So Good Lancaster

I had the opportunity to learn about the Dutchland Derby Rollers and the Thorns Rugby Club at the Stuff To Do Fair back in January. While I had heard of the Rollers over the years, I had no idea there was a women’s adult rugby club here in Lancaster. Curious, I started digging into these two teams and quickly began to realize that these types of adult sports serve a much bigger purpose than scoring points and claiming bragging rights. They form friendships, provide opportunities for learning new skills, and build community.

Through these two teams I was introduced to our very own women’s ice hockey team, the Lancaster Reapers. It turns out that this trio of adult women’s sports teams recently formed an informal collaborative alliance to help each other spread the word, grow attendance and interest, and even fundraise together. I wanted to learn more, so I welcomed Diosanny Rivera from the Dutchland Derby Rollers, Kelly Leibolt and Zimmy from Lancaster Reapers, and Alex Tarleton and Eva Dombrowski from the Knightmare and Thorns Ruby Clubs to the program to talk about their respective sports and teams, and find out why these kinds of teams are important.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:
Dutchland Derby Rollers
Lancaster Reapers
Thorns Rugby

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

Lancaster County’s Conestoga River is Pennsylvania’s 2026 River of the Year! 

The River of the Year award honors a Pennsylvania waterway, raising awareness and recognizing conservation achievements by those who care for these awesome resources. It’s administered by the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

“This once-polluted river is an example of what can happen when we prioritize clean, healthy waterways. Its transformation has made the Conestoga a hub for outdoor recreation, providing a boost to the region and demonstrating that rivers build thriving communities.” -  DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn.

So, who are the primary stewards of this Lancaster County waterway? The Conestoga River Club. On this episode of the podcast I had the pleasure of talking about the Conestoga River with Conestoga River Club Executive Director Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck and club board member Steve Carlson.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:
Conestoga River Club
2026 River of the Year
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

Fringe festivals began back in 1947 when the International Festival of Music and Drama was planned in a post-war Edinburgh, Scotland. Eight Edinburgh theatre companies were left out, but decided to book their own festival in smaller, alternative venues around the city. Without an official connection to the larger festival, the acts performing on the fringe could be more open, accessible, and experimental in nature. In the decades that followed, the idea of performing in alternative and found spaces spread and fringe festivals began popping up around the globe.

While Philadelphia has been hosting a large fringe festival (over 300 acts in 2025) each September, and our closer neighbors, York and Harrisburg, have been hosting their version of the festival for many years, Lancaster has never had its own…until now.

Lancaster Fringe Fest founders Caleb Corkery and Frith Rooney joined me on the program to talk about the inaugural Lancaster Fringe Festival, coming to Lancaster City on from May 21 through May 24, 2026. The festival will include forty performances across twenty venues plus street performances all around the city. Learn more about the festival at LancasterFringeFest.org or on Instagram and Facebook.

Our So Good Music feature is “Good Ghost Goodbye” by Lancaster ambient, electronic, and atmospheric pop artist Dean Thomas. Stay ’til the end of the episode for a quick chat and to hear the full track.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:
LancasterFringeFest.org
Dean Thomas

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

It’s the second in our two-episode coverage of the Stuff To Do Fair 2026. The fair went down in the gymnasium at Washington Elementary school in Lancaster, PA on a freezing Saturday, January 31, 2026. The gym was filled with over 50 organizations, clubs, and businesses that provide entertainment, hobbies, activities, lessons, and a ton of other “stuff to do” right here in Lancaster County.

Organized by Sav Thorpe Capizzi and state representative Izzy Smith Wade-El, this 2nd (annual) Stuff To Do Fair welcomed over 500 residents who braved the cold to come together to chat, share, and ultimately be in community with each other, learning about a bunch of what there is to do in Lancaster County.

