By: ALICE HUMMER Review Correspondent, Staff Writer

Balancing a budget gets harder and harder, was the message given by supervisors at their Dec. 19 meeting prior to unanimously passing the 2013 budget.

"We looked time and time again at what else we could cut from the already bare bones budget," Supervisor Chairman, Doug Mackley said. "I don’t like to see taxes go up. People are on fixed incomes and times are tough."

Belt tightening included no raises for the 12 non-uniformed employees, no police pension Cola for retired police officers, and deferral of big ticket maintenance items needed for the municipal building, which was built in 1988. Among items needed at the aging municipal building is a new HVAC system.

Last year there was less than one-tenth of a mill increase in taxes.

This year taxes will go from 1.7 mills to 2.05 mills. Taxes on a home assessed at $100,000 will go from $170 to $205.

For each of the four years previous to 2012, there was no tax increase.

The police pension fund requires large infusions of money to keep it solvent.

G. Wayne Heberlig

John A. Smaltz, 79, Denver, died Dec. 17, 2012, at Masonic Village, Elizabethtown.

Born in Hazelton, he was a son of the late Harold A. and Charlotte E. (Hughes) Smaltz.

He was a 1951 Hughestown High School and 1957 Bloomsburg University graduate. John taught science for 35 years at Cocalico High School, Denver, also serving as department head, junior class advisor, and supervised sound, sets and lighting at school productions, football games and band events. An Army veteran he was also a member of Ephrata Lodge #665 F&AM, and cherished his grandchildren.

Surviving: his wife of 55 years, Rita J. (Treese) Smaltz; son: Jay A. (Roberta Showalter) Smaltz, Denver; daughter: Amy J. (Brad) Knaus, Lancaster; grandchildren: Joshua A., Abagail R., Patrick T., Sarah E. and Rachel M.; sister: Elizabeth C. Smaltz; and nephew: James E. Smaltz, both of Exton.

Services were held Dec. 20 at Good Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, Reamstown with private interment in White Haven Cemetery, Luzerne Co. Rather than flowers, consider contributions to Masonic Village, 1 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022.

To offer an online condolence, visit goodfuneral.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Good Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, Reamstown.

Timothy Matsuk

A Denver teenager passed away as a result from a two-car crash Tuesday, Dec. 18 in East Cocalico Township, police said.

He was identified as 17-year-old Timothy Matsuk. Matsuk was pronounced dead at 7:32 p.m. Tuesday at Reading Hospital.

Two male juveniles from the Denver area, who were riding in the car with Matsuk, also were taken to the hospital, as was a 23-year-old Denver woman who was driving the other vehicle.

The accident occurred in the 300 block of Smokestown Road at 7:30 a.m.

According to police, a vehicle traveling west at an unknown speed lost control in a curve and fishtailed into the oncoming lane, striking an eastbound vehicle. The driver and front passenger of the vehicle that lost control were ejected. The driver of the other vehicle was extricated from her vehicle by Denver Rescue.

Smokestown Fire Company, Fire Police, Denver Rescue, Reinholds, Reamstown, Fivepointville and Ephrata Ambulance and Medic 4, 9 and a Berks County medic were all on the scene.

The road was closed for approximately three hours.

Matsuk, 17, was born in Ephrata to Veniamin and Svetlana (Patrushev) Matsuk.

By: JOYCE ZIMMERMAN Review Correspondent, Staff Writer

The gifts are opened, the stockings emptied, and the cookies are eaten. Probably all that remains from family Christmas celebrations are the leftovers from Christmas dinner and the decorations people use to adorn the inside and outside of their homes. If current trends continue, several decades from now, some of those decorations may become popular in the antique and collectible markets.

That is precisely what occurred with the decorations used by our parents and grandparents. Many would be astonished to find some of their decorations displayed in antique shops and collected by current-day dealers and decorators.

Antique Christmas decorations have been collected for many years, therefore some can be hard to find and very expensive. Items like German-made Belshnickle (Santa) figures, goose feather trees and Kugal glass ornaments, to mention a few, all command premium prices. Because they have been collected for years, many are in private collections. According to many collectors, anything made in Germany or Czechoslovakia has more value because they were probably made prior to the 1940s when Japanese goods flooded the market.

