THE YEAR IN REVIEW September-December 2019

September 

Sept. 3 — Ribbons were cut at the new WellSpan Greencastle Health Center at ceremonies during a VIP open house and Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce mixer Thursday. The facility will open for business on Monday, Sept. 9, at 24 Antrim Commons Drive, near Exit 3 of Interstate 81.

Sept. 5 — Hometown Heroes banners honoring Greencastle-Antrim residents who have served in the military could go up along Baltimore Street next year. Georgina Cranston, executive director of the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce, talked about the banners at Tuesday's Greencastle Borough Council meeting.

Sept. 10 — A veteran school district business manager has been selected as the Greencastle-Antrim School District's new chief financial services support officer. The school board voted 8-0 at Thursday evening's meeting to hire Caroline (Bricker) Royer to replace Dr. Jolinda "JC" Wilson, who left this summer after seven years with the district to become director of finance for the student affairs department of Penn State.

Sept. 12 — The owners of Heritage Hills Retirement Community have the green light from Antrim Township to proceed with plans to expand.

Sept. 17 — Greencastle's new stormwater management fee is $14,000 a year for Precision Manufacturing & Engineering. President Brian Harbaugh also is expecting to pay $2,000 a year when Antrim Township's proposed fee goes into effect next year, he testified Sept. 11 before the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee during a hearing at Antrim Brethren in Christ Church.

Sept. 19 — Purple lights encircle tree trunks on Center Square as Greencastle joins in the observance of National Recovery Month in September. Franklin County commissioners also have proclaimed September Recovery Month.

Sept. 24 — About two dozen community members now know how to recognize an opioid overdose and are equipped to potentially save a life if one occurs. September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and Thursday's Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce breakfast featured Kay Martin and Cori Seilhamer, volunteer facilitators with Health Communities Partnership of Franklin County's Operation Save a Life program.

Sept. 26 — An overflow crowd heard the engineering report on Antrim Township's proposed stormwater management fee and spent more than two hours asking questions, offering comments and voicing concerns Tuesday night. The fee is intended to raise the money needed to meet MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) permit and Chesapeake Bay cleanup requirements.

October 

Oct. 1 — Bob Manahan, Greencastle's public works manager, made it clear at least week's public safety committee meeting that he is not anti-tree. However, he is worried about the problems caused by some of the trees growing along Greencastle's streets.

Oct. 3 — People driving down South Antrim Way at a certain time Wednesday probably did a double-take at the 12,000-pound excavator high in the sky at the end of West Franklin Street. A Grove crane from Digging and Rigging Coastal Crane Service had to be brought in to get the excavator in place for a manhole repair.

Oct. 8 — Members of the Greencastle-Antrim School Board got an overview of potential building projects and their associated costs at Thursday evening's meeting. John Beddia, a principal with the architectural firm Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates discussed additions and renovations at each of the district's four buildings with total costs in the $50 million range.

Oct. 10 — Lorraine Hohl, Greencastle's assistant borough manager since January, was named borough manager at Monday's council meeting. She replaces Eden Ratliff, who held the post for nearly three years before leaving Sept. 20 to become manager of Kennett Township.

Oct. 15 — "Don’t Let Cancer Dull Your Sparkle," the theme of the American Cancer Society's 26th annual Relay For Life of Greencastle, is a tribute to the inspiring leadership of Kim Muller, event chairperson, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer on Aug. 17.

Oct. 17 — An article in a recent trade magazine advised jewelers thinking about relocating to keep their eyes open for banks that are moving. The Jewelry Shop of Greencastle was ahead of that trend and is now at home in the former First National Bank of Mercersburg building on the point south of town at 11891 Molly Pitcher Highway.

Oct. 22 — Students from Greencastle-Antrim Elementary and Primary schools bundled up and circled the track on Kaley Field on Friday, Oct. 18, for the annual Race for Education. Held in lieu of sales and other fundraisers, students provide addresses for fundraising letters and the PTO receives donation for the youngsters' participation in the race.

Oct. 24 — As far as Greencastle Borough Councilman Matthew Smith is concerned, the new police department emergency phone has already paid for itself. The first day it is was in place in early October, a woman seeking help after a domestic dispute in which her phone had been broken went to the police station after hours. Thanks to the new emergency phone, she was able to call for assistance and a police officer returned to the station.

Oct. 29 — First Lt. John Kinney, an Army pilot, once had to ditch at sea in World War II and was reported as dead. Decades later, that's one tidbit from his long life that Kinney shared last week on the eve of his 102nd birthday.

