2009-11-15 00:06:00
MARTY CRISP
So, I'm waiting for the show to start at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, and I overhear a waiter talking to the people at his table. "Do you play Santa?" a patron asked. (The theater's actors can be wait-staffers, too.) "I wish," the waiter said. "It's a......
2009-11-15 00:04:00
STEPHEN KOPFINGER
We all know the conundrum that is Christmas. The fun that becomes the hassle of finding that perfect gift. The holiday spirit that gets worn down by all the commercialism. And, of course, what to get for your favorite aunt who has everything. It doesn't have to be that way. There......
2009-11-14 00:01:00
JOAN KERN
"A small unopened gift box with a bow."That's how one couple now thinks about the child they lost in a miscarriage.They heard the comforting metaphor last year at the Blue Christmas service at First Presbyterian Church, 140 E. Orange St.First Presbyterian will o......
2009-11-12 16:50:00
JANE HOLAHAN
So, it's time to ask the Christmas Spirit question. You know: It's only the second week in November, are you there yet or are you still bah-humbugging? Over at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, the holidays have definitely arrived with "Holly Jolly Christmas," a musical ......
2009-11-12 15:54:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Hey, it's that time of the year, when you've still got enough time to shop and actually enjoy yourself before the holiday rush hits.And three different arts and crafts shows in Lancaster County give you the chance to do just that.The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen's Hol......
2009-11-10 13:39:00
STAFF
Players in the popular Shop-Dine-Do Holiday contest had an impossible task today -- finding the names of three contest sponsors hidden in today's Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.
Because of a technical error, only two sponsor advertisements carried the Shop-Dine-Do symbol......
2009-11-09 00:00:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If you thought previous Christmas shows at the American Music Theatre were great, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.I'd call the AMT 2009 Christmas Show spectacular, but I hate to understate, so let's just call it the best holiday show that's filled that spacious stage in the ......
2009-11-08 00:15:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Many Lancastrians yearn for Christmases past, when Santa made his annual arrival by climbing a ladder to get into the Watt & Shand department store on Penn Square. Their nostalgic wish will come true Nov. 27, when the jolly fellow returns to the roof of what is now the Lancaster County C......
2009-11-08 00:04:00
MARTY CRISP
It's the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year," or so says the 13-member cast of American Music Theatre's "2009 Christmas Show." Yes, it's that time again. Across from the AMT parking lot on Lincoln Highway East, big signs at Rockvale Outlets proclaim "Seasons G......
2009-11-06 21:18:00
JANE HOLAHAN
From a dramatic point of view, the Christmas Story is a doozy.There is drama, suspense, great joy, humility and celebration.It's a story that features riches and kings right alongside the animals in a humble stable.And though we hear the story again and again at this time......
2009-11-05 20:32:00
LAURA KNOWLES
The autumn leaves may still be on the trees, but with this weekend's exhibit at Living Light Gallery, it will be a White Christmas, with snowy woods and haunting winter tree branches."White Christmas" opens Friday and runs through Dec. 31 at the gallery on North Prince Street......
2009-10-29 16:43:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Todd Mitchell, a veteran of the American Music Theatre, says the key for keeping his voice in good shape is simple: plenty of water and plenty of sleep. The water won't be a problem, but in about four weeks, forget about that sleep. Mitchell and his wife, Samantha, a dancer with AMT......
2009-07-24 12:30:00
KATHLEEN DAMINGER
Thousands of rubber duckies aren't the only thing you'll find at Schreiber Pediatric Center's annual Rubber Duckie Race and Festival happening Sunday at Lancaster County Central Park. You'll see Santa Claus there, too. Yup, the jolly old elf himself is sitting in on the fun......
2009-06-18 00:37:00
TOM KNAPP
Hannah Garman defied the doctors.The little red-haired girl from Lititz — whose battle with cancer and a plea for Christmas cards touched people's hearts the world over — was given only a few weeks to live late last year.But Hannah, who was diagnosed with glioblastom......
2009-05-27 01:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I'm glad my daughter isn't a child anymore, for how would I tell Sarah that Santa Claus has died.I'm not talking about the jolly old elf at the North Pole with the flying reindeer, the guy who leaves gifts under our Christmas trees and gobbled down milk and cookies until the he......
2009-05-19 00:48:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Manheim Township resident Grover C. Gouker Jr., who personally answered the letters sent to Santa Claus by tens of thousands of children worldwide, died Saturday at his home. He was 86.For the past 59 years, Gouker, who was honored as the "Official Corresponding Santa Claus," ans......
2009-04-23 11:05:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond and Christmas Tree Shops will anchor the $40 million shopping center to be built this summer along the Route 30 strip. Mill Creek Square is proposed for 35 acres in East Lampeter Township along the south side of the highway, east of the Lancaster Host Resort an......
2009-03-12 11:36:00
JACK ROBERTS and ALEJANDRO RIOS
OK, here's what's happening on the local music scene. —In a little over a month, downtown Lancaster will be teeming with bands from all over the U.S. — and overseas. From April 16-19, the Chameleon, the Village and at least 10 other local venues will feature several ban......
2009-01-28 00:39:00
TOM KNAPP
Hannah Garman is blessed with just about everything a little girl could want.Except good health.Hannah, whose plight touched off a flood of Christmas cards from around the world to the sick little girl in Lititz, turned 5 on Jan. 16.Her dad, Darin Garman, said it was a pretty......
2009-01-22 11:17:00
By JANE HOLAHAN
Years ago, Liz McCartney was auditioning for a show and she sang "Love Didn't Do Right By Me," an old hit for Rosemary Clooney. "They told me I sounded just like her and I thought, oh, I should add that to my cabaret," recalls McCartney, a regular on the Broadway scen......
2009-01-10 00:54:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Budget woes have hit another local theater.Theater of the Seventh Sister has postponed its production of "The Exonerated," which was scheduled to open this week.TSS co-founder Gary Smith said the play, which was set to open Thursday, will be rescheduled after the nonprofit......
2008-12-29 10:17:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Arlene Stauffer loved performing in high-school plays. More than 60 years later, she's still making a splash. Stauffer, 80, now performs in the pool, with the Silver and Grey Mermaids synchronized swimming and movement teams at Brethren Village retirement community, 3001 Lititz Pike......
2008-12-29 00:17:00
P.J. REILLY
Dion and Stacey Betts of Lititz were frantically trying to find something to do with three of their five children and a neighbor's child on Sunday.Something to do that wouldn't break their bank account.While surfing the Internet, they came across an advertisement for Theater......
2008-12-27 01:29:00
CARLA DI FONZO
For many shoppers, Friday wasn't about returning gifts — it was a chance to find the best bargains."It's like a safari, isn't it?" said Amy Cox of Delaware, surveying the parking lot at Tanger Outlets. "People come from everywhere for a sale."A ......
2008-12-27 01:17:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Maybe it's Santa Claus who brings the gaily wrapped packages to our homes on Christmas Eve, but it's our trash hauler who carries away the debris on Dec. 26.But does all that torn wrapping paper and those empty bags and discarded boxes set out by the curb Christmas night present ad......
