By: TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Megan Esterbrook of Ephrata follows through on a shot during Monday's L-L League Tournament at Foxchase. (Photo by Preston Whitcraft)

After playing the front nine at seven-over-par Monday at Foxchase, Ephrata’s Megan Esterbrook thought her chances of winning an L-L League girls golf title were all but gone.

"At that point I honestly thought I was out of it," she said.

The Ephrata senior bared down and finished strong, securing a par on hole 13 to close out a round of 83 and most certainly clinch a spot to Districts.

But then she got some even better news.

"I knew I had 83 and I thought that was good enough for maybe third place at best," she said. "Then one of the mothers said, I think you got first place. I was like, ‘no I didn’t.’ I was pretty excited."

Esterbrook finished widid indeed capture first place, and became the second Ephrata girl to win the title in the last three years, joining Lauren Smith, who won it in 2010.

By: TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Three weeks ago, Ephrata opened the Scott Shelley era with a stinker at Exeter.

Following that 42-0 loss, Shelley preached patience, and vowed that if nothing else, his team would work hard and make improvements throughout the season.

Shelley has kept his word.

Ephrata got better in a Week Two loss to Garden Spot, and just last week was a play or two away from knocking off Warwick.

And Friday night at home vs. Lebanon in the Section Two opener, the Mounts not only made more strides from the week before, they tasted victory for the first time.

Led by junior running back Blake Weaver, who rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, the Mounts’ veer attack rolled up 359 yards on the ground. Defensively, Ephrata was up to the task as well, holding the Cedars’ high-powered "Air-Raid" attack to just 189 yards.

In the end, the Mounts cruised to a very impressive 41-13 victory over Lebanon, giving the Mounts their first home win since knocking off Conestoga Valley, 7-3 in Week Three of the 2010 season.

James A. Althouse

James A. Althouse, 69, of Ephrata, died Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 in Lancaster General Hospital.

He was born in Lancaster, a son of the late John A. and Ella S. (Eshelman) Althouse.

Jim was a member of Grace Evangelical Congregational Church. He graduated in 1961 from Cocalico High School; 1965 in music education from Lebanon Valley College, Annville; and received his master’s degree in music education in 1971 from Penn State University. He taught music with Ephrata School District from 1965 to 1981, where he was band director of the Purple Pride marching band and founded Pageantry in Motion, a regional marching band competition. He taught in Cumberland Regional High School, Seabrook, N.J., from 1981 to 1996; was president of the Mid-Atlantic Band Judges, served as a judge from 1970 to 2007; and was instrumental with Cavalcade of Bands. Jim also founded and directed the Adamstown Community Band, Ephrata Recreation Center Band and Hexton Band and was the former chairman of the Miss Lancaster County Pageant.

He is survived by a brother: Richard L., husband of Linda Spotts Althouse, and niece: Amy, wife of Robert III Mellinger, all of Ephrata.

By: TIFFANY WOODALL MICHELLE REIFF Review Staff, Staff Writer

Timna Crowther of Ephrata holds on tight, clearly excited to have caught a pig in Tuesday night's chase at Tent City. (Photo by Preston Whitcraft)

A couple blocks away from the bustle of the street fair, kids and adults alike were getting down and dirty Tuesday night for the annual greased pig chase at Tent City. Groups of eager competitors filed into the ring surrounded by enthusiastic spectators waiting for a champion to emerge.

"The first one got away from ya though, didn’t it?" said Tommy Zartman to his nephew, Austin Brass, as he wiped the slime off of his arms after winning one of the 6- to 8-year-old heats. "And then they had a restart, and then he got it the second time," said Zartman.

"Uh, greasy," was Brass’s answer when prompted about how the pig felt. And when asked if the task was difficult, he said "not really." Spoken like a champ.

Outside the ring, kids enjoyed the Bungy jump, bounce castle and pedal go-karts. Valerie Becker, of Ephrata, waited at the entrance of the grassy go-kart track watching her 5-year-old son cruise around.

Two local long-time institutions, The Ephrata Review and the Akron Lions Club, famous for their toasted cheeseburgers, have teamed up just in time for the big Ephrata Fair.

Starting Monday, Sept. 19, set-up day for the fair, and continuing through the end of the fair Saturday, Sept. 24, anyone purchasing a new Review subscription for $13.50 will receive a coupon for one of those mouth-watering grilled cheeseburgers to be used during fair week. That’s right, sign-up for home delivery of 52 issues of The Review and you get one of the most famous foods on the midway for free!

The Review will have a booth set up in front of its building during various times of fair week to accept the offer, however the main office is also open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 733-6397 (NEWS).

Come a toasted cheeseburger and the fair all week, and The Ephrata Review all year. More CHEESEBURGER, page A18

By: MICHELLE REIFF Review Staff mreiff.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Members of the Sweigart family set up for their last time selling the famous steak sandwiches in their trailer on Ephrata's Main Street. The old sign from their former restaurant still hangs inside. (Photo by Stan Hall)

As visitors from near and far eat their way down Main Street Saturday, the Sweigart family will serve its last cheesesteak on the Ephrata Fair midway.

