Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline. We look at news, sports, business, life, culture and local history. Here are the most-read stories from Monday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 4. 1. Amish wagon train begins, highlighting roots of Stoltzfus families in colonial Pennsylvania A caravan of horses and horse-drawn wagons kicked off with the sound of a whistle Thursday from a Leacock Township farm – a journey that will take its Amish participants about 30 miles north and back in time a couple centuries. The group of a few dozen people emerged from a field a mile or so outside Intercourse, headed for the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing, Berks County. After camping out in the Narvon area Thursday night they expected to arrive at the homestead on Friday, to join a celebration planned for Saturday morning. “I just saw the horses’ tails, but it was cool,” said Sadie Mae Stoltzfus, a neighbor assembled near the route’s start to cheer them on. “I wish I was with them.” 2. Harrisburg man dies after shooting himself at West Hempfield Twp. Turkey Hill The man who shot himself Tuesday at a West Hempfield Township Turkey Hill died. Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said the 21-year-old Harrisburg man died Thursday. The cause was a gunshot wound to the head and manner was suicide, Diamantoni said. 3. Lancaster County coroner identifies man killed in East Lampeter Twp. crash Nonprofit local news isn't free! It takes reporters, editors, and resources to do this work right. Your donation keeps that work alive. MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY The Lancaster County Coroner has identified the man killed in an East Lampeter Township car crash Thursday morning. He was Bryson Cantrell, 20, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said Friday afternoon. He said the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma and the cause was accidental. Cantrell was a 2024 McCaskey High School graduate. 4. Manheim Central board unanimously approves charges against former head football coach Dave Hahn Manheim Central School District’s board on Monday night approved charges that could lead to the termination of former head football coach Dave Hahn from his current role as a physical education teacher in the district’s high school. Following public comments from seven people who spoke highly of Hahn’s contributions to the school and community, the nine-member board voted unanimously to approve charges against Hahn for "failure to supervise and control the environment, failure to act after notice, failure to accurately report and involve supervisors and failure to protect students.” The board’s vote came after a monthslong investigation into an incident of student misconduct that allegedly occurred in a high school locker room. Details of the incident were not described at the board meeting. During the meeting, after many Hahn supporters had left the room, a few board members and Superintendent Ryan Axe said they were prohibited from offering details on personnel matters. 5. The FBI told Lancaster Snow Angels to refund $20,000 in raffle tickets. An upcoming House vote could help other nonprofits. Lancaster Snow Angels shoveled out hundreds of senior citizens, veterans and mobility-impaired people free of charge when snowstorms blanketed Lancaster County last winter. The nonprofit, formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, purchases snowblowers, salt and shovels to support its winter work, and the group expanded in 2024 to year-round projects such as building wheelchair ramps and mowing lawns. The group now travels to York and Lebanon counties. Snow Angels co-founder Jennifer Jarvis organizes raffles for desirable items like designer purses and Ninja Kitchen supplies to help pay for the equipment and supplies the group needs.

Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline.

