Fine Living Lancaster Magazine

After cooking out of her home for years, Gonzalez has opened a commercial kitchen at 601 N. Queen Street in Lancaster City. With her new brick and mortar location, which features a full kitchen and storefront, GEMs Catering has expanded and entered an entirely new era. The larger space has opened up a new world of opportunities for Gonzalez and her catering business. In 2023, GEMs fulfilled 216 catering orders — sometimes preparing food for as many as five clients in a single day.

“We run on volunteer power,” shares Sue Hostetter, director of the Mt Gretna’s Historical Society and a retired librarian. That volunteer power helps to coordinate well over 100 different summer programs and, of course, Mount Gretna’s world-famous Outdoor Art Show each August. The volunteers spend all winter getting ready for the summer and planning the array of offerings that anyone is welcome to enjoy.

That’s where J.Hilburn comes in. As a one-stop shop for custom-made menswear, customers will not just find clothing in the correct size and ideal color, but measured and molded to their exact proportions and preferences. Lisa Torba is one of J.Hilburn’s Independent Personal Stylists. With a studio on N. Queen Street in the heart of Lancaster City’s business district and extensive previous experience as a mobile stylist, Torba is making excellent style accessible to men across central Pennsylvania.

Venture Outdoors Lancaster County is chock full of amazing parks and hiking trails. No matter your level of outdoorsiness, there’s a space for you to enjoy the summer sun and sounds of nature. I prefer a paved path, surrounded by trees but never farther than half a mile from my car—so I spend regular summer mornings at Overlook Park or Lancaster County Central Park.

It’s a sublime feeling, but it can also be elusive! So many small details have to come together, and when any one aspect of your outfit (be it the style, the color, the fit, etc.) isn’t working, it can just make you feel sort of off, all day long. Enter: Jessica Timblin. Timblin is a personal stylist and owner of Jessica Timblin Styling, based here in Lancaster.

In my research for this piece, I came across a LNP article by Jack Brubaker (pen name: The Scribbler), published in 2021. In the article, Brubaker shared the story behind the four postcards pictured, all of which depict a young woman named Nell Pontz in (likely) the summer of 1900. My curiosity was piqued by both the family name (my married name) and the scandal that arose from these lovely pictures.

When children start kindergarten behind, studies have shown that they likely never catch up. Children learn to read by third grade; after that, they read to learn. If children do not start kindergarten with the necessary literacy and vocabulary skills, they have a very hard time becoming proficient readers by third grade. After that, it becomes very difficult for them to keep up.

Nikki Rivera is a force of nature; a woman whose definition of relaxation includes spending her free time to lead high school students on service-learning trips abroad to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, coaching her children’s various soccer teams, and serving as the president of the Manheim Township school board. Nikki’s profession, a high school Spanish teacher at Warwick High School, is demanding, yet she devotes much of her leisure time in the service of others.

Out With Jewel Tones Warm neutrals, earthy greens, and the many shades of beige are abundant this holiday season. “I’m just noticing even more patterns, more of those deeper earthier colors. I would say [we are seeing] a little bit less jewel tone,” said Michael Chiodo, a designer at Ville & Rue. Chiodo notes that moody colors will reign supreme this year, with many designers ditching the jewel tones of trends past and opting for darker, deeper, and richer tones.

S.M.A.R.T. – which stands for Social Media Apprenticeships & Real-World Training – offers local high school and college students the opportunity to accept freelance assignments from Compleat Restorations in the fields of graphic design, photography, social media content creation, videography, copywriting, and more. After students complete their assignment, their work is then utilized by Compleat Restorations for marketing purposes.