We were there representing The Candy Factory coworking + social club and So Good Lancaster with mic in hand, interviewing just a fraction of the vendors who were representing. Check out the previous episode of the program to hear the first part of this two-part series.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with:

• Jasmin Pantoja from Mambojaz Studio
• Luke Karpathios from Susquehanna Trekkers
• Shannon from Closing Time Collective
• Lola Omolabi from Hypnotic Pole Fitness
• Danny Mulligan from Danny and the Do-Overs
• JW Spurlock from Lancaster Square Dance
• Jess King from Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

I walked into the gymnasium at Washington Elementary school in Lancaster, PA around 9:30 am on a bitter cold Saturday, January 31, 2026. The gym was buzzing with activity filled with people representing organizations, clubs, and businesses who provide entertainment, hobbies, activities, lessons, and a ton of other “stuff to do” here in Lancaster County. These folks were bustling around, setting up rows of tables scattered around the gym floor. By ten o’clock the doors were open, and the general public was welcomed by organizers Sav Thorpe Capizzi and state representative Izzy Smith Wade-El to the 2nd (annual) Stuff To Do Fair.

Over 50 vendors and over 500 residents braved the cold to attend what might look like a job fair, but was actually just a place for the community to come together, to chat, to make new friends, and to learn about stuff they can do to get out of the house and be with others. The Stuff To Do Fair is 100% free, for both the vendors and the participants.

We were there representing The Candy Factory coworking + social club and So Good Lancaster with mic in hand, interviewing just a fraction of the vendors who were representing. This is the first in a two-episode series covering the Stuff To Do Fair 2026. Stay tuned for part two in the next episode of the podcast.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with:

• Sav Thorpe Capizzi, organizer of Stuff To Do Fair
• Olivia Polaski from Lancaster Bird Club
• Corey Paternoster from The Upside
• Mayor Jaime Arroyo from the City of Lancaster
• Laura Pauls-Thomas from Ride Roll and Stroll
• Heather Davis from Write Now
• Angie Springer from Lancaster Improv Players

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

Who doesn’t love a warm cuppa something on a freezing cold day? Well, it’s been freezing cold outside for weeks here in Lancaster, so I checked in with some folks here in Lancaster County who specialize in serving up hot drinks. Heather Marston, owner of Pureblend Tea in Ephrata, joined me to talk about her special custom blends of high quality loose leaf teas and specialty hot chocolate, and where you can find her products around the county.

I also had the pleasure of chatting with Nathan and Denise Claycomb from Joe on the Go Coffee Co. about how they landed in the coffee business based on a “simple” idea among coworkers. We also chatted about the ultra cozy Joe on the Go at Lampeter Cafe, a full-service cafe they opened a little over a year ago.

As a little bonus, we were visited by Adam Grim and Ben Fuller, who launched The Lancaster Review this past fall. It’s a weekly newsletter highlighting fun stuff to do around Lancaster County, along with feature articles and profiles about local small businesses, like Pureblend Tea and Joe on the Go Coffee Co.! Tune in and listen while enjoying your favorite hot drink for cold weather.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:
Pureblend Tea
Joe on the Go Coffee Co.

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

For this So Good Lancaster Nonprofit Spotlight, we’re featuring Hourglass, a nonprofit communications organization created here in Lancaster nearly 30 years ago. The primary goal of Hourglass is to protect Lancaster County's unique character and quality of life while ensuring that future growth is socially, economically, and environmentally responsible. The organization's mission is executed by providing the community with reliable, fact-based, nonpartisan information through First Friday Forums, a monthly speaker series held at the Ware Center, and through a bi-weekly newsletter called Keeping Lancaster Current.

I began reading the newsletter and attending the First Friday Forums during the summer of 2025 when The Candy Factory coworking + social club, our sister company, became a business level member of Hourglass. So far the experience has been fantastic. I’ve attended talks about major construction projects planned for the region, the impacts of national policy on local businesses, and a full session from our county commissioners and their plans for the new year. It’s an incredible resource to stay tapped into what’s happening in Lancaster and the possible effects on our way of life.

