Coronavirus announcements

The following announcements have been made because of the coronavirus outbreak:

• Worship services and activities at Trinity Lutheran Church, 175 S. Third St., Lehighton, have been suspended through March 27. Sunday worship, Sunday church school, youth group, midweek Lenten soup and devotions, and thrift store hours are canceled. The food pantry Tuesday distribution hours will continue with restrictions.

The church’s office phone number is 610-377-4303. The office will be open weekdays, however, if you feel ill or are concerned, please stay at home and take care of yourself and family. Appointments to arrange for a baptism or church membership may be changed or arranged. The church’s email address is telc1872@ptd.net.

• Members of the Class of 1964 of Jim Thorpe High School will not be holding its monthly luncheon. It was scheduled for Wednesday and has been canceled. Members are to watch for notification of the April luncheon in the weeks to come.

• The Girardville St. Patrick’s Day Parade scheduled for March 28 has been canceled. No new date has been set.

Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians president Annetta Whitecavage announces that the LAOH Dance scheduled for March 21 has been postponed. A new date for the dance will be announced.

• The Eldred Township Board of Supervisors are ordering the closure of the Eldred Township Community Center until further notice. This closure includes the areas of the thrift store, the reading room, the music room and the restrooms. During this closure, the general public will not be allowed access to any of these areas and no donations of clothing or other items will be accepted.

• St. Matthew’s Church in Kunkletown has canceled all services and activities for this week. The church will re-evaluate for next week.

• The scheduled Bake Sale at Sacred Heart Church in Palmerton has been canceled for March 21 and March 22. Call Peggy Duell at 610-826-8009.

• South Schuylkill Garden Club Meeting and Hypertufa Workshop on March 17 has been postponed for at least two weeks. A date for reschedule will be announced later.

• Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, district offices in Weissport and Albrightsville to remain open, but residents who are sick to contact his staff by phone or online, rather than visit one of his offices in person. Call Heffley’s Weissport office at 610-377-6363, or Albrightsville at 570-722-8700. Email: dheffley@pahousegop.com or though his website at www.RepHeffley.com.

• All PA CareerLink Carbon County events and in-person services are currently suspended. This includes job fairs, public workshops, Job Corps, individualized appointments, and Unemployment Compensation RESEA orientations/follow-ups. Access to UC Courtesy Phone is still available.

Career Resource Center is closed until further notice; however, staff will remain available through email or phone. Access to meet with CareerLink Staff must be scheduled by appointment only. Go to www.carboncareerlink.org, visit the Facebook page, or call 570-325-2701 for any updates.

• The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced the Valley Forge Service Plaza, located eastbound in Chester County on I-76 at milepost 324.6, and the King of Prussia Service Plaza, located westbound in Montgomery County on I-76 at milepost 328.4, will have limited services until March 27.

Fuel will still be available, and the convenience stores located inside the plazas will remain open. All fast food dining and public restrooms will be closed inside the service plazas. Portable toilets will be available for the traveling public.

For other service plaza locations and amenities, visit https://www.paturnpike.com/pdfs/travel/PTC_Service_Plaza_Guide.pdf.

• The Quest blood screening, sponsored by the Tamaqua Rotary, originally planned for March 21 is being rescheduled for 7 to 9:30 a.m. May 2 at the Salvation Army building in Tamaqua.

• St. Luke’s University Health Network has launched a coronavirus telephone and email hotline to respond to inquiries from patients and the public.

1-866-STLUKES (785-8537), option 7 or coronavirus@sluhn.org. The 24/7 hotline is led by St. Luke’s nursing staff who can provide information and guidance based on the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The hotline is not a substitute for the advice of a physician or, when necessary, medical attention. More information about the coronavirus is available at https://www.slhn.org/blog/2020/novel-coronavirus-faq.

• The Citizens for Yudichak Annual Brunch, scheduled for March 29, at Genetti’s in Wilkes-Barre has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Contact Brian Nutt (717-963-7163) or brian@ignite-strategies.com.

• The “Everybody’s Birthday” party, sponsored by the Gnaden Huetten chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, has been changed from March 28 to May 16. The group’s April meeting has also been canceled. For more information, call Mildred Beers at 610-377-3952.

• St. John’s Lutheran Church, on Sixth and North streets in Jim Thorpe is suspending Saturday and Sunday church services until further notice.

• Zion Lutheran Church in Tamaqua announced the Lenten March 17 haddock dinner at Zion Lutheran Church in Tamaqua has been canceled. The March 27 Easter egg hunt at Zion Lutheran in Tamaqua has been postponed. The Saturday 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. worship services are available on the Zion website (www.ziontamaqua.com) and Zion’s Facebook page.

• The Palmerton Over 60 Club meeting that was scheduled for noon Tuesday, March 17, at Palmerton Borough Hall, 443 Delaware Ave., has been canceled.

• The free community dinner for St. Mark’s and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jim Thorpe scheduled for March 22 has been canceled.

• The Panther Valley Irish American Association has postponed its St. Patrick’s Day celebration to a date to be determined. This year’s event, honoring Paul McArdle Jr. for his decades of contributions to the area, will still be held at the Summit Hill Community Center. Further details will be available when the new date is decided.

• The American Cancer Society’s annual Chinese Auction, scheduled for March 21-22 at the new Lakeside Ballroom in Barnesville, has been postponed. The new dates for the auction are April 18-19.

• The Household Hazardous Waste Event at Coca-Cola Park, in Allentown, open to Lehigh County residents only, that had been scheduled for March 28, has since been postponed. Visit lehighcounty.org for updates.

• Penn’s Peak canceled the Styx concert Saturday night. The venue is asking people to hold on to tickets as they are working to solidify a future date. The venue will be monitoring the situation and make additional announcements in the coming days for the balance of March and April events.

• The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has announced the closure of all of its state-owned historic sites and museums, regardless of location, extending through the end of March. See a list of sites at https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Museums/Pages/default.aspx.

• The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is postponing the remaining three weekends of the Vino in the Valley passport program for the safety and health of our staff and visitors.

Have an announcement to list? Email information to tneditor@tnonline.com.