2008-12-27 01:03:00
CHAD UMBLE
Tom Fasnacht's boyhood wish was to become a priest.After earning a bachelor's degree, Fasnacht began seminary studies. But he chafed at the strict seminary environment, and after a couple months he took time off to reassess his plans.He never went back.Today, even tho......
2008-12-27 00:33:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Christmas might be over, but the yuletide party's just beginning at Historic Rock Ford Plantation.Yuletide festivities date to the 12th century or maybe even earlier.But at Gen. Edward Hand's homestead, on the wooded banks of the Conestoga River, the celebration is decidedly......
2008-12-26 11:37:00
TIM MEKEEL and LIZ NAVRATIL
Park City Center offered a delightful shopping experience for Edie Oberholser and her family this morning. Plenty of parking. Wide-open aisles. Lots of heavily discounted merchandise. Short lines, if any, at the register. "It's not packed at all," said a pleasantly surprised ......
2008-12-26 00:05:00
P.J. REILLY
At midnight Christmas Eve, Bishop Kevin Rhoades said Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg — the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.He said Mass in the ornate sanctuary surrounded by marble statues and rows of red poinsettias before a crowd of hundreds....
2008-12-26 00:04:00
CARLA DI FONZO
For many people, an ideal Christmas is more about giving than receiving."This isn't work — this is fun," said Phil Capp, one of the volunteers at St. Anne Catholic Church's annual Christmas dinner on Thursday."I've been doing this for about 15 years,......
2008-12-26 00:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
After the Christmas dinner is eaten, the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper shredded by eager hands is disposed of, the cry of "Let's go to a movie" rings out.Not surprisingly, with Christmas falling on a Thursday and some people having off Friday as well, movie houses this year are p......
2008-12-25 00:06:00
LARRY ALEXANDER and BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Christmas Eve had a grim start as icy rain late Tuesday night and early Wednesday led to more than 150 crashes across the region, likely contributing to the deaths of three people, police said.The most devastating weather-related wreck happened just outside the Lancaster County line....
2008-12-25 00:03:00
MADELYN PENNINO, Staff
Nearly 80 families from Duke Manor Apartments filled up on scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes Christmas Eve morning while waiting for a much-anticipated visit from Santa Claus.And, boy, did he deliver.Children who live in the 716 Rockland St. apartment complex were treated not onl......
2008-12-25 00:01:00
Tradition suggests that on this day, families gather around the Christmas tree to open their presents. It is a day of wonderment and joy; a day to reflect on one's blessings.We capture the images on our cameras, recording the smiles for posterity. The embarrassment comes years later wh......
2008-12-25 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
My teenage son works on a dairy farm a few evenings a week, and while he's grown accustomed to the nose-wrinkling odor of manure, I have not.I pick him up and he plops into the passenger seat, oblivious to how his work clothes fill the car with a pungent, organic smell, not exactly a s......
2008-12-25 00:01:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Being a Christmas baby wasn't a big deal for Mary McGuire, who is celebrating her 100th birthday today."It just was. I didn't have any other kind of birthday, so I didn't know any better," McGuire said.When her family got up Christmas morning, she opened her bi......
2008-12-24 20:08:00
TOM KNAPP
With the clock ticking the last few hours to Christmas, some folks Wednesday might have gladly traded everything in their Christmas stockings for a parking spot close to the mall.But even as last-minute shoppers made last-ditch efforts to find that perfect gift, good cheer seemed to permea......
2008-12-24 10:48:00
LIZ NAVRATIL
Jeremy Low was a popsicle Monday night. Low, who was born in Malaysia, an Asian country where the temperature is usually in the upper 80s or higher, spent almost an hour-and-a-half braving 21-degree weather to pin close to 100 feet of multi-colored Christmas lights into the hard ground. It......
2008-12-24 09:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER
And so this is Christmas. Mildred Martin was one of 14 kids, who were raised by their Swedish immigrant parents and who slept three to a bed, "like spoons," growing up in those cold New Hampshire winters. This 95-year-old woman and her late husband, George, came to La......
2008-12-24 09:14:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Mother Nature is giving us a nice little Christmas present this year. After the freezing rain that slicked up the county this morning and more rain off and on throughout the day, forecasts call for a dry Christmas Day with a mix of clouds and sun and a high temperature of near 40 degrees. ...
2008-12-24 00:33:00
MICHAEL YODER
Jordan Steffy might not have a long white beard, a round belly and bellow "Ho, ho ho," but Tuesday night he was able to play the role of Santa Claus with hundreds of presents in hand.Steffy, the former Conestoga Valley High School star athlete and current quarterback at Universit......
2008-12-23 10:14:00
JOAN KERN
People may not know Elaine Pottberg by name, but many know her by her bells. "A lady stopped me in (Central) Market the other day and said, 'I know you! You're the bell lady!' " The eclectic collector and interior designer bought the 1950s-era oversized red plastic be......
2008-12-23 10:00:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Hope you're not dreaming of a white Christmas, because it's not gonna happen. The frigid arctic air we've been experiencing in the last few days will make way for more seasonable temperatures in the 40s in the next week, so instead of snow, we'll be getting rain on Christmas Eve......
2008-12-23 08:00:00
STAFF
• The Rev. Carl E. Schroeder will preach on "Truly Christmas" in a Holy Communion service at ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CHURCH, meeting at St. John Lutheran Church, 223 W. Orange St., at 10:45 p.m. Christmas Eve. The service will be conducted according to the 1928 Book of Co......
2008-12-23 07:15:00
JOAN KERN
You think the holidays are hectic? Imagine what they must be like for the Rev. Rene Perez, senior pastor of Lititz United Methodist Church, and his wife, the Rev. Wanda Santos-Perez, pastor of El Redentor United Methodist Church. Yes, you read that correctly. And both pastora......
2008-12-23 07:12:00
JANET KELLEY
For most people, working well past midnight on Christmas Eve, then driving more than an hour to be with family would be more than enough for any holiday schedule. But Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades — who will celebrate midnight Mass in Harrisburg and then drive to his sister's house near Gap......
2008-12-23 07:08:00
DIANE BITTING
"Glo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ria, in excelsis Deo!"
That Latin phrase — Glory to God in the highest — will likely be sung by many churchgoers on Christmas Eve as they belt out the refrain from "Angels We Have Heard on High." But for one Lancaster Catholic churc......
2008-12-22 11:47:00
CHAD UMBLE
While millions of travelers are hitting the roads, rails and skies the next couple of days, overall travel across the country is expected to dip during the Christmas season. Yet in Central Pennsylvania, more people will be taking to the road this year since our area has been insulated from some......
2008-12-22 00:06:00
JENNIFER TODD
Bundle up, it's cold outside.And not just any kind of cold. We're talking hat-down-over-your-ears, scarf-wrapped-around-your-face, mittens-tucked-into-your-shirt-sleeves cold.And maybe then some.An arctic air mass moving through the northeast will bring a combination ......
