Print Edition Highlights - June 11, 2015

Just in the time for graduation: Sunny skies and plenty of smiles
By Carolyn Kimmel

Photo by Curt Werner.
Northern High School Class of 2015 celebrates once the ceremonies were over Friday evening June 5.

____ After a week of rain and gray skies, the sun came out just in time on Friday evening for outdoor pictures and celebration as 215 members of Northern High School’s class of 2015 graduated into the next chapter of their lives.
____ “We call this ‘commencement’ for a reason. Today begins the race we call adulthood,” said Dr. Eric Eshbach before the handing out of diplomas began. “In the next few months and years, you will take steps in your lives to break from the pack. You are destined for greatness, each and every one of you.”
____ Greatness, however, might look different than imagined, the superintendent of Northern York County School District said. Drawing parallels from the inspiring story of British track and field Olympian Derek Redmond, who tore his hamstring during competition at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but completed the race in tears with the help of his father, Eshbach told the graduates that they too many encounter unexpected pain and heartbreak in the next leg of their race.
____ “Remember what we taught and instilled in you and remember yourself,” he said and later added, “I’ve heard and personally witnessed the family that is Northern . . . Look around you, look in front of you, look behind you . . . we are here for you in the good times and in the difficult times. This race doesn’t have to be run alone.”
____ In his remarks to fellow classmates, Class President Ben Anderson illustrated the same theme of Northern togetherness as he reminisced about the different themes of football games that drew the student body together. There was something to be learned from each theme, he said.

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Print Edition Highlights - June 11, 2015

Rhoads Trucking saves best game for last, takes down No. 1 Bob Ruth Ford for Majors crown
By Andy Sandrik


Photo by Lynn Budzinski
Pictured from left, front row are CJ Wagner, Garrison Dick, Kade Kitts, Logan Folmer, Nelson Seebold, Jaiden Augustine; second row from left to right, Reid Weber, Garrett Weber, Tommy Molsky, Owen Kitts, Josh Myers; back row from left to right, Mr. Rhoads (team sponsor), coaches Chris Molsky, Erick Johnson, Joey Augustine and Manager Justin Weber.

____All season long, Rhoads Trucking Coach Justin Weber has been preaching one goal to his ballclub: Get better with every game.
____Weber's boys did as instructed. They improved as a team, cut down their mistakes and continuously grew stronger.
____By the time the season came to a close last weekend, Rhoads Trucking was declared the champion.
____Rhoads Trucking, which entered the Dillsburg Youth Baseball league's Majors playoffs as the No. 3 seed, took home the title with a 6-2 win over No. 1 Bob Ruth Ford in a game that was played Friday at Ryder Field.
____"Bob Ruth Ford played a good game. We were just happy to stick with them and ultimately eke one out," Weber said. "We knew if we played well, we'd have a chance to win. We challenged the boys to get better with each game and make our best game our last game."

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Range End to host Junior Golf Camp
By Joe Guty


Photo by Curt Werner.
Bill Woodward sinks a difficult putt. The Northern Football Boosters held their second annual golf tournament at Range End, Friday, May 29. They raised over $6,000.

____ Golf is in full swing at Range End Golf Club these days with tournaments and outings. From Tuesday, June 23 through Friday, June 26, Range End will host its annual Junior Golf Camp. Directed by head PGA Professional Brett Ernst, the camp runs from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. each day for youths ages 7 to 15. The cost is $60 per camper. Instruction on golf etiquette, putting, short game and full swing will take place. Call the Pro Shop at 432-4114 for more information and to sign up today. On June 6 through 7, the club hosted the Range End Men's Association (REMA) Mixed Two Man Tournament. The formats included Scramble, Alternate Shot, Better Ball and Aggregate. In the Scramble format, Jay Depner and John Pepper posted a 30 to win the A Flight.

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Print Edition Highlights - June 11, 2015

Dillsburg author provides “A Novel Look at Early Human Evolution”


The cover page of “Lucy Lives” features a rendering by Georgia Weaver, based on a sculpture located in the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas.

