Things to do: May 2009 Archives

Note from Joan: As I mentioned earlier, I'm trying to get some guest-bloggers to offer their perspectives on York County. Today's post comes from my absolute favorite person in the county... Hubby! He went yard-sale shopping with me yesterday, and here are his thoughts.

If you want your books to sell - and I'm guessing you do, considering you put them out for your yard sale - price them at 25 cents apiece, regardless of whether they're paperback or hardcover.

Or if you absolutely must make them 50 cents apiece, encourage sales with a "three for $1" incentive, or something like that.

I saw way, way too many overpriced books while out at the yard sales Saturday.

Worn paperbacks for 50 cents, used hardcovers with no dust jackets for $1, and even some books priced as high as $5 or $10 apiece.

At prices like that, I suspect all those Tom Clancys, Stephen Kings, romance novels, diet books and cookbooks got hauled right back inside. And then what have you accomplished? Wouldn't you rather get a few quarters and be rid of that "stuff" you already decided to part with?

Finally, a tip for buyers. If you need a copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting," hit a community yard sale. I saw no fewer than five copies for sale Saturday - it was at about 50 percent of the places we shopped.

Is it perhaps the "Most Yard-Saled Book Of The Past 25 Years?" Nobody ever holds onto it after they're done, right? What would be ranked ahead of it?

You probably know by now that I love yard sales, and of course I recognize that it's almost a must-do on spring and summer weekends in York County.

So this morning, we loaded the whole family into the car and headed over to some neighborhoods in Manchester Township for a couple of community yard sales.

Best find went to my mom, who got a brand-new summer purse for $2. Daughter Sarah got a 50-cent T-shirt with a panda on it from the Washington Zoo. Hubby got a book from a "free" box. Lunch, for my mom and me, was a yummy, freshly grilled hot dog (75 cents!) from one yard-saler.

And guess what I got? Something for the blog!

It's "A Taste of Pennsylvnia Recipe Book" published by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture and it only cost a quarter!

Be on the lookout for recipes from it in the coming days, including some more great ways to use local fresh fruit. (Don't forget to vote for your favorite local fruit in the post before this one!)

Anyone else have good yard-sale finds or news of coming sales to report? Comment and let me know!

These library books show just a few of the things the library can help you do - beat debt, kill clutter, get in shape, and more.

Today's post will be one of the notable exceptions.

At the meeting of the Southern York County Business Association I went to earlier in the month, I had the privilege of chatting with Demi Fair, library director at the Paul Smith Library in Shrewsbury. At the time, she mentioned that certain proposals at the state level stood to cut library funding significantly, and I heard similar news at my last visit to my own library in Dover.

Today, I received an e-mail from the library system, asking me to write to my legislators to ask them to reconsider cuts to library funding. As I'm not normally an "activist" of any sort, I almost passed it by. Then I started reading. The e-mail, from York Libraries President Trish Calvani, says:

Blog readers who've been around since last summer probably know what made my finger stop before hitting the delete key - the possible cuts to summer programming. You might remember that we spent all last summer finding 30 "letterboxes" as part of a partnership between the libraries and Keystone Activity Zone. It was free - and educational - and essentially comprised most of our family time last summer. If funding for activities like that were cut, we'd all be heartbroken.

I'm no political genius, but I do know that if library funding does come, it will be at a cost elsewhere. While I realize that, I also know how much the library has brought to my family, and I'm willing to explore other cuts in order to keep this valuable resource around. You're welcome to disagree, and if so, thanks for reading this far and for respecting my opinion. If, however, you happen to agree, I'm sure the libraries would appreciate your support in their letter campaign.

OK, well, it was $20 in quarters, and no, Jo, I wasn't at the casino.

On Tuesday night, I went to one of the growing number of quarter auctions in York County. Most of them are fundraisers for various causes, and this one, held at the Dover Township community building, was done to help a team from the Dover Dragons Tae Kwon Do studio travel to a national competition.