2008-12-22 00:05:00
MICHAEL YODER
As the "Great Western 90" steam engine pulled its nine coach cars full of smiling children past Nativity scenes set up in the cornfields of Paradise Township on Sunday, one special guest remained hidden in the express baggage car.For 50 years, jolly old St. Nicholas has been......
2008-12-21 00:10:00
ERIC STARK, Stark Ravings
No offense to Andy Williams, but Bing Crosby owns "White Christmas." Mr. Williams can have "Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." No offense to Natalie Cole, but only her father should sing about roasting chestn......
2008-12-21 00:08:00
MARTY CRISP
Skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge takes a crash course at The Ghost School of Christmases Past, Present & Future and finds a new career as a philanthropist. But what becomes of Tiny Tim? He lives. Dickens reassures us of this in his 1843 novella "A Christmas Carol," currently playin......
2008-12-21 00:04:00
JON RUTTER
John Gingrow cast a professional eye on the multicolored Christmas lights he had entwined in the greenery outside the Charles F. Snyder Jr. Funeral Home in Lititz. Fifteen thousand bulbs cheered up the dusk like pinpoints of fire. But the bulbs were cool to the touch. Say hello-ho-ho ......
2008-12-21 00:04:00
STAFF
Andy Woolworth, in the doorway at left, and Carol Templeton, in the doorway at right, are treated to the Christmas caroling Saturday of their Musser Park-area neighbors and friends. The yearly event draws about 40 musicians and carolers who carry the season's tunes into the park and along i......
2008-12-21 00:02:00
PAULA WOLF
With the economy stuck in a recession, going to the theater might be a luxury some families can't afford. Well aware of the financial struggles many people are experiencing, Theater of the Seventh Sister co-founder and co-artistic director Gary Smith decided to try something different....
2008-12-20 00:27:00
JANET KELLEY
She sweetened his downtown digs•••If you had to create a house for Santa Claus, what would it look like?Would it look like a ski lodge or an oversized igloo for life at the North Pole?Rachel Garman envisioned something a l......
2008-12-19 13:18:00
ELIZABETH PATTON
Like a favorite holiday record, Thursday night's "Sounds of the Season" Lancaster Symphony Orchestra concert at Franklin & Marshall College's Barshinger Center was like a visit from a long-absent friend, loaded with music you know but may not have heard live. It's a co......
2008-12-19 11:04:00
LIZ NAVRATIL
Christmas is coming Thursday. But before it gets here, two winter storms are expected to visit Lancaster County. The first, which could drop several inches of snow, will arrive around midnight Saturday, said Millersville University meteorologist Eric Horst. The snow should turn int......
2008-12-19 01:52:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Most people don't think of the lights from EMS and fire trucks as beautiful, but that changed Thursday evening at Lititz Area Mennonite School.A caravan of almost 50 emergency-response vehicles gathered in honor of Hannah Garman, a child diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and giv......
2008-12-19 01:09:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Over the past 16 years, Trinity Evangelical Congregational Church's annual Christmas dinner has become a tradition in Lititz for people who are alone or have financial difficulties."We want to share the love of Christmas with the people in the community," Walt Pasedag, one of......
2008-12-19 00:04:00
JON FERGUSON
When Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum decided to reform Sixpence None the Richer after four years apart, they chose to celebrate by recording a Christmas album.It seems an odd choice, but Nash said it helped ease both of them back into the collaborative process.She said it also helped the......
2008-12-18 11:31:00
JANE HOLAHAN
This year, the winter solstice officially begins at 12:04 p.m. on Sunday. Where will you be to mark the shortest day of the year? How about spending a few hours enjoying the glories of winter? Because Sunday is also the first day of winter. And while just about every culture i......
2008-12-18 11:30:00
LAURA KNOWLES
From the mournful strains of the "Coventry Carol" to the heartfelt joy of "Angels We Have Heard on High," the musical celebration of the Christmas season at Wheatland Presbyterian Church is a blend of old, new, familiar and original. The concert, which is christened as &q......
2008-12-18 07:06:00
ZAC MORROW
If you're a last-minute shopper like me — or also like me, just a dude who puts off holiday shopping — read on. It's not too late to find the perfect present. Just follow this advice, or what I like to call "Seven Simple Rules to Getting Through the Mall Alive." 1.......
2008-12-18 00:45:00
TOM KNAPP
Hannah Garman wants to celebrate Christmas in a very big way.But the plucky 4-year-old — she will turn 5 in January — was diagnosed in late October with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, in her cerebellum.The prognosis, according to her grandmother, Shi......
2008-12-17 10:25:00
JANET KELLEY
Tuesday's white and wintry storm was just a preview of coming attractions, according to forecasters. "It's a pretty good weather pattern for snow if you're hoping for a white Christmas," Eric Horst, Millersville University meteorologist, said today. The roller coas......
2008-12-17 01:52:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
My daughter thinks our Christmas tree is tacky.It's artificial and stands about 3 feet tall. It has green branches, plus a few silver ones that contain fiber-optic strands that light up and change colors thanks to a rotating color wheel in the base.OK. Maybe Sarah's correct.......
2008-12-16 18:39:00
Associated Press
This recipe should be enough for a standard gingerbread house. It's stronger than cookie dough, so your house will hold together better. It's also less likely to change shape and size while baking. Best yet, it's entirely edible (assuming you only decorate with candy and use frosting ......
2008-12-16 10:00:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Marine Sgt. Brad Etzweiler can still recall the comfort he found when he read letters from school children. "It made me feel that I was not alone, that someone remembered us," said Etzweiler, who has been stationed in Iraq, Morocco, Cuba and Pakistan. The Millersville soldier wil......
2008-12-14 00:14:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Imani Page's faith that she can do anything led her to the Neiman Marcus "Build a Tree" Contest. Though the second-grader at St. Anne School didn't win first place — she was one of six finalists — she has another shot through an online public opinion poll that ends......
2008-12-14 00:12:00
MICHAEL LONG, Entertainment Editor
Despite his relative wealth, Charles Dickens wrote with an intimate knowledge of poverty, if not from the brief time he spent working in a factory as an adolescent, then from the city of London itself. In 1843, when Dickens published "A Christmas Carol," the industrial revolution was ......
2008-12-12 11:42:00
CHAD UMBLE
A flood of Christmas cards that will be addressed and stamped this weekend are expected to wash into local post offices Monday, helping produce the busiest mail day of the year. But ahead of the annual deluge, post offices say they expect the slowing economy to continue to reduce the amount of ......
2008-12-12 11:27:00
LAURA KNOWLES
It was a dark and stormy night. Really, it was. In fact, the bone-chilling pouring rain outside provided the perfect backdrop to the Theatre of the Seventh Sister's "A Christmas Carol." It was a stark reminder that Charles Dickens' timeless tale of Scrooge is much more of a ghost story than a C......
2008-12-12 00:33:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
REVIEW: TheaterIt could be called "Scrooge: In His Own Words." Or "What Dickens Really Wrote." Or "Ebenezer: Exposed!"But Gary Smith, who brilliantly honored Dickens' genius by leaving ......
