Warwick townlively.com
APRIL 19, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXIV • NO 7
With “A Night on Broadway,” Lititz choir seeks to expand its reach BY JEFF FALK
embers of the Lititz Area Community Choir love to sing. That passion for music and singing will serve as the driving force behind a free concert that they will present at 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, at Lititz United Methodist Church, 201 Market St., Lititz. The Lititz Area Community Choir will present “A Night on Broadway,” an hourlong celebration of show tunes. The concert will feature selections from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Carousel,” “The Sound of Music,” “Man of La Mancha” and “Les Misérables,” among other shows. “There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes from seeing people come out as an audience and watching people create a feeling or an emotion,” said Debbie Kline-Smith, the director of the Lititz Area Community Choir. “They’re going from hearing the music to being excited about the music. Getting caught up in that music for an hour is a real goal of mine.” As a group, the 75-member Lititz Area Community Choir has dedicated 40 collective hours of rehearsal
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time in preparation for the upcoming concert. “Many of them are former students I taught in high school (at Warwick) who wanted to continue on because there was a void in their lives,” said Kline-Smith, who retired in June of 2022 following a 35-year career as Warwick’s high school and middle school choir director. “I think they’re really enjoying a taste of what they got in high school. For me, it’s kind of like having your kids back again. It’s making music together with people you know. It’s reminiscing to music. Music is a common thread.” The concept of a community choir in Lititz is just getting off the ground. Two months after her retirement, Kline-Smith was part of a committee created to gauge interest in forming the Lititz Area Community Choir. Four months later, the group presented its initial performance, to celebrate the 2022 holiday season. “At one point I said to the committee, ‘Do you really think people will want to do this?’” said KlineSmith. “And they said, ‘Yeah! Yeah!’ They all loved to sing in high school.
Interested in a trade? Scholarship funds are available From the time Randy Royer was a child, he showed a strong interest in construction. His sister-in-law, Linda Lantaff, noted that he had “a passion for the trades,” playing with blocks and other toys that he could use to build things. Randy pursued a building career following high school, earning an associate degree in architectural engineering technology from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Science in structural design and construction engineering technology. Randy became a project manager and estimator
with Ames Construction, working there for nearly 30 years before his untimely death in October 2016. When the date that would have been Randy’s next birthday rolled around, his friend and fellow Ames employee, vice president Steve Burridge was thinking about him, and he called Randy’s widow, Lori, to check on the family. The idea of creating a scholarship was discussed. “Randy loved working here,” said Burridge. The first Randy Royer Memorial Scholarship was given in 2017. Each scholarship is a minimum of $1,000, and to date, eight scholarships See Trade Scholarship pg 3
They all had great experiences. The Christmas performance went off really well. The choir felt really well received.” In some ways, “A Night on Broadway” will provide the Lititz Area Community Choir an opportunity to sustain that initial momentum. Kline-Smith said that the choir has come a long way since September and that its “voice quality has grown immensely.”
“I’d love to add some choreography and some special effects,” said Kline-Smith. “My shows at the high school were known for their professionalism. I have high ex pectations and I’m full of ideas.”
Debbie Kline-Smith is the director of the Lititz Area Community Choir.
Downtown Lititz cleans up very nicely BY JEFF FALK
Cleanliness may indeed be next to godliness, but in Lititz,
cleanliness is also in very close proximity to community. Keeping Lititz neat and tidy is a collective effort, and no day
Volunteers on Lititz’s spring cleanup day play an integral role in keeping the borough beautiful.
celebrates the borough’s cleanliness like downtown Lititz’s annual spring cleanup day. This spring’s version of the event, the 10th annual, will take place on Saturday, April 29, between 8 a.m. and noon. The annual spring cleanup day is spearheaded by Venture Lititz and is a part of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup, a nationwide initiative designed to engage community pride in the cleanliness of hometowns. “A clean downtown is vital for so many reasons,” said Venture Lititz executive director Rebecca Branle. “From an economic development perspective, a clean downtown See Spring Cleanup pg 5
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Members of the Lititz Area Community Choir