Lititz, PA - A Lititz institution is ready to take its place back on Broad Street Saturday afternoon after a month of uncertainty about its future.

Rosey’s Lunch Wagon, a weekend lunchtime staple for more than 70 years, will re-appear after a month-long investigation in which the Pennsylvania Department of Health reviewed the restaurant on wheels to make sure it was up to code.

Walter Ream, the owner of the lunch wagon for the past 18 years, said he wanted to let people in the community know that he is ready to come back to town, and several improvements have been made with his business.

“A lot of people were wondering where I was at,” Ream said. “There’s certain people in the community who expect me to be out there every Saturday.”

The problem began about a month ago when, according to the Department of Health, a few dozen residents in Lititz experienced a severe sickness on Sunday and Monday, many complaining about possible food poisoning. The only common thread between the incidents was that each person ate at Rosey’s on the Saturday before the illness.

A call was made to the Department of Health later in the week, and the next Saturday they were at the wagon doing inspections of the serving methods and the food being served. The wagon was shut down for an entire month to conduct the investigation. Ream said in the 18 years he has been running the wagon he made few changes to his method of preparing the food. Each hamburger is patted and made on the spot with no pre-made patties. Onions are chopped at his house the day before.

“I always figured that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Ream said.

After the investigation, Ream said he was told to change some of his procedures and equipment. He will now have a refrigerator in the wagon to keep the meat and condiments cool. He also installed a generator and an extra sink to keep from cross-contamination.

Ream said he will also add an additional staff member in the wagon who will do the job of taking money and handing out the food and sodas to customers. All the food will be prepared on the premise the same day as well.

Because of the changes, Ream said he will have to add an additional cost to the food - something he said he didn’t want to do.

Ream said one of the most important things to arise from the incident was that the lunch wagon was cleared of any wrongdoing in the sickness of the patrons. He said the Department of Health inspected the wagon on Monday and gave it good marks.

He also said it was important for him to get back to serving hamburgers and hot dogs for the people of Lititz. In the past 18 years he said he only missed serving food on a Saturday on two occasions - once when his one child was married and another time during a large snowstorm.

Tradition has it that the first Rosey Wagon hit the streets of Lititz on July 4, 1922, when Arthur Rosenberg brought a wheelbarrow to the square to serve food on the holiday.

Ream said the tradition of Rosey’s is what motivates him to get up early on Saturday mornings and come to Broad Street.

“I’ve been mentally drained, wondering if I made anyone sick,” Ream said. “But I wanted to keep the tradition of (Rosey’s) going in Lititz.”

Originally published online here: http://www.lititzrecord.com/pages/news/local/4/15367