Good morning, Lancaster County. Partly sunny with a high near 88 and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3 p.m. First, a 90-year-old who spent Saturday falling out of the sky on purpose.
In today's Lancaster Local:
A 90-year-old made a parachute jump over Lancaster County on Saturday, and his cigar shop covered his shift
A book club at a brewery tonight, where nobody makes you talk about the book
A poolside book club Wednesday — but you'll need pool admission to get in
A Mexican restaurant in Denver gives 10% of a day's sales to a library next week
COMMUNITY NEWS
He turned 90, and then he jumped out of an airplane. His cigar shop covered the counter while he did it.
The best account of what Wayne Burg did on Saturday came from a cigar lounge, posted the day before, and it is hard to improve on:
"Our very own Wayne Burg is taking 'living life to the fullest' to a whole new altitude! At 90 years young, Wayne is jumping out of a perfectly good airplane simply because… 'Why not?'"
Casta Cigars put that up on Friday, along with the practical business of one of the shop's owners being briefly unavailable. Paulie would be holding down the fort. Here were the hours. And then the sign-off, which is the sort of line you cannot write unless you actually know the man:
"Stop in, light up a good cigar, and raise one to Wayne — the only man we know who needs a parachute more than a lighter this weekend!"
He jumped Saturday.
The dropzone is Maytown Sport Parachute Club, on Airport Road in Marietta, which describes itself as one of the oldest skydiving clubs in the United States. It runs tandem jumps for beginners alongside experienced jumpers, and its own website explains who signs up for the tandem: people "celebrating life" or "checking off another bucket list item."
Somewhere in those two categories, at ninety years old, is Wayne Burg — who, as far as his cigar shop is concerned, needed no better reason than the one he gave.
👉 Photos of Wayne's jump → (York Daily Record)
EVENTS
Three things today, then a stretch of book clubs and one very good excuse to eat Mexican food.
📖 Silent Book Club at Our Town Brewery — 252 N. Prince Street, Lancaster, PA 17603. Tonight, Monday, August 17, 6–8 p.m. Free. Adults and seniors. All the perks of a book club with none of the stress: uninterrupted reading time, the chance to talk to other readers afterward, and no deadlines or pressure to sound insightful. Bring whatever you're already reading. Find them on the brewery's first floor.
🀄 Mah-Jongg — Adamstown Area Library, 110 W. Main St, Adamstown, PA 19501. Today, Monday, August 17, 1–3:30 p.m. Free. Adults and seniors. First and third Mondays. Brand-new players and longtime ones both welcome — all skill levels are welcome, with a chance to learn, practice and meet other players.
✍️ Writing Club — Lititz Public Library, 651 Kissel Hill Road, Lititz, PA 17543. Today, Monday, August 17, 1–2 p.m. Free. Adults and seniors. Support, shared information and critique among local writers. Contact Diane at [email protected] before you go — the club may be full.
🏊 Poolside Pages Book Club — Overlook Pool, Manheim Township. Wednesday, August 19, 6:30–7:30 p.m. Blanket, lawn chair, and this month's pick — The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson — on the grass at the pool. This one is not free: because it happens inside the pool gates, you need an Overlook pool pass or you have to pay the standard daily admission. No registration otherwise; just turn up.
📚 Lit Lovers Book Group — Milanof-Schock Library, 1184 Anderson Ferry Road, Mount Joy, PA 17552. Tuesday, August 25, 6:30–7:45 p.m. Free. Mostly fiction, but also memoir, short stories, biography, mystery and science fiction. The group's own description makes a point of saying it works to respect differing viewpoints, which tells you something about how the discussions go.
🎨 Lititz Art Association — Lititz Public Library, Community Room, 651 Kissel Hill Road, Lititz, PA 17543. Tuesday, August 25, 6–7:45 p.m.
🌮 Castañeda's Library Fundraiser — Castañeda's Mexican Restaurant, 323 Main Street, Denver, PA. Wednesday, August 26, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. On the last Wednesday of every month, 10% of everything the restaurant takes in — food, not alcohol — goes to the Adamstown Area Library. Dine in or take out; either counts.
Monday, August 17 — Partly sunny with a high near 88 and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3 p.m. Tonight, a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7 p.m.; otherwise partly cloudy, with a low around 67.
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