Tamaqua news for Jan. 30, 2019

Veterans support

Schuylkill County veterans and their families in financial straits are eligible for a variety of support services through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families.

Funded through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the program is administered by Opportunity House and provides housing assistance, moving/transportation expenses, child care to qualifying veteran families in Schuylkill, Berks and Lancaster counties. They also offer referral services for veteran benefits, education, health care and legal needs.

For more information, call 570-604-6948.

Safe2Say session postponed

The Tamaqua Area School District’s community training session on the Safe2Say program, scheduled for this evening, has been postponed due to the weather. The training will be rescheduled for a later date.

The district will hold a community training session on Pennsylvania’s new Safe2Say app. Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to implement the hotline program, which was devised by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit formed following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The goal was to search for ways to prevent such violence.

The program includes a mobile app, website and hotline which can be used to make anonymous reports of students and others showing signs they have the potential to carry out school violence.

Snow rules

Winter weather is always a possibility in January and February. Tamaqua residents are reminded of borough rules concerning snow removal. Property owners are required to maintain a clear path, at least 3 feet wide, on sidewalks. Snow and ice must be removed from these pathways within 24 hours of the end of a snowstorm.

Snow, ice and other materials may not be thrown into the streets. Fines of $25 and up may be imposed on anyone caught throwing snow or ice into the street, or who fails to maintain a snow-free pathway.

People who plow snow from in front of homes and businesses must remove any piles of snow they create. Anyone piling snow in the street or parking areas could be cited.

Residents are asked to refrain from piling snow near fire hydrants or on top of storm drains and are encouraged to clear snow from these areas. Call 570-668-3444 or 570-668-0300 for more information.

Soup social

Trinity United Church of Christ, 22 Lafayette St., will continue its free, monthly soup social during 2019. The next social will be held on Saturday.

Free soup and fellowship will be available from 4 to 6 p.m.

Participants are asked to use the lower parking lot entrance to the church social hall.

Bethany EC

The Rev. Kevin Roberts will officiate at the 8 and 10:30 a.m. worship services this Sunday in Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church. Sunday school classes meet at 9:15 a.m.

Also this Sunday, the discipleship, kitchen, social, local operations and outreach committees will meet at 11:45 a.m.

Activities for the next week include: Monday, Celebrate Recovery women’s training at 5 p.m., Celebrate Recovery men’s training at 5:15 p.m., Celebrate Recovery meets at 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday, TYM Remix meets at 6:30 p.m., PRC meets at 7 p.m., worship practice is at 8 p.m., music and worship committee meets at 8:45 p.m.; Thursday, membership meeting at 6 p.m., coffee and conversation at 7 p.m., at Hope and Coffee; Friday, TYM Remix three-day winter retreat starts.

Primitive Methodist

Pastor Rick Clemson will officiate at the 10:45 a.m. worship service this Sunday in American Primitive Methodist Church. Sunday school classes are held at 9:30 a.m.

Also on Sunday, a congregational meeting will be held immediately following the worship service, and the monthly service at the Hometown Nursing Home will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. Hope in the Mountains, a Nar-Anon Family Group, meetings are held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information, call 570-778-5098.

Contact Kathy Kunkel at 570-668-1250 or kkunkel@tnonline.com. Contact the Times News at 800-443-0377 or tneditor@tnonline.com.