Oct. 31 — There's a new coordinator with new ideas for new activities who wants to get more people involved in the Greencastle Senior Activity Center. Vickie Burgee came to the Greencastle center at 10615 Antrim Church Road on Oct. 3, replacing Christine Emory who now works at the Waynesboro center.

November 

Nov. 5 — Just as breast cancer survivors and victims celebrate the seasons of life, five new trees will go through each season honoring those who have battled breast cancer. Five kousa dogwood trees were recently planted at the Greencastle Senior Activity Center in Antrim Township.

Nov. 7 — There weren't many surprises in Tuesday's municipal election, according to the unofficial results, which show Republicans David Keller and John Flannery leading the Franklin County commissioner race, followed by Democrat Bob Ziobrowski. Write-in candidate Republican Bob Thomas didn't have enough votes to get him back on the board.

Nov. 12 — At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Greencastle-Antrim residents gathered on North Washington Street for the community's annual Veterans Day ceremony on Monday. What people in Greencastle did on that day and at that time in 1918 when World War I ended was included in the presentation by Mayor Ben Thomas Jr., the day's speaker.

Nov. 14 — "This dog saved my life. I couldn't ask for a better companion. He does anything I ask," Brenton Heller told Greencastle-Antrim Middle School students Wednesday during a Veteran's Day program on the America's VetsDogs training program at two Maryland prisons near Hagerstown.

Nov. 19 — A new page is turning for young children in the Greencastle-Antrim School District. Beginning early next year, the nearly 1,000 youngsters from birth to age 5 who live Greencastle and Antrim Township will be eligible to receive a free book each month from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

Nov. 21 — Operation Christmas Child is a global ministry, but its local impact is strong as volunteers prepare shoebox gifts for poor children around the world. In the Greencastle area, shoeboxes are being collected and packed into shipping cartons bound for Baltimore then beyond at Ebenezer Church, 3661 Williamson Road, and Antrim Brethren in Christ Church, 24 Kauffman Road East.

Nov. 26 — School start times will stay the same in the Greencastle-Antrim School District. The school board voted 6-3 Thursday evening against pushing start times back by about half an hour, capping more than a year of discussion, research and committee and community meetings.

Members of Greencastle Borough Council and the Antrim Township Board of Supervisors both voted unanimously Wednesday to suspend work and fees to meet MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) sediment reduction requirements pending common sense solutions.

 December 

Dec. 3 — The primary building appeared to be at the forefront of possible construction projects in the Greencastle-Antrim School District, but it may make more financial sense to look at the high school first.

Dec. 5 — Staff and students are preparing to make the Equal Technology Opportunities (ETO) initiative a reality at Greencastle-Antrim High School. Recognizing that students are surrounded by and functioning in a digital world where so much of human knowledge is now digitized, the Greencastle-Antrim School District will issue a personal iPad to all students in grades nine through 12 at the beginning of the second semester of this school year.

Dec. 10 — An Antrim Township man who went to jail for allegedly murdering his friend and co-worker more than 30 years ago will remain in jail for another year. The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole has denied Ronald Harshman's request for parole.

Dec. 12 — Antrim Township supervisors voted Tuesday night to purchase more land for the Antrim Township Community Park. Supervisors gave the go-ahead for Chairman Fred Young to sign any documents related to the purchase of about 66 acres adjacent to the Grant Shook Road park from the Buchanan family.

Dec. 17 — A program designed to help strengthen families, encourage academic success and avert the temptation of substance abuse is coming to Greencastle and Waynesboro early next year. The Strengthening Families Program for parents and children 10 to 14 is focused on peer refusal skills, effective parent-child communication, age-appropriate expectations and discipline, goal setting and promoting strong family values.

Dec. 19 — "I feel like we got the events center as a Christmas present," said Denise Hutchison of From Scratch Catering and Event Planning and Blue Heron Events. Hutchison, her husband, Paul, and their son, Aaron, now own the former Rescue Hose Co. Special Events Center property at 407 S. Washington St., Greencastle.

Dec. 24 — Five hundred prizes from gold coins to gift certificates will be given away during the Greencastle-Antrim Education Foundation's second annual Raising the Bar New Year's Eve celebration.

Dec. 31 — The 104th Pennsylvania Farm Show begins Saturday, Jan. 4, and continues through Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. The annual event is the largest indoor agricultural expo under one roof in the nation and features more than 5,000 animals, 12,000 competitive exhibits and 300 commercial exhibits each year.