Features

Blue Mountain Health System will host a six-week bereavement workshop, Focusing on Hope, Wednesday, April 3 through Wednesday, May 8, from 6-8 p.m. in the first floor board room at the Gnaden Huetten campus, 211 N. 12th St. in Lehighton.

The workshop, which will focus on honoring one's personal bereavement journey through education and support, is free of charge and open to all those coping with the loss of a loved one. Jane Mason, from the Bereavement Program of Lutheran Home Care & Hospice, will facilitate.

Please register at (610) 377-7070.

It is Thanksgiving 2012 at the home of the Schleicher family in Ashfield.

The feast is ready and the family files into the dining room. At each plate is a greeting-card-sized envelope with a $10 dollar bill clipped to it. Each envelope has a message, front and back, written by Lavona Schleicher.

"Pay it forward," reads the message on the front. "Give this gift to someone you do not know, who touches your heart, who needs a smile."

Spaces for a response, to be read at the family's Christmas dinner, are on the back of the envelope.

Pocono-Lehigh Romance Writers (PLRW) will hold its April meeting at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 13 at the Palmer Township branch of the Easton Area Public Library, 1 Weller Place, Palmer Township.

How does a writer cross the threshold from good to great? Award-winning author Kathy Kulig discusses techniques used by successful businesses and individuals that can help writers make that leap in their writing career. (Rescheduled due to snow in February.)

Ted Larizzio was all smiles after it was announced he is the grand prize winner of the 2013 TIMES NEWS Cookbook and Recipe Contest.

Larizzio's recipe for Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Tenders impressed this year's judges, who were unanimous in their decision.

This was the first time Larizzio, who lives in Jim Thorpe, entered the annual cookbook contest.