Results tagged “events” from Only in York County

Wow, so many things going on in the coming days! Got a news release that the Bob Hoffman YMCA on Palomino Road in Dover Township is having a free Fall Fitness Festival from Monday to Oct. 30.

Among the activities:

· Anyone 14 and older can participate in fitness classes and use the fitness center.
· A free seminar, "What You Can Do About Your Cancer Risk," will be offered by Wellspan from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday.
· Free blood-pressure checks will be offered by Dover Ambulance from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday
· Free chair massages will be offered by Touch Of Life on Wednesday morning and evening.

There will also be refreshments and daily prize drawings. Want to know more? Call the Y at 292-5622.

Not doing anything this Saturday evening? Brave the weather and head out to my alma mater, Dover Area High School, for the fifth annual Dover Band Show.

According to their news release, this marching band showcase features many of York County's non-competitive bands and was created five years ago as a way to give the students a late-season performance opportunity. (And I give the band folks huge props for performing this late in the season; it is COLD out on that field!)

Gates open at 5 p.m., and the show begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults and $2 for students and senior citizens, and can be purchased at the stadium gates. If it rains (not that THAT has happened lately, ha!) the show will be held in the high school gymnasium.

The schedule includes:
· National Anthem performed by Dover High School's select choral ensemble, "Renaissance"
· Hanover "Nighthawk" Pep/Marching Band
· Northeastern "Bobcat" Marching Band
· Steelton-Highspire "Roller-Pride" Marching Band
· West York "Bulldog" Marching Band (my daughter's school, so YAY for them too!)
· Central York "Panther" Marching Band
· Dallastown "Wildcat" Marching Band
· Dover "Eagle" Marching Band
· Full Band Retreat performing "America the Beautiful"

The release also pointed out something I'd missed - that the Dover district was recently named one of the top 100 communities for music education in the United States by the National Association of Music Merchandisers. Central York was also selected for the honor.

If you want to know more about the show, call band director George Bradshaw at 292-3671, ext. 10304. (And tell him Joan Concilio sent you!)

So head out if you're free! I'll be here at work, but if you go, let me know - I'd love to hear all about it!

So, while eating lunch the other day with Hubby at the Lyndon Diner, I was reading their placemat full of advertising.

And I came upon an event that sounds kind of fun: A "Pennsylvania Game Dinner."

It's 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, and it says it is "a dinner of pheasant, trout, venison, and other indigenous treats" served at 6330 South River Drive in Hellam Township, on the banks of the Susquehanna.

It says to call 252-1521 for reservations, but the placemat didn't list the venue itself. Of course, since I live online, I just had to look it up. It's at the Accomac Inn - so you know it'll be nice. This Web site has more details.

As I was on the Accomac's Web site, I found out that they're having a Ghost Dinner tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday. Not sure if you can still get in on that or not, but it definitely sounds fun!

What do you think? Yay or nay on eating "indigenous treats" like venison and pheasant?

Katie Portner, 8, of Dover gets ready to chomp a piece of broccoli. The samples were offered during the Broccoli Bash at the farmers market on Saturday. (Daily Record/Sunday News photo by Jason Plotkin)

Everyone had a great time, and the market was packed, reports Linda Birmingham, marketing committee chairwoman for the York Historic Farmers' Market Association.

If you want to help Linda and her group promote the market, the York Historic Farmers' Market Association holds regular meetings that you're welcome to attend! The next one is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Union Lutheran Church, 408 W. Market St. - right across from the market. (Use the Penn Street door to enter.)

If you're lucky, you might find me there. My mom and I attend occasionally, when schedules permit, and we're very supportive of the group's efforts because we love the market so much!

Remember my favorite local snack?

Well, if your favorites are like mine - salty and of the Utz variety - make sure you head down to a special presentation at the Hanover library in a couple of week.

From our sister paper, the Evening Sun of Hanover:

Learn more about Utz products at a program on Utz Quality Foods to be held 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, in the John D. Bare Center at the Guthrie Memorial Library -- Hanover's Public Library.

The program will include information on the company history, its growth over the years, the snack food industry and making a quality potato chip from "farm to your pantry." Tom Scholles, director of human resources at Utz Quality Foods, will be the presenter.

The program is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit guthrielibrary.org or call 632-5183.

