Good morning, Lancaster County. It's going to be a sticky one, so do the outside stuff early and let the afternoon storms have the rest. The calendar's quiet for a few days and then goes a little wild the last weekend of the month, so this is a good morning to plan ahead.

In today's Lancaster Local:

F&M put real money behind four student ideas - and all four point back at Lancaster

Most college "innovation funds" bankroll lab equipment. Franklin & Marshall just did something different. The first round of its new Innovation Fund went to four student-led projects, each one aimed squarely at the city around the college, with grants of up to $12,500 apiece from the President's Office.

The winners came out of nearly a dozen pitches, and they're a varied bunch. One is a student-run audio studio - the IMS Sonic Lab - where students will produce podcasts, documentaries, and music and put it out over campus station WFNM. Another, called "The Benders," sends students into Lancaster's Sunnyside neighborhood to collect oral histories and shoot short documentaries about a place that's about to change, with a 70-acre nature preserve breaking ground there by 2027. There's a hands-on AI-ethics lab that'll run a public hackathon and a community podcast, and a civics project built alongside the League of Women Voters.

President Rich put it simply: "Our community is restless in the best possible way." The first four launch in the coming months.

👉 Learn more → https://www.fandm.edu/stories/innovation-fund-transforms-spirit-into-action.html

Have you ever felt like there should be more to Christianity than what you've experienced?

More than debates. More than programs. More than simply attending church.

This Sunday is a historic day for our parish as Holy Trinity American Orthodox Catholic Church celebrates our very second service in our new church home, and we would love to welcome you!

If you're spiritually curious, have stopped attending church, feel disconnected from your faith, or come from a Roman Catholic or Protestant background and have questions about the ancient Christian faith, I invite you to come and see.

Orthodoxy is not about reinventing Christianity. It is about experiencing the faith handed down by the Apostles and lived by Christians for 2,000 years.

Join us this Sunday at:

100 New Haven Street
Mount Joy, PA 17022

Learn more or schedule a one-on-one Coffee Talk with Father Don Purdum at: https://holytrinitychurchofamerica.com

The next few days are slow; the real action is over the weekend. Here's the spread, near to far.

🛵 Date Night in Amish Country (sunset scooter tour) - departs 246 N Decatur St, Strasburg. Tonight, Thursday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m. Ride a guided scooter loop through farmland and back roads as the sun drops behind the fields - about as Lancaster as a date night gets. More info →

🔨 2026 Lancaster County Benefit Auction - Leola Produce Auction, Leola. Saturday, June 20 - breakfast buffet at 6:30 a.m., bidding at 8:30, quilts on the block at noon. A full day of carriages, carts, handmade quilts, and furniture going to the highest bidder, all to support families at the Clinic for Special Children. Come hungry, leave with a quilt. More info →

🦋 Pollinator Week Storytime - Mountville Public Library, Mountville. Thursday, June 25, 10:30 a.m. Lancaster County Master Gardeners walk kids ages 5 to 11 through why butterflies and moths matter, read Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly, and send everyone home with a craft. Registration's preferred, walk-ins are fine. More info →

🐴 2026 Lancaster County Carriage & Antique Auction - Smucker Homestead, Bird-in-Hand. Thursday–Friday, June 25–26 - early-bird auction Thursday afternoon, all day Friday. Thousands come to Bird-in-Hand every year for this one: carriages and carts, antiques, quilts, and furniture, with the proceeds going to the Hand-in-Hand Fire Company. More info →

🚗 Axle Snappers Cruise-In - Ephrata Reading Elks Lodge, 170 Akron Rd, Ephrata. Friday, June 26 at 3 p.m. Rain or shine, bring whatever you drive - cars, trucks, motorcycles, race cars. No awards, no judging, no sign-up, just an easy evening of people walking the rows. More info →

🫖 Tea with Susanna Wright - Mount Bethel Cemetery, Columbia. Saturday, June 27 at 1 p.m. $35. Part of Columbia's 300th birthday: a high tea hosted by a costumed Susanna Wright (played by Janet Wood), paired with a walk through the historic Old Brick Cemetery. Tickets need to be bought by June 20. Get tickets →

🎸 Disciple - live at The Junction Center - Landis Hall, 1875 Junction Rd, Manheim. Saturday, June 27 at 7 p.m. The Christian rock band is back at Landis Hall for an afternoon and an evening set. Get tickets →

🏁 The Carnival of Cars - Ken Hoshauer Memorial - Detailing World, Manheim. Sunday, June 28, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Free. An open car meet with a DJ and a vendor on site, this month held in honor of Ken Hoshauer, a fixture of the local car scene remembered for his '67 and '84 Camaros. Bring something with wheels or just come look. More info →

Thursday, June 18 - Hot and humid, near 90°, with storms likely to bubble up in the afternoon. Knock out the errands before lunch and keep an eye on the radar after.

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