Print Edition Highlights - April 9, 2015

Out of control burns
By Jeffrey B. Roth

Photo by Curt Werner.
A brush fire broke out in the field beside Mt. Top Road, Washington Township off Carlisle Road Thursday April 2 at 12:54 p.m. Brush trucks from Wellsville, Dover and Lake Meade responded along with tankers from Dover, East Berlin and Monaghan fire companies. In photo, a farmer takes matters into his own hands by using his plow to attack the flaming and smoldering brush until help arrives.

____ Area firefighters were kept busy this past week responding to brush fires.
____ A brush fire broke out in a field beside Mt. Top Road, Washington Township off Carlisle Road, Thursday April 2 at 12:54 p.m. Brush trucks from Wellsville, Dover and Lake Meade responded along with tankers from Dover, East Berlin and Monaghan fire companies. A farmer took matters into his own hands by using his plow to attack the flaming and smoldering brush until the units arrived.
____ Numerous brush fires swept through the Dillsburg area Monday, April 6 including two along Range Road, one at the intersection of Rt. 15 and Carroll Drive, all in Carroll Township; and one off Andersontown Road and another off Wharf Road, Monaghan Township.
____ Early Monday, Citizens' Hose Company No. 1, responded to a report of a grass fire along the northbound lanes of Rt. 15, just past Carroll Drive, said Ed McCoy of the fire company. The area involved was about 130-by-150 feet.

Photo by Curt Werner.
Dillsburg firefighter Seth Freeburn watches as heavy equipment is used to uproot a tree during a brush fire along Range End Manor Road Monday, April 6 at 2:55 p.m.

Photo by Curt Werner.
A brush fire quickly burns dead grass and brush on farmland off Andersontown Road Monday, April 6.

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

____ The Dillsburg Banner won seven awards in the 2015 Professional Keystone Press Awards, Division VII, weekly publications with under 5,000 circulation.
____ Taking first place in News Beat Reporting was Marie Chomicki. Her entries included: Road rage: Local shooting may be linked to homicide on Route 81, Franklin County; Additional arrests made in December shooting, home invasions; Apparent homicide-suicide in Warrington Twp.; Wellsville woman foils bank robber's escape; Gov. Corbett signs his second execution warrant for killer of Franklin Twp. teen; Trial underway for murdered Carroll township woman and House fire ruled accidental.
____ Chomicki took a second place for Business or Consumer Story for Wine and spirit store now open.
____ Photographer Curt Werner took a first place and honorable mention in News Photo for Chimney fires keep emergency responders busy; he took an Honorable Mention in Feature Photo for Hannah Grant and Ashley Barger jump high doing a cheer and took an honorable mention in Sports Photo for Labor Day Rodeo on Monday sponsored by Wellsville Frontier Days..breakaway roping.
____ Dave took a second place in the Sports/Outdoor Columns for his entries: Dipping your toes into the coming New Year; Anthropomorphism is a big word, but... and Living with Black Bears.
____ The Keystone Press Awards is a statewide competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation aimed to reinforce excellence by individuals in the newspaper profession by recognizing journalism that consistently provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers, and furthers First Amendment values. The goal is to stimulate journalists to improve their craft and ultimately improve their community.
____ Each year, thousands of entries are received and judged to recognize hundreds of professionals.

News Beat Reporting
Marie Chomicki - First Place
Police Beat: Road rage: Local shooting may be linked to homicide on Route 81, Franklin County; Additional arrests made in December shooting, home invasions; Apparent homicide-suicide in Warrington Twp.; Wellsville woman foils bank robber's escape; Gov. Corbett signs his second execution warrant for killer of Franklin Twp. teen and Trial underway for murdered Carroll township woman.

Business or Consumer Story
Second Place Marie Chomicki
Wine and spirit store now open

News Photo
First Place Curt Werner
Chimney fires keep emergency responders busy
Honorable Mention
Pennsylvania State Police and emergency crews work to clear the scene of a plane crash

Feature Photo
Honorable Mention
Hannah Grant and Ashley Barber jump high doing a cheer

Sports Photo
Honorable Mention
Labor Day Rodeo on Monday sponsored by Wellsville Frontier Days...
breakaway roping

Sports/Outdoor Column
Dave Wolfe - Second Place
Dipping your toes into the coming New Year; Anthropomorphism is a big word, but... and
Living with Black Bears

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Print Edition Highlights - April 9, 2015

Northern celebrates season at annual banquet

Photo by Curt Werner.
Boys MVP Award and High Career Point Award to Josh Clarke. Over the course of Josh's high school career, he amassed 1294 points for his team, over 200 points more than any other male swimmer in the history of the school’s program. He also hit the touchpad before anyone else 88 times in his high school career.