It was a pleasure to chat with Hourglass’s Executive Director Lea Zikmund to learn more about the experience she is bringing to the organization, the history of Hourglass, and what the future holds.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:
Hourglass
Annual Commissioners Forum 2026 (YouTube)

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

David Greene is a McCaskey High School graduate who went on to cover the White House for the Baltimore Sun and National Public Radio, was co-host of Morning Edition, NPR’s national morning news program, and his now the host of a couple of shows produced by two of the largest public radio stations in the country: KCRW’s Left, Right, & Center and WHYY’s Sports in America. Shall we add newspaper publisher to David’s list of accomplishments? We will soon.

On December 1, 2025 LNP | Lancaster Online, Lancaster’s local daily newspaper, ran an article about itself titled “Nonprofit led by veteran journalist David Greene to acquire LNP | LancasterOnline”. The article announced plans for a new nonprofit to take over all of the newspaper’s assets, as a gift from the current owner, Pennon, which also runs WITF, the National Public Radio affiliate station based in Harrisburg. David will act as the interim publisher of the newspaper until a permanent publisher takes over. Even after that, he will continue to serve on the paper’s board of directors.

I caught up with David to talk about growing up in Lancaster, his journalism journey into public radio, and why it’s important for him and Lancaster County to work toward a solid future for high quality local journalism. David believes the foundation for that solid future lies in a nonprofit news model similar to one recently adopted by the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah. For profit newspapers are dying in the United States. David’s mission is to make sure that LNP, with a history in Lancaster that dates back to 1794, doesn’t just continue with business as usual, but reignites community engagement, innovates how local news is delivered, and ultimately thrives in a new chapter of local journalism here in Lancaster.

At the time of our conversation, the transfer of assets had still not been approved by the state Attorney General’s office, but David was optimistic that it would happen soon.

- Jason

(all of these words came from my brain)

Links:

The LNP article published on December 1, 2025

KCRW’s Left, Right & Center

WHYY’s Sports in America

David Greene is Obsessed podcast

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

100 years ago, in 1925, a professional baseball team called the Harrisburg Giants played Sunday games right here in Lancaster at Rossmere Baseball Park, which is now the site of Lancaster Catholic High School. The team featured hall of fame  players and those games are now considered major league. Baseball historian Jeremy Raff joined us to tell the story of the Harrisburg Giants' time in Lancaster, along with a celebration of these games in partnership with other local organizations like the Lancaster Stormers. Stormers president Michael Reynolds also joined the conversation to give us the history of team and their stadium, Penn Medicine Park, that has been a staple in the community for over 20 years.

Our So Good Music feature is “Pure Gold” by Bad Hints. Stay ’til the end of the episode for a quick chat with Jes Plain and to hear the full track.

Links:

Harrisburg Giants

Lancaster Stormers

Christmas Spirit Light Show

Bad Hints

“Pure Gold” on Spotify | YouTube

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia

We’re leveling up with a peek inside Lancaster’s video game scene with Chris Trendler (operations partner at Decades) and Zac Gieg (CEO of Just Press Play). Discover how Decades blends great food and cocktails with bowling and a curated retro arcade. Plus, they recently opened a new outdoor bar with ice cream, boozy milkshakes, and lawn games. Then dive into the collecting boom with Zac as he traces his path from kid collector to launching a tournament-ready megastore that brings gamers and hobbyists together.

Our So Good Music feature is “Black Cherry Waterloo” by Lancaster alt-rock band Super Vehicle. Stay ’til the end of the episode for a quick chat and to hear the full track.

Links:

Decades

Just Press Play

Super Vehicle

"Black Cherry Waterloo" on Spotify / YouTube

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think makes Lancaster So Good? Is there a special event or occasion coming up you want to highlight? Fill out the form on our website, and you could be featured in a future episode of So Good Lancaster.

So Good Lancaster is produced by So Good Media at The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in Lancaster, PA.

Web: https://sogoodlancaster.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SoGoodLancaster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sogoodlancaster
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@sogoodmedia