By: BRITTANY SMITH Special to the Record Express, Staff Writer

After eight months of hard work, the regional comprehensive plan, IMPACT 2017, is in its final stage.

The committee, with more than 50 members, began meeting in May 2012 in a joint effort to update the outdated 2006 plan. Monthly meetings focused on different community issues ranging from transportation to sustainability and affordable housing. This month, the planning commissions from Lititz Borough, Warwick and Elizabeth townships have been reviewing the plan draft for its upcoming adoption in April.

The comprehensive plan is the community’s guide for the next five to 10 years. It provides an action plan for projects, based on a vision shaped by the community’s needs and wants for the future. Each municipality brings strengths to the table. By working together and being creative with their combined resources, much can be accomplished. Updating relevant maps like farmland preservation, traffic volumes and future land use are important in planning ahead for new projects and improvements.

More than 70 percent of the objectives and goals from the 2006 plan have been accomplished. In this update, new goals have been explored, and many of the initiatives started in the last plan are being continued and improved upon in IMPACT 2017.

By: TIFFANY WOODALL Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Joey Cassidy (right), overall entertainment chairperson for the Penn State Dance Marathon and 2009 graduate of Warwick High School, with Ashley Fazekas, a pediatric cancer patient who benefited from The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, the sole beneficiary of the money raised by THON each year.

Joey Cassidy is the definition of a leader — a person who inspires others. This college senior has dedicated his time and talent for 10 months as the overall entertainment chairperson for the 2013 Penn State Dance Marathon (THON).

"It takes a person with a very big-picture sort of mentality," said Cassidy in describing his position. His committee of student volunteers is responsible for booking bands and performance groups geared toward energizing thousands of students and visitors at the Bryce Jordan Center during THON weekend.

While the 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon is the ultimate event for Cassidy and his crew, several smaller events take place in the months leading up to THON that require his team’s stage, sound and screen expertise. And this year, Cassidy added a brand new benefit concert — Chords for a Cure — to the line-up, bringing two well-known bands to Eisenhower Auditorium last Saturday night.

By: LAURIE KNOWLES CALLANAN Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Ever since he was a young boy, Richard Neidermyer wanted to be a fireman.

On Monday evening, Neidermyer — better known to friends, family and fellow firefighters as Dick — was honored by the Lititz Fire Company No. 1 for his 50 years of volunteer service.

"I was fascinated by fire engines when I was a child," he recalled.

Neidermyer was 16 when he began volunteering as a junior firefighter. Even while studying business administration and accounting at Elizabethtown College, he put in countless hours at his hometown fire hall. He went on to form his own accounting firm in Lititz, which he successfully operated for 35 years, providing for his wife Shirley and their children, Rick and Wendy. Along the way, for the past half-century, he always made time for his boyhood dream. Lititz has benefited greatly from that selfless dedication.

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

Weis Market may be selling beer at its Lititz store in the not-too-distant future.

The possibility of six pack sales and beer on the menu for a new in-store restaurant was discussed Tuesday night when borough council approved a request by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to hold a public hearing on the matter. But while council has agreed to advertise and hold the hearing, council president Karen Weibel made it clear — the decision, whether or not to grant the required liquor license, was not a matter to be decided by Lititz Borough Council.

Plans for the Lititz store were detailed in a letter to borough manager Sue Barry from attorney Robert J. O’Hara III of the legal firm Flaherty and O’Hara, which is representing Weis Markets.

Weis is seeking a resolution from the borough approving the inter-municipal transfer of a Pennsylvania "R" (restaurant) liquor license from outside the municipality into the borough.

"Weis will be operating a restaurant inside its grocery store at 740 S. Broad St. in which it intends to sell beer," O’Hara said. "Weis plans to sell beer from the restaurant for consumption on premises in the restaurant and ‘to go,’ and may at some future date sell wine for consumption on the restaurant premises."

Warwick High School’s young journalists cover course selection, low self-esteem and teen dating. This month’s edition of the Warrior Beat is on page B2.

Sylvia Kauffman, Lititz’s 1947 Queen of Candles, passed away last week. Her obituary appears on page A8.

By: MELISSA HUNNEFIELD Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Kara Garman(From left) Kara Garman, Sam Garman, Ellie Cook and John Garman jumped out of line during the March for Life to take a group photo.

Jan. 22 marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

On Jan. 25, pro-lifers responded with one of the largest human rights demonstration in the world, the March for Life, in Washington, D.C.

Although the march usually falls on the actual day of the decision, this year’s date was changed to accommodate President Obama’s inauguration.

Kara Garman, co-chair of the Respect Life Committee at St. James Catholic Church in Lititz, and her family attended the march for the first time. They rode on one of nine busses that departed Lancaster that morning. It is said that 500,000 participated this year.

Despite 25-degree temperatures and light snow, Kara was adamant about showing her support.

"I have always been pro-life, but have only become an activist since it hit me on a personal level," Kara said. "My step-daughter, Sam, came to me in November of 2011, 19 and pregnant. She talked about having an abortion and that is when my pro-life mission began. I am very proud to say that she gave life to her baby girl and has blessed the lives of a very loving couple that so desperately wanted a baby."

Warwick’s Josh Charles and Tom Devenney win wrestling gold at the L-L meet. Full story on page B1.

This week, Lititz maintains its healthy lead over second-place Watkins Glen, N.Y. in BudgetTravel.com’s America’s Coolest Small Towns 2013 contest.

Currently, Lititz has 24.6 percent of the votes, with Watkins Glen rallying at 14.2. Bay St. Louis, Miss. trails with 10.9 percent. Sixteen days remain in the contest.

Vote daily for Lititz at budgettravel.com by clicking on the Contests link in the center of the page and help us on our way to becoming the 8th Annual Coolest Small Town in America.

Lititz’s Victorian heritage took a big hit this week in 1963, when a Broad Street beauty that housed generations of local doctors was slated for demolition. Read Out of the Past on page A9.