A Plane Ride from Smoketown Airport

story and photos by

Tyler Martin - KidReporter

Have you ever been in a single-engine plane and seen everything from the air? I got a chance to do just that on a ride from the Smoketown Airport on August 2, 2008. This was the first time I had been on any kind of plane and I had no clue what feelings I’d experience. I was very excited to see everything from the air especially the ‘Amazing Maize Maze’. When I heard the plane’s engine being revved to a start, I knew my great day was about to begin.

Like I mentioned before, it was my first plane ride and I didn’t know what to expect. At first I was nervous because I had heard and seen planes crash in the past. I climbed in the front seat next to our pilot, Melvin. When I sat down, I was amazed at all the buttons on the panel right in front of me. Right away We sat Melvin taxied us to the end of the runway and we hit full speed. My stomach was doing flip-flops as we took off into the air.

Once we were in the air, I calmed down a bit. I was surprised at how smooth the ride was after we were in the air. I couldn’t stop looking out the window because it was such an awesome view. Everything looked like it had been shrunk down to the size of an ant. The land looked like waves in the ocean. Melvin pointed out that we were about to fly over the Amazing Maize Maze. The Amazing Maize Maze looked just like a maze on paper. I’m really good at mazes, but this one looked challenging.

Melvin dipped the plane’s wing so I could take a good picture of the Amazing Maize Maze. As we circled around the maze we saw lots of dots moving through the maze. It looked like a giant Pacman game. The maze wasn’t an ordinary maze. It was made up of little images that made one huge picture. From the air I could easily see a windmill, a cow, a gas pump, a sun, a farmer, an energy bolt, and the words ‘Go Green’ hidden inside the maze. Next to the maze, corn spelled out on a hill ‘Energy Field’.

Melvin turned the plane around and we headed back to the airport. We had a smooth landing and I saw my family waiting for me next to the runway. What an awesome ride ! Since I saw how challenging the maze looked from the air, I was ready to try it on land!

Our Plane!

Landis Valley Museum

by: Tyler Martin

photo courtesy of Landis Valley Museum

Tucked in the middle of Lancaster County is a small but well-known museum made to preserve life from the Civil War times. It is named the Landis Valley Museum. The museum was founded in the 1920’s by George and Henry Landis. They started collecting old Pennsylvania Dutch pottery and quilts. After the brothers expanded their collection to include such things as farm machinery, guns, and tools, they had too much stuff to fit into their shack. They then decided to open up a museum and place their collection in there. The museum kept growing bigger and bigger until it was completely filled with all the things you can see today.

photo courtesy of Landis Valley Museum

The Landis Valley Museum is a great place for families to go and have fun while learning at the same time. You can walk down one of the museum’s dirt paths and feel like you’re walking back in history. There are many old houses and buildings to walk through and find out why they were built and who they were built for. We had a chance to walk through the blacksmith shop and saw the blacksmiths shaping horseshoes and letter openers in their fires. Blacksmithing sure does look like a tough job to do with all the heat and hammer swinging.

We got a chance to visit an old home and saw how a family’s daily life was. The woman pretending to be the mother of the house was busy sewing a shirt on a pedal sewing machine. Some other buildings to see include a pottery shop, a firehouse, a textile barn, a schoolhouse, a leather shop, a gun shop, and a tavern. In every building you visit you will enjoy learning from re-enactors.

Our group was lucky enough to visit during the annual Civil War Day on July 26th. During our visit we are able to participate in many activities that were lots of fun. We joined a musket drill and learned to march like soldiers and hold and aim our guns. Even though the muskets were wooden models, they actually felt like the real thing. We saw a magic show and learned a few magic tricks. My favorite activity of the day was getting to meet the soldiers and seeing how they lived as they fought in the Civil War.

The museum is loaded with a lot of things for adults and kids to enjoy! If you happen to be in Lancaster County and looking for a great family day, visit the Landis Valley Museum. After the day is over you’ll be more educated about how people lived during the Civil War.

An exciting time is happening at the Landis Valley Museum as they are preparing for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011. I definitely plan to return to see all the awesome things they’ll have in store.

Stormin’ Along

The Play-by-Play

story and photos by

Tyler Martin

After an 8-5 win over the Newark Bears Sunday night, the Lancaster Barnstormers have continued to add onto their win streak -- tacking it up to 4 games -- their best of the season. They also held a 4-game sweep over Newark – their first since July 28-31, 2005. With the win, the ‘Stormers have boosted their record to 9-7 in the second half (39-47 overall).

meeting our host

David Castillo (the ‘Stormer’s catcher) had a very exciting night in his first game with the Barnstormers. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI double that gave Lancaster a 3-1 lead in the fourth and a 2-run homer in the sixth. On the field, Castillo caught for 4 pitchers and never let a ball get by him.

In the Press Box

During the sixth, the ‘Stormers put together a little bit of a rally. Putting 5 runs on the board including 2 homers by Michael Woods and David Castillo, and an RBI double by Jordan Herr. The only one not to hit in the rally was Matt LeCroy.

Keeping Score

Ryan Cullen came in to close out the game for Lancaster and did his job perfectly. He came in the game and let no one get on base and allowed no runs. With that, Cullen earned his 6th save of the season.

KidReporters in the Dugout

Matt LeCroy, the ‘Stormer’s DH, was also 2 for 4 with 2 hits – both singles. But LeCroy set a Barnstormers team record – a 19-game hitting streak. One of Matt’s other at-bats was a strikeout – only one of the 8 combined strikeouts for Lancaster.

KidReporters meet Local Sports Reporters

“We played well and did our job in defeating them and it just feels good to add onto our streak. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any other sweeps earlier in the season, but I’m glad that we completed this one”, Barnstormer’s coach Von Hayes stated.

Up next, the Barnstormers head on up to Somerset to face them for 3 games. In the first game Eric Ackerman (4-6) will be starting on the mound for Lancaster and he will be facing Josh Brey (5-0).

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Our airplane.JPG	11.76 KB
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Soldier Camp.JPG	77 KB
Assembled Soldiers.JPG	95.44 KB
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Meeting our Host.JPG	14.84 KB
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Meeting the Reporters2.JPG	9.02 KB