2008-12-11 11:37:00
CINDY STAUFFER
All you romantics out there, admit it. You want snow on the ground for Dec. 25. You know: a winter wonderland, baby it's cold outside, Jack Frost nipping at your nose. This may be your year. "For people hoping for a white Christmas, the period of Dec. 17 to 24 looks very inte......
2008-12-11 14:35:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
Sunday News columnist Gil Smart takes on Bill O'Reilly's "War on Christmas." ...
2008-12-11 11:52:00
KATHLEEN DAMINGER
When Santa Claus first started riding the rails at Strasburg Rail Road a half century ago, Strasburg's station was hardly bigger than a phone booth and the engine pulling the passenger cars was powered by diesel, not the trademark steam the railroad is known for today. Back in those earl......
2008-12-11 11:51:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Before becoming a member of Quartetto Gelato, Peter De Sotto played the violin in the Toronto Symphony. And, he was a strolling Gypsy violinist at a restaurant, just like his father, who is still performing at age 84. Don't assume the two jobs didn't fit together nicely when De ......
2008-12-11 11:50:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Charlie DelMarcelle noticed something as he began rehearsals for Theater of the Seventh Sister's "A Christmas Carol," which opens tonight at the Stahr Performing Arts Center. The character he is playing, Ebenezer Scrooge, is not a horrible guy. He keeps it cold in his coun......
2008-12-11 07:05:00
CATHY MOLITORIS
Need a little holiday cheer? Take a break from shopping and gift-wrapping, grab a group of friends and hit the town.
DOWNTOWN LANCASTER FOR THE HOLIDAYS
For holiday fun, look no further than downtown Lancaster, where each weekend, the city offers a variety of activi......
2008-12-11 00:31:00
CARLA DI FONZO
People may be cutting back on spending this holiday season, but that doesn't mean they aren't getting into the "green" spirit."After 20 years, I threw out all my old Christmas lights," Saul Weston of Lititz said. "There's so many LED lights to choose fr......
2008-12-10 07:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Five hours of driving was no obstacle for Alicelynne Watson. Watson, who grew up in Gap and now lives in Virginia Beach, Va., drove all the way to Clipper Magazine Stadium, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, for final judging in the Lancaster New Era's 2008 Holiday Cookie Contest. It turns out ......
2008-12-09 20:42:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Fruitcakes really can be used for something other than boat anchors or discuses.They truly do serve a purpose other than substituting for a tricycle wheel or holding up the Christmas tree.Believe it or not, they can be eaten. I know it's shocking, but some chefs say fruitca......
2008-12-09 20:24:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Although fruitcake appears in the history books of Egypt, Persia and Europe during the Middle Ages, Great Britain eventually staked its claim on the dessert.On Christmas Day, a dark fruitcake topped with a layer of marzipan and white icing, is often consumed with a cup of tea at 3 p.m. whe......
2008-12-07 00:02:00
STAFF
Community 'Carol'
Theater of the Seventh Sister, in recognition of tough economic times and in the giving spirit of the Christmas season, has billed the entire run of its production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as "pay what you will.&quo......
2008-12-06 01:06:00
MADELYN PENNINO
More than 100 children, toys in hand, marched down Strasburg's Main Street on Friday to drop off toys for needy children.Students at Strasburg Elementary School visited Movies Galore, 14 E. Main St., where they lined the sidewalk to donate stuffed animals, dolls and games as part of th......
2008-12-06 00:38:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Someone recently told Stacy Rutherford that her picture should be in the dictionary, right next to the definition of a Virgo.To the uninitiated, a Virgo would be someone who's "ver-r-ry A-personality, ver-r-r-ry organized," Rutherford said with a sheepish smile.Very or......
2008-12-04 16:48:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
You have probably located the box of gloves, hats and scarves for this winter season and, like me, found many single gloves that had no matches.I'd held on to them in hopes of finding their mates by the end of the season — I never did. The singles were stored away for no reason o......
2008-12-02 01:21:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Times might be tough, but there's one entertainment event coming up that should fit any family's budget.For the first time in the 19-year history of Theater of the Seventh Sister, the entire run of an upcoming holiday show will be offered on a "pay what you will" basis....
2008-11-30 00:14:00
MICHAEL LONG, Entertainment Editor
Every year about this time, I get a few new Christmas albums in the mail. This year, the folks at EMI sent over Anne Murray's latest holiday offering, a 15-song retread of her standards that promises (can it be?) "four NEW songs!" The album surely has untold merits, but they will,......
2008-11-30 00:02:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
Christmas tree growers were bracing themselves last week for the beginning of a hectic holiday season, given that there are just four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year instead of five. "We've been cutting [pre-tagged trees] all week," said Jackie Bowser, co-own......
2008-11-29 01:03:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
It might be a thankless job 364 nights of the year, but on Friday night in Lancaster, being a tuba player was the equivalent of being a rock star.OK, that's probably an overstatement.Nonetheless, this often misunderstood, always overlooked giant of the horn section is guaranteed......
2008-11-29 00:47:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death early Friday in a stampede of shoppers in New York, while two people were shot and killed during an argument in a Toys "R" Us store in California.The Christmas 2008 shopping season officially has begun, and evidently the Grinche......
2008-11-29 00:42:00
PATRICK BURNS
Holiday purists this time of year love to expound on how Black Friday is the ultimate distortion of the true meaning of Christmas.But the East Cocalico Lions Club has devised a "double-reverse exploitation" strategy that twists Black Friday commercialism back into line with the t......
2008-11-29 00:36:00
TOM MURSE
Matt Brown won't admit it, but he's got a pretty challenging job.The 36-year-old Millersville University music instructor is only the third conductor of the annual Tuba Christmas in Penn Square, which has been a staple of the holiday season here for 30 years.What's so di......
2008-11-28 18:34:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 18, Freestyle
While much of the county continued its food-induced slumber early Friday morning, endless checkout lines snaked across aisles, behind displays and through shoe, housewares, jewelry and toy departments and trailed off way beyond the once-relevant "ENTER HERE" sign.While the majori......
2008-11-28 09:54:00
JANE HOLAHAN
THEATER REVIEW
If you're dreading the upcoming Christmas season because either you go crazy with all the plans and family traditions, or someone you love does, check out the Rainbow Dinner Theatre's "Deck the Halls and Clean the Kitchen." You'll......
2008-11-26 01:10:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
REVIEW: Theater"Deck the Halls and Clean the Kitchen," now onstage at Rainbow Dinner Theatre, is like a steaming cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's day.The show is a warm, comfy and funny look at a typical American fam......
2008-11-26 01:02:00
CARLA DI FONZO
For some area Christmas tree sellers, size doesn't matter — at least in terms of pricing.Maryanne Schwartz of Frog Hollow Evergreens in Manheim said their trees come in only two prices. "All of our trees are $30," she said Tuesday. "Except for the potted trees that......
2008-11-25 01:05:00
STAFF REPORT
Lancaster city's Christmas tree was topped with a star Monday, next to the Soldiers and Sailors monument overlooking Penn Square.The 25-foot-tall Norway spruce was brought to the square by Millwood Landscaping, which has been delivering Lancaster city's Christmas tree for 18 years.......
