West End news for March 8, 2018

Movie time

From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday at St. Matthew’s UCC in Kunkletown, the church’s tweens, parents, and other attendees will make pizza and watch a movie.

Route changes

As of Jan. 15, the MCTA (Monroe County Transit Authority) has set new times for the Orange Route, which serves the West End including Brodheadsville, Effort, Mount Effort, Burnley Workshop, etc. For information, check the MCTA website at gomcta.com or call 570-839-6282.

Track walk

The Western Pocono Community Library has an indoor walking track that is particularly useful during cold or rainy weather. Track hours are 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Friday; and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Fish and chips

The Knights of Columbus will be having a fish and chips dinner from 5-7 p.m. Friday. Pay at the door.

Stewardship focus

Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Gilbert, will celebrate a stewardship renewal weekend Saturday and Sunday. That stewardship will focus on time, talent and treasure. An annual stewardship renewal card will be available during Mass.

Fundae Sundae

Salem-St. Paul Lutheran Church in Kresgeville continues its Sunday school sessions twice a month at the same time the worship service is held. Class time is scheduled to be a fun time and there is a theme for each class that helps those involved focus on what can be done to what can be done to help others.

For now the theme is: Who is My Neighbor, whether locally or around the world.

Each month the focus will be on a different group of neighbors and the Sunday school collection money will go to that group.

The congregation is asked to help by collecting items to help those neighbors near and far.

For March that collection is blankets for the homeless for Street2Feet and Family Promise.

And the fun activity this Sunday is Fundae Sundae.

Hoagie orders

Due to last week’s storm, St. Matthew’s UCC Church in Kunkletown has changed its hoagie sale order due date to April 8. Order pickup is April 18.

Each hoagie order includes a bag of chips. The hoagies are supplied by the Kunkletown General Store and assembled at the church.

All money raised will benefit the building/mortgage fund.

Volunteer duties

West End Fire Company Chief Don Zipp reports that the volunteers were out on 19 calls for the month of February.

However, with the weather situation on Friday, Zipp said that crews were out since Friday morning and the company got clear about 2:15 p.m. Saturday. From 10 a.m. Friday until that clear time, the West End Fire Company volunteers ran about 75 calls.

Riders meet

The American Legion Riders have a monthly meeting at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the American Legion Post 927, Route 209 and Fairgrounds Road, Gilbert.

For more information, contact Legion President Everett Shaver at 570-977-8208 or everett.shaver@yahoo.com. Visit www.ampost927.org and join the group on Facebook.

All Sports

The Pleasant Valley All-Sports Club will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the high school library.

Knit & Crochet

Zion Lutheran’s Knit & Crochet group will meet at 1 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Newcomers are welcome.

Touch of Home

Operation: Touch of Home will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the American Legion Post home in Gilbert.

Garden Club

The Monroe County Garden Club will meet at 11:30 a.m. next Wednesday at the Eastern Monroe Public Library, Route 611/North Ninth Street, Stroudsburg. The program will be Tea, aka Camelia Sinensis, presented by Maureen Aronson. The design theme will be: The Enchanted Garden, a whimsical spring dish design, accessories and underlay optional. The horticulture theme: Flowering forced branch.

The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and program. Everyone interested in gardening is welcome to attend. There is a small fee for nonmembers (applied to one’s membership). Luncheon is included.

For more information, contact club president Robin Teets at 570-350-8069 or rteets@ptd.net. Visit http://www.monroecountygardenclub.com and join the group on Facebook.

Lecture series

At 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Western Pocono Community Library, Rick Smith will present his lecture titled The Molly Maguires.

All lecture series events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited; preregistration is required.

For more information about the lecture series or to obtain a schedule of speakers, contact the Heritage Center at 570-402-1906 or the library at 570-992-7934.

Women’s Club

The GFWC Western Pocono Women’s Club will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. March 19 in Wesley Hall at Effort United Methodist Church on Merwinsburg Road in Effort.

The speaker will be Martha Carr, Volunteer and Bereavement Coordinator for Celtic Hospice. Her job is to recruit volunteers for the hospice and provide grief support for hospice families. Celtic Hospice has auxiliary programs such as quilting, Sunshine letters, Hospice Heart and scarves for the homeless in addition to their volunteer program and hospice care. They provide hospice care in five counties in northeastern Pennsylvania.

While the Western Pocono Women’s Club has not been holding formal meetings during the winter months, the club members have still been busy volunteering in and for the community. A group of members have met monthly to create Quilts Made with Love by WPWC. These quilts will be donated to Monroe County Children and Youth, The Angel’s Closet and Celtic Hospice.

Members also clip coupons to be sent to a naval base in Okinawa, Japan. Items are very expensive in Japan, and the sailors and their families are able to use the coupons to help defray some of the costs. Other members volunteer at local food pantries and drive for Meals on Wheels.

For more information about this service club, go to www.westernpoconowomensclub.org, email wpwomensclub@gmail.com or call 610-681-4967.

CWU meets

Church Women United of Monroe County invites everyone to the group’s business meeting at 1:30 p.m. March 23 at the Hughes Library, Ninth and Chipperfield Drive, Stroudsburg. The meeting will be in the Eisenmann Room on the second floor. There is an elevator.

Anyone who wishes to donate paper goods for PATH is welcome to bring them to the meeting. For more information call 570-629-0649.

Angel tour

The Carbon County and the Poconos chapters of The Compassionate Friends will be co-hosting Alan Pedersen’s Angels Across the USA tour at Salem UCC in Gilbert at 7 p.m. March 24.

Alan is the father of Ashley, who died in a car accident in 2001. He has shared his grief music through music with four highly-acclaimed music CDs, filled with songs he has written and performed.

For more information or any questions, contact tcfcarboncounty@gmail.com or 484-719-6733, Lora and Dave Krum, Carbon TCF leaders.

Contact Adele Argot at 717-933-4028 or arargot3@verizon.net. Contact the Times News at 800-443-0377 or tneditor@tnonline.com.