Good morning, Lancaster County. Partly sunny and easier than it's been, with a high near 86 and only a slight chance of a shower before 11 a.m. First, what stood in a field off Kissel Hill Road this past weekend.
In today's Lancaster Local:
Seven military eras shared the grounds at Landis Valley, and the firing demonstrations ran in chronological order
Three nonprofits present tonight in Lancaster, and LCWG members vote on which receives most of the quarterly grant
You can extract real DNA from a vegetable in New Holland this morning
Chicken at 10 a.m. until it's gone, at a Christiana library yard sale
COMMUNITY NEWS
Seven military eras shared the grounds at Landis Valley last weekend, and the gunfire went off in chronological order.
Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum spent Saturday and Sunday hosting America 250 Celebration: Military Days, and the guest list was unusual even by reenactment standards.
Represented across the grounds were the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II. Seven eras, one property, two days.
The detail worth sitting with is how they handled the firing demonstrations. Rather than scatter them, the museum ran them in chronological order — Revolutionary War forward through the Civil War. Stand in one spot long enough and you heard about ninety years of American firearms arrive in sequence.
Around that there were cavalry demonstrations, a fashion show, book signings, music, food, and craftspeople working in the open. The historian Scott Mingus gave a lecture.
Afterward the museum posted its thanks — to the reenactors, the craftspeople, the volunteers and the staff — and added that it's already looking forward to next year's.
Many reenactors camped on-site overnight and spent the weekend interpreting military life, equipment and daily routines for visitors.
EVENTS
Five things today, then a thin stretch before things pick up again on the 19th.
🤝 LCWG Summer Gather & Grant — Southern Market, The Willow Room, 100 South Queen Street, Lancaster, PA 17603. Tonight, Wednesday, August 12, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Three finalists present: I Support the Girls–Lancaster, Friendship Community and Samaritan Center, Lancaster. LCWG members vote to award the majority of the grant pool to one finalist; the other two receive smaller appreciation gifts. Food and mingling at 6:30, presentations at 7. You don't need to be a member to attend.
🧬 “A Look at DNA” with Lancaster County Parks & Recreation — Eastern Lancaster County Library, 11 Chestnut Drive, New Holland, PA 17557. Today, Wednesday, August 12, 10:30–11:30 a.m. Free. DNA carries the blueprints for life, but what does it actually look like? You'll pull real DNA out of fruits and vegetables and find out whether cloning a dinosaur is as easy as the movie made it look.
🪕 Phredd Ukulele One Man Band — Adamstown Area Library, Children's Room, 110 W. Main St, Adamstown, PA 19501. Today, Wednesday, August 12, 10–11 a.m. Free. Ukulele, harmonica, suitcase drum and kazoo, all at once, by a man who has been doing this for more than 25 years.
🎨 Painting Club — Lititz Public Library, 651 Kissel Hill Road, Lititz, PA 17543. Today, Wednesday, August 12, 12:30–2:30 p.m. Free, no registration. Second and fourth Wednesdays. Bring your own supplies and paint alongside people doing the same.
🧵 Cozy Stitch Collective — Adamstown Area Library, Reading Room, 110 W. Main St, Adamstown, PA 19501. Tonight, Wednesday, August 12, 5:30–6:30 p.m. Free. Adults and seniors. Crochet, knitting, embroidery, cross-stitch — whatever you've got going — in front of the fireplace. All skill levels.
🚗 Lititz Lions Car Cruise — East Main Street, Lititz, PA 17543. Wednesday, August 19, 5:30 p.m. Spectators free. The annual cruise down East Main. Car owners register online; everybody else just turns up and looks.
🚂 Columbia 300 Speaker Series: Above Ground on the Underground Railroad — National Watch & Clock Museum, 514 Poplar Street, Columbia, PA 17512. Thursday, August 20, 6:30 p.m. Randy Harris and Peter Green on how Columbia's “above ground” railroad moved freedom seekers toward Philadelphia — part of the borough's 300th-anniversary series.
🍗 Library Yard Sale & BBQ Chicken Sale — Moores Memorial Library, 9 West Slokom Avenue, Christiana, PA 17509. Saturday, August 22, 7:30 a.m.–1 p.m. The library's corner of the Christiana Community Yard Sale — a table on the lawn, more downstairs in the bookstore. Chicken starts at 10 a.m. and runs until it's sold out, which is the part you'll want to plan around.
📖 Read-a-Loud with Raven — Mountville Branch Library, Meeting Room A, Mountville, PA 17554. Saturday, August 22, 10:30–11:30 a.m. Free; registration required. Children in first through fourth grade can reserve a 15-minute slot to read with Raven, a KPETs therapy dog. Call or visit the library to register.
Wednesday, August 12 — Partly sunny, with a high near 86 and a 20% chance of a shower before 11 a.m. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 67 and a 20% chance of a shower.
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