Man, was it fun! My mom, Sarah and I went. A $3 ticket entitled you to two bidding paddles. The prizes up for bid, donated by local home sales vendors, like those with Creative Memories and Pampered Chef, were considered one, two, three or four-quarter items. If you wanted to bid, you paid that many quarters per paddle. Then, you held your paddles up, and the hostess/emcee drew pingpong balls from a box with numbers to match the paddles. If your number was called but you hadn't bid, they just drew another one.

Here are my lucky paddles: (206 was called several times!)

My mom won, on a bid of $1 total, a great, huge purse from Thirty-One. Mom and I bid a grand total of $1 between us and won a Boyd's Bears rabbit named Ashlynn for Sarah.

Here they are:

And, of course, I love my scrapbooking stuff. I won a Creative Memories circle maker, which costs $20.50, for $1. And, I won a special paper pack and sticker pack that you can't even buy through Creative Memories, also for $1.

Altogether, we figured that the three of us won at least $80-$100 worth of stuff, and we spent a grand total of $40 in quarters, plus about $5 for snacks and $6 for the tickets. Overall, not bad, and considering some of the money benefits a good cause, I'm all for it.

I know there are several other quarter auctions coming. In fact, there's one tonight (May 13), with doors opening at 6 p.m., to benefit Joyful Noise Preschool; it'll be held at 2215 Brandywine Lane, and you can contact Jill Brockington at j.brockington@comcast.net for details. Not sure what the cost is, sorry!

Then, there's one next Thursday (May 21) at Providence Presbyterian Church, 1215 Church Road in Manchester Township. That one benefits Inspiring H.O.P.E., a group that is trying to build a "barrier-free" playground at Cousler Park where children with and without disabilities can play together. Again, doors open at 6 p.m.; admission is $3 and includes two paddles, with additional paddles available for purchase.

And I know Red Lion's fire company has one on the fourth Friday of every month, including May 22. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the auction starts at 7 p.m. Cost is $3 and includes one paddle. For details, call 244-8811, ext. 3, or visit redlionfire.org.

I think I've found the next big York County pastime, even bigger than cow-pattie bingo and "I Got It" at the fair. If anyone else has tried quarter auctions, I'd love to hear about it!

As it turns out, many of my friends are involved in some local theater productions in the coming week or two.

My friend Adam Jones is one of the leads in "Lend Me A Tenor" at the Hanover Little Theater, 360 Blooming Grove Road. Shows are 8 p.m. May 7, 8, 9 and 14, 15, 16. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Readers' Cafe, 125 Broadway in Hanover, or by calling 630-2524

Adam is a professionally trained actor who's done tons of shows in New York City - and we're lucky enough to have him back in the area, so definitely go see him.

Another friend, Dan Stief, co-runs an arts group called OrangeMite Studios, which, among its other endeavors, stages theater performances at "The Barn" in Dover Township.

They've got a production of "As You Like It" coming May 15 and 16, with a Renaissance Fair-like set of events included.

Details from their poster below:

Both Adam and Dan went to Dover High with me, and they're both exceptionally talented - much more so than I am!

If you plan to attend either of these productions, let me know, because I'd like to go and would like someone to go WITH!

Does that post title give you any idea how I spent my day off this week?

On Wednesday, one of our days off together, Hubby and I decided to take a drive into Adams County. Not to do anything in particular; just because we almost never head west when we travel.

I loved seeing rural Adams County! We looked at the monuments in Gettysburg a little bit, then wound our way around Biglerville, Orrtanna, Cashtown and some other towns.

I love small towns, and I especially loved getting to see the somewhat famous (and possibly haunted) Cashtown Inn.

But guess what? Couldn't go in. It was closed.

As was the somewhat well known Biglerville Country Store.

So was a neat little bookstore in Gettysburg that Hubby wanted to show me.

Oh, and the wonderful roadside fruit stands that dot the landscape in both Adams and York counties? Nope. No fruit on Wednesdays, it seems, at least not there.

Hubby is the one who suggested this post title. And while it fits, I would like to say that I had a good time seeing the sights in our neighboring county to the west. Definitely a good day trip.