2008-11-24 00:25:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Great music, terrific voices, elegant costuming and a festive yuletide set are all rolled into one glittery holiday package in the American Music Theatre's Christmas 2008 extravaganza.Writers-directors-choreographers Brad and Jennifer Moranz and a stellar cast, led by longtime AMT vete......
2008-11-23 00:19:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
When Americans tune in to the Thanksgiving Day parades on television Thursday, they will have to ignore the specters of retail gloom and economic doom floating amid the giant balloons. The storied Macy's parade is expected to be as glitzy as ever, but according to media reports, Macy's ......
2008-11-23 00:16:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Thanks to the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials of the 1960s and '70s — classics like "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" — stop-motion animation is almost synonymous with the holidays. It's been a while since parents have been able to......
2008-11-23 00:14:00
DIANE BITTING
An Amish family in Christiana has been celebrating Christmas nearly every day since late October. OK, it's not a real Amish family. The actors just make it seem that way, as they transform the Freedom Chapel Dinner Theatre...
2008-11-23 00:02:00
STAFF
Didactic Art
Works of the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design faculty, including this photograph by Scott McMahon, will be on display Monday, Nov. 24, through Jan. 9 during the Faculty Biennial exhibit. The show features artwork of more than two dozen instructors. For m......
2008-11-21 13:40:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Even Santa has to tighten his belt this holiday season. But no matter how low the stock market dips, plenty of toys will still load down Old St. Nick's sleigh. "The last place parents (or Santa) will cut back is on toys for their kids at Christmas," says Bob Friedland, public......
2008-11-19 09:34:00
PERVAIZ SHALLWANI / Associated Press
As American as ... pumpkin pie? We'll leave it to others to debate whether apples or pumpkins make the most all-American pie. But whatever the answer, no one should have to suffer through another Thanksgiving of disappointing pumpkin pie. Too often, pumpkin pie is the victim of a so......
2008-11-19 09:33:00
PERVAIZ SHALLWANI / Associated Press
History has not been kind to the cheese ball. Early on, this classic party food earned an ugly reputation it's been mostly unable to shake — an orange softball filled with garish industrial cheeses, smacking of an untraceable sweetness, and coated with stale, often soggy, nuts....
2008-11-18 10:00:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Like many of us, the tree in front of Elizabethtown College's Zug Hall has grown a bit since the 1970s. Only it has grown upward along with outward, making it an even more impressive sight on E-town's scenic campus. And this Wednesday night, the 50-foot-tall tree, already "dressed" for the......
2008-11-17 00:03:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Touted as a kids-helping-kids project, Operation Christmas Child is known for bringing smiles to hurting children all over the world."It doesn't take much ... . Just one simple act of kindness, just one shoe box filled with simple items and a great truth can make the difference in......
2008-11-16 00:04:00
MARTY CRISP
Who knew I could get excited about "A Christmas Carol" again? After seeing the Charles Dickens classic 700 billion times, I would begin to fidget while waiting for the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to do their respective things. "A Christmas Carol," for me, ha......
2008-11-16 00:03:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Christmas is coming, and what DO you get for the person who has everything? One band of women thinks there's a better way than buying more stuff. "We all know that Christmas is every day in North America," one of the women said. So this year, they're offering an alte......
2008-11-13 14:30:00
JANE HOLAHAN
When it comes to Christmas, Cynthia DiSavino is a driven woman. "The house has to look a certain way, I'm hell-bent on it looking pretty," DiSavino says with a laugh. "I hate to say Martha Stewart but..." So a decade ago, when she decided to try writing a play, t......
2008-11-13 11:28:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Bob Smith was a man possessed. On the beach in Maryland and Florida this summer, the waves were lapping and the sun was shining. But the 52-year-old Warwick Township man was thinking Christmas lights. "Silent Night." Mannheim Steamroller. "Carol of the Bells." Trans-Sib......
2008-11-11 13:21:00
JANE HOLAHAN
It all begins and ends with a 5/16 Allen key wrench. That's a larger version of that tool you get when you buy inexpensive furniture you have to assemble yourself. Except this Allen wrench puts together and takes apart the entire set for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which b......
2008-11-09 00:04:00
MARTY CRISP
To get in the mood for Christmas this early takes effort. I decided any show that could get me in the mood before Thanksgiving deserved a good review. American Music Theatre kicks off the holiday season in warm-and-fuzzy style with "...
2008-11-08 00:05:00
JOAN KERN
A crumbled tissue, a piece of broken marble, a sketch, a letter. Those were some of the items placed on the altar last year at First Presbyterian Church's Blue Christmas service. Grieving worshippers put them there during a candlelighting ceremony as a symbol of their sorrow. &quo......
2008-11-07 01:42:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
REVIEW: TheaterDutch Apple Dinner Theatre is kicking off the holiday theater season with a speed version of "A Christmas Carol" that's just what the doctor ordered in this dismal economy.Imagine Charles Dickens on antidepre......
2008-11-07 00:06:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
For Celtic fiddler Cayley Schmid, being in American Music Theatre's 2008 Christmas Show is like Alice arriving in Wonderland.The glitz and glamour of AMT's Broadway-style shows is certainly a far cry from what the 20-year-old woman was used to back in Washington State. There, she p......
2008-11-06 14:30:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Jim France, who is playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre's production of "A Christmas Carol," has lived on three continents, in eight countries, 11 states and 23 cities. Classic gypsy life for an actor, right? Not in this case. France, a native of En......
2008-11-06 01:29:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Santa Claus is getting fancy new digs for his Lancaster stops this year.The Mayor's Office of Special Events announced the Big Man will come to downtown Lancaster and set up residence in Binns Park on Black Friday, Nov. 28.MOOSE spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said that in previous y......
2008-11-04 16:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
From the streets of Victorian London, the timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge makes its way to the stage of Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre."A Christmas Carol," the classic holiday story of human redemption featuring Bob Cratchit, tiny Tim, three ghostly spirits and, of course, the mis......
2008-10-30 13:48:00
JANE HOLAHAN
The cast of singers, dancers and musicians at the American Music Theatre are heavily into their rehearsals for the upcoming 2008 Christmas Show, opening Saturday. Everyone but Clarence, that is. "Well, Clarence is on strike," explains Michael Minor, a performer in the sho......
2008-10-29 18:36:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
For Ted Houser's Christmas gift last year, his brother-in-law gave money toward a microloan that would help a fledgling business in a developing country.Houser, of Lancaster, wasn't the least bit disappointed that his brother-in-law didn't spend the money on him. After all, it ......
2008-09-18 12:26:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Meghan Garstang is not your average actress. No, we aren't talking about her acting, dancing and singing skills, which will be on full display at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, beginning tonight, when she stars as Eileen in "Wonderful Town." How many actresses can say the......
2008-08-06 01:27:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
It's August, fall is approaching and Halloween is just 12 weeks away. You know what that means.Correct! Any day now, stores will start putting out their Christmas items.As a public service to you, my readers, I will endeavor this holiday season to call to your attention some spe......
