The "The Lancaster That Was Stills Tells The Story of Lancaster, PA" Story

It was an ordinary day. Reading the "Lancaster That Was' column in my local newspaper that told the history of the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 25 year increments.  Follow along and you too can see a bit of history of the city that I call home.  25 years ago today the National Christmas Center, a holiday paradise in Paradise, was gearing up to open its doors for the first time.  The 20,000 square-foot attraction was the brainchild of Jim Morrison, who worked with artists Mary and Ray Doub to bring it to life.  The center featured a wide variety of Christmas scenes, many populated by lifelike wax figures made by the Doubs.  The National Christmas Center brought holiday cheer to tourists as well as locals alike in it's location along Route 30 East until it closed its doors in 2018.  50 years ago today many people got burned out with their jobs, but not everyone decided to just walk away from it all and become a country music singer.  That's exactly what Lancaster City Police detective Ronald Hohman did.  The six-year veteran officer traded his badge for a guitar in early 1973 and took to the stage instead of the witness stand.  He sang and played guitar on a variety of classic and current country music hits as the frontman of Country Express.  He claimed his detective work became too all-consuming and life meant more than that.  75 years ago today surveying work was about to begin in November for a highway bypass around the city of Lancaster.  The project eventually became Route 30 as we know it today and stretched from the Manheim Pike to Lititz Pike.  It has since grown to more than double its original length. 100 years ago today violence broke out at an Armistice Day ceremony in Lancaster in 1923 between the American Legion facing down the Ku Klux Klan.  Armistice day, which became known as Veterans Day in 1954 was initially intended to honor the dead of WWI.  In Lancaster, the public ceremony, in which flowers and wreaths were laid on the steps of the old county court house, was organized by the American Legion.  Uninvited, a contingent of the Klan arrived, placing a floral cross with the initials "KKK" on it into the memorial area.  conflict broke out with Legion representatives removing the piece and the Klan putting it back.  Klan members claimed they simply want to honor their own war dead.  A Legion spokesman said the Klan was not welcomed since the KKK was against the American values soldiers fought and died for.  The Klan members eventually removed their flowers from the courthouse steps and placed them at the grave of General John F. Reynolds in Lancaster Cemetery. The "Lancaster That Was" is still a weekly column that allows the resident of Lancaster County to view the history of our great city and surrounding area.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.