East Penn Press

The Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners and staff are holding the 14th annual Troop Support Program to collect donated items to send to township residents in the armed services who won’t be home for the holidays. To register a loved one in the holiday program, call 610-966-6924 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Donations of food, toiletry items, batteries, magazines and phone cards will be accepted at the Lower Macungie Community Center 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to noon Saturday and 8-10 a.m. Sunday through Nov. 30.

Allentown Central Catholic High School is partnering with DeSales University to provide students with college credits at no cost.

ACCHS Principal Randy Rice and Father James J. Greenfield, OSFS ‘84, president of DeSales, signed the agreement Oct. 3. Students will receive college credit for courses in anatomy and physiology, forensic science, honors calculus, honors economics, honors English 4 and honors theology 4.

The Viking Nation celebrated Homecoming Oct. 12.

October is a very busy month in Upper Milford Township.

On Oct. 5, the third annual Community Day hosted by the two township fire departments will be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the township building.

Editor’s Note: We welcome Jake Welsko as our new Emmaus High School student reporter. He is a junior and writes Arts and Culture for the school newspaper, The Stinger.

Emmaus High School’s very own school store, The Hornet’s Nest, has been relocated to Room 519.

The 11th annual Barktoberfest Pet Fair will be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 5 at Macungie Memorial Park. Rev. Werner M. Koch of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Bethlehem will conduct a blessing of the animals 12:30 p.m. There will be dog and cat rescue groups, dog training demos and vendors selling pet related items. For more information, visit the website www.barktoberfestpetfair.com.

The Allentown Central Catholic High School Theater Department recently announced “The Pajama Game” will be the upcoming spring musical. There will be a variety of performances April 16-18, 2020.

Priyanka Bhashyam and Jack Yen are Central Catholic’s 2020 National Merit Scholars. Both students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students. These students demonstrate outstanding potential for academic success.

The boys and girls soccer teams are hosting a Penny War to help fundraise for the Central City Project Food Pantry.

Ready, set, go to get the best viewing spot for the popular Emmaus annual Halloween Parade and Halloween in Emmaus 5K race Oct. 19. Come on out and cheer the runners on and applaud the parade marchers and floats.

The start time for the race is 7 p.m. Prizes are awarded to top runners and costume contest winners. For information, visit Emmaus 5K.com. Proceeds from the race benefit the Halloween parade and Emmaus’ parks system.

Editor’s Note; We welcome Simon Ernst as our new Allentown Central Catholic High School reporter. Ernst is a sophomore at ACCHS. He is a member of the Central Catholic Science Olympiad team, drama club and spring musical. He is also a member of St. Ann Church, where he altar serves and is a member of the welcome committee.

New students were welcomed into Viking Nation Aug. 25 complete with friends, fun, Kona Ice and a competitive game of Allentown Central Catholic High School trivia. Good luck to all of our new Vikings.

The Lower Macungie Historical Society will hold a harvest festival at the Bortz Log House in Wescosville 2-4 p.m. Oct. 6. There will be house tours and refreshments as well as live demonstrations of sauerkraut making and “hit and miss” engines. The museum will be closed that day.

The historical society will host a program “The Mills of Lower Macungie” 2-3:30 p.m. Oct. 20. Jeff Donat will share the history of gristmills and the change in technology.

Nestled in the hillside along Powder Valley Road is the Schubert-Graber log house, once home to settlers in the mid-1700s. Considered one of the oldest standing homesteads in Upper Milford Township, this little treasure has been recognized by the U.S. Park Service and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Hivel Und Dahl Preservation Society has taken up the challenge to save the log house and make it a publicly accessible, gateway park to the scenic, historic Powder Valley area.