And if you're down that-a-way anyway, why not check out the Utz outlet and the factory tour? The tours are free and self-guided, and can be done 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays at the factory on High Street. The outlet is a few streets over on Carlisle Street and is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

We took Sarah on the tour a few years ago and she really liked it. I'm hoping to do it again soon!

Never let it be said that Yorkers are squeamish people. Hey, we eat pig stomach. And we also play games with animal droppings!

I've heard of plenty of games of "cow patty bingo." You divide a field into squares; each person gets a square; and wherever the cow, uh, goes, whoever has that square wins.

Well, not to be outdone, Northeastern High School's Bobcat Foundation has taken that favorite and jazzed it up.

As part of a large fundraiser event on Sunday, Oct. 4, they will hold a Baby Buffalo Patty Drop and golf shoot-out.

At 1 p.m., they'll set a baby buffalo loose in the field; wherever her "patty" drops, the person who bought that square will win $500! Members of Northeastern's golf team will then hit balls into the field, and the squares those land in will give their owners $250 (for second place) or $100 (for third place.)

Want to buy a square? Call Kim Brenner-Zirkle at 266-3667, ext. 10274, or visit www.nesd.k12.pa.us. Anyone can play, and you don't even have to be present to win. Commenter friend Mark might even be able to play from Austria! :)

Other events during the day include a car show and exhibition autocross, in partnership with the York County Corvette Club, in the parking lots at Northeastern High School and Northeastern Middle School. That event is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 4, with car registration from 9 a.m. to noon and award presentations at 3 p.m., according to the school's news release. You can register in advance by calling Joanne Gohn at 577-3133 or e-mailing Iam4marlin@aol.com.

Brenner-Zirkle adds that the high school marching band will also perform, and food will be served throughout the day (though hopefully not bison burgers!!)

Proceeds will benefit The Bobcat Foundation, the nonprofit organization that supports the Northeastern district.

So who's in? Grab your square and wait for the other "eww" to drop!

The highlight of my Saturday was a trip to the Totally Free Yard Sale held on the grounds of the Mount Royal Auction in Dover Township.

If you hadn't already heard about the event, the name really was self-expanatory - people donated their unwanted "stuff," and, yard sale style, it was laid out in the yard of the auction house, free to anyone who wanted it.

We donated a BUNCH of stuff - mostly books, but outgrown clothes and toys of my daughter's, too - in advance of the event, but we had a few more things to add, so around 11 a.m., we headed up to drop those off and see how the event was going.

They had already given away LOADS of stuff by then! It was amazing.

(Pardon the image quality, my cell phone camera is being really weird. Among other things, the sky wasn't dark, as it seems to be here!) The neat thing in this picture is, look at that heap of boxes toward the top left. Those were just some of the empties!

For my part, I was thrilled with how well it turned out, glad to see people finding things they needed or wanted, and, yes, I admit, I found a cool pair of brown sandals, which was a great side benefit! (And Hubby found some interesting books donated by other people!)

If you want to know more, check out the full story here.

I talk a lot about the programs offered by the York County Heritage Trust, like this weekend's Book Blast and the recently held "preserving your memories" class.

More recently, the trust issued a release about a new exhibit produced this summer by their Junior Curators, called "From Artists to Athletes: A History of Entertainment in York County."

The exhibit marks the second time the trust has had the Junior Curators put something together; last year's was about the history of the York Fair and was super-well-received.

This year's opens with a free reception, complete with light refreshments and music by the Little Ivory Blues Band, from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Historical Society Museum. If you can't make that event, don't worry; the exhibit is open until Oct. 30.

According to the trust: "The Junior Curator Program enables those high school juniors and seniors as well as recent high school graduates with an interest in the museum profession to gain an insider's perspective to the museum field. Meeting two days a week from June to August, teens gained practical experience working with artifacts, creating exhibits, and participating in various other projects they may encounter within the museum profession."

If you head to the museum to check this out, why not take a look for the letterbox that's hidden there?

Oh, and keep an eye out for something that might or might not still be on display - a small "digital exhibit" of Revolutionary War documents called "The Pen is Mightier..." (You can also find a version of it here.) Yours truly made that, way back in 2002 or so! If you happen to see it, let me know. I haven't had a chance to go through the museum in the last couple of years, so I'm not sure if it's still around.

Today was the kickoff to the York County Heritage Trust's Book Blast at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum at 217 W. Princess St. in York. This Saturday is also a sale at the "Book Nook" in Red Lion.

