Solanco JULY 16, 2025
SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
REACHING MORE THAN 11,250 HOMES
VOL LXII • NO 13
Lafayette SNM Remembers Its Past To Return to Chester, While Focusing Our Lancaster Homegrown on the Future Counties Sweet Corn T is here!
• Seedless Watermelon • Locally Grown Tomatoes • Sweet Juicy Peaches
BY GEORGE DEIBEL
BY FRANCINE FULTON
he Solanco Food Bank is celebrating its 35th birthday, and everyone is invited to an event being held in its honor. Solanco Neighborhood Ministries (SNM), the nonprofit group that operates the food bank, will hold its fourth annual Do You Know Your Neighbor? summer fundraiser Wednesday, July 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Britain Hill Venue & Vineyard, 790 Little Britain Road North, Quarryville. “People seem to really look forward to coming,” said SNM executive director Teresa Dolan. “It’s just a nice evening out, and you get to support a local organization at the same time. This year, we’re highlighting the food bank and its longevity. It’s really just to raise awareness about what we do and
The Marquis de Lafayette was a 19-year-old Frenchman who volunteered to join the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War in 1777. He was able to secure France’s assistance in the war effort, which has been credited in the success of the Continental Army’s defeat of the British at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. In 1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to return to America, a trip that became known as Lafayette’s “Farewell Tour.” Planning to stay just three months, Lafayette extended his visit to 13 months because of the number of people who wanted to honor the Revolutionary War hero. During 1824 and 1825, Lafayette traveled more than 6,000 miles to all 24 states in the country, including Pennsylvania. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of that visit, American Friends of Lafayette established a nationwide committee consisting of more than 500 individuals representing those 24 states that Lafayette visited. Events are being planned by communities to trace Lafayette’s footsteps on the exact dates and in the exact order he followed on his Farewell Tour of America. Locally, a re-creation of his visit to Lancaster and Chester counties will take place on Sunday, July 27, throug h Tuesd ay, July 29. The event has been in the planning stages for the past four years. “Basically, I started
Solanco Neighborhood Ministries workers (front, from left) Debbie Grace, Teresa Dolan, Christal Pritchard, and (back) Todd Capitao. Photo by George Deibel
the people in the communities that bank and help them really underwe serve. We’re going to share with stand the scope of things, because the guests what we do as a food I think a lot of people don’t always See SNM pg 9
SOL
Cadet Camp Invites Kids To Explore World of First Responders BY JEFF FALK
1955 Beaver Valley Pike, just N. of Quarryville
(717) 786-4713 Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm, Sat. 8am-4pm
mecksproduce.com
You don’t really know if you like something unless you try it. You don’t really know what something is like until you give it a chance. Cadet Camp provides kids with an in-depth, hands-on glimpse into the professional portion of a first responder’s lifestyle. “We hope kids want to come out and learn about first responders,” said Kim Herskowitz, Cadet
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Camp’s coordinator. “It gives them an opportunity to get a little taste of it. It’s an opportunity to try some things they wouldn’t be able to try every day. Maybe we can get these kids to consider it as a career path. It’s about connecting with them while they’re young and seeing if they have an interest. It’s just kind of letting them know what’s out there.” The fifth edition of Lafayette Fire Company’s annual Cadet Camp A participant at last year’s Cadet Camp completes a task at a skills
See Cadet Camp pg 5 station.
See Lafayette pg 2
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