Akron will once again kick off the new year with its annual "Shoe-In" event next Monday.

The 2012 Shoe-In runs from 8 p.m. to midnight at Broad Street Park. This year’s event features free food, a street hockey tournament, a DJ spinning tunes, a bonfire and a hayride. A giant, lighted shoe will drop as the last seconds of 2012 tick away.

This event has been held each year since 2007 with the exception of 2010.

Mayor John McBeth, an ardent Shoe-In supporter, along with Akron resident Barb McMinn and an ad hoc committee are organizing the event. Hot dogs with sauerkraut and condiments, cookies and hot chocolate will be served free of charge. There will also be face-painting artists, fire officials with an engine on hand and a DJ playing family-friendly music to add to the celebration. Good’s Disposal and Ephrata National Bank are once again the event sponsors.

The night will begin with a street hockey tournament at 8 p.m., followed by a multi-denominational community worship service at Grace E.C. Church at 9:30. Pastor Les Cool said his service would focus on ".he part that God wants to play in our personal and corporate transition from 2012 to 2013, from where we are to where we might be, from who we are to what we might become." The Rev. Tom Webber of Akron Church of the Brethren will assist with the service.

There is still time to send us your favorite photo for our next It’s All About You section. The theme is Holiday Traditions. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 28, and your photos will be published in our Jan. 10 edition.

Photographs can be from holidays past, or from this season.

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Stephen Seeber at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com. Photos 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 the number of submitted photos to three.

By: GARY P. KLINGER Review Correspondent, Staff Writer

If Ephrata Area School Board passes a tax increase as part of its 2013-2014 school budget, the maximum it could raise taxes would be 2.1 percent.

But whether or not Ephrata School residents will see a tax increase is still very much an uncertain piece of school board business.

The purpose of a resolution passed Dec. 17 allows the district to follow minimal budget procedures, and dispense with the more complicated, expensive, and accelerated Act 1 budget requirements. Since the district is now certain next year’s budget can be funded without increasing the real estate tax rate by more than the index of 2.1 percent set by the PA Department of Education (and therefore will not seek approval for any index limit exceptions), it had to pass this accelerated opt-out resolution.

Prior to passage, board president Timothy Stayer discussed the resolution, an item on the board’s consent agenda.

"We are very conscious of the economic times in which we are living," said Stayer. "The district is in fairly decent shape and so we are going to opt out of any tax increase beyond 2.1 percent."

Lucy Riccomini

Lancaster County Weeklies is pleased to announce the addition of Lucy Riccomini to its staff.

Riccomini will be working with The Ephrata Review and Lititz Record Express, and will eventually take over editing the Cocalico In Review section.

Riccomini is a 2002 graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in English literature with a minor in journalism. She will receive her Master’s degree in mass media and journalism in May from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Lucy is a former features editor for Fly Magazine, where she worked for five years. She has a six-year-old son, Max, and lives in Lancaster. More RICCOMINI, page A6

By: Lucy Riccomini Review Staff, Staff Writer

Proud owners of Ephrata's former holiday street light include (first row, left to right) Tim Auker, Shane McEllhenney, Jan Bowers; (second, l-r) Kyle Ingham and Brad Kilhefner. (Photo by Stan Hall)

When Brad Kilhefner read that Denver Borough was accepting donations in exchange for Ephrata’s old Christmas decorations, his eyes lit up like the 25-watt light bulbs in the wreath of the giant ornaments.

The ornaments were originally part of Ephrata’s holiday street light decorations in the 1960s. They were then given to Denver Borough when Ephrata replaced them with new ornaments. When Denver was ready to retire the decorations, they advertised that anyone could have them at the price of a donation.

A life-long resident of Ephrata and collector of local memorabilia, Kilhefner opted to take 18 of the decorations. He hung one in his garage, one outside the balcony of his home on South State Street, and gave the rest to friends and family in the area.

But hanging the ornament or storing it is no small feat. Each decoration is a five-foot wreath dotted with 25-watt light bulbs, which surrounds a classic orange or white Christmas tree ornament.