Editor’s Note: This column is part of an ongoing series by Made by History and LNP | LancasterOnline to commemorate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. To read more about this series go here. In 1987, the Lancaster New Era published a multi-part series called “Lancaster County: Quilt Capital U.S.A.,” detailing the booming trade in newly-made and antique Amish quilts. Under headlines such as “The Men Raise Barns, The Creative Women Run Quilting Bees” and “Collectors Pay Thousands for Local ‘Folk Art’ Antique Quilts,” staff writer Ed Klimuska provided a colorful portrait of the market for quilts that was bringing tourists, quilt dealers and art collectors to the region. This media attention reflected a process that was two decades in the making. While Amish women in Lancaster County had made quilts for more than a century, the commercial market for them really only dated back to the 1970s. That was when interest from collectors kickstarted a boom that would last for decades and remake the Amish economy. Around the turn of the 20th century, Lancaster County’s Old Order Amish women began making quilts in significant numbers. These quilts were distinct from those made by non-Amish quiltmakers and even from quilts crafted in other Amish settlements. They boldly combined jewel-toned solid fabrics with spare geometric designs to produce work that no doubt appeared otherworldly when airing out on clotheslines in the eastern, agrarian part of the county, home to North America’s largest Amish settlement. Amish women made these quilts in dress wools intending them as special gifts for offspring who were starting their own homes and families. Their production likely peaked in the 1930s and 1940s; later collectors labeled quilts made before 1940 as classic, although such a strict cut-off is inaccurate. Subsequently, the quilts produced in Lancaster County’s Amish community became more like those made by the non-Amish. Some quiltmakers adopted manufactured and synthetic fabrics — such as rayon, acetate or polyester — and others experimented with lighter colors and printed fabrics. Like other Americans, many Amish families also began to turn to store-bought bedcovers, and fewer Amish women developed quiltmaking skills. Things began to change in the 1970s and 1980s, as cosmopolitan art enthusiasts began to seek out vintage Amish quilts. Their interest developed accidentally when these art fans started seeing vintage Amish quilts during trips to antiques stores and flea markets in the region. Many of these soon-to-be collectors had no idea what these mysterious textiles were, as few outsiders were familiar with Amish-made quilts. Newfound curiosity in quilts The art enthusiasts were fascinated by these unusual, old bedcovers. They typically showed very little sign of wear because Amish families had reserved their use for Sunday best — showcasing them on beds when they hosted church meetings in their homes — or passed them down as family heirlooms, not something for everyday use. Enthralled, the collectors began to purchase Amish quilts and to hang them in city apartments. The size of the quilts was very similar to the large format modernist paintings of the post-war era, which often had similar minimalist designs and bold use of color. In 1971, the Whitney Museum of American Art hung a haunting rust, purple and green quilt in the pattern now known as Bars as part of a pivotal exhibition, “Abstract Design in American Quilts.” This generated even more interest in Amish quilts. The newfound curiosity prompted antiques dealers to flood Lancaster County. Quilt “pickers” knocked on the doors of Amish families, asking if they had any quilts for sale. To some extent, the ensuing sales were a win-win: Amish families received much needed money for water pumps, new stoves or to pass on to their children (a quilt could go to only one descendant, whereas cash could be shared among many). In return, the non-Amish collectors and dealers received a buzzy piece of art that they could resell at a higher price to big city antiques shops in New York and Philadelphia. Some Amish quilt entrepreneurs developed trusting relationships with dealers, which facilitated access to other Amish homes and quilts. Entrepreneurial, trailblazing Amish Nonprofit local news isn't free! It takes reporters, editors, and resources to do this work right. Your donation keeps that work alive. MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY Yet the quilt trade also caused tensions between the Amish and the “English,” as Amish families felt pressure to sell treasured family heirlooms and received frequent uninvited guests to their homes. Some feared break-ins, with outsiders rummaging through blanket chests when families were away at church meetings on Sunday. Inevitably, savvy Amish also learned that they were getting a raw deal. The quilts dealers bought from them for $100 to $200 were going for $300 to $1,200 in Madison Avenue shops; some wanted a larger piece of that cut. One adventurous Amish man began trekking to New York City himself to sell his co-religionists’ quilts directly to city dealers, while other Amish families simply refused to sell until the prices went up. This newfound interest in vintage Amish quilts inspired entrepreneurial Amish women to begin making quilts to sell to outsiders eager to own an Amish-made quilt. These trailblazers launched their quilt businesses out of their homes at a time when a rapidly growing Amish population and climbing prices for farmland were pushing many Amish families to look outside of agriculture to earn a living. In Lancaster County, family businesses adjacent to the home emerged as a sensible choice. Quilt production joined other new industries — nurseries, furniture making, bakeries — as the Amish economy diversified. Demand brings tourism dollars, too By the late 1980s, dozens more had joined the initial crop of entrepreneurs in making and retailing quilts. Their businesses capitalized on the fascination with antique quilts — with “Amish” essentially serving as a brand. These women produced new quilts marketed to a growing consumer base who visited Amish country in search of the quiet charms offered by Lancaster County. The Amish-quilt industry employed hundreds of women and some men to execute the various steps involved in making quilts: designing them, cutting fabric, assembling the decorative top, marking the designs for the quilting stitches, stitching together the three layers, and finishing the edge with a binding. Businesses typically operated on the “putting-out system,” in which they paid contracted quiltmakers by the piece to work on their individual step of the process in their homes. Amish quilt businesses typically paid by the yard of quilting thread used for hand quilting — which Amish women have become famous for. This fee structure incentivized producing smaller, denser quilting stitches, which were more desirable on the consumer market, and resulted in higher retail prices. The infrastructure of these cottage industries usually meant that most quilts were produced by many hands. A lot of the businesses adapted their quilt styles to match interior design trends. Ironically, this practice meant that only a fraction of the new quilts they produced came in the colors and patterns typical of the antique quilts that had ignited the Amish quilting boom. The consumer demand for these goods benefited both the Amish and non-Amish sectors in Lancaster County. When those searching for the perfect Amish quilt to match their bedroom décor ventured to Lancaster County, they also spent money at hotels, restaurants, and the outlet malls. By the late 1980s, when the New Era covered the Amish quilt industry, the price for new quilts was rising rapidly as supply could not keep up with demand. Since that time, however, interest in quilts has ebbed and flowed. Fashions changed and factory-produced quilts had begun to dominate the market, because they sold for a fraction of the price of a handmade quilt. Yet, when traveling Old Philadelphia Pike, one can still see signs advertising for “quilts for sale” at tourist shops in Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand, and some of the home-based businesses continue to offer quilts on the back roads of Leola, Witmer and New Holland. The collector market for these quilts has largely quieted, even as museums continue to periodically exhibit the jewel-toned, solid-colored antique Amish quilts from the early 20th century. Even so, while the heyday of Amish quilt businesses — when Lancaster County was “Quilt Capital of America” — is largely over, quilt production remains a key part of the Amish economy. Janneken Smucker is a professor of history at West Chester University. A fifth-generation quiltmaker, she is the author of “A New Deal for Quilts” and “Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women.”

