Someone will pumpkin your porch for you, and East Hempfield hits pause on data centers

The Digest

Two local businesses will decorate your porch for fall so you don't have to

Ashley Shearer started Festive PA Porches in Elizabethtown last year and now delivers pumpkin porch packages across the Lancaster, Harrisburg, Hershey and West Shore areas. The pumpkins and gourds are locally sourced, cleaned and treated with a natural squirrel repellent so they last, then arranged on your steps with hay bales, mums and a buffalo plaid outdoor rug. At the end of the season she'll collect the pumpkins for an extra fee and donate them to a local farm for the animals. You keep the rug. Interior designer Alison McIndoe of AK Interiors and Jennifer Lehman of Studio 33 got into the same business last year with Lancaster Pumpkin & Porch Co., which handles design, sourcing and installation, with optional cleanup.

Trellis Marketplace in Elizabethtown had Shearer do its entryway last fall and says the display lasted all season. Squirrel-proof pumpkins. Where were these when we needed them.

Read more at LancasterOnline →

East Hempfield put data center applications on hold for 180 days

East Hempfield Township supervisors voted Sept. 2 to pause data center applications for 180 days, the second of two resolutions on the issue since Aug. 19. The reason, per township manager Cindy Schweitzer: the township's zoning ordinance doesn't cover data centers or the buildings that come with them, so the board wants time to write rules that do. "That's kind of a big deal," board chair Bob Johnson said. "People who are sweating a data center sneaking-in-kind-of-thing, that gives us some time to develop an ordinance." A vote on a data center ordinance could come in December, after the wording goes to the township and county planning commissions for comment. West Hempfield and Little Britain passed similar pauses this summer, and six other municipalities, Lancaster city among them, have changed or are changing their zoning to deal with data centers.

Supervisors meet next at 6 PM Sept. 16 at the municipal building, 1700 Nissley Road, Landisville.

Read more at LancasterOnline →

What's happening

Wednesday

Lancaster Bicycle Club Wednesday Morning Breakfast Ride | Casual-pace group ride with a breakfast stop, helmets and RSVP required | 9:00 AM | Manheim Township Athletic Complex, 2883 Weaver Rd., Lancaster | No fee listed

Lancaster Vegan Meetup Dinner | The meetup is back from a four-month break with dinner at an all-vegan fast-food spot | 6:00 PM | Bad Garden Kitchen, 398 Harrisburg Ave., Suite 500, Lancaster | No fee listed

The Secret World of Pennsylvania's Bats | County Parks talk on the state's bat species and why their numbers collapsed, registration required | 6:00 PM | Manheim Township Public Library, 595 Granite Run Dr., Lancaster | No fee listed

Great Decisions Discussion Group | Moderated, non-partisan foreign affairs discussion, no registration needed | 6:30 PM | Lititz Public Library, 651 Kissel Hill Rd., Lititz | No fee listed

Lancaster Stormers vs. Hagerstown Flying Boxcars | Middle game of the Hagerstown series | 6:45 PM | Penn Medicine Park, 650 N. Prince St., Lancaster | $11.50 to $23 in advance

Trivia Night at Southern Market | Team trivia with $1 off beer and wine and gift cards for the top three | 7:00 PM | Southern Market, 100 S. Queen St., Lancaster | No fee listed

Thursday

Urban Hikes in Downtown Lititz | Second-Thursday community walk through Lititz gardens and trails, litter pickup included | 8:00 AM | Earth to Lititz, 56 E. Main St., Lititz | Free

Hinkle Insurance Agency Blood Drive | Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank bloodmobile, book a half-hour slot online | 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM | Hinkle Insurance Agency, 705 Olde Hickory Rd., Lancaster | Free

Stephen Smith Lecture at LancasterHistory | Michael Clemmons opens the fall colloquium on the Columbia entrepreneur turned minister and abolitionist, reception at 5, registration requested | 5:30 PM | LancasterHistory, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster | Free

