n Frackville: There will be a holiday cookie sale from 10 a.m. to sellout Saturday at Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, 209 S. Lehigh Ave. Featured will be a homemade cookie assortment which are gift-wrapped in one and one-half pound decorated trays.
n Pine Grove: At a recent meeting, members of the borough council agreed to advertise for quotes from locals interested in assisting the borough with snow plowing on an as-needed basis and approved a handicap sign for a High Street resident who lives with an elderly parent. The council also approved a request from Dave Kruel to perform the annual Black Creek bird count in the borough's watership for the Audubon Society and approved the hiring of three employees: Brian Beuchler as a laborer with the streets/water department and two part-time police officers. It was noted that the Tulpehocken Rifle and Pistol Club is interested in purchasing the Walters Street property that was appraised at $12,000, requiring the property to be competitively bid. Plans will be made to move the streets/water department trailer to higher ground with moner received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the project.
n Pottsville: After Dec. 11, the local Kiwanis Club will not have a meeting until Jan. 8, due to the Christmas and New Year holidays. The club needs help for its Salvation Army Kettle Day on Dec. 22. Al Barnes is accepting the signups for bellringing. Patrick M. "Porcupine Pat" McKinney, environmental education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District, spoke to Kiwanians on Nov. 27 and Teresa Gaffney, Schuylkill County register of wills, spoke to the club Tueaday. The club will hear the D.H.H. Lengle Middle School Choir under the direction of Kathy Zimmerman at 1 p.m. Dec. 18 at Luther Ridge. The Kiwanians have invited the Pottsville Lions and Rotary clubs to the concert.
n Pottsville: Mike Hicks, president of the Chambersburg Rotary Club and an ambassador for ShelterBox, recently addressed the Pottsville Rotary Club. ShelterBox was founded in the late 1990s by Tom Henderson, a Rotarian in Cornwall, England. A former Navy search-and-rescue diver, Henderson spotted a gap in aid provisions after natural disasters, Hicks told the local Rotarians. While food and medicine were usually immediately delivered, proper shelter was lacking. ShelterBox fills that void by providing what a family would need to survive, including a rugged, domed tent that sleeps 10 and can withstand wind up to 70 mph, thermal blankets, gloves and hats, insulated ground sheets and a water purification system. It also includes a wood-burning or multi-fuel stove, pans, utensils, bowls, mugs and water storage containers. Tools such as a hammer, ax, saw, rope and pliers are also part of the ShelterBox, along with a children's pack containing drawing books, colored pens and crayons and a small doll. The tents can last for up to a year, although tents shipped to Haiti after the earthquake there are still being used, Hicks said. He described how a ShelterBox Response Team is among the first to arrive at a disaster site and take care of clearing the boxes through customs, finding a location the boxes can be shipped to and dispersed and then determining who needs what and how to provide the most efficient service possible. The ShelterBox effort has distributed more than 123,000 boxes worldwide since 2001, including three instances in the United States: To the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, to Arkansas after tornadoes destroyed a complete town and to the New Jersey/New York area after Hurricane Sandy. ShelterBox, Hicks said, is a volunteer organization that does not receive money from Rotary or any other organization. It relies on donations. Each box costs $1,000 and the local Rotary club agreed to sponsor one ShelterBox this year as part of the district governor's commitment to the project.
n Shenandoah: The Shenandoah Valley Student Council is sponsoring a school and communitywide collection for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Items needed include new and gently used clothing, coats, blankets, diapers, baby items, wipes, towels, nonperishable food items, flashlights, batteries and cleaning supplies, especially Clorox bleach. Donated items can be dropped off at the school or by calling Student Council adviser Barbara Boyer at 570-462-1957, ext. 3126. Items will be collected until the week of Dec. 19.