Hey Folks,

What week are we in dealing with this whole thing? Will it ever end? Ahhhhhh!

Hey, I can’t forget we in Lancaster are a resilient bunch. Always have been. We got this thing of ours by the nape of its neck.

I’m feeling a bit reflective and quite thankful to work for the people of this Town. I don’t live here. I wish I did. I know more about Lancaster than where I grew up in New Jersey.

If you think back to those first Lancaster settlers, who built their houses from roughhewn wood since there weren’t any mills in the area in the mid 17th century, and the struggles they faced establishing a new settlement near the frontier it must have been quite a trial. Before the end of the century, as a result of the transpiring events of King Phillip’s War, the whole settlement would be razed to the ground. This was the time when Mary Rowlandson was taken captive for almost three months. Lancastrians would lick their wounds and rebuild the Mothertown.

What about living through the nascent period when Lancastrians, after hearing there was a battle at Lexington and Concord against the Red Coats, would prepare for war against King George and lose Lancaster resident David Robbins who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill? Can you imagine the uncertainty of how the whole thing would work itself out? When it was all over, Lancastrians would rejoice in their hard-won freedom and liberty.

Wait, there’s more.

Lancastrians didn’t sit idly by during the Civil War either. Men from many backgrounds, including local farmers, a bookkeeper, a blacksmith, a baker, a cooper, and even an insurance company executive, died at Ball’s Bluff, Antietam Gettysburg, Yorktown, and Williamsburg.

When it was all over, I’m convinced there were moments of lamentation and bewilderment at having witnessed the country tear itself apart. Lancastrians honored their dead by building Memorial Hall, which still resides within the confines of the Library and entered a brave new world.

I’m certain the Spanish influenza epidemic, and the Great Depression sowed doubt, worry, and insecurity in citizen’s minds and never mind four major military conflicts when hundreds of Lancastrians were killed. Some monuments honor the men who made the ultimate sacrifice on the south side of the Library.

Hey, I’m not trying to bring you down—quite the opposite. We are participants in, and witnesses to, history in the making here in Lancaster. COVID-19 is affecting all of us. Households, just like yours, are being tested. Make no mistake; this ordeal stinks. But I assure you that Lancaster’s spirit will prevail, and your family, neighbors, town officials, and yes, the Library will continue to see you through this.

September is only about a week away. It looks like the weather will be mild for the remainder. Leave history-making for next Tuesday, September 1. Live as large as you can. Forget to fret, knowing whatever is coming down the pike cannot shake the ties that bind us in this great Town.

~ joe​