TimesLeader.com

AVOCA

July 5

New schedule for ‘linked’ AVOCA parishes

As many of you know, the parishes of St. Mary’s and SS. Peter and Paul’s are now linked. As linked parishes, they will remain separate in identity, individuality, and finances, but they will share services, programs, and a pastor in the Rev. Phil Sladicka who is currently the pastor of St. Mary’s Church.

The new Mass schedules for the parishes will become effective Wednesday, July 15, and are as follows: Saturdays 4 p.m. at SS. Peter and Paul’s Church and 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church; Sundays 8 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church and 10 a.m. at SS. Peter and Paul’s Church.

The daily 8 a.m. Mass and Wednesday evening 7 p.m. Mass will take place at St. Mary’s Church July and August. It will move to SS. Peter and Paul’s Church for September through November, return to St. Mary’s December through February, and move back to SS. Peter and Paul’s for March through May.

Please note all of these schedules will be reviewed in six months to ensure they are meeting the needs of the parishioners.

And just across the street from SS. Peter and Paul’s Church, our friends at the Langcliffe Presbyterian Church will combine their Sunday services with the Moosic Presbyterian Church beginning today through August 2.

The combined service will take place every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Langcliffe Presbyterian Church, 1000 Main St. Please note this decision was reached by a vote from members of both congregations as the sanctuary in the Langcliffe Church is air conditioned.

This is in no way a precursor to closing or a merging of the two churches.

It is simply a measure of comfort during the warmest time of summer. In addition to air conditioning, the Langcliffe Church is handicap accessible and nursery school is provided for young children. The public is invited to attend.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Cindy Colella who will celebrate her special day Tuesday, July 7.

Festival Volunteers

St. Mary’s Church Festival Committee is seeking volunteers to set up for the festival and to work at it. The setup nights are July 6, 7, 13, and 14 at St. Mary’s School, corner of Hawthorne and Sprint Streets. For setup times or to volunteer at the festival please contact Laurie Tomsho at laurietomsho@ kings.edu or 760-0325. This is an excellent way for youth to fulfill volunteer hours for school projects.

Yard Waste

The Avoca Borough will have a yard waste collections Tuesday, June 7 and 21. In addition to collecting grass clippings and leaves, the borough workers will also collect shrubs, hedge clippings, and tree limbs. Please note that grass clippings and leaves may be placed in the same container but other yard waste must be placed in a separate container. The tree limbs should not exceed three feet in length and one-half inch in diameter.

Please note that rocks, stones, dirt, and animal waste are not acceptable forms of yard waste and will not be collected. A maximum of three open containers, not exceeding 30 pounds, will be allowed per collection. Please do not put your collection items in plastic bags. They will not be collected.

Help with Wills

There will be a will and power of attorney planning session Wednesday, July 8 at 10:30 a.m. at Frank P. Crossin Towers, 500 Brown St., Duryea. This program is open to individuals who are 60 years old or older and are residents of Luzerne County.

At this time, Frank Pasquini will assist individuals with writing their wills and provide information on the uses and necessities of power of attorney documents.

For more information or if you are interested in attending, please call Peggy at 457-2333.

Seniors Program

The Area Agency on Aging “Center Without Walls” program will present a program on fraud, scams, and identity theft Wednesday, July 8 from 1-3 p.m. at the Duryea Municipal Building, 315 Main St., Duryea. The guest speaker will be from the Attorney General’s Office. Senior citizens and caregivers of elderly people are invited to attend this free event. Refreshments will be served.

Council Meeting

The Avoca Borough Council will have its regular monthly meeting and work session Thursday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Avoca Municipal Building, 752 Main St. The public is invited to attend.

AOH Meeting

The Avoca A.O.H. will meet Thursday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the home of James “Red” O’Brien, 41 Chapel St., Pittston, to discuss plans for the Avoca Open golf tournament. All members are invited to attend.

Waleski Camp

Registrations are being accepted for the Stan Waleski Basketball Camp which will take place July 13-31 at the Oblates of St. Joseph gym, 1880 Highway 315, Pittston. Boys and girls in grades K-9 are invited to attend. The camp features four age divisions and each division stresses skills, competitions, team play, and fun.

