Columbia/Hellam/Wrightsville
townlively.com
APRIL 6, 2022
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXIII • NO 7
Spotlighting Wrightsville’s Businesses BY CATHY MOLITORIS
“Each year, we try to think of topics that would be of interest to the public and would be informative,” said Lisa Burk, describing a series of programs hosted by Historic Wrightsville Inc. “I came up with the idea of ‘Wrightsville Remembers’ for this year, and I knew there are so many different subjects that title can cover.” Each presentation in this year’s series will highlight a different facet of life in Wrightsville’s
John Reitzel
Capturing Columbia become a side job, but after posting some of his pictures on Facebook, Reitzel began receiving requests for prints. His work is currently displayed and for sale at Murphy’s Mercantile, 261 Locust St.; on Facebook; and at https://susquehannaphotos.com. He also makes all of the frames for his photos, using his 30-plus years of experience as a woodworker. “I never intended my photography to take off like this,” he said. “I just like to create things. My mom was very creative, and she passed that on to me. … I still feel a connection to her when I take pictures.” Reitzel said he loves connecting with the people who buy his photos as well. “The best thing about doing this is the stories I get to to hear when people buy a piece,” he remarked. “A lot of people who used to live in the area will buy something and tell me it reminds them of home.”
Dave Weitzel
Thrift Stores Mark 50 Years Of Making A Difference BY CATHY MOLITORIS
There is power in a pair of pants, strength in a shirt and joy in a jacket. Over the past 50 years, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has provided financial support around the world through its MCC Thrift shop network. To date, MCC Thrift shops have contributed more than $250 million to help people in need. See Thrift pg 3
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See Businesses pg 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Business Directory . . . . . .2 Call For Event Vendors . . .3 Come Out to the Community House . . . . . .5 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . .5 House Of Worship . . . . . .12
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“I’m just a Columbia boy who loves this town,” said John Reitzel. His fondness for Columbia will be on display in a photography exhibit at the Mount Bethel Cemetery cottage, 700 Locust St. The exhibit will run in conjunction with Columbia’s Fourth Friday on Friday, April 22, from 5 to 8 p.m. and also on Sunday, April 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. Born and raised in Columbia, Reitzel has only been taking pictures for a few years. He and his wife took a trip out West with another couple pre-pandemic, and he bought an inexpensive pointand-shoot camera to capture Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon. “To get ready for the trip, I started taking pictures in Columbia, and I realized there is so much to photograph right here,” he stated. A major focus of his work is the Veterans Memorial Bridge linking
Columbia and Wrightsville. “I grew up on Maple Street, and you could see the bridge from my front yard,” he said. “ W hen you’re young, you take it for granted, but now I really appreciate it.” He also enjoys taking pictures of local wildlife, Chickies Rock and Columbia’s historic buildings. “My favorite thing to photograph is definitely my 2-year-old granddaughter,” he noted. “Seeing life through the eyes of a child is a blessing.” Reitzel, who works for LSC Communications (formerly part of R.R. Donnelley) and has more 35 years of experience as a color analyst, said he edits his pictures for color but nothing else. He doesn’t place or remove objects, change the scale of the subject or do anything more extensive than color correction. “I understand color theory,” he stated. “I know what catches people’s eyes.” He didn’t intend for his hobby to
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BY CATHY MOLITORIS
story, including its people, places of interest, and social and civic life, she said. The series will kick off with a presentation on Wrightsville’s family businesses. The presentation will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 22, at Wrightsville Hope United Methodist Church, 404 Hellam St. Members of the Wilton family and Weitzel family will share the stories of their businesses. “Both of these families have been in Wrightsville and involved in businesses from the 1800s, so there’s a lot of history there,” noted Burk, who is the co-historian of Historic Wrightsville Inc. The Wilton family began its business under the name Susquehanna Casting Company before becoming Wilton Products and then Wilton Armetale. The Weitzel family had three locations of its clothing store at one time, Burk said. “They’ll be presenting information about their history and their family as well,” she remarked. She added that she’s looking for people who had businesses in Wrightsville who might be interested in doing a presentation for a future installment of the series.