Lehigh Valley

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Central Moravian Church and its lamplit, bowler-capped belfry is a venerated local landmark in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, and never more so than at Christmas. But when you love a thing too much, you can get careless, and this is where David Griffiths comes in. Griffiths, 73, a member of the congregation for five years, is also its safety director, a more modest version of the corporate positions he held before he retired. His challenge now is making sure that on Christmas Eve the 200-year-old sanctuary will not be consumed by the flames of 1,000 beeswax candles in the hands of holiday-loving amateurs - his fellow congregants.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Bricks and steel crumbled this month as crews began demolishing former Bethlehem Steel buildings in south Bethlehem to make way for the $600 million casino, hotel and events center to open next year. Yet 70 miles away, two professors at the Rutgers University campus in Camden, N.J., were assembling a team to save the essence of Bethlehem Steel. To be sure, the 117-year-old steel foundry building that fell into a heap can never be saved, but the memory of what went on inside it can. The two Rutgers educators, Howard Gillette and Sharon Ann Holt, are planning a two-day conference next month in Bethlehem at which industrial historians from across the nation will discuss what Bethlehem Steel has meant to America, and how its memory should be preserved.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- After years of luring New York City jobs and companies across the Hudson River with promises of cheap real estate, lower taxes and tax breaks, New Jersey now finds that an interloper on its western flank is wooing manufacturers, distributors and back offices to the Lehigh Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania. Dozens of companies based in New Jersey have moved at least some of their operations across the Delaware River to a 30-mile stretch of corn fields, turkey farms and dormant steel mills encompassing Easton, Bethlehem and Fogelsville.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The King George Inn has survived in one way or the other since the 18th century, when citizen-soldiers trained there for the Revolutionary War, but now its owner wonders whether the historic landmark can live through a thoroughly modern battle: The 2004 election. First came the people who tore down the Kerry-Edwards sign that owner Cliff McDermott placed on the exterior. Then came the hate mail after the avid Democrat put a new banner at the top of the restaurant, out of vandals' reach.

This time, there was no second-half fade; the Maryland Mania seems fit. This time, the home team dominated play and generated offense -- 10 shots in the last 25 minutes, in fact. But this time also proved that soccer is a particularly cruel sport when you don't score.Thus the young Mania suffered its eighth loss in nine A-League starts, second of the weekend, fourth by a goal, and second by 1-0 at UMBC Stadium in three weeks to the fellow expansion franchise Lehigh Valley Steam.At the end, two statistics stood out for the announced 650 in the stands -- that final score and shots, in which the Mania prevailed, 22-8.

On the south side of Bethlehem, Pa., the train whistle blows in the middle of the night. I turn over and go back to sleep. An hour or so later, another train whistle blows. The ghostly sound is not so much an interruption as it is an accompaniment to my dreams. It's understandable why Robert Heysham Sayre, chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, would want to build his Greek revival-style mansion on Fountain Hill, so close to the sooty and mighty enterprise he worked for.The Sayre Mansion was the first house erected in the wealthy neighborhood on Fountain Hill.

The Maryland Mania will make its Baltimore-area debut in the A-League on May 9, Mothers Day, after having played the first league game in its history April 29 in Raleigh, N.C.The home opener for the new, local entry in pro soccer's top minor league will be a 4: 05 p.m. affair against the Charleston (S.C.) Battery at UMBC Stadium, the team's home for at least two seasons.Like all 30 A-League teams, the Mania will play 28 league games in a season that begins on the West Coast on April 9 and ends Sept.

FREDERICK -- More stability. Greater bulk in the lineup. A taller team. And, perhaps, increased fan interest.Those are the elements the Frederick Flyers hope to blend into a successful second season when they begin their second year in the Atlantic Basketball Association today against the defending champion Pottsville Stingers.JTCPlagued by terrible winter weather, a mediocre team (9-16) and limited marketing, the semipro team averaged only 447 fans a game last season at Frederick Community College.

Jervis Langdon Jr., one of the nation's foremost railroad executives, who had served as president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in its last year as an independent company, died of congestive heart failure yesterday at his home in Elmira, N.Y. He was 99. "You could say that Jervis Langdon's administration of the B&O in the postwar years ranks with that of Daniel Willard, an earlier B&O president, when the railroad was a caldron of innovation," said...

The Frederick Flyers of the Atlantic Basketball Association have set their 1994-95 10-game home schedule and announced that they will hold open tryouts at 9 a.m. Sept. 10 at Forestville High School in Prince George's County. Players can register at the door; the fee is $75.Ticket prices for the Flyers, who play at Frederick Community College, remain unchanged from last season. They are $5 for adults and $3 for children (18 and under), senior citizens (65 and over) and military with identification.

