Solanco
LOOK INSIDE
&
health
wellness
JANUARY 14, 2026
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 11,250 HOMES
Outgoing Principal Treasures His Time at Solanco BY GEORGE DEIBEL
Solanco High School principal Scott Long is leaving that post to take on a new challenge. Photo by George Deibel
Check Out Our Sliced Deli Meats & Prepared Fo od Section! s
See Scott Long pg 5
At ACYS, Singing Lessons Take on Whole Different Meaning BY JEFF FALK
1955 Beaver Valley Pike, just N. of Quarryville
(717) 786-4713 Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm, Sat. 8am-4pm
mecksproduce.com
Amadeus Chorale Youth Singers (ACYS) uses singing as an avenue, a tool, to provide children with opportunities to discover themselves and learn about the worlds around them. “Singing is a natural process,” said Darla Bair, the founder and artistic director of ACYS. “Many
R124637
POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER JAN. 14, 2026
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
Postal Patron
SOL
A
s is usually the case with high school principals, Solanco’s Scott Long has a lot on his mind. While fondly remembering his time in the district, Long is embracing a new challenge. Long’s last day at Solanco High School will be Friday, Jan. 23. “Dr. Long has led from a place of humbleness and humility, and these traits have had such an important impact on Solanco High School,” Solanco School District superintendent Brian Bliss said. “From his first day here until now, he has so clearly been driven by a belief in the potential of each child. Every conversation I have had with him over the years has been supported by that belief. Such leaders are rare. I am pleased he will be
children sing before they speak. We all sing. It’s a natural human function.” A repur posing of a proven successful program, ACYS will be introduced as an organization to Lancaster County for the first time during an informational meeting at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, at Lancaster Church of the BrethACYS is seeking to duplicate ren, 1601 Sunset Ave., Lancaster. the successes it experienced in See ACYS pg 8 Rochester, N.Y.
VOL LXII • NO 39
Feats of Clay BY GEORGE DEIBEL
Emily Smucker-Beidler said that she doesn’t know if she prefers teaching art or being an artist. The West Hempfield Township resident will be able to do both during the hands-on Redware Ornaments Workshop, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 17, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Mennonite Life Community Room, 2215 Millstream Road, L ancaster. The event is for people 13 years old and up. There is a fee to participate; Mennonite Life members receive a discount on tickets. The cost of materials is included. Anyone who wishes to take part must register at https://mennonite life.org/events by Thursday, Jan. 15. Guests will make their own redware ornaments that they can pick up at Mennonite Life four weeks after the activity. “Redware refers to the kind of clay which was used by the early American potters,” SmuckerBeidler said. “Many of them were farmers, and they would find a vein of clay in their field. The legend is that they would walk around the field, and wherever it didn’t make a footprint they knew that there was clay underneath there. They’d dig up that clay and process it and make it into functional items. This was something that was brought over from Europe, but it’s a very early American craft. They needed functional items to use. They started making pottery, and the potters would make it and then sell it.” Smucker-Beidler explained how the process works. “In my workshops, everyone has a prepared slab of clay,” she said. “The slab has been rolled out, smoothed, painted with the white slip (which is watered-down clay), and gotten See Feats of Clay pg 3
R124671