2008-07-19 01:12:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
For 58 years, Grover C. Gouker, posing as Santa Claus, has answered Christmas letters from children across the nation and overseas. Now the 85-year-old man who may well be America's unofficial Santa is sharing some of his more than 100,000 Christmas letters in a new book titled "My San......
2008-07-11 01:57:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
"Journey to the Center of the Earth," the first of a new generation of 3-D movies, will be released nationwide today, and Lancaster has it.Penn Cinema, 541 Airport Road, Lititz, has just installed a brand-new Dolby 3-D system, becoming the second theater in Lancaster County with ......
2008-06-30 00:02:00
MICHAEL YODER
Joyce Jones knows the anguish of spending a Christmas without any presents to give to her children.Many years ago, the public affairs officer for the Lancaster County detachment of the Marine Corps League was a single mother with not much money to spare during the holidays. Jones broke dow......
2008-06-17 17:06:00
MARICHELLE ROQUE-LUTZ
Call it a vocal marathon: For two months each summer, the area's best-trained singers as well as those aspiring to beautiful singing come together to celebrate the human voice in OperaLancaster's Summer Lemonade Concerts.The selections in each program are chosen to best display the......
2008-03-31 18:03:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Shaneice Felder knows how to get things done with impressive flair.Despite having been diagnosed in August with kidney failure related to lupus, she managed to throw together a more-stylish-than-usual community blood drive.In fact, it's pretty much a party with an open invitatio......
2008-02-25 00:03:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
REVIEW: TheaterFor Hortense Brand, a planned cruise to Europe is in for rough seas and stormy weather. Not because of any weather phenomenon, but because of her irascible husband, Daniel."Paris Is Out," now onstage at Rainbow D......
2008-02-09 00:50:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Students studying Chinese at Hempfield and two other area high schools marked the beginning of a new year Thursday.Underneath hanging scarlet lanterns and brightly colored parasols, 61 students of the language performed short skits, songs and dances as part of a Chinese New Year celebratio......
2008-01-30 01:34:00
CARLA DI FONZO
At this point, most Christmas trees have been removed from their cozy living room settings — but they're not gone for good.Christmas trees are granted a useful "second life" through Lancaster County's various recycling programs.Around the county, 37 municipal......
2008-01-18 03:11:00
MARICHELLE ROQUE-LUTZ
Christmas isn't over yet for some folks.Not until this weekend anyway, when OperaLancaster presents "Amahl and the Night Visitors" at Millersville University's Lyte Auditorium.Families keep certain Christmas traditions. Some celebrate the season with a "Nutcra......
2008-01-14 12:02:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
They are forever young and handsome, looking out confidently from beneath their military uniforms, many also with hats and insignias. There are 17 of them at various places around Jane Hershey's Christmas tree, pictures of the men and women wearing the uniforms of this nation's battles ......
2008-01-09 02:21:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I might throw my hat into the presidential-nomination ring.If I do, I'll cross-file, not as both a Republican and Democrat, but as a "cross" voter. Most of us voters are cross at our elected officials, so why don't we just form a Cross Party? I'm sure we're the majority.I believe I ......
2008-01-05 12:11:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Having offered the service since the late 1980s, Lancaster County's parks department may be "the pioneers of the tree recycling and mulching service" here, parks official Deb Werner mused on Friday. But the county crew is not alone. In Manor Township, "residents really d......
2008-01-04 00:19:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
It's the kind of show that might make you want to get up and sing and dance.That is, unless you forget the words, or your knees give out, or you get tired and have to sit down to rest."Mid-Life: The Crisis Musical," now onstage at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre takes a som......
2008-01-03 08:42:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Think you're all done with opening gifts, baking cookies, trimming the tree and watching all those sappy holiday movies? Not so fast! The Not Ready for Drive Time Players aren't about to let you move on past the holidays quite yet. The holiday season is still here, whether you like i......
2008-01-02 01:58:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
When I was growing up in Ephrata in the 1950s, every winter I'd hear the town's Old Codgers make the same complaint."We don't get winters like we used to when I was a boy," they'd say. "It'd start snowing at Thanksgiving, and we've have it right through to Decoration Day." (Memorial Day wa......
2007-12-31 00:03:00
JENNIFER TODD
Christmas is over, so let the party begin.In modern society, Dec. 25 is viewed as the highlight of the holiday season — the culmination of several busy weeks of shopping, cooking, wrapping and decorating. When that day is over, many sigh with relief and sink into a comfy chair....
2007-12-28 11:43:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Twelve years ago, the Christmas tree at the Cassidy home nearly touched the ceiling. Ornaments — commemorating every year of the children's lives — hung from its branches. But when John Cassidy died at the age of 45 from a brain tumor, his wife of 20 years, Darlene, wasn'......
2007-12-28 00:19:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
It's still Christmas at Linda Morrow's house. And it could be for months.Her plan to send Christmas care boxes to soldiers serving in Iraq has taken on unexpected dimensions, especially after an article about Morrow's effort appeared in the Intelligencer Journal in late Novembe......
2007-12-28 00:01:00
ROXANNE McROBERTS
While any string of holiday lights that are tangled and knotted up can cause unnecessary stress during a busy time of year, few things are more maddening than when the strings of lights won't light.The reason could range from a filament or two being burned out on the incandescent bulbs......
2007-12-27 01:00:00
MARCELLA PEYRE-FERRY
If you drive along Route 41 and Route 30 around Gap and Christiana, there's a good chance you'll see a short, stocky man with salt-and-pepper hair walking along the roadside, pulling a wagon and collecting cans.He has quietly become a feature of daily life in the community, yet few......
2007-12-27 00:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The Christmas tree lights and the tinsel still glittered. Tony Bennett's version of "My Favorite Things" echoed through the hallways. And a few people wore floppy red Santa hats.Yes, Virginia, there's still shopping to do after Santa Claus delivers the loot.Wednesd......
2007-12-26 11:46:00
JENNA SPINELLE
After 87 years, Beatrice Delessio knows how to find a bargain. The New York City native clutched her walker in front of the Park City Center Bon-Ton at 5:50 a.m. today, waiting for the doors to open. All bundled up in a red and white striped hat and heavy black coat, Delessio said she woul......
2007-12-26 00:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
My New Year's resolution for 2008 is to get rich.I don't know how I'll do that, but it's my goal.It's not that I want a big house or a fancy car. And I certainly don't relish going into a higher tax bracket or having supposed "long-lost cousins" knocking on my door to tell me they n......
2007-12-26 00:16:00
STAFF REPORT
A Christmas Day blaze caused significant damage to a small machine shop in East Cocalico Township, fire officials said.Reamstown Fire Chief Harvey Achey said it took crews 45 minutes to bring the fire, at 40 S. Muddy Creek Road, under control.Achey said the cause of the fire was ele......