____ Celebrating the 2014-15 season last Saturday, March 28, at Liberty Forge, the Northern H.S. Swimming and Diving Teams were recognized for their many accomplishments. Special guests in attendance included Northern's Athletic Director Gerry Schwille, School Superintendant Dr. Eric Eshbach and the Dillsburg Banner's award winning photojournalist Curt Werner. Head Coach Bill Resser cited all the student athletes while also recognizing coaches, parents and the school administration. It was a remarkable season in terms of both individual and team achievements.

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Northern students participate in
Hershey Symphony Strings Festival

Northern Middle School students participating are, from left, Jordan Fletcher, 7th grade, viola; Sydney Grimm, 7th grade, violin 2; Aidan Young, 8th grade, violin 1; Courtney Middaugh, 8th Grade, violin 1; and Olivia Falck 8th grade, violin 1.

____ Five Northern Middle School Students recently participated in the Hershey Symphony Festival Strings. The Festival Strings is in 80 member string orchestra comprised of middle school students from the greater Harrisburg/Hershey area. Students are selected based on recommendations from their teacher. The ensemble gathers for a few intensive rehearsals over the course of several months, performs alongside the Hershey Symphony Orchestra, and finally presents a concert of their own. The group was also invited to perform for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference held last week in Hershey.

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Northern falls to West Perry, Capital division race tightens
By Andy Sandrik

Photo by Mark Ryder.
Jamison Heisey, pitching during the game against Northeastern on Saturday, April 4.

____ Nobody told Brian Robison's Northern baseball team that winning the Mid-Penn Capital Division was going to be easy.
____ The Polar Bears, after extending their season-opening winning streak to six games, finally lost for the first time to annual division contender West Perry.
____ Northern knocked off Trinity 7-0 on Wednesday and defeated Northeastern 5-3 on Saturday before the Mustangs finally did the Polar Bears in on Tuesday in a 5-2 game.
____ "I think if you look at our division, I don't think we were ever the team picked to win the division," Robison said. "Because of our young players, I think you've got to look at a team like West Perry as probably the best team in the division and East Pennsboro as well. ____ We know what we're up against with those other two teams."
____ The good news for Northern is there's plenty of time to recover and get back at it. The Polar Bears host East Pennsboro, the division leader, on Friday before hitting the road for York Suburban on Saturday. Northern will then travel to face Milton Hershey on Tuesday.

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

Is the second week better than the first?
By Dave Wolf

Photo by Dave Wolf.
Brook trout make up the majority of trout taken on opening day.

____ The first week of trout season here is now in the books. The cool weather apparently made the trout lethargic, and although some anglers took a good number of fish, most I talked to took home only a few. But there is hope for all those anglers out there.
____ Many anglers consider the second week of trout season better than the first. Trout anglers tend to find fewer anglers during the first week than they had on opening day. As one angler put it, “Opening day is a circus!”
____ Although many believe that there are no fish remaining after the opener, those of us that fish before the next stocking realize that a good number of fish do remain, and they seem to be less spooky without all the anglers crowding the water. “There are obviously less fish, but there are also fewer anglers, meaning my chances are better than they had been on opening day,” said another angler I spoke to.
____ Those that count on stocked fish will find that many streams in the area are stocked again on April 6 and 9. The stockings take place so soon after trout season begins that there might actually be more trout in those streams than before the opener, if you count those that were not caught on opening day.

See the April 9, 2015 edition of the Dillsburg Banner for details.

“I’m dead alive”:
A local college student learns about the Rwandan genocide
Submitted by Olivia Kimmel

Photo courtesy Olivia Kimmel.
Alice Mukarurinda and Emmanuel Ndayisaba lived through the Rwandan genocide, she a victim and he, her perpetrator. Today they speak about forgiveness and, when they share a meal, Emmanuel cuts Alice's food for her before he eats his own. She is missing her right hand because of his actions 21 years ago.

____ (Editor’s note: Dillsburg resident Olivia Kimmel, a nursing student at Messiah College, studied abroad in Rwanda, Africa last fall. There, she saw firsthand how a country overcame a hatred that led to one of the worst genocides in history with determination and forgiveness.)

