If you don't live in Quarryville or more generally the “Southern End” of Lancaster County Pennsylvania you probably never heard of SECA. SECA stands for Southern End Community Association. This organization offers many events for residents of Quarryville and the Southern End to participate. As a Quarryville Realtor I will try to keep you abreast of the many activities organized by this group through the year.   UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS: Bingo: Cash and prizes are awarded with some jackpots reaching $500. They use all paper cards and also serve food and refreshments. Doors open at 6 PM and play begins at 7 PM. Bingo will be held the first Friday of every month. June and December Bingo will be held the first and third Fridays. New this year – SECA will be hosting bingo every Friday in Janu... 01/06/2012

This Quarryville Realtor often utilizes the Southern Lancaster County Chronicle to keep up on happenings in Quarryville and the “Southern End.” In the January 3rd issue of the Chronicle I learned of an interesting class in which several of the Solanco High School girls were participating. It is a self defense class conducted at Body Extreme on Bank Avenue at South Church Street in Quarryville. The class is at 7 PM on Mondays and is conducted by instructors from Frank's Bushido.   One of the instructors, Chris Frank said that safety rather than formal training in the martial arts is the focus of the class. “Some women want to learn to defend themselves on a basic level. Others come for many classes. It varies depending on what their needs are. Some like the culture and continue into form... 01/06/2012

 Even though this Quarryville Realtor's “kids” are a long time out of High School I try to keep up on the events that occur there. Since my daughter was a part of the Solanco band this item caught my eye.   More than 150 of the county's most talented student musicians will perform at Solanco High School on Saturday January 7, 2012 at 7 PM. The High School is located at 585 Solanco Road just south of Quarryville, PA. This event is the LLMEA (Lancaster – Lebanon Music Educators Association) County Band South Festival. Auditions were held this past fall. The Symphonic Band will be under the direction of James Ackerman. The Wind Ensemble will be conducted by Dr. Andrew Yozviak.   There will be 11 musicians from Solanco High School. Performing in the symphonic band are: Erin Criswell (clarin... 12/30/2011

 In conjunction with the Quarryville Merchants “Midnight Madness” Saint Paul's Church at 1 West Fourth Street is conducting a “Midnight Gladness” program. This will consist of a drive through of live Biblical Scenes pertaining to Christmas.   There is no charge for this program and it will be held on December 23rd from 7 PM until Midnight. Look for signs directing the flow of traffic. This sounds like a great event for this Quarryville Realtor to check out before I complete my Christmas Shopping at the participating Midnight Madness stores. Check out new property listings at my web site:   http://dhess.kwrealty.com/ 12/22/2011

Many merchants in Quarryville are participating in an event called “Midnight Madness” this year. The event takes place tomorrow night, December 23rd. The participating stores will be open until midnight for all you last minute shoppers. This Quarryville Realtor certainly qualifies for that category. Some, but not all to be sure, of the participating stores are: Life Song at 221 West 4th Street, Newswanger Furniture at 12 South Lime Street, The Storekeeper's House at 247 West State Street, R.H. Rohrer & Sons at 16 East State Street, Martin Appliance on Beaver Valley Pike just north of Quarryville, Good's Store at 333 West 4th Street and many, many more.   Several stores will feature refreshments. In addition you can see the Community Christmas Tree at the Towns Edge Shopping Center. So c... 12/22/2011

 Being a Quarryville Realtor ever since my now adult “kids” participated in Solanco sports I've tried to keep track of how the teams are doing.   This past week the Solanco Mules captured the championship at their own “Mule Classic” wrestling tournament on December 9th and 10th. The mules finished with 263 team points outscoring runner-up Blue Mountain at 179.5 points. Solanco had five champions: Connor Sheehan at 106 points, Ronnie Perry at 113 points, Wink Charles at 138 points, Connor Moran at 170 points and Thomas Haines at 220 points. There were also three Silver Medalists: Joe Welk at 152 points, Cole Martin at 160 points and Elijah Groff at 285 points.   This was the 14th annual “Mule Classic”. The Mules are expected to do great things this season. This Quarryville Realtor wishes... 12/22/2011

I'm a Quarryville Realtor that lives right in Quarryville on West State Street. That makes it very convenient for my wife and me to walk down the hill on a Friday night to a restaurant named “Sam's New York Style Pizza.” We enjoy dining there and usually have a great pasta dish accompanied by a glass of wine or two. (Remember I said I walked down the hill. The car is at home.) We've been doing this for years and our now grown children often frequent the establishment. So the other evening I'm sitting there observing my surroundings and it occurs to me that in all the years I've been doing this I know very little of the history of this great place. So I went on line and did some research on Sam's web site. This is what I discovered. Salvatore Mazzola originally opened Sam’s New York Styl... 12/20/2011

  Obviously I wasn't always a Realtor in Quarryville. I was once a kid in high school, albeit a long time ago. My friends would have a hard time believing that I took Art as a major. Because of this an article in the local paper, the Southern Lancaster County Chronicle, caught my eye. It was about our Solanco High School Art students   The students have had their work chosen for exhibit at the Demuth Museum in Lancaster. Students from the school's Design One painting and graphic design classes completed elements from some of Lancaster Artist Charles DeMuth's areas of interest. The student's whose work was chosen are: Samantha Barker, Megan Carnrike, Nathan Deremer, Alexis DiLuca, Anna Graybill, Amanda Herr, Hailey Hess, Ella Jackman, Caleb Jackson, Adisa Jusic, Connor Moran, Nick Murphy... 12/16/2011

