Choral concert

The Pleasant Valley High School Choral Concert will be presented tonight at 7 p.m. In case of a snow day, it will be presented at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Polar Express week

The Western Pocono Community Library in Brodheadsville is celebrating Polar Express Week this week. Special readings will be held at 1 p.m. today and at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Gifts and award

Church Women United of Monroe County held a Christmas luncheon at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stroudsburg recently. Christmas stockings were collected by Nora Cilurso to be given out to area organizations. More have come in since then to bring the total to 250 so far.

They will be distributed to Women’s Resources, PATH, Elm Street group home, Gluco Lodge, Fitzmaurice and others.

Children from JM Hill School chorus entertained the group as well as Bob Riday, a former music teacher at Pleasant Valley, and Will Eldrich, singer.

The 12th annual CWU Margaret Wyckoff Wells award was presented to Roxanne Kaiser-Antonowich from Delaware Water Gap and a member of First Presbyterian Church in Stroudsburg.

The award was presented to her for her extensive service to community and her church, with the Wells family present in addition to members from 14 churches.

Zion Seniors

A Christmas luncheon at 11 a.m. at the Old Mill Pizza in Sciota is on this group’s agenda for its Thursday meeting.

World holidays

Pleasant Valley School district offers free adult English classes every Thursday from 3:45-5:45 at Pleasant Valley Elementary School. They are free to anyone in the public and for any level of English proficiency and any nationality, said Mrs. Darcy Caruso, the EL Program Specialist/District Coordinator, K-12. Participants come whenever they are able. Parents may even bring their school-age children.

We do their homework with them and then additional activities, Caruso said.

This Thursday the school is having a Holidays Around the World event at the Pleasant Valley Elementary School. Students will be moving to different classrooms in their hallways, each teaching about a different country and culture.

Caruso can be reached at 570-402-1000, ext. 6033.

WELL meeting

The West End Little League is slated to meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Chestnut­hill Township Park. It is an open meeting.

Senior lunches

The Chestnuthill Seniors meeting at Zion Lutheran in the Fellowship Hall in Brodheadsville can choose Alaskan pollock with Teriyaki over brown rice, stewed tomatoes and zucchini/banana for the regular menu for Friday and spinach salad chickpea salad, sliced peaches, whole grain bread, juice and milk, for the lighter fare menu.

For next Wednesday the regular menu is bruschetta chicken, yellow squash, Cali blend, fruit cup and whole grain bread, whereas the lighter fare is turkey and cheese, carrot raisin salad, apple, whole grain bread, juice and milk.

Those wishing to eat must call the site manager by 11 a.m. the day before at 570-242-6770.

There is a requested donation per meal.

Doors of the center are open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.

Early dismissal

Pleasant Valley School District will have early dismissal on Friday.

Pantry open

The Effort Food pantry at Effort UMC will be open from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday. It serves in-need families from the communities of Effort, Gilbert, Kunkletown, Kresgeville, Brodheadsville, Saylorsburg, Sciota and Albrightsville.

Christmas cantata

An annual Christmas cantata, “Prepare Him Room,” performed by the joint choirs of Effort UMC and St. Matthew’s UCC, will be presented at St. Matthews at 6 p.m. Saturday and at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Effort church.

Special music

Salem-St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Kresgeville, will have carols and special music as part of its 10:30 a.m. Sunday service.

A social hour with light lunch will follow at 11:30 a.m.

Christmas Eve

• Effort UMC will have 6 p.m. family service, an 8 p.m. service with choir; and a 11 p.m. service with lessons and carols.

• Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Gilbert, will have Mass on Christmas Eve at 4, 7 and 10 p.m. and on Christmas Day at 11 a.m.

• Salem-St. Paul’s Lutheran, Kresgeville, will have services with carols, Communion and candle lighting at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.

• Salem UCC, Gilbert, is having its service at 7 p.m.

• St. Matthew’s UCC, Kunkletown, will have a Christmas Eve Country worship service, at 7 p.m. including Communion and candle lighting, and Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols, Communion and candle lighting, at 10 p.m.

• St. Peter’s UMC, Saylorsburg, will have a Christmas Eve candlelight worship services at 7:30 p.m., The Mystery of Christmas, complete with carols, candlelight and special music.

• Zion Lutheran Church in Brodheadsville will have Christmas Eve services at 3:30, 7:30 and 10 p.m. All three are candle lighting services.

Closed on Christmas

Schools, township offices and even Legion Post 927 are closed on Christmas Day. The Legion Post Home in Gilbert will close at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve.

TOPS open house

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) 1113 Kresgeville is inviting everyone to an open house at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 17. The group is a nonprofit organization which has had successful program for the past 70 years for those interested in losing weight through physician-proven strategies.

Meetings are held every Thursday at Salem-St. Paul Lutheran Church at 138 Trach Road, Kresgeville. Snow date will be Jan. 24, 2019. For more information, call Linda at 610-681-6789.

Philly Flower Show

West End Park and Open Space Commission is sponsoring a bus trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show on March 4. This year’s theme, Flower Power, will pay tribute to the enormous impact of flowers on our lives. Chat with garden experts, visit top floral designers and purchase cut flowers in the Market Place.

Lunch is on one’s own at the Convention Center or the nearby popular Reading Terminal Market. The bus leaves Chestnuthill Park at 8 a.m. and returns at 7 p.m. For cost and other information contact 570-992-9733 or bkozen@weposc.org.

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