2007-12-26 00:09:00
PATRICK BURNS
It's perhaps fitting that a man from the town named Christiana has set the bar high this year in embodying the essence of Christmas.The bar in this case would be a handlebar crafted by David Hess as part of an 800-hour project he devoted to build his 66-year-old friend a custom motorcy......
2007-12-26 00:07:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A 16-month-old girl waddled up to a table where the gregarious, wide-shouldered Kevin Dawkins sat, an iridescent necklace of Christmas lights flashing from his collar.The girl babbled. Dawkins, 47, took it to mean "Thank you" for supervising Water Street Rescue Mission's annu......
2007-12-26 00:02:00
PETE KAUFFMAN
For many, the day after Christmas means sating their appetite with leftovers.For wrestling fans, it's time to whet their appetites for holiday tournaments.Lancaster County again plays host to three wrestling tournaments — Donegal Holiday, Manheim Holiday and Buckskin Classic a......
2007-12-25 00:03:00
MICHAEL YODER
The spirit of giving during the Christmas season could be seen Monday morning stretching along the sidewalk of North Price Street.A record number of recipients and volunteers turned out for the 21st annual Lancaster County Project for the Needy holiday dinner distribution. More than 1,000 ......
2007-12-25 00:02:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Monday's last-minute shoppers were not the stereotypical lot. Most were calm and collected. And some had the nerve to be downright smug."I'm just here to shop for myself. I already got gifts for everyone else," said Staci Henry of Wrightsville, who took advantage of Chris......
2007-12-25 00:01:00
JENNIFER TODD
Instead of a white Christmas, how does a dry and mild one sound?While rain has ushered in the holiday for the past two years, Santa can leave the umbrella at home this time around, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Alan Reppert."We're looking at a pretty mild week with highs in......
2007-12-24 10:48:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Scott Dierwechter would love to be awakened Christmas morning by his two boys, Aiden, 3, and Gabriel, 4, before they excitedly run downstairs to see what presents Santa Claus brought them. He'd love to linger over breakfast with his wife, Kerry, and spend all day watching his boys play w......
2007-12-24 10:46:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Joan Rowe has been battling colon cancer, and her husband, Clair, is diabetic. And even though she's now gotten a clean bill of health, "There are a lot of doctors' bills that Medicare doesn't pay for," she said. That was why the 68-year-old Mrs. Rowe was first in ......
2007-12-24 10:45:00
JOHN M. HOOBER III
Burglars searched for Christmas presents in a Little Britain Township development this past weekend, Lancaster state police said, and one family lost $3,500 worth of items to the intruders. The unknown suspects entered three homes in a development in the 300 block of Fox Hunt Drive, which......
2007-12-24 10:43:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Most years, Ken Kramer and his cohorts from the Columbia Lions Club feed those in need at the holidays. They did that again on Sunday, delivering 410 Christmas food boxes to families in and around their area of western Lancaster County. But this year they extended their reach all the way a......
2007-12-24 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY
Christmas is a time for families to come together.And for one Lititz family, this Christmas season was a long time coming.Don William Ketchem, 83, and his half-sister, Nancy Batdorf Moore, 74, sat on the sofa in Batdorf Moore's living room Sunday afternoon and talked about their......
2007-12-24 00:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
Bing Crosby will have to keep people dreaming of a white Christmas for another year.The forecast leaves little chance of any type of snowfall or other precipitation coming on Christmas Day.AccuWeather meteorologist Andrew Ulrich said temperatures on Christmas will be seasonable, rea......
2007-12-24 00:00:00
LORI VAN INGEN
The Christmas season seems to be getting more hectic as the years pass — parties, decorating and shopping ... then more shopping for gifts for relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, the mailman.But some people are spurning the more commercial side of the season in favor of a simple......
2007-12-24 10:44:00
JANET KELLEY
Sunny skies and mild temperatures may not be Christmas card picturesque, but they will make for safer traveling conditions for those hitting the highways this holiday. In fact, the only "flurry" in the area today or anytime this week will be the activity around the shopping centers......
2007-12-23 00:18:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
Last week, parents came by the thousands to a clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster, and found some Christmas magic there. In an atmosphere that was less frantic than any ordinary toy store's, and perhaps even more festive, parents were able to choose from an impressive array ......
2007-12-23 00:04:00
STAFF REPORT
Readers, you've told us you are hungry for a 2007 HOLIDAY QUIZ! And we're happy to satisfy your appetites for entertainment and education. In the past, our holiday quizzes have featured the following themes: colors (Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer), movies ("It's a Wonderfu......
2007-12-22 12:25:00
JENNA SPINELLE
Kathy Celli wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to work out, so showing up before dawn at Park City Center this morning seemed like a no-brainer. "I'm so excited; now I have everything done," a wide-eyed Celli said with a smile at 7:20. "I think I might have been the first person in......
2007-12-22 12:09:00
JANET KELLEY
It started out with a few empty boxes, decorated brightly for Christmas and stacked on an antique baggage cart in a Lancaster train station corner. Then, Donna Carlson decided to add green garlands and red poinsettias at the windows of the Amtrak station, 53 McGovern Ave. And a tall evergr......
2007-12-22 11:58:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Food and fellowship on Christmas Day. The pairing is as natural as Santa and reindeer, stockings and candy — and mashed potatoes and gravy. It's the provision of those last two, plus the turkey and cranberry sauce, that will be the focus of several well-organized Lancaster County gro......
2007-12-22 02:32:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The term "wide-area network" doesn't exactly get the heart pounding.But Janet Dubble couldn't be more excited about the WAN — a network of high-speed Internet connections — she's helping develop for local schools.Dubble is instructional technology coordinator for Lancast......
2007-12-22 02:13:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Some Conestoga Valley High School students were rewarded with a pizza party Friday a few hours before the start of their holiday break.They were members of three classes contributing the most money during a school contest that raised more than $10,000 for the Lancaster chapter of the Make-......
2007-12-22 00:22:00
LORI VAN INGEN
In today's society, people prepare for Christmas all December long with shopping, decorating, baking and parties until Christmas Day.By Dec. 26 everything is done and the tree and decorations begin to come down."It's a letdown almost," said the Rev. Alexander Gouss......
2007-12-22 00:13:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's a biblical story found only in Matthew: King Herod, fearing that the "King of the Jews" had just been born in Bethlehem, ordered that all the young male children in that small hamlet south of Jerusalem be slaughtered.Today, for a small handful of Christian denominations ......
2007-12-22 00:07:00
JAMES BUESCHER
For some families, Christmas means a big tree or chestnuts roasting on an open hearth. For psychotherapist Barbara Carter, however, her own tradition is simpler but yet much more moving: Reaching out to people in pain on Christmas Day."For me, I guess, Christmas has always meant more ......
2007-12-22 00:01:00
Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans
Santa has left the building.But hopefully there will be a little more room for Jesus in our household this year.The jelly-bellied old man with his reindeer fleet has gone, never to return to our rancher.I'll miss him.But I know that part of the challenge of raising......
2007-12-21 10:46:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Her hands move deftly across the paper as she casts a shadow over snowy hillside and shines a warm glowing light above a Christmas tree. Music and the words of historical figures, such as President Franklin Roosevelt, drift through the air. Then Elva Hurst turns a black light onto her wintry vi......
