The Coolest Small Town in America

Mark and I grew up in Lititz, PA, and lived there the first year of our marriage. After twenty years and two more addresses in other Lancaster County burgs, we returned to Lititz for a two-month stint before we moved to Arden, DE. We were between houses, and Mark's parents put a roof over our heads for that period of time. During those months, Lititz was celebrating being voted the Coolest Small Town in America (2013) by Budget Travel Magazine. It was a great time to set up camp. Second Fridays (of the month) were hopping in a pure party of the arts and small businesses that lined Main Street. Our kids went in search of the free sunglasses that were the souvenir of the newly crowned "cool" kids. Mark and I availed ourselves of strong IPAs at Bull's Head, a brewpub that overflowed onto a sidewalk near the town square--and around the corner from our first address as a married couple. We clinked glasses and commented that, had Lititz been this cool at the time, we would have never left our little second-story apartment that overlooked the back stoop and garbage bins of the aforementioned brew pub.  And the town is cool--in more than just "coffee houses and brew pubs" kind of way. At the north end of town, Rock Lititz --the brainchild of existing entertainment industry giants Clair Bros Audio, Tait Towers, and Atomic Designs--has launched a venue for top musical artists from around the globe to practice and technically perfect their arena shows. Rock star sightings are a normal occurrence in Lititz and have been since we were kids. Lititz was a great place to grow up, and now its coolness factor is undisputed. Had Mark's job been closer to our native town, we would have gladly settled there instead of Arden for our next act.

My nieces and nephew at Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery in Lititz, PA

Lititz is more than a gimmick contest in a magazine to me: it is my heritage. If you trace my dad's family back through his mother's mother's mother's (10 mothers total) you will find the first European settler to Lititz Springs area. Of course, it was her husband's name-- Christian Bomberger-- that we memorized in fourth grade at Lititz Elementary School. But Christian wasn't alone in the dugout home he carved out of the land in 1722. His wife, Maria, was doing the laundry in the springs. Imagine the amount of dirt that accumulated in your clothes and linens when you lived in a dugout? A few decades later, in 1756, the Moravian Church came along and claimed the Lititz area for its own purposes. This is where my mother's family came into play. Originally Quakers who came to Pennsylvania with William Penn, they had a son who married into a Moravian family and he had a son who lived in Bethlehem (another Moravian settlement) for a while until an Indian raid sent that son (my gr-gr-gr-gr-grandfather) leaping off the roof of the up-in-flames Brother's house (where the unmarried men lived) to dodge bullets in a forest and eventually escape to Bethlehem's sister town of Lititz where he started a family. He was a potter, and his grandson (my gr-gr-grandfather) Julius Sturgis became the founder of the first commercial hard pretzel bakery in 1861. You can still tour this pretzel bakery today. (One more "cool point" for Lititz!) In the beginning of Lititz history, the Moravian Church owned all the land parcels in town and leased them only to members of its congregation until 1855 when it sold off its parcels and opened the town to outsiders.

**Are you paying attention, Arden? I started life in an intentional community in which residents had to lease the land on which they lived. 

 Lititz was the first community in Pennsylvania to establish a historic district, which is why its older buildings survive in such pristine condition. In the 1970's the downtown merchants got together and formed an association that bought up properties and bolstered business in the town for decades to come. As a result, Lititz has a thriving downtown and economy where many other towns are now shuttered, abandoned or have some sort of token commerce. Lititz boasts both the oldest girls' school and the longest running Fourth of July celebration in this country.  The latter has one of the best fireworks displays around, and you can bet that the soundtrack that accompanies the show is top notch--as it is provided by the same folks who are "rocking" Lititz at the north end of town.

In this blog, I've detailed a lot of what the experience of living in Arden has brought to us. Maybe we sought Arden out because community is so important to us. I came preloaded with expectation, having cut my teeth in a place that values neighbors, honors its history, and moved into this century with such forward thinking it is astonishing. Arden has a great history, too. I have read much about it in the short time I have been here. My friends joke about my geeky spouting of Arden trivia. My knowledge is not complete, but certainly well-informed. I do honor my new town's 115-year history with the same reverence I give to Lititz, though Lititz history is over twice as long. Sometimes, I run into Ardenites who are stubborn about change in the community. I can't blame them. They don't want  the Arden of their collective childhood to fade away. Their memories can account for half the history of the place, so of course their experience has weight. I can respect that. But I am glad to see forward momentum here as well. As an example, The Arden Concert Gild has grown over the last decade to the point where our Gild Hall is a true venue, competing for artists with other great hotspots in Wilmington and Philadelphia. How interesting that music plays such a central and progressive role in both my beloved towns?

And so Arden, I offer you my past, as you have offered me yours. When I step forward at village meetings or offer suggestions in various committees, know that any challenges I make to the status quo are informed and respectful of the past. Just because I seek changes doesn't mean that I don't honor the story. I haven't been here very long, but I have great joy and enthusiasm for our village life, and I come to you with a storied history of my own.

Between Houses, Between the Worlds

Two years ago in 2013, we sold our Reinholds, PA house on April 26th, not to move to Arden, DE until June 29th. That left us two months without a home. Our in-laws stepped up to the plate and took us into their home in Lititz, PA. We had the upstairs, three bedrooms and a bath to ourselves. Jonah was in the final days of his high school career. Mark was commuting over ninety minutes to work. It was an incubation period as we got ready for our new lives in Arden. I don't think anyone ever dreams about having to stay with their parents or in-laws. It isn't a situation that anyone wants. I had a calendar on the refrigerator which counted down the days until we got our house. I wanted to be in Arden more than anything. I was killing time.