Here are the LNP | LancasterOnline Helmet Sticker winners from the Lancaster-Lebanon League football Week 6 games.

District 3 Class 2A/3A Golf Championships   LancasterOnlineThree SCAC golfers secure District 3 titles at Honey Run  Yahoo

An Eden Township man punched a woman in the head and strangled her Thursday night, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Connor S. Hollinger, 29, is charged with strangulation, simple assault and harassment. The assault happened shortly before 11 p.m. at a residence on Camargo Road in Eden Township, according to police. According to charging documents, Hollinger initially denied anything happened, then said that he had pushed the woman after she pulled his hair, but denied choking her. Police said they photographed redness on the woman’s neck. Hollinger was a contract freelance photographer for LNP | LancasterOnline until today, when the news organization terminated his contract. Nonprofit local news isn't free! It takes reporters, editors, and resources to do this work right. Your donation keeps that work alive. MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY Hollinger was committed to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bail, but he was not listed as an inmate as of 10:40 a.m. and had not had a preliminary arraignment. A text seeking comment was sent to Hollinger. Online court documents did not list an attorney.

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The movement among Lancaster County municipalities to create local regulations governing the environmental impacts of data centers has intensified in recent months.

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Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline.

Here are the LNP | LancasterOnline Helmet Sticker winners from the Lancaster-Lebanon League Week 5 football games.

Editor’s Note: This column is part of an ongoing series by Made by History and LNP | LancasterOnline to commemorate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of