Now, I love books. A lot. Some would say WAY TOO MUCH. But I'm always interested in getting more, whether it's from the library or from a good used book sale or a bookstore (preferably used.) One of Hubby's and my favorite pastimes is heading to the York Emporium in downtown York, and we have a vague dream of owning our own bookshop someday.

Well, at the encouraging of my friend and fellow blogger Pat, we ended up doing a story in the Weekly Record this week about book sales, coinciding with the events of this weekend.

Here's the story we ran about just a few of the book sales around town. There are certainly plenty of other coming events in the local book scene, not the least of which is Sci-Fi Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the aforementioned Emporium.

If you want details on some of the local sales, including the Heritage Trust and Red Lion events this weekend, go here.

If you want details on Sci-Fi Saturday, go here.

And if you know of another good book sale or bookstore, comment!

You have probably noticed that I've been going heavy on "things to do" around town in my recent blog posts. This is in an ongoing attempt on my part to be more well-rounded and talk about more than just food and phrases, which are still my passions.

But it's also an attempt to encourage Yorkers to get out and EXPERIENCE the community rather than just reading about it, which is really what I hope news organizations are all about.

In keeping with that, about the most "Only in York County" experience I can think of in the summer is attending a Revs game. And I've gotten several news releases lately about fundraiser efforts; in essence, if you order tickets online through yorkrevolution.com, and put in a certain fundraiser code (click on "fundraiser code access"), the organization bearing that code will get a portion of the ticket proceeds.

Here are a couple that I know of; feel free to comment with more if you know of them.

To benefit the York County Library System, buy tickets for the 7 p.m. Aug. 17 game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs; use code lib09.

To benefit Hopewell Presbyterian Church in East Hopewell Township, buy tickets for the 7 p.m. Sept. 5 game against the Bridgeport Bluefish; use code hopewell09.

There is a large list of fundraising partners here on the Revs' site, but you have to click each one to find out what the game date is, and some have already passed, so I'd like to list them out by game if you know of them.

(For my part, tomorrow night, I'm going to be a traitor and go with my family and see the Harrisburg Senators play. Don't hit me!)

Remember how I said I'd love to publish news of all the carnivals and fairs hitting the area in the coming weeks?

Well, this one comes from writer Lori Badders, who covers the Red Lion Area for us:

The 33rd annual Red Lion Street Fair will be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in downtown Red Lion.

More than 100 vendors are featured along with free entertainment and activities for the family. An official CASI-sanctioned Chili Cook-Off will be held in the center square parking lot.

For details and to enter the cook-off, contact the Red Lion Area Business Association at 244-0886 or info@rlaba.com.

The picture above is from last year's fair, and shows Grant Hensley, then 7 months old, of Red Lion, trying to fit a balloon in his mouth. Even MY mouth isn't that big!

Coming very soon - as in this Tuesday, Aug. 4 - is the annual National Night Out celebration.

The nationwide event is billed as a chance to get neighbors together while fighting crime and drug use. In the picture at right, Brittany Lowman, then 10, has her face painted during Wrightsville's first National Night Out event last August. About 100 people attended that event.

Among the participating York County towns that I know of for this year:

The neighborhood association of Olde Towne East in York, from 5 to 8 p.m., is joining with Asbury Church, Probation Dept, and YWCA to hold a "Give Crime and Drugs a Going-Away Party" at Renaissance Park on East Princess and Prospect streets. Meet McGruff and representatives of York City police and fire departments and Butler Ambulance. There will be free food, games, prizes, face-painting and music. Those attending are asked to bring a non-perishable food item.

Dallastown and the York Area Regional Police Department are holding their National Night Out starting at 6 p.m. at Dallastown Community Park. THere will be police and fire company demonstrations, live entertainment, bike rodeos for kids, face-painting and a Bounce House, plus food and drinks available for purchase.

West York's Night Out will be 6 p.m. Tuesday at Shelly Park on Highland Avenue. That event is sponsored by West York Block Watch.

I'm sure there are more National Night Out events locally, so I wanted to post this early. That way, if you've heard of one, maybe you'll let me know so I can get the word out?

Thanks - and have fun!

Commenter Amy tipped me off that the Hellam Carnival is going on through Saturday at Lee and Beaver streets.

I've had a hard time finding any information about it, but I did read on the Kreutz Creek Valley Library Friends Group's web site that the group is going to be at the carnival from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, selling their fundraising items as well as books, videos, DVDs and audiobooks at reasonable cost. They'll also be having a "grab bag" game for children and a "number match" game for adults, plus a raffle for a small quilt and another for a Little Jack Horner doll.

