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.

Brenda Heist, missing for 11 years and declared legally deceased, found in Key Largo

By:  STEPHEN SEEBER, Record Express Staff

She dropped her kids off at school, befriended a group of vagabond hitchhikers, left for Florida and never looked back…until last Friday.

Brenda C. Heist, who on Feb. 8, 2002 traded her life as a Lititz homemaker for that of a dumpster diving scavenger, was immediately reported missing and eventually presumed dead after an extensive investigation went cold. The case was brought back to life, more than 11 years later, with a phone call to Lititz police on April 26.

“I was shocked,” said Det. Sgt. John Schofield, the officer who took the call. “Quite honestly, I presumed her to be deceased as well, and I thought we were going to get the phone call one day that her remains were discovered.”

The call came after Heist, who was reportedly tired of being homeless and on the run, approached a sheriff’s deputy in Key Largo. She said there was an open warrant on her in which she used a false identification. While the officer was checking on the warrant, she handed over her Pennsylvania ID and said her husband reported her missing in 2002. A national database search confirmed that Brenda Heist was missing and declared deceased, and a photo sent to Schofield via text matched the face to the name.

There are still a few days to vote for your favorite pet from last week’s "Oh, Those Pets!" photo section. Use the ballot form on page A2 in conjunction with last week’s pets section (additional copies are still available at our Ephrata office), and mail or drop off by the April 5 deadline. No photo copies, please. Mailing address is 1 E. Main St., P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

It was fours across the board for Warwick High School at the 60th annual Lancaster County Science & Engineering Fair March 27 at Franklin & Marshall College.

WHS students won four first place awards, four seconds and four thirds, along with several honorable mentions.

In all, 379 middle and high school students from 21 county schools participated. Here are our local winners: First Place Awards

? Drew Carson

Biochemsitry

? J.J. Vulopas

Chemistry

? Erik Homberger

Earth & Planetary Science

? Marleise Emrhein

Medicine & Health Science

Second Place Awards

? Sharon Christner

Chemistry

? David Krak

Energy & Transportation

? Sydney Weit

Microbiology

? Maddy Rohr

Plant Sciences

Third Place Awards

? Samantha Rishell

Chemistry

? Vanessa Strohm

Energy & Transportation

? Emily Norton

Medicine & Health Science

? Julie Heckman

Microbiology

Honorable Mentions

? Rachel Boyer

Chemistry

? Gabby Uptegraph

Chemistry

? Brogan Galbreath

Chemistry

? Will Howland

Engineering: Materials

& Bioengineering

? Jesse Whiteman

Energy & Transportation

By: CORY VAN BROOKHOVEN Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

The intersections of Dridge Hill and Lexington roads in Midway are close to the mysterious lost cemetery mentioned in Christian Metzler's 1910 letter to the editor.

Located north of Lititz between Brunnerville and Lexington lies an area called Midway.

It is a very small area; one which you most likely won’t find on any map and contains just a few rows of homes. Within this area lies Dridge Hill Road, which is a beautiful drive through a valley and takes you from Lexington to Brunnerville or vice versa. Many readers will probably remember the Midway store that once operated in this area. I for one have very fond memories of riding my bike there as a kid for penny candy.

In the March 4, 1910 edition of the Lititz Express newspaper, a gentleman named Christian E. Metzler wrote a letter to the editor to help shed some light on a long-lost cemetery that another reader had inquired about a few months prior. The original plea was penned as "Wanted — Location of old cemetery, somewhere along the northwestern slope of Tritscha Berg." The person asking for help was referring to an area in Midway –Tritscha Berg — presently know approximately as the area encompassing Dridge Hill.

You know how Wal-Mart is a typical American store, and you can find one almost everywhere in the country? Switzerland also has such a store — about a tenth of the size, of course — and it’s called Migros (pronounced: mee-grow).

Like Wal-Mart, Migros is known for offering good prices for a wide range of products. However, they go about offering these prices in a different way.

