but nothing really, really major until COVID,” said Smucker. “ We’ve got a great team here at Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant. We have a management team who has been here many years, and we have a loyal staff. They’re with us. They have our backs. They resolved to work through it together. There is a lot of enjoyment we get from being together and working together. When you put that culture together, it equals a lot of resilience.” Following a devastating and debilitating fire on Jan. 30, 2024, Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant and Smorgasbord, which is located at 2760 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand, officially reopened for business on Aug. 28. An anchor and gathering place in the local community, the restaurant had been closed for 20 months for cleanup, a $6 million renovation project and both physical and emotional healing. “(Aug. 28) was a glorious day in ver y much the same way January 30, 2024, was a very dismal kind of dark day,” said
BY FRANCINE FULTON
townlively.com
VOL LXI • NO 44
www.bihbank.com
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