Jervis Langdon Jr., one of the nation's foremost railroad executives, who had served as president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in its last year as an independent company, died of congestive heart failure yesterday at his home in Elmira, N.Y. He was 99. "You could say that Jervis Langdon's administration of the B&O in the postwar years ranks with that of Daniel Willard, an earlier B&O president, when the railroad was a caldron of innovation," said...

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. -- Farming in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley has been in a state of decline for much of the last century, as measured by the amount of land in agriculture and number of farmers tending to it. But Crystal Spring Farm in Schnecksville, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, has not only survived -- it's thriving. Seventy-year-old Hubert Sell's grandfather started the farm in 1903. He paid $3,800 for 90 acres, and planted potatoes. Today, Sell and his four children, who are between the ages of 38 and 47, raise dairy cows on 250 acres.

When Tom and Lorraine Decker want to get away from it all, to catch a little peace from their three teen-age sons, they head to the supermarket. They drive right past neighborhood grocers in Phillipsburg, N.J., and across the Pennsylvania line, 15 miles out of the way, to Wegmans. For the Deckers, a trip to Wegmans is no ordinary trip to the grocery store. It's an escape, where the harried parents can grab a cafe latte, relax over lunch - with made-to-order salads, subs and sushi among the takeout or eat-in options - then stroll a European-style marketplace bursting with baguettes and Italian bread, raspberry puff eclairs, shark, shrimp and mackerel.

TREXLERTOWN, Pa. - T-town has a surprising message for Baltimore's mayor and his velodrome dreams: Bring it on. Mayor Martin O'Malley floated the idea this week of building a cycling track at the Memorial Stadium site. And that's just fine with the nearest competition. This Allentown suburb has had track cycling on the East Coast to itself for more than a quarter-century. Locals like to say it is to the sport what Daytona is to stock-car racing. Once simply a destination for world-class cyclists, the Lehigh Valley has become a breeding ground for a new generation of champions - from the juniors who dominated last year's nationals to hometown hero Marty Nothstein, who won a gold medal at the Olympics last summer.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Robert F. Barron Jr. holds the future of the Lehigh Valley region in his hands - a map showing 1,800 acres in the middle of Bethlehem. He's talking about brownfields and revitalization, industry and history - and shopping. His focus is on how the development arm of his Enterprise Real Estate Services Inc., based in Columbia, will help industrial giant Bethlehem Steel turn those acres that hold a hulking, defunct steel plant into a family attraction and a centerpiece for the 360-year-old town.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Central Moravian Church and its lamplit, bowler-capped belfry is a venerated local landmark in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, and never more so than at Christmas. But when you love a thing too much, you can get careless, and this is where David Griffiths comes in. Griffiths, 73, a member of the congregation for five years, is also its safety director, a more modest version of the corporate positions he held before he retired. His challenge now is making sure that on Christmas Eve the 200-year-old sanctuary will not be consumed by the flames of 1,000 beeswax candles in the hands of holiday-loving amateurs - his fellow congregants.

The inability to put away good scoring opportunities plagued the Maryland Mania last night during its 1-0 loss to Lehigh Valley at UMBC Stadium before an announced crowd of 1,133.Mania coach Paul Kitson attributed the new A-League team's third straight loss -- and shutout -- to lack of concentration. "Some changes will be made if players can't get the job done," he said.Kitson was particularly upset about his attack's failure on a scramble inside the Steam's 6-yard box in the 28th minute.

The evening started in grand fashion with Vi Ripken, the first lady of Harford County baseball, tossing a strike on the ceremonial first pitch and a small but spirited crowd gathering at Thomas Run Park for the county's first professional sporting event in 50 years. No one seemed to mind the low-lying lighting or the makeshift bleachers that greeted the Aberdeen Arsenal to Atlantic League baseball. On the field, everything was proceeding neatly, with Aberdeen leading the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds by two runs entering the ninth inning.

The evening started in grand fashion with Vi Ripken, the first lady of Harford County baseball, tossing a strike on the ceremonial first pitch and a small but spirited crowd gathering at Thomas Run Park for the county's first professional sporting event in 50 years. No one seemed to mind the low-lying lighting or the makeshift bleachers that greeted the Aberdeen Arsenal to Atlantic League baseball. On the field, everything was proceeding neatly, with Aberdeen leading the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds by two runs entering the ninth inning.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- After years of luring New York City jobs and companies across the Hudson River with promises of cheap real estate, lower taxes and tax breaks, New Jersey now finds that an interloper on its western flank is wooing manufacturers, distributors and back offices to the Lehigh Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania. Dozens of companies based in New Jersey have moved at least some of their operations across the Delaware River to a 30-mile stretch of corn fields, turkey farms and dormant steel mills encompassing Easton, Bethlehem and Fogelsville.