Dealing with the hype

Despite the news of the cancellation of the beloved Halloween parade, the community expressed mixed reactions to impending Hurricane Sandy on Facebook.

"We have had a lot of trees fall on our house in weaker storms," said Barb Fishel on Facebook, "so I am a little worried."

"(I’m) not too worried," Stephen Bartle chimed in, "as the media always blows these storms out of proportion."

"Storm? What storm?" Jason Horst joked. "Jus’ a lil rain maker, that’s all."

Tracy Randall-Loose summed it up best when she said, "Anticipation is horrible."

Senator Brubaker’s

contribution

Throughout the crisis, Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-PA) kept up a steady Facebook presence, alerting friended constituents of the latest developments as he kept up a steady phone dialogue with local officials.

"Facebook and other social media tools do provide an efficient way to get information out," Brubaker commented on one of his posts.

"The storm is not a political issue. It is a human issue," Brubaker continued. "Too bad some of our friends think politics as soon as questions are asked. I just want to get the right resources to the right places to help people in need. It is as simple as that."

Amanda Walker's award-winning Halloween photo of her son Trey.

Congratulations, Amanda Walker. Her photo of her 5-month-old son Trey is the winner of our monthly "It’s All About You" photo contest. Amanda wins a $25 gift certificate to Fiorentino’s Restaurant in Lititz.

Check out all of our community Halloween photos on pages B5-8 of this week’s Record Express

And we are now accepting photos for next month’s photo page — fall traditions.

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Stephen Seeber at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com. Photos can also be dropped off at our Ephrata office or mailed to P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

When submitting photos, please include all necessary identifications and your contact information (in case we have any questions). Submitted information should include names of those in the photos, your local connection, where and when the photos were taken, and identity of the photographer.

Please limit the number of submitted photos to three.

By: GARY P. KLINGER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Even as the effects of Hurricane Sandy were still being felt throughout the area, Lititz Borough officials were breathing a huge sigh of relief that the storm had not been as bad as it could have been.

"It is good to know that common sense can still prevail," said Lititz Mayor and Lititz Fire Chief Ron Oettel. "People were heeding the advice to stay off the road, which makes a huge difference when we need to move things around. In the end it is just common sense that prevails."

Oettel, who had signed a disaster proclamation as mayor, noted that it was a relatively quiet evening for the fire department.

"The roads were barren," he commented. "There was some notion that perhaps we were over-preparing, but when you tell people that something is coming they probably won’t listen. It’s arguable that we painted this as big and dynamic and people heeded this warning."

Like nearly every other area in Pennsylvania, Oettel noted how stores were completely sold out of things like water, batteries, milk and flashlights.

By: STEPHEN SEEBER Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Downtown Lititz was supposed to be packed with costumed marchers and curb-perched children scrambling for candy treats launched from passing floats.

But there would be no Halloween Parade Monday night, a cancellation prompted by the frightening prospect of an approaching hurricane dubbed "Frankenstorm." Instead, heeding the advice of emergency officials, citizens retreated to their homes with seemingly every loaf of bread and every ounce of bottled water available on grocery store shelves.

The borough was a ghost town by 4 p.m. Chatty leaves rustling in the wind announced the approach of our unwelcome guest. Sandy was near.

Over at the Lititz Fire Co., 21 volunteers were preparing to spend the night at the West Main Street station, ready to take on any emergency the hurricane could throw their way. As the day’s light dwindled, wind gusts began to intensify, Lititz Run was on the rise, a public works employee cleared leaves and debris from downtown storm drains, the last handful of cars on Route 501 seemed to be hustling home for the night, and other than a group of hooded girls walking a black lab to their rendition of "Singin’ in the Rain," most had found cover for what was expected to be a storm as bad as, or worse than, last year’s Hurricane Irene/Tropical Storm Lee combo whose raging waters drowned a Lebanon woman on Route 322 in Elizabeth Township.

Inside Warwick beat Wilson 3-1 in Saturday’s District playoff match, allowing the Warriors to move on to face Exeter Wednesday night. Full story on page B1. Lititz Record Express Facebook followers will now have the opportunity to see their comment highlighted in our print edition each week.

Every Friday following publication, look for the "Question Of The Week" on our Facebook page. Let us know your thoughts as you always would — witty or informational — and then we will select the top response to feature each week in the print edition of the Lititz Record Express.

If you aren’t a current follower on Facebook, take a moment to "Like" our page. Doing so will not only make you a part of this new feature, but also give you access to critical updates and get a first look at news snippets throughout the week.

The Facebook "Comment Of The Week" will debut in the Nov. 8 edition. Will the first question be election-related? Check it out.

By: MELISSA HUNNEFIELD Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Sandy rained on our parade Monday night. For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, the Lititz Lions Club Halloween Parade was canceled. This was the empty scene at Cedar and Main streets, where big crowds were expected to gather for the start of the parade. Trick-or -Treat night was still on for Wednesday night, as scheduled, according to borough manager Sue Barry.

Lititz, once again, was spared the full force of a devastating storm.

Last year, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee put Ephrata under water, but missed Lititz. This week, hurricane-turned-tropical depression Sandy devastated New Jersey and New York, but quietly (relatively speaking) passed through Lititz Monday night.

Other than a few power outages on Keller Drive, and a few downed branches, the storm’s impact on Lititz was minimal. Perhaps the biggest deal for locals was the first-ever cancellation of the Lions Club Halloween Parade.

"The Lititz Halloween Parade, for Monday night, has officially been canceled," said the e-mail from Gaylord Poling, president of Venture Lititz. "There is no rain date since Tuesday was their backup date. Please pass the information to others as appropriate."

Here they come, down the stretch, the champions of our nation’s leading political parties, and it’s just too close to call.

This presidential race will be a photo finish.

Hurricane Sandy stole headlines this week, and even though Lititz was spared from the destruction seen in south Jersey and New York City, it was a historic storm. The Election Day results between Democratic President Barak Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will be equally historic.

The public has a myriad of polls to choose from, and they all have their own margin of error, but they all demonstrate just how close this will be and that every vote could be a difference-maker.

ABC has Romney ahead of Obama by one percentage point. CBS has Obama ahead by one. There are dozens of others to choose from, and when you average them out the only clear answer is that this will come down to the wire.

Much has changed since Barak Obama campaigned at Wilbur Chocolate in downtown Lititz in 2008. As the nation’s sluggish economy slowly rebuilds and unemployment remains high, reelection is no easy task.

By: RICHARD REITZ Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Photo by Richard ReitzTalking politics prior to Election Day in downtown Lititz are (left to right) Laurie Ulrich Fuller, Aryanna Strader and Don Levasseur.

Aryanna Strader came to Aaron’s Books in Lititz on Sunday afternoon to talk about her campaign for the 16th Pa. Congressional District. But her audience was broader than the nearly two dozen people that joined her at the event.

Strader, the Democratic challenger for the seat held by Rep. Joe Pitts, was a guest on The Making Sense Show, a political issues radio program hosted by Don Levasseur of Lititz and Laurie Ulrich Fuller of Lancaster. The show is broadcast live weekly to over 150 radio stations nationwide and as an internet podcast.

With rows of children’s books as their backdrop, the hosts discussed both local and national politics with Strader, asking their own questions and taking others from the audience. They also peppered their conversation with jokes and jabs at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, his running mate Paul Ryan, and at Strader’s Republican opponent.

The first audience question she answered was broad in scope: "How do we make the world a better place?"