Pequea Valley NOVEMBER 6, 2019
IN THIS ISSUE: PUMPKIN OLYMPICS WILL MARK 20 YEARS page 5
VOL LV • NO 49
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
GRIEF SUPPORT
BASIS, a support group for bereaved parents and their families, will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. The focus will be “Surviving the Holidays.” A video will be shown. Readers may call Calvary Monument Bible Church, Paradise, at 717-442-8161 for the meeting location and directions.
PVIS Hosts Choral Festival pg 2
School Wins Archery Supplies pg 10
Concert To Feature Hymns pg 2
Gifts Of Joy Seeks Christmas Donors Students By Ann Mead Ash COMMUNITY DINNER
The Mission Committee of the Leacock Presbyterian Church, 3183 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, will host a free hot meal for the community on Thursday, Nov. 14, in the handicapped-accessible Smith Fellowship Hall. The meal will be served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The menu will feature Amish wedding casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, and desserts. Readers may call the church at 717-687-6619 for additional information.
WEEKEND OF SHOPPING
will be held at HayLoft Ice Cream, 95 S. Groffdale Road, Leola, on Friday, Nov. 15, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Vendors will offer a weekend of shopping, including handmade crafts, decorations, artisan sourdough bread, French macarons, children’s books, skin care items, baby items, jewelry, and more. The public is invited to attend. Proceeds will support the Allegany Boys Camp in Maryland.
See Gifts Of Joy pg 3
Ex-NFL Player To Speak At Agriculture Event By Dayna M. Reidenouer
At age 29, after four successful years with the Baltimore Ravens and three with the St. Louis Rams, center Jason Brown walked away from football and
VENDORS SOUGHT
The Paradise Township Lions Club is seeking vendors for its annual Christmas Market, which will be held at the Together Community Center, 3293 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Individuals interested in renting a space may call 717-687-6542. Interested parties are asked to leave a message including their name and phone number and the items to be sold.
Jason Brown
into an entirely unrelated career. Some people, when they retire, become “gentleman farmers,” with a few acres and a handful of cattle that they can manage with low stress and minimal effort. Jason and his wife, Tay, had a much bigger dream, and they bought a 1,000-acre farm in Louisburg, N.C. The one problem? Neither Jason nor Tay had experience farming. Just as he did with football skills, Jason turned to YouTube to learn what he needed to run a farm. “I grew up with a little bit of a green thumb, did a little bit of landscaping with my father, as far as planting shrubs and trees and flowers here and there, but doing it on a large scale? No, this was totally brand new to me,” Jason explained in an episode of “Growing a Greener See Ag Banquet pg 6
Visit Dig Site
Gretchen Gaudioso (left), client and family advocate with Mental Health America Lancaster County (MHALC), and a donor gathered gifts for the 2018 MHALC Gifts of Joy giveaway last year. Gifts for this year’s program will benefit area residents dealing with mental health issues.
Four different Pequea Valley High School classes, including the Advanced Placement U.S. History class, recently visited a local archaeological dig. This is an exploratory dig in anticipation of a new bridge being built. The archaeologist talked to the students about how people’s knowledge of history can be dramatically changed just by finding new evidence in one key area. Students were shown the proposed blueprints for the new bridge, as well as older maps dating back to the 1800s that show a bridge in that area. Students also were able to see the soil layers. The students are just finishing a unit about the Revolutionary War and how Lancaster County was involved in this conflict. Students learned that the topmost layer of soil from that period See Dig Site pg 14
Changing Lives One Class At A Time By Ann Mead Ash
About a decade ago, Diana Vuolo, founder/executive director of SWAN (Scaling Walls A Note at a Time), was an empty nester. A professional violinist and music teacher, she listened as her husband, Chuck, a pastor, described the trauma suffered by the children of the incarcerated offenders he was working with. “My husband was doing a lot of pastoring with criminal offenders, and I was starting to see the families up close and
seeing how devastating parental incarceration was for children,” said Diana, who asked herself what she could do to help. “I thought music would be a great way to help them, and that’s what I had to give. I saw (music) was healing for them (and helped them) to realize they See SWAN pg 4
SWAN (Scaling Walls A Note at a Time) teacher Lauren Reyes works with students at Wickersham Elementary School each Tuesday afternoon. SWAN offers music lessons to School District of Lancaster students who have a parent who has been incarcerated. Ephrata
Myerstown
1717 West Main St. 740 E. Lincoln Ave. 717.721.3139 717.866.7555
Nov. 1-30
(Mattresses Only)
New Providence 2318 Beaver Valley Pk. 717.806.7373
R050534
(2 miles West of Ephrata on Route 322)
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
(1 mile North of Quarryville on Route 222)
With approved credit, see store for details. POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER NOV. 6, 2019
Postal Patron
PEQ
A fall market
“We want to always provide that small glimmer of hope,” said Kim McDevitt, executive director of Mental Health America Lancaster County (MHALC). McDevitt noted that one of the organization’s main goals is to help prevent isolation among those in the county struggling with mental health issues and, by doing so, to prevent suicide. “(Gifts of Joy) is one of the things we do at Christmastime for those who have severe mental health issues,” McDevitt explained. Working with nearly 50 case managers with the Lancaster County Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, MHALC provided 800 gifts for 463 children and adults during the 2018 holiday season. “One of the things that is important is that people have that hope during the holidays from knowing that someone cares,” said
McDevitt. MHALC is looking toward Christmas 2019 with hopes that more churches, youth groups, businesses, families, and other organizations and individuals will get involved in the Gifts of Joy program. MHA representatives will give individual or group donors a list of items a patient has requested. Many requests are for items that meet basic needs such as batteries, socks, or a phone charger. Charlotte Leckow, marketing coordinator with MHALC, noted that for those fighting mental health issues,
• martinfurniturepa.com