Good morning, Lancaster County. Mostly sunny and 81 today with a light northwest wind, and a low near 60 tonight. Yesterday's rain cleared out early. Today we start in a church fellowship hall in Quarryville, where the women were making hamburger patties and the men were putting up a tent.
In today's Lancaster Local:
A Quarryville church ran its first outreach, and the youth group paid for it with a concert
The Elizabethtown Fair ends Saturday at 11 — here's what's left
A Medicare counselor in Adamstown Thursday, and a blood drive in Ephrata next week
Three places today where someone will sit down and help you with something
COMMUNITY NEWS
The women made the patties. The men raised the tent. The youth group put on a concert to pay for it. Then a church in Quarryville opened its doors for the first time.
There is a particular kind of local story that never makes the news because nobody involved thinks it's news. This is one of those.
True Gospel Baptist Church in Quarryville recently held its very first community outreach — and the account of it comes from Blessings of Hope, the Leola food nonprofit that supplied the hot dogs and was there to watch.
Inside the fellowship hall, the women shaped ground beef into hamburger patties and filled to-go containers with desserts and condiments. Outside, the men raised a tent so that everything, and everyone, stayed covered. Blessings of Hope called it "all hands on deck," which is the sort of phrase people use when it's literally true.
The detail worth sitting with: the church's young people put on a musical performance to help raise the money for the outreach — and then some of them came back to work it.
It was organized by Derrick and Jewell, who serve on the pastoral team alongside Derrick's parents. The two of them own a food trailer where Jewell is the chef; before that she cooked at a diner, which is where they met. They had organized outreaches in other communities around the country, and wanted to bring one home.
They set it up as a drive-through, so families didn't have to get out of the car. As each vehicle pulled up, Derrick asked the same question: hamburger, or hot dog?
Nobody left with only a meal. Every car also got a Hands of Hope box — groceries to take home, so the thing lasted longer than lunch.
Blessings of Hope ended their write-up this way, and it's better than anything we'd put in its place:
"Because sometimes, hope looks like a hot dog. Sometimes it looks like a box of groceries. And sometimes, it looks like a church simply saying, 'We're here for you.'"
For anyone wanting to find them: True Gospel Baptist Church is at 853 Scotland Road, Quarryville, and has been there since it was founded in January 2007.
EVENTS
Three help-desks today, a fair that ends Saturday, and a blood drive worth putting in your phone now.
💼 CareerLink Q&A Table — Lancaster Public Library lobby, 151 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA 17603. Today, Tuesday, August 25, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. No registration. A CareerLink representative sits in the lobby every Tuesday to help with resumes, interview prep, and finding job postings online. Seven hours, no appointment, no cost.
💻 Computer… Help! — Manheim Community Library, 547 N Penryn Rd, Manheim, PA 17545. Today, Tuesday, August 25, 1:15–4:30 p.m. No registration. The library's list of what they'll tackle is refreshingly plain: questions about using the computer, setting up a Facebook or Instagram or TikTok account, or getting your email organized. Ask for Connor or Libby.
🧶 Yarn Circle — Strasburg-Heisler Library, 143 Precision Avenue, Strasburg, PA 17579. Tonight, Tuesday, August 25, 6:00–7:00 p.m. Drop in. Bring knitting or crochet for "a relaxed time of idea-sharing, friendly conversation, and helping one another along the way." All ages, all skill levels, every other Tuesday.
🐝 Community Hive at the Library — Adamstown Area Library, 110 W. Main St, Adamstown, PA 19501. Wednesday, August 26, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. No registration. Community Hive — until recently called Ephrata Area Social Services — sends its team to the library on the fourth Wednesday of every month to answer questions about free programs: food insecurity support, case management, transitional housing, and transportation. You can just stop by and ask.
📋 Medicare Counselor Walk-In — Adamstown Area Library, 110 W. Main St, Adamstown, PA 19501. Thursday, August 27, 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Walk in. The library and the Office of Aging are putting a PA MEDI counselor in the building for three hours to help with enrollment, coverage options, Medigap policies and Medicare Advantage plans. If you have been putting off that phone call, this is the easier version.
🎡 The Elizabethtown Fair — last call — 900 E High St, Elizabethtown, PA 17022. Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29, 10:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. Admission is free. It ends Saturday at 11 p.m. Friday brings the Pedal Power Tractor Pull at 6:00 and the annual fair auction at 7:00. Saturday is the odd-sport day: horseshoe pitch at 10:00, hay bale throwing at noon, cornhole registration at 1:00 with the tournament at 2:00, and frog jumping at 4:30. Competitive exhibits close at 5:00.
🧪 Chemistry Magic with Eurofins Lancaster Labs — Lancaster Science Factory, 454 New Holland Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17602. Saturday, August 29, 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Eurofins scientists bring three hours of chemistry demonstrations. The listing says free with admission, which is worth reading carefully: admission is $13 for anyone 3 and over, free under 2, and free if you're a member or hold an ASTC Passport.
🎱 Bingo at the VFW — Ephrata VFW Post 3376, 141 S. State St, Ephrata, PA 17522. Monday, August 31, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Every Monday evening, all year, no fuss. Mainspring of Ephrata lists it among the things that simply keep happening downtown.
🌱 Lititz Garden Club — Lititz Public Library, 651 Kissel Hill Road, Lititz, PA 17543. Thursday, September 3, 6:30–8:00 p.m. No registration needed. Master Gardeners, and a topic that changes every month. Good time of year to ask what to do with the beds before frost.
🩸 Community Blood Drive — Ephrata Public Library, 550 South Reading Rd, Ephrata, PA 17522. Friday, September 4, 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Ages 18 and up. Appointments through the Red Cross: call 1-800-RED CROSS or go to RedCrossBlood.org and enter "Ephrata Library." Putting this in now beats remembering it on the fourth.
Tuesday, August 25 — Mostly sunny, with a high near 81 and a light west wind turning northwest at 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Mostly clear tonight, low around 60. A genuinely pleasant one.
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