Features

A St. Patrick's Day Post Parade Party to benefit the Mauch Chunk Museum Ballroom, 41 West Broadway in Jim Thorpe will be held on Sunday, March 14.

The event will feature The Barley Boys, one of the premier Celtic bands in the Northeast.

The band has been playing original and traditional Irish music for eight years.

This will be the kickoff event for a series of fundraising productions in 2010 at the ballroom.

The week after will be the Haitian Relief fundraiser to aid victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Donate your prom and wedding dresses today to benefit Dream Come True, Blue Ridge Chapter.

New and gently-used dresses and accessories including jewelry, purses, shawls, and shoes are being collected now until March 16 at the following locations: Blue Ridge Communications Walnutport and Gilbert offices; Michele's Family Hair Salon in Palmerton; The Treasure Shop in Jim Thorpe; The Lehighton Bakery; and Tiki Tans in Palmerton.

Aubrey Blasiak is the second girl at Lehighton's Franklin Elementary School to attain the top level Presidential Award in all four years at the school. The award is the highest achievement level in a battery of physical fitness tests provided by "The President's Challenge" program, which is designed to inspire children to become physically active and fit. Aubrey now joins an elite group consisting of Lauren House, Aaron Berger and Kyle Hunter, who previously accomplished this feat within the past 14 years.

As rows of children file quietly into the auditorium at East Penn Elementary, author and illustrator Lindsay Barrett George waved to each of them with a hand-puppet mouse.

Barrett George visited each of the elementary schools in Lehighton this week to celebrate "Read Across America" and to get local children excited about reading. She did this by walking them through the process of creating a book, telling them how she gets ideas for stories, and finally reading two of her favorite children's books.