Our Stories

Embracing the Pull of Africa

April 5, 2021 - 2:18pm

“When you get the African mud between your toes, it pulls you back,” says Evie Hershey, a Garden Spot Village resident since August 2019. Evie should know. She took her first trip to Africa when she visited her daughter, Rhonda, who was working as a teacher in the Congo, in 2011. Rhonda had recently had a baby and needed some help with child care so she could attend a conference. That first trip took her to Zambia as well. She... Read More

Enjoying a New Community

March 10, 2021 - 9:17am

Dr. John Sheaffer, Jr. can trace the history of his family’s farm all the way to an indenture from William Penn’s nephew. Over the next 300 years, members of the Sheaffer family lived in the home, passing it from generation to generation. John and his wife, Sharon, purchased the home in 1965. In September 2020, when John and Sharon moved to Garden Spot Village, their son Aaron and his wife, Pammi, and their son, Enoch, became the next generations... Read More

Bob and Pat Banks: An Affordable Solution

March 1, 2021 - 4:08pm

“I think I’ve actually sold half a dozen people or so on coming to Garden Spot Village. It’s funny, my one friend said, ‘You should become a Garden Spot salesperson,’” Pat Banks says with a laugh. For the past 40 years Pat has been in sales—sharing a solution that works is natural for her! When her sister, Jeanne Lang, moved to Garden Spot in 2015, Pat knew that... Read More

Pursuing Adventure Through Service

October 16, 2020 - 2:04pm

“Being involved in the trail care community is a natural outgrowth of our enjoyment of walking and backpacking in Penn’s Woods. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve come to a vista or a waterfall and I think, ‘How can anyone say there isn’t a God? So much beauty.’ ” – Ernie Werstler Ernie Werstler and Jane Huston look forward to moving into... Read More

The Electric Lady

October 16, 2020 - 1:43pm

John and Jeanne Bomberger attended Messiah College in the late 1970s, married in 1981 and settled in southern Lancaster County. In 1985 they purchased a property on South Hess Street in Quarryville and used it as the “shop” for John’s electrical contracting business.  Jeanne says, “We renovated the building and invested tons of sweat equity. I’m a farm girl so I was used to hard work; John and I worked... Read More

Finding Joy in the Midst of Mourning

March 5, 2020 - 1:06pm

In November 2011, Katie Mable, a Garden Spot Village team member, wrote a children’s book. The manuscript was inspired by her husband Skip, who was a graphic artist. Each Christmas Skip created what he called an ArtisTree, a holiday gift for his clients that reflected his family’s life for that year. While trying to design the 2011 ArtisTree, he was in the midst of mourning the loss of his father and mother. Skip and... Read More