2007-12-21 10:20:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Susan Heydt remembers the time the donkey in her Mount Joy church's Nativity story, tied with a rope to a tree, decided to walk around the other side, and stumbled over the rope. The donkey was OK, but Heydt recalled, "We were a little worried about how he was going to make it to Bethl......
2007-12-21 10:10:00
JOAN KERN
A steeple and pews don't appeal to you, but it IS Christmas Eve. What do you do? Rezonate Church may have your answer. The nontraditional church will offer an 8 p.m. "Rockin' Christmas Eve Service" at the Regal Cinemas in Manor Plaza. People will "experienc......
2007-12-21 10:05:00
JOAN KERN
Narrator: It's "The O'Really Factor." And here's Bill O'Really. Bill's guest tonight is Joseph of Nazareth.
Thus will begin the annual children's pageant in a 5 p.m. Christmas Eve service at St. James Episcopal Church, 119 N. Duke St. &qu......
2007-12-21 01:11:00
JEFF HAWKES
Charles Dickens made Christmas a setting for a ghost story, but though his beloved tale of supernatural visitations offers hope for a heart grown cold, it is, for me, not a story for the season.In weaving a narrative of Scrooge and his soul-jarring epiphany, Dickens' genius is manifest......
2007-12-20 12:49:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Six years ago, Ken Myer recalled that he "didn't even have a candle" to decorate his home when the holidays rolled around. But after he saw a house-lights display he rather liked near his home outside Elizabethtown, Myer bought his first holiday lights at an after-Christmas sale....
2007-12-20 12:07:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Did you know that Mars will be unusually bright Christmas Eve? An astronomer by the name of Horkheimer promises it will "knock your socks off." We tell you all of this to take your mind off the disappointing fact that we probably won't have a White Christmas. It will be a cold Christmas......
2007-12-20 08:50:00
JANE HOLAHAN
It's the last weekend before Christmas, the kids are getting antsy and you're in desperate need of some alone time to do the millions of things you've got to do before the big day. What's a harried 2007 Lancaster resident to do? How about heading back in time to explore 18......
2007-12-19 11:59:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
It was known as "the East Yard," or Manor Yard, and was one of Columbia's two rail centers at a time when railroad was king. Through the holiday season, a small version of "the Columbia of yesterday" is yours to see. In Ephrata, the year is 1953, and you can see a whole ......
2007-12-19 01:54:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
We finally put up our Christmas tree. It's nothing elaborate, just a 4-foot artificial tree with lots of lights and very little ornamentation.It's not that we don't have ornaments. We have enough to decorate the National Christmas Tree. But we also have a cat who loves to push ......
2007-12-19 00:02:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
If you are looking for something different to bring to a holiday meal this year, consider adding some ethnic food from Colombia.Why Colombia?Why not Colombia?As Colombian immigrants have become more established in Lancaster County, they bring with them firsthand know......
2007-12-19 00:01:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Diana Castillo of Lancaster said her family's Christmas celebration in Medellin, Colombia, began in early December on the Day of the Virgin or the Immaculate Conception. To commemorate it, families light candles outside for two days.During the rest of the month, many families from the city......
2007-12-17 00:59:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Disco may have died in the 1970s, but memorabilia from that era is still around and much admired by retro-loving collectors.Peter Seibert, executive director of Heritage Center of Lancaster County, suggested the decade that spawned pet rocks, bean bags and shag carpeting is worthy of serio......
2007-12-17 00:35:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
When Christmas Day is over, avoid the inevitable letdown.Join the spirits of Christmases past at Rock Ford Plantation for some yuletide frolicking, 18th-century style."There's such a huge buildup to Christmas Day that there's a letdown when it's over," said Sam......
2007-12-16 00:04:00
JAMES BUESCHER
To make holiday treats sweeter, don't add sugar; add a pinch of salt. This rule of thumb holds true whether you're baking cookies or staging a play. Theater of the Seventh Sister's yuletide offering of two one-act plays, "The Long Christmas Dinner" by American playwri......
2007-12-15 01:09:00
LORI VAN INGEN
The reason for the season of Christmas isn't lost on the students of Lancaster SDA Church School. They will be hosting "A Baby Shower for Jesus" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lancaster Seventh-day Adventist Church, 48 S. Conestoga Drive, Bridgeport. All 18 of the school's kindergarten through eight......
2007-12-14 10:45:00
JOAN KERN
S. Arthur Shoemaker carved Jesus Christ as a happy fellow. "I think I took him from 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' " Shoemaker said. "His clothes are blowing, he has a nice smile and his hands are outstretched." And he has red, round cheeks like Santa Claus. The......
2007-12-13 12:47:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Hate to tell you this, but your outdoor Christmas decorations are kind of well, ordinary. Hum-drum. Bor-ing. Do you have a row of pine trees decked out in blue and white lights, a nearby maple wrapped in red lights, icicle lights hanging from the eaves, a shed outlined in amber lights and a 5-f......
2007-12-13 11:00:00
JANE HOLAHAN
We love singing them and we love hearing them. Christmas carols are everywhere around us this time of the year, from the shopping mall to the diner. Schools feature them in recitals, the radio plays them 24/7, and this weekend, several concerts will highlight them. • Calvary Church......
2007-12-13 01:15:00
P.J. REILLY
Just as they have for the past 25 years, people are flocking to Elizabeth Farms to cut their own Christmas trees. On Wednesday, the Lancaster County commissioners made sure a large part of this popular Elizabeth Township destination — which is one of the largest Christmas-tree farms in th......
2007-12-11 12:04:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Santa lost his head last week in Manheim Township. Somebody sliced off the jolly old elf's noggin, cutting it from an inflatable decoration in Lyle Ide's front yard and disappearing with it. "I don't quite understand what to think of it," said Ide, who lives off Or......
2007-12-10 00:07:00
TOM KNAPP
Remember that snowfall last week that made everything look all crisp, clean and postcard-perfect?It's ancient history. This week is all about rain, rain and more rain after that.Today's AccuWeather forecast is for a morning drizzle accompanied by fog, followed by an afternoo......
2007-12-09 00:04:00
JAMES BUESCHER
When it comes to holiday Christmas shows, there's no shortage of sappy, syrupy, sentimental schmaltz. What gets missed in all the holiday hoopla is thoughtfulness, a state of mind that's as essential to the Christmas spirit as plum pudding, presents and cookies for Santa. "I l......
2007-12-08 01:15:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Penn Square looked just like a scene from a snow globe Friday night — minus the swirling snow. Then again, the lack of wind and precipitation probably contributed to the heavy foot traffic in downtown Lancaster for the Mayor's Tree-Lighting ceremony and Tuba Christmas. Still, it ......
2007-12-08 01:00:00
CAROLE DECK
Each year, Christmas in the Park brings the New Holland community together to celebrate the holiday season. The annual celebration, sponsored by New Holland Business Association, is free to the public and will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at New Holland Community Park, East Jackson Stree......
