Light finally shining on Stars and Stripes

Late last week one of the final touches on the Linglestown improvement project was finished: floodlights to illuminate the flag in the square were wired and are working.

Linglestown-area community calendar

Yummy soup for sale ... Linglestown Fire Company will sponsor their annual mid-winter homemade two-soup sale at the Linglestown firehouse this Saturday, Jan. 28. The soup sale will begin at 11 am and end when sold out. CLICK HERE for more info.

Live music at coffee house ... Sterling Koch and his trusty steel guitar will appear this Saturday, Jan. 28 at St. Thomas Roasters, 8–10 pm, no cover. I've heard Sterling do his thing and he's the real deal.

Chili anyone? ... There will be a cook-off this Sunday, Jan. 29 at St. Thomas United Church of God. It's too late to enter the competition, but you can stop by to taste all the chilies for only $4. CLICK HERE for details.

CD alums to gather ... Central Dauphin High School Alumni Association will hold a social gathering on Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 5 pm to 9 pm at The Fox and Hound, 2625 Brindle Drive, Harrisburg. Call Bonnie (Kapp) Johnston at 717-761-2592 to put your name on the attendance list.

Attention gardeners ... Linglestown Garden Club will meet Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Linglestown fire hall starting at 10 am.

Attention chocoholics ... The annual Chocolate Walk sponsored by the Linglestown Merchants' Association will be held on Feb. 10 to 11. Watch the Gazette for more info.
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Message from B² ... I get most event info from The Paxton Herald, a weekly tabloid. To make sure your Linglestown-area community event gets mentioned on the Internet, send your info via email to the Gazette.

Linglestowner running for state office

Bill Seeds, a Linglestown resident and longtime Lower Paxton Township supervisor, has announced his candidacy for the PA state senate seat being vacated by Jeff Piccola at the end of this year.

Other announced Republican candidates in the race are John McNally of Lower Paxton Township and two men from York County, businessman Steve Johnson and York County Clerk of Courts Don O'Shell. It's uncertain if Johnson and O'Shell will be appear on the ballot now that the PA Supreme Court threw out the new legislative map that was based on the 2010 census.

Primary election day is on Tuesday, April 24.

Community events in the works for Linglestown

The new Linglestown Area Civic Association got off to a great start last week with about 35 people in attendance at the kickoff meeting held at the Linglestown fire hall.

Longtime Linglestown resident and village booster Bill Minsker (pictured below) spearheaded the formation of the group and chaired the meeting.

Ironically, Minsker boarded a jet the next day for a five-month stint in Poland to work with an outreach program to that country that he operates. But never fear, the group will elect officers in February and at least one person has volunteered to be president.

Numerous community projects were discussed, including family picnics, flea market days and continuing the annual Christmas carol sing and tree-lighting ceremony. Also, the need to start planning for Linglestown's 250th anniversary in 2015 was mentioned.

Minsker enthusiastically outlined his ideas for holding an annual New Year's Eve celebration in the Linglestown square starting next year called "Jingle Lingle." At the strike of midnight, everyone would celebrate the start of the new year by ringing bells. He had photos of commemorative hand bells that the civic association could purchase and sell to partygoers.

Minsker's New Year's Eve plan is the best one that I heard to date. He said one of his students in Poland came up with the "Jingle Lingle" idea as they discussed their holiday activities during a Skype phone call a few weeks ago.

The civic association gives Linglestown-area residents an opportunity to give our community more of an old-fashioned hometown feel. To make it happen, many people are needed to help stage events and raise funds.

Please consider coming out to the civic association's next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 pm at the fire hall to get involved with making Linglestown a place that feels like home.

Report has misleading info about Koons Pool

The Patriot-News ran an article last Friday that gave the impression that Koons Pool might not open this season due to a potential violation of state environmental rules, but pool officials informed the Gazette that the article has misleading information.

Below is the pool officials' response to the article:

A recent article ran in The Patriot-News provided misleading information. The author of the article was misinformed. There is nothing wrong with the pool’s septic system. Rather, it is the way in which the pool water leaves the property.

The pool was built 52 years ago and was designed to allow any pool water that is drained from the pools to flow through a storm drain system. Due to more recent requirements we have been asked to redirect this water to the public sewage system. Lower Paxton Township is partnering with the pool in addressing this change in water flow. The modification will be made prior to opening day.

Township and pool officials met earlier this week to work toward finding an affordable solution to the way the pools are drained.

Koons Pool is operated by a volunteer group that has make significant improvements to the pool facility and its operation. The pool property in Koons Park is owned by the township.

CLICK HERE to download a membership application for the 2012 season.

Soup sale to support Linglestown firefighters

Linglestown Fire Co. will sponsor their annual mid-winter homemade two-soup sale at the Linglestown firehouse this Saturday, Jan. 28. The soup sale will begin at 11 am and end when sold out.

The soups to be sold are chicken corn and ham and bean – soup containers will be provided. The soups are prepared by the firefighters at the rear of the firehouse. Large iron kettles are used to prepare the soups over fire pits. The soups are available for eat-in service, together with sandwiches, desserts, and beverages served by the Ladies Auxiliary.