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Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline. We look at news, sports, business, life, culture and local history. Because of the holiday weekend, this week’s list covers the most-read stories from Monday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 20. 1. Grotto Pizza sets opening date for Manheim Twp. restaurant Grotto Pizza, the Delaware-based chain known for pizza with a circular swirl of sauce, is opening its first Lancaster County location Tuesday. The new Grotto Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar takes a spot in Manheim Township at 1525 Lititz Pike, next to Planet Fitness. The 4,900-square-foot Grotto Pizza occupies a corner spot facing Oregon Pike in the Shoppes at the Point, a recently renovated shopping center next to Lancaster Shopping Center. Jeffrey Gosnear, Grotto Pizza president and CEO, confirmed the planned opening date of the Manheim Township restaurant. Like most Grotto Pizza locations in Delaware, the new location will feature a sports bar and offer dine-in and carryout service, Gosnear said. 2. Lancaster County Coroner called to crash near Route 30 East in East Lampeter Township [update] Staff from the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office responded to a crash involving a van and an SUV near the Lincoln Highway East and the Route 30 interchange in East Lampeter Township on Friday afternoon. County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said shortly after 5 p.m. his staff had just arrived at the scene and was beginning to investigate and he had no further information. The 3:17 p.m. crash shut down Route 30 East, which is expected to be closed for several hours, according to a supervisor with Lancaster County-Wide Communications. A supervisor said four people were reported to be injured. 3. Child dies in 2nd fatal Leacock Twp. farming accident in 2 days [update] A 3-year-old boy died Tuesday morning when he was run over by a forklift at the Leacock Township farm where he lived, Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said. Nonprofit local news isn't free! It takes reporters, editors, and resources to do this work right. Your donation keeps that work alive. MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY “Unfortunately, it was a traumatic injury with a forklift,” Diamantoni said in a phone interview Wednesday. The boy, Jay Fisher, was pronounced dead in the trauma bay of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital. An autopsy Wednesday morning determined he died of multiple traumatic injuries. His death was ruled by the coroner’s office to be an accident. A state police spokesman, Trooper James Grothey, said the department’s Lancaster-based criminal investigation unit is looking into how the death occurred. The fatal accident took place at a North Soudersburg Road farm, just north of Lincoln Highway East (Route 30), at about 11 a.m.Tuesday. 4. 2-day Amish wagon train will end with Stoltzfus family homestead pavilion dedication Nicholas Stoltzfus braved an 18th century crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to settle on the Pennsylvania frontier. But he started more than just a new chapter in his family’s life. He couldn’t have known it then, but the German immigrant turned out to be the forebear of the Stoltzfus clan in America, tens of thousands of descendants who include most of the people currently part of the Lancaster Amish settlement. Some of his descendants have been working for the past couple decades to preserve the site of his homestead along the Tulpehocken Creek in Wyomissing, Berks County. They plan to gather on Saturday, Oct 3, to dedicate a new, 20-by-40-foot structure for gatherings of his extensive progeny. 5. 16-year-old boy dies in Leacock Township farming accident A 16-year-old boy died Sept. 14 after falling from a horse-drawn wagon while harvesting corn in Leacock Township, according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. Alvin Y. Petersheim, of Paradise Township, died of multiple traumatic injuries, and his death was ruled accidental. Fire and emergency medical officials responded to the first block of North Hollander Road near Old Philadelphia Pike around 3 p.m. Sept. 14 for reports of a person struck by a vehicle, according to a dispatcher at Lancaster County-Wide Communications. Officials arriving on scene reportedly found one person down near a barn and requested that the coroner’s office be sent to the scene.

Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline.

Here are the LNP | LancasterOnline Helmet Sticker winners from Week 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League football season.

One person was killed and four others were injured in a multivehicle crash in East Lampeter Township on Friday, according to a statement from state Department of Transportation officials. The crash, which occurred near the intersection of Route 30 and Lincoln Highway East (Route 462), was reported around 3:15 p.m. Friday. Eyewitnesses at the scene told LNP | LancasterOnline that a passenger van appeared to go through the stop sign without the right of way and was sideswiped by a person driving a Ford Flex SUV. Dispatchers with Lancaster County-Wide Communications reported that the van flipped onto its side after the impact. PennDOT officials on Saturday confirmed that one person died in the collision and four others had been injured. Officials with the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office did not immediately respond when contacted Saturday. East Lampeter Township police said they are investigating the crash and will release additional information as they move forward. Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact investigators at 717-291-4676.

One of Donald Trump’s most famous pronouncements occurred Jan. 23, 2016, during his first Republican presidential campaign, when he told supporters at a rally in Iowa: “They say I have

As the number of Lancaster County residents sickened with measles grows by the day, older adults may wonder if they are protected. LNP | LancasterOnline talked with two family physicians

As the number of Lancaster County residents sickened with measles grows by the day, older adults may wonder if they are protected. LNP | LancasterOnline talked with two family physicians

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