Backing up a day, on Friday, there will be a "Cruise Nite" from 6 to 10 p.m. at the carnival. You can showcase your car and also enjoy the carnival rides, food, games, raffles and free music by The Roadsters, an oldies group. For the cruise, there is a $5 registration fee that benefits the Hellam Area Recreation Commission; for details, call 252-0101.

If you go, let me know how it is! I'll be working those nights, so it's not likely I'll head out, but you never know!

Around lunchtime yesterday, I happened on a flier for the Olde Tyme Carnival and Fireworks at West Manchester Township's Sunset Lane Park, which was taking place from 5:30 to 10 p.m. that night.

Since I knew I'd be home from work by about 6, I made some quick plans to go with my mom and Sarah. Why not, we figured? It's free, after all!

First, I want to say that this drew a HUGE crowd. More, even, than the Dover Fireman's Fair does on some nights. Much like many small-town fairs, it was made up in large part of middle- and high-schoolers looking for someplace to chat and eat, in addition to the usual contingent of parents, grandparents and neighbors.

We didn't get there until close to 7:30 p.m., and we parked several blocks away, along the street. We didn't mind the walk, and it was nice to see so many people come out.

Best thing about the carnival: LOTS of food stands. Mom and I went in for the waffles and ice cream (and Sarah went for ice cream in a dish); Mom also got an old-fashioned cherry vanilla Coke, with the real syrup flavoring, which she enjoyed a lot.

Not-the-best thing about the carnival: We had some trouble finding the games at first, and by the time we found most of them, around 8:20, they had decided to close them down before it got too dark.

That said, we were able to hear a little bit of the band, The Citations, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. And Sarah played one game where you get to catch a pingpong ball in a net for $1, and based on what's on that ball, you win a small, medium or large prize. You guessed it, we got a small. Most expensive bouncy ball ever, but she liked it.

We decided not to fight the crowds for a place to sit to watch the fireworks, and headed home. Less than an hour later, though, we DID get to see fireworks - out our upstairs window, where we had a clear view of all but the lowest sparklers.

Sarah liked that. No crowds, but a great light and sound show. She had some interesting comments, too, for the organizers... she said, "It's really nice that they buy all the fireworks and do that so people can come see it." She also said the band was nice. "They took time out of their day to come there and play music for the people." I was happy to see her so interested in how such an event came together.

I know there are several other town fun fests coming, including Craley Days in early August. If you know of one - please, post a comment. I'd love to tell people more about these events, which are a great way to meet your neighbors.

I love that my blog readers let me know about what's going on in the community! I've had so many event notices lately, and I really appreciate them.

From Jo (not to be confused with Joe from yesterday) comes a reminder to me - that I'm sharing with all of you - that the Greater Dover Historical Society opens its working blacksmith shop to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second Saturday of every month through October. That means there's one coming up Aug. 8!

At the shop, pictured above, you can watch smithy Ted Ziegler forge hot steel on the anvil. Items Ziegler makes are for sale during the open houses, and proceeds help defray the cost of materials and support the society.

It's definitely worth checking out. I've been promising Jo to get to one for several months; in this case, I'll be heading out of town that day to visit my father-in-law in Rhode Island, but if I get my packing done early (insert crazy laughter here) I would love to stop up. If not, I've still got September and October!

Faithful reader Joe tipped me off to this coming event, in which you can get yummy food and help a local organization, too.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 1, at the corner of Parkway Boulevard and Pacific Avenue in York - RAIN OR SHINE - the Bring On Play group is having a chicken barbecue to raise funds for the recently renovated Lincoln Park. (Read a guest column here by Mayor John Brenner on the group's efforts; that's his wife, Adrienne, and son Sam, then 4, at the park in 2008, before renovations in the picture at top.)

For $7, you get half a chicken, a baked potato, applesauce, a roll and butter. Joe says there's also plenty of room to run and play at the pickup site, if you want to either work up an appetite or work off the chicken!!

You don't have to pre-purchase your tickets, though Joe does recommend it. You can do so by calling him at 495-3878.

Sounds YUMMY. I know this is "barbecue season" and there are many such events to support; if you have one, feel free to let me know, because I'd love to publicize it.

