Local News

READER'S TURNFEBRUARY 20, 2010

Snow. Do you like it or dislike it? And how best do you cope with it?

Mark your calendars.

The fourth annual Children's Fun-N-Safety Fair is coming to Carbon County.

The event, sponsored by Carbon Masonic Lodge 242 and partnered with Carbon County Safe Kids, will be held on Saturday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Masonic Lodge, located at Fifth and Center streets in Jim Thorpe. The fair, which is open to all Carbon County children and their families, will be held rain or shine.

Enjoying Mardi Gras festivities at the Panther Valley Senior Center in Nesquehoning were, left to right, Elaine Stockmal, Vicie Pecha, Tom Zuber, Fran Craigie (manager), Anka Swedar and Francis O'Donnell. The center held games and had a menu of beef with broccoli and jambalaya. Brightly colored beads and feathered masks completed their ensembles.

The Carbon County Retirement Fund took a hit this past month.

During the monthly meeting of the county retirement board on Thursday, Robert Crampsie, county controller and secretary of the retirement board, announced that the retirement portfolio value as of Jan. 31, was $56,847,777, down $1.2 million from the end of the year.

"The month of January was a down month," Crampsie said.

The retirement fund is still doing well, despite the loss.

In 2009, the county posted a $10,522,249 increase in funds, which represented an overall end-of-year return of 22.13 percent.