I came across this interesting fact after I asked my host family why Migros always uses a hideous bright green color with a white watermark for all of its packaging. Almost everything you can buy at Migros has this: butter, yogurt, pencils, tea, and everything one could possibly need for Easter. I even have a friend who has a laptop which has the entire top just plastered with this same bright green. It’s not even a sticker that you can take off; it was just made that way.

I can understand why people would shop there for food and small things, but I couldn’t understand why someone would buy a computer with this huge logo on it. My host family told me that there were bicycles with the Migros paint on them and even a Migros car.

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

A new ordinance that would require regular inspection of all residential rental units within Lititz Borough took a step toward reality Tuesday night when borough council voted to advertise the proposed ordinance for public review. A public hearing on the matter will be held at the start of next month’s borough council meeting.

Council members Todd Fulginiti and Doug Bomberger have been shepherding the ordinance through its various planning stages.

Bomberger stressed the importance of landlords and tenants being aware that there is progress on the new ordinance and that now is their opportunity for comment. As a part of the hearing process, local residents are invited to offer their input.

At the close of the hearing, the council then has 45 days in which to act on the measure. That means that action could take place as early as their April 29 meeting. Should council not act on the measure by the May 28th meeting, it would go back to the drawing board, something council has said they hope to avoid.

Lititz is one of perhaps only a handful of municipalities state wide that don’t already have such an ordinance in place.

The Lititz Sportsmen’s Association has scheduled a Fishing Derby for kids at Riparian Park, located at the intersection of Rte. 772 and Clay Road, on March 30. Registration begins at 6 a.m. with fishing between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The event is designed for kids 15 and under. The Association will be stocking the waters with 1,000 fish. Food and drinks will be available. To learn more, call 572-3421. The 67th annual Lititz Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt is set for this Saturday, 10:30 a.m. sharp at Bonfield Elementary School.

Photo by Carl ShumanThe Trombone Choir leads a procession to the shrouded cross in God's Acre at the 2012 Sunrise Service.

Between 2 and 3 a.m. on Easter morning the members of the Moravian Trombone Choir gather at Church Square in Lititz to keep a tradition that is as old as the town itself. After sharing breakfast at the Church, the musicians divide into three groups, moving to various sections of the town, stopping on street corners, under lampposts, to musically announce the Day of Resurrection with chorales such as "Sleepers, Wake!"

It is a tradition as old as Lititz, a town formed by the Moravians in 1756. Like the Christmas Vigils, it is one of those traditions that give character to the community.

About 5:30 a.m. the musicians return to the Church for an interval of rest before the 6:15 a.m. Sunrise Service. This service begins with a brief liturgy in the Church, but soon the doors from the sanctuary are opened, and the congregants stream outside where they hear the Trombone Choir playing the joyful "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."

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

It seems hard to believe that it has been just over a year since the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department came into existence, merging the police forces from Warwick, Clay and Penn townships into one department. Now, the first ever annual report for that new force has been issued, and Warwick Township officials are impressed.

"We were extremely pleased with the report," Supervisors Chairman Logan Myers. He described it as professional and concise, addressing all aspects of policing in the community, as well as the administrative elements of the department. "Very was comprehensive."

"I know the board of supervisors were very pleased with the professional service and dedication provided by Chief Steffen and every member of the NLCRPD in our first year," said township manager Dan Zimmerman. "It takes a tremendous amount of effort to get a new organization up and running. We are also very pleased with our two municipal partners, Clay and Penn Township. The whole effort has exceeded our expectations."

Findings from the first report were made public during the March 20 supervisors meeting. Police Chief David Steffen provided in-depth details of a busy, productive year in which the new force cleared a number of key hurdles.

Wow! We invited readers to send their favorite pet photos for this week’s special section, and the readers responded with nearly 200 pictures. They’re all featured in "Oh, Those Pets!" in this week’s Record Express.

Next month’s theme is Easter/spring, so send us your best shots from this year’s egg hunt.

Reader poll

Also, we’re looking for readers to chime on which theme we should go with for May, veterans or Mother’s Day. Email Steve at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com with your preference.