All players will receive a camp t-shirt and certificate. The boys and girls grades K-4 camp will take place July 13-17 and July 20-24 from 9 a.m. to noon. The boys grades 3-9 camp will take place July 13-17 from 1-4 p.m.; the girls grades 3-9 camp will take place July 20-24 from 1-4 p.m.; and the final week is a boys and girls grades 2-7 camp from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. Players are invited to attend multiple camps with discounts available for multiple family members.

For more information please contact Coach Waleski at 457-1206 or stanwaleski@yahoo.com; Coach LoBrutto at 654-8030; or visit www.stanwaleski.com.

Bulk Pickup

The Avoca Borough Street Department will have a white goods collection in each of the borough’s wards. Any household displaying a valid 2009 garbage sticker may place two white goods curbside the night before their ward’s collection date. Items will be collected at the convenience of the street department. The items that will be collected include washers, dryers, refrigerator and freezers with the doors removed, hot water heaters, and air conditioners. Microwave ovens will not be collected. The collection dates for the wards include Monday, July 13 for the first ward; Tuesday, July 14 for the second ward; and Wednesday, July 15 for the third ward.

Yankees Trip

SS. Peter and Paul’s Church Youth Group is sponsoring a trip to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game Thursday, July 16. The price is $20 per person and includes an upper reserved level ticket, all you can eat and drink, a game program, a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees baseball cap, and a possible autograph session with the players. Parishioners from St. Mary’s and SS. Peter and Paul’s Churches are invited to attend. For more information or to make a reservation please call Lori Ostrowski at 457-8840.

Festival Time

Summer is here and that means St. Mary’s Festival is right around the corner. St. Mary’s Church will hold its annual summer festival Thursday, July 16 through Saturday, July 18 with the festivities beginning at 6 p.m. nightly on the grounds of St. Mary’s School, corner of Hawthorne and Spring Streets.

The festival will open on Thursday evening featuring the music of “Groove Train”. St. Mary’s is also pleased to welcome back “Flaxy Morgan” to entertain picnic attendees on Friday, and local favorites, “The Hometown Boyz”, on Saturday.

As picnic goers sit back and enjoy the live entertainment, they can snack on food items including potato pancakes, pizza fritta, homemade baked goods, chicken cheesesteak hoagies, pizza, and many more of your favorite festival foods!

There will be great games of chance for adults and a grand raffle featuring numerous prizes. There will also be raffles for St. Mary’s famous theme baskets, a basket of cheer, and homemade quilts.

Kids surely will enjoy face painting and the return of the ever-popular Kids Zone featuring many games just for kids.

The parishioners are currently seeking donations for their “Country Kitchen”, famous theme baskets, and other miscellaneous items. If you would like to donate cookies, cakes, brownies, homemade jellies and jams, or your particular specialty bake good to the Country Kitchen, please call Janice Dowdell at 451-0345. If you would like to donate or sponsor a theme basket or the contents for one please contact Laurie Tomsho at 760-0325 or laurietomsho@kings.edu for all of the details.

And if you would like to donate one of the following miscellaneous items, please leave it in the church vestibule or on the rear porch of the rectory: paper products, paper towels, plastic utensils, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, dish detergent, sugar, and cream.

Bible School

Okay kids, are you ready to rock the Crocodile Dock? If you said yes, get ready to take an imaginary trip to the bayou of Louisiana during St. Mary’s Church’s annual Vacation Bible School program.

The program will take place August 3-7 at the church, 715 Hawthorne St.

They will have great crafts, games, activities, songs, skits, and fun for children ages 3-10.

The program will be divided into two camps: pre-school and elementary.

If you are interested in enrolling your child or volunteering to help in any way, please call the rectory at 457-3412.

Golf Tournament

The Avoca A.O.H. will sponsor the Avoca Open golf tournament Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course.

Keep reading the Avoca News as details become available about this event.

Until Next Time

That’s about it for this week! Drop me a line or e-mail me your latest news by Thursday at noon. You can call me at 457-3351 or e-mail me at avocahappenings@verizon.net.

Please be sure to include your name and phone number with any correspondence in case I need to reach you.

Have a great week!