W. Miller Barbour & His Prospect for Freedom | Historian Eric Schubert on the Middletown native and Elizabethtown College graduate, 18+, registration required | 6:00 PM | Lancaster Public Library, 151 N. Queen St., Lancaster | No fee listed

Invasive Plants Discussion | Which plants are taking over local ecosystems and how to push back, registration required | 6:00 PM | Manheim Community Library, 547 N. Penryn Rd., Manheim | No fee listed

Lancaster Stormers vs. Hagerstown Flying Boxcars | Last home game before the Stormers hit the road | 6:45 PM | Penn Medicine Park, 650 N. Prince St., Lancaster | $11.50 to $23 in advance

Music Bingo at Southern Market | Match the songs you hear to your bingo card, $1 off beer and wine | 7:00 PM | Southern Market, 100 S. Queen St., Lancaster | No fee listed

Now Playing

Pretty Woman: The Musical | The stage version of the film, through September 24 | Wed 1 & 7:30 PM · Thu 7:30 PM · Fri 1 & 7:30 PM · Sat 1 & 7:30 PM · Sun 7 PM | Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, 510 Centerville Rd., Lancaster | $78 to $83 with dinner, $55 show only

The Thanksgiving Play | EPAC's 90-minute satire about educators staging a politically correct Thanksgiving pageant, ages 13 and up, closes September 13 | Thu 7:30 PM · Fri 8 PM · Sat 2 & 8 PM · Sun 2 PM | Ephrata Performing Arts Center, 320 Cocalico St., Ephrata | $35 to $54 plus a $3 fee, $15 student rush

Anne of Green Gables | Servant Stage's pay-what-you-will family musical, through September 27 | Thu 7 PM · Fri 7 PM · Sat 11 AM & 3 PM · Sun 3 PM | Lancaster Mennonite School, 2176 Lincoln Hwy E., Lancaster | Pay what you will

Dear Soldier Boy | Musical comedy about two Amish coworkers writing letters to the troops as the Gulf War begins in 1990, through October 21 | Thu 7 PM · Fri 1 PM · Sat 7 PM | Bird-in-Hand Stage, 2760 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand | $47 adults, $18 kids, more with a meal

America: 250 Years of Freedom | Bird-in-Hand's 90-minute story-and-song panorama of American history, through October 17 | Thu 1 PM | Bird-in-Hand Stage, 2760 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand | $32 adults, $15 kids, more with a meal

Joshua | Sight & Sound's Old Testament epic, through December 31 | Wed dark · Thu 11 AM & 3 PM, both sold out, next open seats Tue 9/15 | Sight & Sound Theatres, 300 Hartman Bridge Rd., Ronks | $82 to $104 adults, $44 kids

Live music

Wednesday

Blast Off Open Mic with Emily Siegrist | Open mic for music, rap, poetry and comedy, sign-ups at 7 | 7:00 to 9:00 PM | West Art, 816 Buchanan Ave., Lancaster | No cover listed

Open Mic Wednesdays with Dodd Gross | Open mic | 7:30 PM | McCleary's Public House, 130 W. Front St., Marietta | No cover listed

Los Mal Hablados | All-ages concert, doors at 7 | 7:30 PM | Phantom Power, 121 W. Frederick St., Millersville | $15 in advance, $17 day of show

Jammy Buffet | Jimmy Buffett jam-band tribute, doors at 7 | 8:00 PM | Mickey's Black Box, 101 Rock Lititz Blvd., Lititz | $29.55 general admission, $40.30 reserved riser, plus fees

Thursday

Live Jazz Thursdays | Jazz | 6:00 to 8:00 PM | Plough, 25 S. Queen St. (Lancaster Marriott), Lancaster | No cover listed

Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton | Radio Soul, the early songs of Elvis Costello | 7:30 PM | American Music Theatre, 2425 Lincoln Hwy E., Lancaster | $89 to $149

Vince Miller Music | Solo singer on guitar and keys | 7:30 PM | McCleary's Public House, 130 W. Front St., Marietta | No cover listed