In addition to the soup sale, the fire company will be conducting a public blood drive with the Central Pa. Blood Bank during the hours of the soup sale. Persons who volunteer to donate blood will have their soup order prepared for them while they give blood and they will not have to stand in line for their soup!

The fire company's blood donor credits are available to Linglestown-area residents who would need blood in the future.

Linglestown slogan idea changed

For those of you following along via email, I changed my suggestion – Linglestown, home of Central PA's first roundabouts – because the village's roundabouts aren't the first in the region. After the post was published, I remembered that one was constructed in York County a few years ago. Also, the suggested slogan is too long.

The amended slogan suggestion is ...

Linglestown, Home of the Roundabouts

And, below are other ideas passed along by Gazette readers:

Roundabout Linglestown

Come Around to Linglestown

Where Life is Worth Living

A Village on the Move

A Place That Feels Like Home

Update: Linglestown slogan search

Sat., 1/21/12 — Updated my suggestion and added a new one received via email.

I've been busting my brain trying to come up with a suggestion that is short and focuses on something unique about Linglestown and its new look. Finally, an idea popped into my head that might do the trick:

Linglestown, home of Central PA's first roundabouts
Linglestown, Home of the Roundabouts

The village's two roundabouts are worthy of mention because they are among the first to be installed in Pennsylvania and the first ones in this region, plus they're doing a bang-up job in keeping traffic moving. And, it never hurts to hang your hat on something that gives you the status of being numero uno.

The Gazette has received a few suggestions for a village slogan, some well meaning and others of the tongue-in-cheek variety. Here are some of the better submissions:

Living & Loving Linglestown
Linglestown, Where Friends Meet
New & Improved St. Thomas

Linglestown, America's hometown!

Be sure to check the Gazette next week for updates. I have a pile of news to crank out about local happenings, including a report on the first meeting of the Linglestown Area Civic Association.

Chili cook-off to be held in Linglestown

Are you known for your chili? Find out if you are the best by signing up to compete! Do you like chili? For a $4 entry fee you get to taste all the chilies and vote for the winner.

Beverages & hot dogs will be available for purchase
Prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place

Information for competitors: $5 entrant fee for the event that will be held at St. Thomas United Church of Christ located about a mile east of the Linglestown square on Route 39. There is only space for 20 entrants – registration cut off January 22nd.

Be prepared to offer at least 100 1 oz. samples. Entrants will be provided with tasting cups, tasting spoons, napkins, and soda crackers. Entrants are expected to arrive with a fully prepared chili, provide their own serving utensils, and may only use one crockpot to keep their chili warm (please bring your own).
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Contact for more info: email or 652-7259.

Slogan needed for Linglestown

The Linglestown civic group that will hold a reorganization meeting on Jan. 18 is looking for a slogan for the village. The Patriot-News reported today that suggestions include "Lovin' the Look of Linglestown" and "Experience the new Linglestown in a 'ROUND-ABOUT' way!"

I bet Gazette readers can come up with a few snappy slogan ideas. Please post a comment with your suggestion.

CLICK HERE to read the news article and HERE for more info about the civic group meeting.

5 things you need to know about Linglestown

#1 ... Former Hollywood insider Frank Cotolo of Grantville will stage his one-man entertainment extravaganza at St. Thomas Roasters coffee house this Friday, Jan. 13 from 8–10 pm, no cover.

#2 ... Please consider attending the kickoff meeting for the Linglestown Area Civic Association next Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7 pm at the front meeting room of the Linglestown Fire Company (brick building.) CLICK HERE for more details.

#3 ... The Linglestown Merchants' Association will hold their annual Chocolate Walk event in the village on February 10 & 11. Watch for more details on the Gazette.

#4 ... Lower Paxton Township has a public access TV channel on Verizon channel 22 and Comcast channel 21 that displays public service announcements and broadcasts meetings of the Board of Supervisors.

#5 ... La Piazza of Linglestown was named one of the best new restaurants in the Harrisburg region in the 2012 readers' choice survey conducted by CentralPA Magazine.

Tax hike coming to help close CD budget gap

The Central Dauphin School District voted last week to limit a property-tax hike for next school year to no more than 1.7 percent, but details on how the district will close a projected $8 million budget shortfall remain up in the air. CLICK HERE for the story from The Patriot-News.

WHTM abc27 covered the meeting. CLICK HERE for a video report that overviews the board meeting and includes comments from CD parent Tara Mead, who expresses frustration over wasted spending on privatizing the district's bus service. Also, CLICK HERE for another video that features Lower Paxton political activist Eric Epstein calling for open communications by the school board and reduced costs associated with the district's administrators.

Candidates seek to represent LP residents

* York County Clerk of Courts Don O’Shell kicked off a campaign last week for the Republican nomination for the state Senate seat now held by Jeff Piccola, who is not running for re-election.

In December, John J. McNally III of Lower Paxton Township announced he would also enter the Republican contest.

* Earlier today, political activist Gene Stilp, a Democrat who lives in Middle Paxton Township, held an impromptu press conference at the state Capitol to get word out that he's running for Congress. CLICK HERE and HERE for video coverage of his announcement provided by Roxbury News.

Lower Paxton Township is in the newly formed 11th Congressional District that is currently represented by Lou Barletta, a Republican who formerly was the mayor of Hazleton.