____ Mark Weaver loves fossils. His fossil collection dates from the Lower Silurian (430 million years ago) and Devonian (375 mya) eras to the Eocene (56-34 mya), Miocene (23-4 mya), and Pleistocene (2.5 million to 11,000 years ago) eras. Weaver has hunted fossils as nearby as Perry, Swatara and York townships to Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, the tidal plains of Virginia, beaches in New Jersey and South Carolina, and as far away as Portsmouth, England. He has brachiopod, crinoids, trilobite, whalebones, crocodile and shark teeth, and one of only four complete crushing plates of an Aetobatus (spotted eagle ray) found on the eastern coast.
____ When Weaver’s passion for fossils blended with his equal passion for reading, the inspiration to breathe life into one of the world’s most famous fossils was born. It is one thing to hold something that was alive and vibrant millions of years ago, but Weaver wanted to take on the challenge of defining the life that may have been lived by a known ancestor of modern humans, the Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy (3.18 mya). He began researching the theories and discoveries of Darwin, Huxley, Leakey, Johanson, Goodall, Fossey, de Waal, Morris, Stringer, Wade, Diamond, Lewin, and Gould, to name a few.

EXERPT FROM “LUCY LIVES”:
They waited for several tense moments, scanning the area where Lucy had vanished. Kel could barely breathe. Suddenly they became aware of a low rumble, which quickly grew to a great pounding that they could feel as much as hear. Then Gus and Lucy reappeared over the rise, running as if for their lives…and indeed they were. Over the hill behind them thundered the most terrifying animal that Kel had ever seen. It was enormous, twice as tall as Gus at its shoulders. The creature had a great nose hanging down like an appendage, and sharp tusks descended from its jaw. Uttering strange honking sounds, it churned up clouds of dust as it bore down on Lucy and Gus. Roc and Dug were staring just as stupidly as Kel at the terrible beast, their mouths hanging wide open. Now two more of the gigantic animals appeared over the crest, charging after the first. The ground shuddered and heaved, and as the two walkers raced toward them, Gus called out, a single frantic message, “Run!”

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Lebanon VA surgeon re-enlisted at the age of 58 to serve after 9/11
By Jeffrey B. Roth


Photo by Curt Werner.
Lt. Col. Ken Graf

____ At first glance, Dr. Kenneth W. Graf appears to be a silver-haired 50-something, friendly, unpretentious, intelligent, garrulous, lean, physically fit, outdoors-type of person.
____ Graf, actually age 71, enlisted to serve in the military for a second time following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It took about 18 months for completion of the enlistment paperwork.
____ By age 59, Lt. Col. Graf, found himself at officer’s basic training school at Ft. Sam Houston, in Texas, preparing for deployment to Iraq.
____ A 1962 graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School, in Harrisburg, Graf, a full-time surgeon at the Lebanon VA Medical Center, received notice that he had been drafted in 1963 while a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana.

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Wolf Tracks
What’s in a name?
By Dave Wolf


Photo by Karen Wolf.
A Great Blue Heron flying over one of the water hazards.

____ I stand in awe, watching a large carp that weighs well over 12 pounds. The massive tail is wagging over the still waters. Usually, I would be picking out a Crayfish pattern to entice the carp and considering whether I should be using an 8-or-10-weight fly rod.
____ I try to determine exactly in which direction the large carp is feeding, and know that no matter what rod I choose, it won’t be enough. Surveying the shoreline, I look for an area in which to land the enormous fish. Considering the weed growth and the steep embankment, created by the lack of rain during the month of May, I knew my chances would be slim to none.
____ My wife Karen is eyeing the Bluebird boxes—after shooting a number of Great Blue Heron photos. She glances my way and says, “Take your time, the group behind us is still not on the tee.”
____ Shaking my head, I say to myself, that’s right I’m playing golf and reach into my bag to pull out a club. I now look at the creek before me, and realize that I’m surrounded by water; my chances of hitting the green are about as slim as landing that carp. I hadn’t played golf in over 20 years, and when I did, it was often on this course. One of my golfing partners had been Glenn Bowers, past executive director of the PA Game Commission

See the June 11, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.