But looking back on those months, I really have to say, I would not have changed the experience if I could. Mark agrees: those two months with his parents were such a gift. We were able to use our regularly appointed living expenses to buy some new things for the house. And we used the time to get projects done with Karen and Nelson's help. Mark, Jonah, and Nelson made us a dining room table and bench out of reclaimed barn wood. Think Big Sur table from Crate and Barrel. While they were doing that, I was making a window seat cushion and started my quilt top, both with help from Karen.  On my own, I created two chalkboards out of old windows, crocheted an afghan, knitted some socks that I was calling cabin slippers, and sewed a bathrobe. Maren sat with her grandmother and learned to crochet a pillow top while the two of them watched Flea Market Flip on HGTV.

Some major happenings went down while we were living in Lititz. The town of Lititz itself was celebrating being named the Coolest Small Town in America, and we were able to join in the festivities. Also, while we staying in Lititz, Jonah was in a minor car accident, which meant that we were down a car. Juggling four cars for five drivers was ultimately easier than juggling two cars for three drivers. Nelson got hearing aids for the first time, which is more of a transition than most people realize. Jonah graduated high school, and we celebrated with a party at my sister's pool. Maren had what may have been her final dance concert ever.

While we didn't eat dinner all together every night (our schedules were different), we had a few family dinners including the time we sat down to eat Cobb Salads off of the vintage plates that Karen has been collecting over the years and off which the kids had never eaten.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. We had to navigate around the living room which broadcast Fox News 24/7, volume turned up until the hearing aids arrived, and the Castle reruns playing in the family room. Sometimes, it didn't seem like there was anywhere to go to get away from the dueling TVs, none of which were playing shows we wanted to watch. (We don't have our TV running nonstop  in our home.) Lucky for us, it was a beautiful spring. I could read on the deck. Mark and I were able to take long walks. Jonah had a near miss with a class which meant he almost didn't graduate. That set off another chain of long, somewhat agonizing, walks with just him and us, his parents. And yet, we all managed the experience with grace and serenity. Translation: No relationships were harmed in this execution of this living arrangement. I daresay it even brought us closer.

The time we spent waiting to come to Arden, made us that more hungry for the experience, and more appreciative when the hour  finally arrived. We came to our house fully gestated and ready to begin our adventure. Jonah didn't make the journey with us. He stayed back at his grandparents, mowing lawns and readying himself for college in the fall. Then, after his freshman year at West Chester, he took this year off college and went back to live with his grandparents because Lancaster County was close to friends and job. Because we lived with Karen and Nelson for two months, we are better able to imagine his life there and feel comfortable with his choices at this point in his life. We are so grateful to Karen and Nelson for, not only sheltering all of us when we needed it, but also helping to make it a fruitful period in our lives as well. I will always look back with fondness on our homeless days. We were between the worlds.

Warwick School District Tomato Soup

This is the recipe from my childhood. Our school cafeterias made this soup from scratch. They served it with a choice of sub or salisbury steak sandwich.

12 c. Tomatoes peeled and pureed (I just used two 28 oz can of tomatoes and one weird 35 oz can and pureed them in blender)

3/4 c sugar

1.5 qt water

1T onion flake

3/4 tsp celery salt

2 oz (1/4 cup) Beef base (calls for Major Beef Style Soup Base. I have been using Better than Bouillon)

14 T Butter

1/2 cup flour

Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil. 

In a small saucepan, Melt butter. Add flour and stir to make a roux (It will be more of a slurry). While soup is boiling add the roux to thicken. 

Makes 4-5 quarts

Utopia

Arden Gild Hall

What is Utopia exactly? What is an intentional community? Put simply, a intentional community is designed from the beginning around common ideals and the assumption that individuals within the community will pool resources and share responsibilities to work toward those ideals.  In The Ardens (Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft) those common ideals are the single tax (based on Henry George); the importance of art, music,  and theater; and the environment. Arden is a Tree City which boasts 50% green spaces including two forests and a 73% canopy.

If you know of my love of art and nature, it is easy to see why I would place myself here, in Arden. But I was drawn to the intentionality itself. My hometown of Lititz, PA was created, not because it was on a trade route or near a river, but as a religious community for the Moravians, a protestant sect that placed a high value on music. My ancestors came there and helped found the place. It wasn’t a closed or intentional community when I lived there, but that is where its roots were. Later, when I attended college, I sought out special interest housing. Instead of rushing to become an adult in my first apartment, I chose to live in housing with a purpose. In my case, it was honors housing, but we had activities with all the houses, many of which were formed around cultures (The French House) or interests (The Music House).

And too, I have a fascination with the Revolutionary Period of our country’s history. I’ve read all the biographies of our founding fathers, visited the homes of Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. I’ve been to Williamsburg no less than fifteen times. Why am I such a groupie of this time period? These men got to invent a freaking country! They got to start from scratch and found a place based on their ideals. Talk about intentionality.

Probably the biggest influence on our decision to move to Arden was the many years we lived without community. In the eighteen years leading up to our move, we lived in a spot which wasn’t accessible to much. We had to travel five miles to a grocery store, over twenty miles to attend a church that matched our beliefs. The school district where our kids went to school was made up of a lot of small little burgs and villages. There was no centralized town around which to rally. Added to that was the fact that in the most recent high school mock election, Obama came in third to Romney and Paul (who was a write-in candidate). The sense of isolation and the fact that our liberal ideals were so far removed from the population made us feel very lost. We were not only looking for a place to belong, but for a place where we could make meaning.

A lot of press has been given to living the intentional life with an emphasis placed on the individual. Not everyone can make the move to an intentional community. My hope, with this blog, is that those who are curious about life lived in such a place can have their curiosities satisfied and move on to new questions about what makes meaning in their own lives. What makes community? How can we satisfy those very human needs? Perhaps we can have a community right here. Feel free to join the conversation in the comments section.