Good morning, Lancaster County. The weekend's got a little of everything — a movie under the stars tonight, steel drums and a history walk on Saturday, and a Grammy-nominated band playing for free to close it out. Grab your coffee; here's the plan.
In today's Lancaster Local:
A Lancaster dog rescue just marked ten years — and a lot of second chances
A free family movie under the stars tonight at Binns Park
Caribbean steel drums, Revolutionary history, and a tour of Columbia's 300th on Saturday
A Grammy-nominated string band closes the week out free at Long's Park
COMMUNITY NEWS
Ten years, one leash at a time
A lot of the best work in this county happens quietly. Charlie's Crusaders just turned ten.
The all-volunteer Lancaster rescue is a 501(c)(3) with no paid staff — people who, on their own time, go after the dogs nobody else is coming for: the abandoned ones, the neglected ones, the ones running out of time at high-kill shelters. Then comes the patient part — fostering, vetting, matching — until each dog lands in a real home, somewhere across Pennsylvania and the states around it.
On Saturday, June 20, they stopped to mark the milestone with a 10th-anniversary celebration at That Fish Place–That Pet Place on Centerville Road. Ten years is a lot of car rides, a lot of vet bills, and a lot of mornings that started with a scared dog and ended with a wagging tail in somebody's kitchen. If you've ever adopted from them — or thought about it — this is a good week to say thanks, or to go meet a dog.
👉 Learn more → charliescrusaders.org
EVENTS
A little of everything this weekend. Here's the run, near to far.
🎬 Free Family Movie Night: The Sandlot — Binns Park, 136 N Queen St, Lancaster. Tonight, movie at dusk (around 6:30 p.m.). Free. The City's America 250 movie series rolls out a summer classic — food trucks and a beer garden are on site, so bring chairs and blankets and settle in.
More info →
🚗 Axle Snappers Cruise-In — Ephrata-Reading Elks Lodge #115, 170 Akron Rd, Ephrata. Tonight, 3–9 p.m. Free. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and race cars, rain or shine — no judging, no awards, no entry fee. Pull in with something or just come to look.
More info →
🛍️ Ladies Night Out — Southern Market, 100 S Queen St, Lancaster. Tonight, 5–9 p.m. The downtown food hall fills up with pop-up vendors — permanent jewelry, fine-line tattoos, an aura photobooth, perfume and earring bars, even a blind-date book table. Grab dinner and browse.
More info →
🏛️ Ephrata Cloister 1776: An America 250 Celebration — Historic Ephrata Cloister, 632 W Main St, Ephrata. Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. $5 (kids under 3 free). The Cloister served as a Revolutionary War hospital — 260 soldiers treated here, 60 buried on the grounds — and Saturday brings living history, demonstrations, and music in the amphitheater.
More info →
🪦 Brick Cemetery Tour — Mount Bethel Cemetery, 700 Locust St, Columbia. Saturday, tours at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Free. Columbia turns 300 this year, and historian Chris Vera walks you through the town's oldest burying ground — the "Old Brick Cemetery" — and the stories of the founders and early residents resting there. A free, only-this-year way to meet the people who built the place.
More info →
🥁 Trinidad & Tobago Baltimore Steel Orchestra — Strasburg Community Park, 151 Precision Ave, Strasburg. Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Free. An award-winning steel-drum orchestra that's been playing Caribbean music since 1971, out in the park. Bring a blanket; food and cold drinks are for sale.
More info →
🎶 Solstice Circus — SRCC Studios, 156B Lancaster Ave, Columbia. Sunday, 2–8 p.m. Donation. Nine local bands and five solo acts, each set recorded live in the studio — a community music fundraiser you can wander in and out of all afternoon.
More info →
🪕 Long's Park Summer Music Series: Yonder Mountain String Band — Long's Park Amphitheater, 1441 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster. Sunday, July 5, 7:30 p.m. Free. The Grammy-nominated jam-grass band headlines the free Sunday-night concert. Food trucks on site — bring a chair and stake out the lawn.
More info →
Weather
Friday, June 26 — Warm and a little sticky, high near 88°, with a chance of showers floating through the day and a stray thunderstorm possible after dark. Keep half an eye on the radar before tonight's movie — toss a poncho in with the lawn chairs.
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