SUSQUEHANNA
Vol. 77 No. 12 March 23, 1977
Maytown
clean-up
brigade
formed
Want to take a Pleasant
Country Stroll, see some
Spring Scenery, and per-
form a Good Deed all at
the same time?
Larry Garber can arrange
this for you!
Larry is asking for vol-
unteers to help beautify the
roadways around Maytown
by picking up roadside
trash for disposal. The
collected material will be
recycled if the quantity
justifies it.
The time set for the
collection is Sunday after-
noon, March 27, from 1 to
4. All you need to partici-
pate are your walking
shoes and a large plastic
bag to hold your collection.
Interested? Call Larry
Garber, 426-3689.
The Maytown Boy Scouts
and the Maytown Civic
Organization particularly
recommends this excercise
to their members.
Indians win
at their
own game:
Indoor
soccer
A new interest is devel-
oping at Donegal called
indoor soccer! It is a fast
and exciting game with
plenty of physical contact.
Indoor soccer requires
good soccer fundamentals
and strategy quite like ice
hockey. Just as the puck is
played off the boards in
hockey, the soccer ball is
played off the walls and
bleachers in the gym.
[continued on page 8]
New postmaster
Susquehanna Times & The Mou
MARIETTA & MOUNT J RALPH
in Marietta
Marietta has a new Post
Master.
Mervin E. Gutshall, a
Marietta native, has come
home to 17547 for good,
after being away at other
post offices for some time.
On March 12th he was
named Marietta Post Mast-
er by .Francis Biglin, re-
gional Post Master Gener-
al.
Marietta has not had a
Post Master of its own
since Frank Seaman retired
last year. The duties of the
office had been delegated
to Charles Smith, Post
Master of Goodville, who
served with the title of
Officer-in-Charge at Mari-
etta.
Mervin Gutshall started
his postal career in Mari-
etta in February of 1954 as
a part-time letter carrier.
He became a regular clerk
in 1957, and Assistant Post
Master in 1961.
Starting in 1972, Mervin
began occasional work at
other post offices as a
supervisor (replacing
people on leave). He su-
pervised at post offices in
York, Hallem, Quarryville,
and Lancaster. In October
1973 he was officially
transfered to Lancaster
where he supervised the
operation of a letter-sorting
machine. From June 1976
till his recent appointment
he was Officer-in-Charge at
post offices in Lititz and
Landisville.
“It’s very nice to be back
home again,’’ says Mervin,
who was born in Marietta,
and has lived here ever
since almost continuously.
Before joining the post
office, Mervin worked as a
jeweler. After working 9
months at Hamilton Watch
Co., he spent about a year
each at the Newcastle
Jewelry school and at
Bowman Tech in Lancaster,
studying jewelry making
and repair. He ran a
jewelry store on Gay Street
in Marietta in the early
fifties.
During World War II, he
joined the Navy and was
trained as a ‘‘combat air
crewman.’’ His duties were
to operate the radio until
(continued on Page 2)
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FIFTEEN CENTS
Residents want to keep
Mount Joy mini-park
A small dispute is sizz-
ling over a tiny playground
~ in Mount Joy. Located on
the 300 block of Donegal
Springs ‘Road, the park
consists of a swing and a
sandlot where the water
tank stood twenty years
ago.
Borough Council has
proposed rezoning the park
as a residential tract so
they can sell it. Local
residents, led by former
councilman Ronald Haw-
thorne (who lives next to
the park), want to keep it
as is.
At a recent council meet-
ing a petition, containing
60 signitures, was present-
ed to the council, who
thereupon postponed a de-
cision.
A larger and better
equipped park is being
constructed only a few
blocks away from the
Donegal Springs site. The
borough is applying for a
$5000 federal grant to
finance this new park.
Councilmen note that few
children use the Donegal
Springs park. Borough
Council spokesmen feel
that local residents are
actually more worried
about the possibility of a
modular home being built
in their neighborhood (after
the park is sold) than they
are about the park being
unavailable for play.
Ronald Hawthorne told
the Susquehanna Times
that local residents were
indeed worried about a
modular home on their
block (he noted that the
park is so small and
irregular that it would be
difficult to construct a
house like those adjacent)
but that they were primati-
ly concerned about the park
facilities. ‘‘People around
here are opposed to any
house on this plot,” he told
us.
The borough has esti-
mated cost of upkeep for
the park at about $600 per
year. Mr. Hawthorne
thinks this is too high. “All
they have to do is mow the
grass and shovel snow off
the walk,”” he said. The
borough stands to gain
about $3000 from the sale
of the land.
Mr. Hawthorne also feels
that the park has not been
kept up the way it should.
“They say that the kids
don’t use the park,”’ he
said, ‘‘but it would be used
a lot more if there weren't
weeds growing all over it.
Marietta
okays old curbs
for Front St.
At a special meeting last
Monday, Marietta Council
voted to allow Front Street
residents to keep their his-
toric brick and river stone
curbs when the street is
re-paved.
Council's decision should
help untangle the conflicts
of interest which have
complicated plans to pave
the pitted street.
Residents of the western-
most blocks of Front Street
were upset when Council
voted to proceed with the
paving job. They wanted to
preserve their battered,
wandering, but historic
curbs, and they did not
want to lose the old trees
which line the street.
The historic-minded resi-
dents are backed by the
Marietta Restoration
Associates and the County
Planning Commission.
The Planning Commis-
sion’s opinion is important,
because their recommend-
ations help decide whether
federal money will be
available to pay for the re-
paving job. If the U.S. does
not pay for the new pave-
ment, Marietta will go
ahead with the project any-
way. However, the cost to
local taxpayers and Front
Street residents will be a
lot higher.
The borough has asked
the U.S. for $212,102. This
sum would cover both the
paving job and the cost of
installing new curbs.
(Without new curbs, the
pavement would buckle.) If
the federal money does not
come, individual homeown-
ers will have to pay for new
curbs on their properties.
The boro will pay for the
street itself.
The County Planners re-
commended last week that
Front Street be paved, but
said efforts should be made
to preserve the historical
character of the street.
At this point, the ques-
tion of federal funding is in
the hands of an agency
called, ‘The U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce's Eco-
nomic Development Admin-
istration, under the Local
Public Works Capital In-
vestment Program.’ That
agency may:
—not fund the project.
—fund the project with no
string attached
—fund the project and add
money to save the historic
curbs
—specify that the historic
curbs must be saved, but
refuse to add extra money
to cover the extra cost.
One way or another, it
appears that the historic
curbs will be saved and the
street will be paved. The
big question is: Who will
pay for the job?
DID YOU HEAR...
May 30, 1977 and July
30, 1977, are the dates for
Maytown Fire Company
Carnivals. More news on
these at a later date.