I think I've mentioned before how much I love to scrapbook. It's kind of a sickness. :) I've been working on several albums, including my high school years, my daughter's first few years (of which the picture here is the cover), and - amazingly - I finished a 2008 family album and am starting a 2009 album.

But in the last couple of months, I've taken on another project - organizing, captioning and getting into scrapbooks the OLD family photos from both my mom's and my dad's families. (Hubby, meanwhile, got bit by the bug and is organizing HIS mom's family photos. Yes, we're insane.) And I'd never worked with "old" photos before. It's harder than it seems!

Well, coming soon, there's a program at the York County Heritage Trust that will help folks who are in the same boat. From their release:

Sounds pretty fun. If you go, you might see me there ... I REALLY need some tips on this old memorabilia.

Last week, I took the family and headed out to the Dover Women of Today fun fest up in Dover, which you'll remember came as a spontaneous invite from a couple of women I met while selling items online.

I am really glad I met up with these ladies, Brenda and Cheryl. Not only did it give me blog material - for which I'm always grateful - it gave my family a really fun night out and didn't cost us more than a few cents. Oh, and daughter Sarah won a bunch of fun prizes!

I know you'd rather see Hubby's pictures than read my ramblings, so without further ado:

The kids could play free games to win tickets, which could be turned in for prizes. I hate clowns, so I was hoping Sarah would kick butt in the "clown knock off." (She didn't, but that's OK.)

Possibly a bigger money-maker than the club expected was the penny pitch. Sarah won a cute Precious Moments "Friend" mug, which was fine. Thankfully, we didn't bring many pennies, so we did not end up taking home an entire set of mismatched dishes, like some of the families there did. (And that is also OK!)

Sarah's favorite game - in which she won tons of tickets - was a version of Plinko, a la "The Price is Right."

And then there was EVERYONE'S favorite part:

Little alpacas!! These cuties were from Rusty Rocks Farm outside of Dover, and they were just the softest, nicest animals I've ever met. You could pet them and everything. And, of course, we did, because we're total animal junkies.

Now, instead of arguing with West Manchester Township about owning a goat, I think I'd like to figure out how to pass off an alpaca as a pet. C'mon, it's not that much bigger than my dog, just with a longer deck. (And probably smarter!)

I do have one more photo from last Wednesday's goings-on to share, but it's got its own special story, so it'll come in another post. Thanks for reading this far!

If you're looking for a way to get out of cooking dinner tomorrow, I've got a suggestion for you - check out the "Founders Day Free Fun Fest" in Dover.

The event celebrates the 31st anniversary of the Dover Women of Today Group, and it runs 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at 84 Reservoir Road in Dover, right beside the borough water tower.

The Dover mayor will give a proclamation, "Dover Doug" and the Bee from Old Country Buffet will be there, and there will be games, door prizes, face painting, a cake walk and FOOD - and it's all free. Free food - can't beat that! (There will also be Bricker's Fries and Mr. Softee ice cream, but those you have to purchase.)

There's also a silent auction, with proceeds to benefit the organization's community projects.

Take your kids, grab some free dinner and have fun - it sounds like a great time! If you have questions, call Brenda at 515-4424 or Cheryl at 292-4095.

The best part is how I found out about this event - in a true "Only in York County" moment, I sold some scrapbooking stuff online the other day, and the women who came to pick it up were Brenda and Cheryl from the group, who were happy to invite me to their event.

Pretty cool! I'm hoping to check it out.

Something else to check out, if you're not interested in events in the Hanover or Springettsbury areas, is the New Freedom Lions Club Carnival!

Heard about this from one of our freelance writers, Lori Badders. She reports the carnival starts Monday and runs through next Saturday (July 4!) at the New Freedom Playground. (Detailed entertainment schedule here.)

There's live music, rides, midway attractions, games and more in the evenings.

Lori reminds everyone to check out the New Freedom Lioness Club's popular apple dumplings. "Get one with a scoop of ice cream while you listen to the music," she suggests. I second that - they're always a sell-out. Lioness Betty Neary, the club's secretary, always keeps us posted on these events and she just raves about how great the dumpling fundraiser is for the club.

Here are some of the Lionesses hard at work making the dumplings for the '06 fundraiser:

And here's a great shot by photographer Bil Bowden of Brianna Irons, then 7, of Farmington Hills, Mich., on the merry-go-round at the Lions' carnival in 2005:

You'll have to let me know how it is if you go. I would love to get down, but it's not likely given the work week!