While volunteering to help prepare the annual Mother's Day Breakfast at St. Mary's Center in Mahanoy City on Sunday, Ann Pascavage, Delano, told friends this Mother's Day was special for her.
"I became a grandmother yesterday. My daughter just had a baby girl. It's like a Mother's Day present," Pascavage, 59, said.
Her daughter, Tanya, 30, wife of Jason Ambrose, gave birth to their first child, Carlee, at 2:05 p.m. Saturday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
Mother's Day was developed in 1908 by Anna Jarvis and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914, according to history.com. Mothers in Schuylkill County celebrated Sunday in numerous ways, including dining out, getting gifts or flowers such as roses, going to church and enjoying community events.
The Mother's Day breakfast at St. Mary's Center in Mahanoy City has been a tradition since the center was built in 1982, according to one of the volunteers, Mary Ellen Farnsworth, Mahanoy City.
"We usually get over 150 people. And that's what we're expecting," Pascavage said.
The volunteers cooked up eggs, sausage, bacon and French toast. "I know we go through about 60 dozen eggs and 100 pounds of potatoes," Farnsworth said.
Krissy Wonsock, 37, of Barnesville, was there with her family, including her husband, P.J., 32, and their children Kenna, 7, Julianna, 3, and Ryleigh, 21 months.
"This is the first time we've come out to this," P.J. said.
Krissy said there were a few things she was hoping to do Sunday. "Maybe Heisler's," she said, referring to Heisler's Cloverleaf Dairy in Walker Township. "Maybe we'll do some mini-golf later, then maybe get some porch flowers. Mother's Day is a day when we should try more than any other day to be together as a family. Being a mother is being with the kids. If you're with the kids, you're a mother. That's the whole point of being a mother," Krissy said.
"I like spending Mother's Day with the family," said Barbara Rosselli, 66, of Shenandoah, who also attended the breakfast with her husband, Joe, 65, and one of their three children, Cody, 21.
"We all work different hours so it's hard sometimes to get together. We came here last year for the first time. It's nice," Barbara said.
"She likes the room," her husband said of the spacious dining hall.
"Today we're cooking a big meal. We're going to have a big dinner. We'll have pork roast and mashed potatoes. Today is a family day," Joe Rosselli said.
"He'll cook. I'm going to an auction this afternoon, Ruby Paris Auctions at Schuylkill Mall," Barbara said.
"That's her way of relaxing," Joe said.
Their other two children are Torie, 25, and Jesse, 35.
Julie Jones, 67, of Schuylkill Haven, said she and her daughter, Michelle, 44, have been volunteers at the breakfast for years. "I'm here every year. Every Mother's Day, we work together at the breakfast. My granddaughter will be coming by later and my great grandson, too. I'll be tired later on, so I'll want to relax," Julie Jones said.
Maureen Ann Thompson, 66, and her daughter, Shelly Kopich, 36, both of Mahanoy City, started their Mother's Day by going to a service at Restoration Fellowship Ministries, Shenandoah.
"It's a day when we thank God for our mothers," Thompson said.
The church pastors, the Revs. Eugene H. Carls and Angela R. Carls, treated the more than 25 people who came out to the Sunday service to a guest speaker, John P. McTernan, Millerstown, Perry County, an author, lecturer and a leader of the pro-life movement in central Pennsylvania.
"God loves the family unit. He created the family unit, the institution of men and women and children. I'm 65 and when I look back to how things were when I was growing up and the way things are today, the divorce rate and families torn apart, and the number of women I've prayed for who have torn, shredded hearts because of abortion, it's astounding," McTernan said.
He encouraged families to spend time together on Mother's Day.
"Children look to their fathers for security and they look to their mother for an emotional tie they don't quite get (it) from their fathers. And what's devastating is rejection. If the father rejects them, they can handle it somewhat. If the mother rejects them, it's devastating. I prayed for one woman who was 75 and when she was 10 years old or 8 years old her mother rejected her and she carried that with her her whole life. She loved the Lord for 50 or 60 years, but deep inside the heart was still torn. Mothers have a tremendous responsibility and it's very easy to break a child's heart," McTernan said.
The mothers in the congregation were also treated to gifts and cake.