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.

You know how I said I was spending Saturday in the Hanover area?

I used my weekend plans as an excuse to try a Hanover-area specialty that I hadn't had before - the downtown Famous Hot Weiner!

Despite being pretty familiar with the Hanover area, I'd never eaten at the original location at York Street and Broadway, just the newer one over at Dart Drive and Eichelberger Street.

So when Hubby suggested that we stop in with Sarah for our Saturday night dinner, I was totally up for it.

I went with a twist on my favorite - hot dog with ketchup and mustard - the twist being the last-minute addition of bacon after I heard another diner order it.

Sarah went with plain dog. Nothing on it.

We all shared some really, really good fries..

And Chris went for it, ordering two "famous" weiners with their "everything" - onions, mustard and the special Famous Hot Weiner chili sauce.

I have never seen so many onions in one place before!!

All in all, it was a good meal. I like my dogs basically burnt, so mine was a little light for my taste, but still yummy. Chris polished almost all of his two off, and Sarah did a great job on hers. And the fries... wow! I really liked those. (Yes, I'm a big kid at heart.)

The whole weekend was great, and I have some more pictures to share of letterbox hiking, the Summer Blast and more, but those will have to wait. Back to work for now!

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!

Sorry for the sparse posting this week - if you're a reader of our print edition, you've probably noticed it looks a little different, and I'm spending a little more time than usual working on it to make sure it looks as nice as can be.

But I wanted to take a minute and invite you all to some fun stuff going on this weekend, including some places my family expects to be out and about.

First up is Codorus Summer Blast at Codorus State Park outside Hanover. It started today and continues tomorrow and Sunday. We're planning to head out and spend the day at the park tomorrow (weather permitting), not only to check out the event but also to find the two letterboxes hidden at that park. Multi-tasking, yay!

(Interesting side note: You know where I found out about this event? On a placemat in McDonald's. Yep!)

Second event, courtesy of my friend Nina and delivered via text message this week, is a note about a quarter auction at the Springetts Fire Hall next to Home
Depot on Saturday, to benefit York's Habitat for Humanity. Doors open at 6 p.m., cost is $3 at the door.

Habitat, which is also holding a 5K run/walk tomorrow starting at 8:30 a.m. on Allen Lane in Dover, is a great organization, and quarter auctions are a ton of fun, so I'd really encourage you to head out if you're free!

First, if you're visiting for the first time today to vote in the "what do you call that veggie" poll that appeared on the front page of the York Daily Record's Living section, you can do that by clicking here. Heck, even if you are a longtime reader, if you haven't voted yet - please do!

So far, "string beans" are beating out "green beans" as the name for the veggie in question. But I've had some interesting conversations about this that I'd like to share.

First, I asked my brother-in-law Mike, who reads faithfully but never comments, what he voted for. He said string beans, which is fine. But we started talking about, IF you were to pick green beans, what do you do when confronted with the yellow version of said beans? He says those are called wax beans, which I admit I have heard of but didn't realize what they were. (There are some pictured here. I think all the pictures make them look like very yellow french fries, but that's beside the point.)

Cubby, my virtual friend and a columnist for the Hanover Evening Sun, said she was raised calling them string beans and had kind of gotten away from that.

Melanie also votes for string beans; "snap them in two and you immediately see why," she wrote.

Jim Fahringer, a new commenter, said he also calls them string beans, but adds, "perhaps the real name is green beans or pole beans depending on whether they were grown on vines that grew up poles or grew on bushes."

He's also got a point that I think Jo (who hasn't weighed in yet - where are you, Jo?) would appreciate. He says: "By the way, if they are the kind that grow on bushes and hang down close to the ground, picking them is one of the most difficult back breaking jobs I ever had and are tied with picking strawberries as a back breaking job!" Jo, if you'll remember, said the strawberries she picked at Dover's Barefoot Farm really did her back in!

Anyway, there's still time to vote. For all the commenting seems to suggest "string beans" is far and away the name winner, it seems close. Those of you who picked green beans - leave some comments! :)

And I mean "I suck" in the best way possible. How is that good, exactly?

Well, yesterday, our old vacuum gave up the ghost. The poor thing is about 10 years old, and it just wasn't working any more at all. Let me add that I am really not at all domestic, so the idea of finding a vacuum - and picking up the mess that the old one made as it died - really didn't make me jump for joy. Vacuuming - yuck!

But one thing my non-domestic little heart has always wanted is a Dyson. These vacuums are supposed to remove a ton fo allergens and are supposedly great on pet hair. Since we have four cats and a dog... that always seemed pretty good to me.

Well. Lo and behold, Sears had a sale. This weekend. On Dysons.

So now, you're reading about the proud owner of a brand-new Dyson DC-14. The best testimonial I could give? I actually went around LOOKING for things to vacuum. I did my whole downstairs (laminate floor and ceramic tile), then went upstairs and tackled the carpets. I have to admit I was pretty grossed out by the seven or so canisters full of ick that it picked up, but WOW - my floors look better than they have since we moved in, pretty much.

I have to say, most of this post is NOT York County-centric other than that it's about me. That said, I do have a note for those of you who live locally. I want to say especially that the customer service I got at Sears was great; the woman who helped me was named Noel and she gave me her direct number to call back in case I had any questions. She walked us through how to use all the features, and most importantly, she DIDN'T try to talk us into the most expensive model. That, to me, is good customer service, and I would definitely say that you don't find that everywhere. That's what I like so much about York County!

Yes, I know you all love reading my blog. And we even get a little multicultural when we get comments from Mark, who tells us hello from Austria.

But here's a real multicultural blog experience for you, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Dutch Heritage Group's newsletter from earlier this year.

Check out "Nau loss mich yuscht eppes saage! En Blog uff Deitsch", billed as the only blog on the Internet written entirely in Pennsylvania Dutch.

Here's what I can tell, with my VERY limited "Dutch" knowledge: The author is Douglas J. Madenford; he lived or lives in Reading; and he has degrees from Lock Haven University and - I think - is pursuing a Master's degree at Millersville.

The second part of the title of the blog I translate as "A blog in Dutch." The first part, though, completely escapes me. I tried translating it kind of word-for-word and came up with "Now leave me just (???) say."

Anyone have any insight to offer? Or have any other Penna. Dutch sites to recommend?