It’s a beautiful day to meet one of the neighbors at Moravian Manor Communities!

Sandy Roland doesn’t remember a time that she wasn’t drawing or painting. In sixth grade, a teacher commissioned the talented child and a friend to create holiday decorations and tallies for bridge classes. She has been a Lititz Outdoor Fine Art Show exhibitor for 40 years. The first show, she set up a display of watercolors on a stepladder. Today, with canopy and panels, she is deemed one of the more popular artists.

Sandy and her husband Tim graduated from Millersville University, but never had classes together. “We met on the boardwalk in Ocean City when we were both 20,” she commented. “We got married a year before I graduated. Then Tim was drafted and went to Vietnam where he was wounded. He got R&R on the base in Hawaii, and I met him there as soon as school was over.”

The couple settled in Lititz. Tim became a commercial credit banker with Fulton Financial. Sandy taught at the school responsible for Margaret Thorn’s foray into art shows. After their son Brad was born, she painted in abundance. Work was everywhere, so she started a business, which quickly attracted buyers and patrons.

The Rolands joined the Moravian Church, and Sandy volunteered at Moravian Manor Communities. Her father-in-law, Jim suffered a stroke and was a patient at MMC. She remarked, “I was very impressed with his care and the concern they had for him. When we decided to move to a senior living community, there wasn’t much of a debate where, but when. We had to sell both of our parents’ homes, and vowed we would not put our son through a similar ordeal.”

Keeping their promise, Sandy and Tim moved to a Warwick Woodlands campus carriage home last year. “I use one of the bedrooms as a studio,” she noted. “It’s so handy. In the past, before every show I had to carry boxes down the steps and retrieve the canopy and stands from the garage. We like everything about Moravian Manor Communities. Tim loves to work in the yard, and we enjoy activities, such as murder mystery dinners, wine and cheese gatherings, and bus tours. The location is extremely convenient. I frequently walk to downtown Lititz. We’re very happy.”

It’s a beautiful day to meet one of the neighbors at Moravian Manor Communities!

Frederick Swarr, one of Moravian Manor Communities’ resident artists, moved to Lititz with his wife Valerie from Mt Gretna. When Fred turned 60, he began an unusual way of celebrating milestones.

“No parties, no surprises, that’s what I told everyone. Instead, I will paint,” revealed Fred. Valerie pointed out that I paint every day. This occasion would be different, I insisted.”

Different may be an understatement. At the time, Fred was Design Director for a corrugated box company. He took 60 26-inch Masonite pieces someone had given him at work, and one by one, he painted until he reached his goal – 60 paintings on his 60th birthday. The idea, he admitted, came from Elton John. “He celebrated six decades by playing his 60th sold-out show at Madison Square Garden,” clarified Fred.

“I started painting in the woods at 7 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m. Music played all day. I hung completed works on trees. About 100 people gathered; I gave them paintings in exchange for bottles of wine. I went home with 92 bottles. I repeated the celebration on my 65th and 70th birthdays.”

Fred and Valerie were attracted to Moravian Manor Communities for its Lititz location. “It’s so close to a nice small town with an abundance of attractions. When we lived in Mt. Gretna, you had to drive 20 minutes before you got off the mountain!”

Fred admires the mix of architecture, as well. The Swarr’s two-bedroom, two-bath home is a single-level with plenty of space for his acrylics and canvases. He utilizes one bedroom as a corner studio. “Natural light pours in from two walls, and the laundry room is handy for me to clean up after painting. It’s ideal.”

He talks with a precision, grace, and artistry rivaled only by his jewelry and watch designs. As an international business man, Louis Danna has truly lived an intriguing life.

Louis was one of the first residents at The Woods apartments on the Warwick Woodlands Campus. He speaks five languages – French, Italian, German, Spanish and English – and he has traveled the world from China to England and Switzerland to Philadelphia and now calls Lititz home.

Born in Torino, Italy with the Alps rising to the northwest of the city, Louis grew up during World War II with bombs dropping around his town. His mother encouraged him to find a career quickly, that she couldn’t support him and he needed to get away from the war.

So, he studied jewelry and watch design. While working in Geneva, Switzerland, he drew up artwork and created the designs for necklaces and matching bracelets paring rubies and diamonds with other precious stones.

Rolex was impressed with his jewelry design and hired him. While employed there, he designed the internal parts of a Rolex watch. Louis expanded from watches to clocks, making many large time pieces. One of his most notable creations was the Liberty Clock (with a price tag of $3,500). It was in recognition of the gift of the Statue of Liberty from France to the United States.

“It is a very lovely clock,” Louis explained. “It was made in a limited edition of 300. I worked with the manufacturer and we gave clock No.1 to (President at the time) Ronald Reagan. Clock No. 2 we gave to President (Francois) Mitterrand of France. I received the No. 3 clock and donated it to the National Clock Museum in Columbia, PA. I have thank-you letters signed by Ronald Reagan and President Mitterrand of France.”

Another one of his favorite clocks is the Inclined Plane Clock (valued at $1,500). It runs for a full week and you don’t have to wind it, gravity moves it … a movement that was made in England. He also is proud of the Fan Clock, which is gold-filled with a diamond. “It is not very precise, but it doesn’t have to be,” he remarked. “It is a lady’s watch, and it’s very pretty.”

After working for Rolex, Louis came to the United States and worked for a company called Kreisler, with offices in Manhattan and New Jersey, for about 12 years creating jewelry and watch bands.

From there, he moved to a job at the Franklin Mint outside of Philadelphia where he served as Director  of purchasing and product development. Louis traveled around the world creating products, giftware, and clocks with prestigious clock makers of France, Germany, Switzerland, and England. In addition, he created glassware from crystal from Venice.

While working for the Franklin Mint, Louis worked closely with Igor Carl Faberge, whose grandfather, Peter, was the “jeweler to the czars” in Russia. Faberge jewelry and watches are known world-wide. As an off-shoot from Franklin Mint, Louis became Artistic Director for the House of Igor Carl Faberge.

After the Franklin Mint, he started to design and create products for QVC. He developed a product, “The Dominique,” which became a fantastic seller. “We sold thousands of them!” he exclaimed. “It was inexpensive with cubic zirconia (simulated diamond) and that sold fantastically.”

Admittedly, Louis said his favorite job was at the Franklin Mint, developing things and seeing the world. “It is amazing the stuff that I did,” recalled Louis, who is also a talented painter and has many amazing art pieces in his apartment. “After I had trouble walking, I had to stop the traveling.”

Using his multiple language skills, Louis volunteered as a tour guide in Philadelphia at the Visitors Center. He met people from all over Europe and he referred to that as his reward for all his hard work.

Later this year, Louis will have about 40 clocks on display during a presentation in Steinman Hall, on the Founders Campus. In case you’re wondering how Louis found his way to Moravian Manor Communities, he saw a full-page advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer for The Woods apartments, made the move and has enjoyed his time here ever since.