A legacy that began nearly 80 years ago with a young Clarence Sweigart, the famous Sweigart’s Steaks will come to an end — and will surely be missed by fairgoers young and old.

"It’s about 80 or 90 hours of work for the week," said Scott Sweigart, the grandson of the late founder — sad to see the tradition end, but aware of the lack of time and manpower to continue the work involved in creating the delectable sandwiches.

He and his siblings — Ronald Lee, Peg, Tracey and Deb — are paid workers in the business who also have other full-time jobs. Their parents, Ronald Lamar and Marie Sweigart, have been very instrumental in the success of the endeavor, but are now in their 70s.

Boo who?

You, that’s who?

Send us your favorite Halloween or harvest-related images for the October issue of "It’s All About You."

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Andy Fasnacht at afasnacht.eph@lnpnews.com. They can also be dropped off at our Ephrata office or mailed to P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

When submitting photos, please include all necessary identifications and your contact information (in case we have any questions). Submitted information should include names of those in the photos, your local connection, where and when the photos were taken, and identity of the photographer.

Please limit submissions to three photos per family.

Our Halloween and Harvest photo spread will be published in our Oct. 31 issue. Deadline for photo submissions is Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Congratulations to Lisa Zimmerman, winner of this month’s Ephrata Review "School Photos" contest. She submitted a photo of her son Kendyn on his first day of first grade. She wins a $25 gift certificate to Kyma Seafood Gril/Johnny’s Bar & Steakhouse in Stevens.

Look for Lisa’s photo and all the other community school photos on pages B6-8. More ALL ABOUT YOU, page A19

By: ROCHELLE A. SHENK Review Correspondent, Staff Writer

Mary Becker stands in front of the Lauver (also spelled Lauber) Hill School, a now defunct one-room school in Akron. (Photo by Stan Hall)

Teaching, sharing stories and family are three key elements of Mary Becker’s life.

The Akron resident and retired Warwick school teacher published a book in the spring about her parents, entitled "Michael and Jennie Wenger: Pictorial Genealogy."The 200-page book is filled with photos and stories of ancestors, descendants, former school students of Michael’s, schools and church buildings. There’s even a photo of the town in Switzerland where the Wenger family traces its roots.

Michael was a teacher for 50 years–half of that time he taught in one-room schools, and the latter half he taught at Christian schools, including Ephrata Mennonite School and Gehman’s Mennonite School. He was also a minister.

"A lot of people remember him, and he touched a lot of lives. I thought my parents had stories that should be told. I began collecting stories about my parents, and then people in the family asked me to include a genealogy," Becker explained. (This year also marks the 90th anniversary of his graduation from Millersville Normal School, now Millersville University.) She also said that writing this book and collecting the photos was a way for her to become familiar with her new computer.

By: TIFFANY WOODALL Review Staff twoodall.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Years ago two producers at Penn State Public Broadcasting had an idea: document the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, a philanthropy that’s not only a major source of Penn State pride, but is also a major source of funding for its sole beneficiary, The Four Diamonds Fund.

Executive Producer Jeff Hughes and Producer/Director Cole Cullen, creators of the 2008 documentary "Making the Blue Band," teamed up once again to tell another Penn State story, the story of THON.

"We knew of the existence of THON, but I think we really only thought of it as this two-day thing they did in February," said Hughes. "We didn’t know of the need for that funding, the need for the support of families who were struggling with childhood cancer. We wanted to create a program that talked about all those things."

And that’s exactly what they did. "Why We Dance: The Story of THON" features families battling pediatric cancer, student volunteers raising awareness and funds year-round to provide financial and emotional support for those families, medical personnel caring for those families and researchers seeking cures for those families.

Barbara S. Zimmerman, 90, formerly of Reamstown, passed away Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 at Conestoga View in Lancaster.

Barbara was born in Ephrata Township, daughter of the late Frank and Barbara (Stauffer) Stauffer. Her husband, the late Irvin H. Zimmerman, passed away in 1999.

She was a member of Blue Ball Church of the Brethren and she was employed for many years at Spring Glen Fresh Foods Inc. of Ephrata. Barbara enjoyed the outdoors.

She is survived by two daughters: Sylvia D. Garman, of Leola; and Debra L. Lloyd, of Ephrata; four grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters: Maude Auker, of Ephrata; and Lily Martin, of Kentucky; and two brothers: Thomas Stauffer, husband of Nancy, of Ephrata; and Calvin Stauffer, husband of Josephine, of Snyder County.

In addition to her husband and parents, Barbara was preceded in death by a grandson: Shelden Ringler; six sisters: Della Martin, Amelia Auker, Nora Brubaker, Edna Bauman, Alice Bauman and Sally Zimmerman; and two brothers: Frank and Ezra Stauffer.

Friends will be received at Hahnstown United Zion Church, at the corner of Glenwood Drive and Frysville Road, Ephrata, from noon until 2 p.m. Sept. 27. Funeral services will follow at 2 p.m. with the Rev. C. B. Horst officiating. The place of interment will be in the adjoining church cemetery.