By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Photo by Preston WhitcraftManheim Central's Ben Metzler catches Township's Matt Grossmann in a double arm bar in the 138-pound Sectional finals last Saturday.

Manheim Central’s Ben Metzler is known to turn a lot of his opponents using an arm bar.

And he appeared to be on the verge of doing it again last Saturday against Manheim Township’s top-seeded Matthew Grossmann in the 138-pound finals of the District Three Class AAA Section Three Wrestling Tourney.

That is, until the official halted action due to a dangerous position.

The match remained scoreless, but only for a brief time, as the Barons’ junior scored on an escape and made that stand up for a 1-0 win at Hempfield High School, giving Metzler his first Sectional crown.

It also clinched a return trip to the Hersheypark Arena for the District Three Triple-A Championships, set for this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23.

"I’m just looking forward to Districts right now," said Metzler, who improved to 27-6. "I want to make it to States, so (winning Sectionals) is important now, but I’ve got to really get it going on at Districts. That’s more important."

David Hamlin, Emmy Award winning filmmaker and producer for National Geographic TV, will be in Lititz Feb. 23 to talk about his work in Africa. This visual program, sponsored by the Lititz Rotary Club Travelogue, will be held at the Warwick High School Auditorium, 301 W. Orange St., Lititz. A matinee is scheduled for 2 p.m., and an evening show is set for 7:30 p.m. A musical prelude starts at 1:30 and 7 p.m., respectively. Tickets are available at the door; adults are $5 and students are $2.

Since 1963, local Rotarians have been taking Lititz residents on journeys around the world. To celebrate the golden anniversary of the club’s Travelogue series, a senior producer from National Geographic TV will be in town Feb. 23 to talk about his film projects in Africa.

"Who would’ve thought we’d still be doing this after 50 years," said Ron Reedy, crediting the dedicated work of Rotarians like Roy Brubaker, who chaired the Travelogue Committee for most of the 50 years, Garth Becker and Bill Spacht.

Last month’s Montana Travelogue attracted 1,800 people to two shows at the Warwick High School auditorium. And, combined with the Rotary Club’s annual craft show and golf tournament, Travelogue helps raise $80,000 that the club annually donates back to the community.

To celebrate the Rotary Club of Lititz’s civic legacy, and the proud tradition of the Travelogue program, National Geographic will be in town next week.

David Hamlin is a multiple Emmy Award winning filmmaker and executive producer with National Geographic TV. He has traveled the world on numerous expeditions, from the Congo Basin to the Arctic. Currently, he is the executive producer of "America the Wild," a six-part series hosted by Casey Anderson which will premiere on NatGeo WILD this fall.

By: MELINDA ELMER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Elizabeth Township resident Tom Benjamin, of Mayberry Drive, is not happy that the township owns 2,000 square feet of his front yard.

Benjamin told the township supervisors on Monday that he obtained a driveway permit a few years ago with the intention of adding a 400 square foot garage in the future. When he recently applied for a building permit for the garage, he was surprised to learn that he owned 2,000 square feet less land than he thought he did.

Benjamin had not known that Elizabeth Township owns a 10 foot wide roadside strip of the front lawns of all the homes in his development. He sees two options for his dilemma: the township can sell his front yard back to him, or he will plant bushes along the property line and stop caring for the 10 feet along the road. What’s more, he will hold the township accountable for keeping that 10 feet mowed in accordance with its own ordinance.

Benjamin contends that most municipalities use a right of way system in which the property owner owns all the land, but the municipality retains the right to use 10 feet on either side of the road for maintenance purposes.

By: MELISSA HUNNEFIELD Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Enjoying the ice throne at the 2011 Fire & Ice Festival.

While the voting isn’t officially tallied, it seems fairly certain that this weekend’s Fire & Ice Festival will be celebrated in the new "Coolest Small Town in America."

Planners for this year’s Festival, now in its eighth year, not only increased the size of the venue, but its duration as well. Activities have been added on Sunday afternoon, and ice sculptures and vendors will be set up in Lititz Springs Park as well as along the first blocks of Main and Broad streets.

While 43 local businesses are responsible sponsoring ice sculptures, the coordination of the event was in the hands of one woman — Dawn Rissmiller. Unfortunately, Rissmller fell and broke her knee cap at the beginning of the year. She hasn’t allowed the injury to slow her down, however.

"Bomberger’s came through with a Gator that they are letting me use this year to get around during the event," Rissmiller said.

The injury, surprisingly, didn’t present the biggest challenge for Rissmiller.

We propose you celebrate Valentine’s Day by checking out our related features on page A6.

One of several sculptures vandalized at last year's Fire & Ice Festival.

In recent years, the Fire & Ice Festival has been marred twice by acts of vandalism.

According to event organizer, Dawn Rissmiller, about six sculptures were damaged by vandals overnight last year. Some were knocked over with pieces broken. The lost was approximately $2,500.

Rissmiller recalled that six years ago, an intoxicated man damaged an ice sculpture with a hammer. After that, the festival organizers arranged for security. There were no problems since, so they decided it was safe to skip security last year.

"It’s a shame. We didn’t think it was necessary anymore," said Rissmiller. "It’s Lititz. You feel safe here. Who would want to harm an ice block? That’s someone who is a coward and that is a cheap way to make trouble. It’s very disappointing."

Security will not be lacking at this weekend’s event.

"A lot of people came forward last year and designated themselves as our security team," Rissmiller said. "We have two separate groups that will man Main Street, Broad and the entire Park. Lititz definitely stood up last year and said ‘We don’t want this to happen again!’"

Watkins Glen is making an 11th hour push in the "Coolest Small Town in America" contest hosted online by BudgetTravel.com. At present, a mere nine percent gap exists between us. In order to stay on top, Lititz needs to pull together. There are only two days left in which to cast a vote. Vote daily and encourage friends and family to do the same.

Share information about this contest with contacts, Facebook friends, e-newsletters and any other forms of communication to get the vote out. Friends and relatives who have visited and loved Lititz, and former residents of the area will be eager to help out.

Rumor has it, a gala celebration is in the works to celebrate our victory.

It is recommended not to use Internet Explorer, but another browser when accessing the voting page. To vote, visit budgettravel.com and click on the contest story in the center of the page.

The Warwick girls swim team placed second at the L-L meet. Story on B1.