New Wilmington votes down liquor referendum
Residents say the town is not suited for alcohol.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- There will be no liquor sold in New Wilmington Borough.
On Tuesday, voters defeated a referendum spearheaded by Westminster College students to allow liquor to be sold in the borough. Approximately 80 percent of the voters opposed the measure.
"I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I'd like to see the status quo in New Wilmington, and the voters very definitely backed me up on that. New Wilmington shall remain dry for another 150 years," said Mayor Wendell Wagner.
Helen Bair Owen is also pleased with the results.
The 92-year-old resident is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union -- a group opposed to liquor -- and worked vigorously against the referendum.
Bair Owen said she spent most of the day at the polls with a sign asking people to vote no.
"The people of this town are not suited for alcohol. They don't drink, and those who move to town and drink are shunned," she said. "We don't drink and don't want any drinking in town."
Student proponent
Krissy Edmonds, a Westminster College senior from Irwin, Pa., spearheaded efforts to get a liquor referendum on the May 20 ballot.
Edmonds said it would be not only convenient, but also safer for Westminster students of legal drinking age to be able to buy beer and other alcoholic beverages in the borough rather than driving to New Castle or other nearby towns.
But New Wilmington's voters disagreed by a more than 3-to-1 margin.