____ This month marks the 21st anniversary of one of the biggest atrocities that mankind has committed against itself. Yet chances are you may have never heard of it. It’s not the Jewish Holocaust or Pearl Harbor. It’s the Rwandan genocide – a dark time in a little country the size of Maryland, located in eastern Africa.
____ Although the month of April brings the much-awaited rainy season, it’s also the hardest month of the year as the country recalls the intolerance of two tribes and all the lives lost during those 100 days of genocide.
____ “I’m dead alive.” This is a quote from a woman who survived the genocide, but lost her husband, kids and just about everyone who was dear to her. She cleans at one of the genocide memorials, a church actually that was a “safe haven” for Tutsis until the Interahamwe (the Hutu militia groups) killed them all. She is there on a daily basis because it is the one place where she feels close to the ones she loved. Even though it’s been 21 years since the genocide occurred in Rwanda, the pain of that awful event is still so real for this woman as well as every other person who was a part of it.
____ “It is during those days that we [Rwandans] experienced the worst pages of our history and it is during this month we mourn and remember that,” said Geofrey Mugisha, a Rwandan university student.
____ Many memorials are scattered throughout the country of Rwanda. A national memorial museum draws many visitors to learn the facts about the tragedy, but it’s the mass graves and churches where people tried to hide in the last moments of their lives that evoke so much emotion. There are no words to describe one’s feelings upon walking into a church or mass grave that has gone untouched since the days of the genocide. They are filled with clothing and people’s personal belongings, such as jewelry, books and jerry cans that they brought with them to these “safe places.” To see a huge crater in the cement floor outside the doors of one of the churches left by a grenade, to view bullet holes in the walls, blood stains on the altar fabrics, walls and ceilings is just . . . unfathomable. No words.
____ The mass graves evoke in visitors a whole new mixture of emotions – sorrow, disbelief, anger – at the sight of so many bones of so many victims. Skulls with the most unimaginable holes in them left by machetes and clubs. I shudder to think what each person’s final moments of life must have been like.
____ Perhaps the most jarring part of it all is that this happened when my mom was pregnant with me. It wasn’t centuries ago. A majority of people I passed on the streets and sat beside at church lived through it. One of my fellow students said it seems too fresh to even be considered “history.”
____ Each time we left a genocide memorial, the van was filled with silence as we made our way back to our school. It was hard, hard to process and try to understand the why and how.
____ I tried to read a book from the school’s library called “A time for Machettes.” It is the only book of its kind where nine killers are profiled and asked hard questions, such as “What was your first kill like?” They are also asked how they justified their actions and what they feel now, 21 years later. Some of them have been released from prison; however some will remain there for life. I was forced to put the book down after 20 pages because I became too angry with these men, especially when they admitted they still don’t think they did anything wrong.
____ Despite this terrible tragedy that blanketed Rwanda in 1994, the country has made great strides in moving forward, together. Walking the streets of Kigali, one would never know that just 21 years ago, the sidewalks and roads were impassable because they were littered with bodies.
____ A man who works for the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission shared about all the progress the country has made. For example, the last Saturday of every month is designated as Umuganda, a national holiday where the entire country shuts down (all stores and banks closed, no public transportation etc.) for the morning hours into early afternoon so that Rwandans can participate in some form of community service. Can you imagine if America or even Dillsburg tried to shut down entirely for even just one hour? Umuganda is an intentional time of working together for the good of the country, simultaneously providing a time for reconciliation and healing among the Rwandan people.
____ Their initial goal was to rebuild confidence and trust among the Rwandans – not among the Hutus and Tutsis, but among the Rwandans. No longer does anyone identify themselves as a member of either tribe; they are simply Rwandans.
____ On the final day of our Peacebuilding and Reconciliation class, we had the privilege of hearing two guest speakers: Alice Mukarurinda and Emmanuel Ndayisaba.
____ Alice is a survivor of the genocide. Emmanuel was a perpetrator, but not just any perpetrator. He was Alice’s perpetrator.
____ Alice is missing her right hand because of Emmanuel – and his machete.
____ Today, Alice is raising five children, not six, because Emmanuel’s partner killed her baby girl whom she was carrying on her back. Emmanuel has a scar on his right arm from a bullet that came from his boss when he tried to refuse to participate in the killings.
____ Alice and Emmanuel come each semester to share their story with students and what an absolutely incredible story it is; one of immense forgiveness, forgiveness that took many years and a whole lot of trust. Today, their children are friends and their two families spend time together on a regular basis.
____ Perhaps the sweetest moment of our time together was at lunch when Emmanuel cut Alice’s chapatti (tortilla) for her. Before even touching his own plate of food, he made sure Alice had everything she needed to enjoy her meal.
____ Alice and Emmanuel are living proof of the truth written in 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.”
____ Both of these wonderful people asked each of us to go home and tell everyone about the peace and reconciliation that has happened in Rwanda and to remind them, to remind each of you reading this, that you too can be forgiven and can forgive.
____ It is never too late, Emmanuel said; “Forgive me, remember me, pray for me because even though those killed aren’t your family, they’re your fellow brothers and sisters.”