  As a Quarryville Realtor, I am a loyal customer of "Fergie's". I thought I might share a bit of their history and philosophy. A philosophy that I think makes them a great place to do business with. It was 1916, the year that E. E. Ferguson and George W. Hassler, Sr. opened a business that still remains a focal point in the southern end of Lancaster County today.  Ferguson and Hassler's, or "Fergie's as it is more familiarly known, has evolved over the years into a large supermarket, but is still under the ownership of one of the original families. When Ferguson and Hassler first opened their general store on Quarryville's State Street, their merchandise included hardware, clothing, shoes, furniture, appliances, fabrics and sewing supplies, as well as other items, in addition to grocer... 12/13/2011

  I saw an article today in a local paper named the “Chronicle”. It concerned the Solanco Little League. For those of you that are not native to Lancaster County Pennsylvania, Solanco is an acronym for Southern Lancaster County and is the name of the school district that encompasses Quarryville, PA.   Why would a Quarryville Realtor be interested in an article about the Little League? Well for one thing my son played baseball in that league during his early years. (He's now 34 years old! I can't believe it!) Another is that a now deceased and dearly missed close friend named Dan Rush was one of the folks instrumental in forming the league.   Anyway the article stated that the League was asking the Colerain Township zoning board for permission to install lights on one of their fields. Th... 12/10/2011

  The annual Holiday Bake Sale sponsored by the Friends of the Quarryville Library is TODAY December 9th ( 10 AM to 4 PM) and TOMORROW December 10th (10 AM to 1 PM). It began as a cookie sale in 2005 and continues under the sponsorship of the Friends of the Quarryville Library. This year's event will be held in The Carlson Cultural Room at the library located at 357 Buck Road, Quarryville, PA 17566.   As a Quarryville Realtor and previous customer of the sale I'm embarrased that this worthwhile event almost slipped by me. Local residents bake a wide range of cookies from old family recipes. There are also cakes and breads, candies and “In-A-Jar” ready to bake ingredients. This year there will even be a table of special treats for animals. The cookies are sold in trays of one half dozen ... 12/08/2011

  Since I'm a Quarryville Realtor and have seen the now flooded quarries that sit not far from my house the name of the town has always seemed self evident. But there is a bit of history behind it. Abram Barr, son of Martin Barr, who built the “Ark” that I mentioned in a previous blog first recognized the important fact that Quarryville marked the lower limit of the limestone in Lancaster county. The less fertile land of the “Lower End” lacked a necessary element, lime. Barr quarried the limestone that was burned in stone kilns into lime with the then abundant chestnut timber. In 1825 Abram Barr laid out about twenty acres in lots of one-eighth of an acre each and these he sold to farmers to take out stone for their own use. They did this in the winter after all their other work was don... 12/08/2011

We closed on 18 Hartwicke Drive, Quarryville, PA last night. A big congratulations to Chad and Tia who purchased their first home. Chad could not have been a better client. He was patient, flexible and called me when he needed someone. This deal was fraught with challenges because the appraisal came in $4000 under the original purchase price. This caused a delay in closing and some feelings of anxiety crept in. However, compromises were sought and approved helping both the seller and buyer get what they wanted. I was reminded when one purchases a home for sale in Quarryville, PA, it is important to have a real estate agent who can be trusted. A trusted realtor® will communicate, advise, negotiate and lead one through the traverse of difficult deals. What began as a fairly easy deal ende... 08/03/2011

Most important day of the year in Quarryville Pa-Groundhog Day localism  One hundred and three years ago some upstanding citizens of a small town in Lancaster county Pennsylvania, declared to the world that their groundhog had seen his shadow.  Thereby predicting that there would be six more weeks of winter.   Since then the members of Quarryville's Slumbering Groundhog Lodge have faithfully gathered every year to observe Orphie and his extended family then give their reports to the Hibernating governor.  The current hibernating governor is Rick Rankin who is also the CEO of one of Lancaster County's largest and most respected insurance agencies.  According to folklore, if the groundhog emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow, he will retreat underground and there will be "six more ... 02/02/2011

     A FREE Christian music festival will be back in Quarryville's Memorial Park on June 12th. It will feature such entertainers such as four time female Gospel Music Association winner, Natalie Grant. Additionally the groups Superchick(pop rock ,new album,Reinvention),PureNRG,and Building429. Justin Lookadoo is the event's main speaker.      GOD has blessed this festival since 2002.. The festival doesn't charge admission and depends on donations to make its budget ! The budgets for previous festivals has run up tp $95,000. The festival will feature a giant video screen,merchandise venders and great food ! But what the Witness Festival is really all about and clearly it's defining moment is when people start streaming down aisles towards the stage,coming forward to to meet and accept JE... 06/02/2010

Cedar Knoll builders is unveiling a new model home.  This new model home will be located in the Quarry Ridge development.  A community of 99 homes (20 remaining) and located within Quarryville Borough.  Cedar Knoll Builders newest model will be a two story floor plan and comes with a very affordable price.  As a homeowner in Quarry Ridge, I am very pleased to see that Cedar Knoll has adapted to the changing market conditions and has created another new floor plan to sell within the community. Having lived in Quarry Ridge for nearly 18 months, my wife and two daughters absolutely love it.  The neighbors are wonderful.  The access to lancaster and Chester county, maryland, Delaware, and Philadelphia is just one of the reasons we chose to live here.  The parks, views, schools and local ame... 12/24/2008

306 Fulton View Road, Quarryville, PA, 17566 3 Bedroom 1 Bathroom offered for $120,000 Awesome view and character in this farm house originally built by Daniel Swift as a girls schoolhouse in 1858. Home in need of repairs. Possible short sale. This home is offered as a courtesy of Coldwell Banker Select Professionals, co-operating broker. brian@cbselectpros.com     717-951-5552 10/29/2008