n Mahanoy City: A financial aid information night for parents/guardians of Mahanoy Area High School students will be held in the high school's large group instruction room at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Lisa Cecchini from Penn State will speak about available state and federal aid and will explain the FAFSA application. Arthur DiCasimirro, high school guidance counselor, will present information dealing with local scholarship opportunities. Students are also invited to attend.
n Pottsville: Mary Sacavage, director of continuing education and coordinator of public information at Penn State Schuylkill campus, recently addressed members of the Pottsville Rotary Club. She listed some of the continuing education programs available at the campus, including adult learning where adults can finish their degrees, youth programs such as SAT preparation and STEM Days - Science, Technology, English, Math - which are after-school and Saturday programs for middle school students. She also provided some facts about the campus, such as it will mark its 80th anniversary in 2014; there are just under 900 students enrolled with 58 percent from the Schuylkill County region. Also, 26 percent of the local students are adult learners, Sacavage said. She noted that the students are involved in community service and that the THON program (the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon - generated more than $40,000 in Schuylkill County last year to fight pediatric cancer. Students helped at Hawk Mountain and spent weekends working with STEM students. She also spoke about the Penn State Lives Here campaign, and showed Rotarians a video depicting how anyone associated with Penn State shares common beliefs including no sense of entitlement, no tolerance for ordinary, just good old-fashioned "let's-get-to-itivness." Penn State is 24 campuses, 17,000 faculty and staff, more than 100,000 students and more than a half million active alumni who "prove that the real measure of success is what you do to improve the lives of others." Sacavage offered signs and pins to any workplace that employs Penn State alumni.
n Tamaqua: For three centuries, Spanish villages along the Rio Grande have displayed unique Christmas lanterns or luminaria, which symbolically light the way for Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child. This custom will be done in Tamaqua this holiday season. The Tamaqua Area Faith Fellowship Network is sponsoring a luminaria sale during Advent. Individual kits may be bought and the luminaria displayed around homes, churches or businesses during Advent but especially on Christmas Eve, according to a network press release. Kits containing five luminaria are available for $5 from TAFFN representatives, most church offices and at the Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce, 114 W. Broad St. Kits will also be available at the Community Advent Breakfast slated for 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church. Each kit comes with instructions on how to construct each luminaria as well as a history of luminaria. All proceeds will benefit TAFFN, a "group of lay leaders from area congregations working to promote cooperation and understanding among organizations doing God's work in the community," according to the release. For more information, call Gary Price at 570-668- 2775.
n Tamaqua: Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive in Tamaqua on at 6 p.m. Friday, escorted by their four-wheeled reindeer and elves. Due to the bridge construction on East Broad Street, Santa's trip to Depot Square Park will go from the St. Jerome parking lot and head east to Berwick Street. The couple will then make their way to Depot Square Park and illuminate the thousands of lights decorating the park. The party will then move to the Tamaqua Community Arts Center, 125 Pine St., where Santa and the Mrs. Claus will visit with children of all ages. Photos will be allowed, so people are advised to bring their cameras.