Masontown News
Masontown seniors
The Masontown Senior Center offers lots of fun for everyone. The Wii teams are holding a competition with four teams of four players. Jennie Ebner bowled a perfect score of 300 Sept. 25. That is a first for the Masontown center. The groups play balloon darts twice a month and have different table games going all the time. On Sept. 27, the group traveled to Kingwood for buckwheat cakes and sausage. Fundraising efforts include: lottery tickets, a community breakfast every Wednesday morning, hoagie sales and bake sales. October is filled with Senior Life Bingo, Apple Butter Day, sing-along with Dave Townsend, Power of Positive Thinking Day and a trip to Trax Farms. Flu shots will be offered Oct. 23 and a Halloween Party Oct. 31.
The center will be closed Nov. 12 for Veterans Day, but on Nov. 13 Charles Dean, a historical re-enactor and Kentucky rifle gunsmith, will join the group at 10:30 a.m. The Thanksgiving dinner will be held Nov. 15 and the Christmas tree will be decorated Nov. 27.
Call 724-583-7822 for more information or to make reservations to join the festivities.
Reminders
n Farmer’s Market is held every Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the German-Masontown Park.
n The McClellandtown Presbyterian Church Cemetery will be holding fall cleanup. All seasonal items must be removed by Oct. 15.
n St Mary’s Church in Leckrone will hold a cash bash Nov. 5 at the Parish Center. Tickets are available after Mass or by calling Brenda at 724-583-2782. The event is open to the public.
n The combined Pal’s Club and Auxiliary annual children’s Halloween party will be held Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at the club’s main social hall. Treats and refreshments will be provided to the club members children. Prizes will be awarded by age.
Friends of Library to meet
The Friends of the German-Masontown Library will meet at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The future used book sale and Christmas party are just a few of the topics to be discussed. The ordered shirts will be available for pick-up at the meeting. Following the meeting refreshments will be provided by Stephanie Balik, Lydia Coll, and Barbara Gehring.
Living rosary
There will be a living rosary prayed at 3 p.m. at All Saints Church in Masontown Oct. 21. October is the month dedicated to the holy rosary. Sign up to be a participant in the back of the church or call Maxine Allison at 724-583-7018. It is a beautiful and prayerful event.
Talk on Medjugorje
Medjugorje is the village where apparitions of Mary appear and give messages to visionaries. Joe Fedor, a parishoner at All Saints Church in Masontown, will be recalling his visit last year to Medjugorje through an informal talk and also will be showing a DVD on Medjugorje. This will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in All Saints School cafeteria located at 100 S. Washington St., Masontown. Anyone is welcome to attend.
Spooktacular parade
Masontown Matters, Masontown businesses, organizations and residents are once again sponsoring the annual Halloween Spooktacular parade and event Oct. 27 in Masontown. Lineup for the parade begins at 5:30 p.m. between the traffic lights on Main Street. The parade will begin promptly at 6 p.m. and proceed from Main Street down to the Masontown-German Park.
Following the parade, there will be costume judgings, hay rides, a bonfire, disc jockey with music, treat bags and prizes. Food vendors will be selling their goodies. Participants can also bring decorated pumpkins or scarecrows from home to be entered in a contest. In the event of inclement weather, the location for the Halloween event will be changed to the All Saints Social Hall. This would be announced on the website(www.masontownmatters.org) on the morning of the event and at the parade line-up site.
Meet the author
In the German-Masontown Library at 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Friends of the German-Masontown Library will host local author Dr. Evelyn Hovanec. She is a native Fayette countian but spent several years in the Pittsburgh area. She has a B.Ed. in social sciences/history and English from Duquesne University and an M.A. in American literature from Duquesne, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh with an emphasis on 19th century American literature. She taught at the elementary, secondary and college levels and spent 35 years with Penn State University. While at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, she taught courses in many areas of writing. She has traveled to many areas of the United States and Canada, a large portion of Europe and also to Israel and Palestine. Dr. Hovanec is now retired and has been doing commentaries from time to time for local newspapers. She will discuss some of her books, have books for sale and will sign your book if you request it.
The following is a list of works that she will bring:
“Patch/Work Voices” — Contains interviews of people who once lived in local coal mining patches
“Common Lives of Uncommon Strength” — tells about the lives of women who lived in the local coal mining towns/patches
“Another Time Another World” — a more technical look at the southwestern Pa. mining area written by Dr. John Enman. Dr. Hovanec edited and consulted with the author on this book.
“Silver Cinders” — a professionally done video/disk telling the story of the Connellsville Coke region and surrounding areas.
Toy bash
The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department will hold a toy bash Nov. 17. Doors open at noon and drawings begin at 1 pm. Food and refreshments are included in cost of tickets. For tickets and information, call Keith or Renee at 724-564-0136.
Italian Ladies Circle
The Italian Ladies Circle celebrated their anniversary at Meloni ‘s Restaurant Oct. 7. Members enjoyed visiting, fun and laughter while getting reacquainted with friends. Members, old and new, are invited to attend the monthly meetings and continue to expand friendships and enjoy the company of others.
SnapShot Day
On Monday, libraries all over Pennsylvania will be taking a one day “snapshot” — collecting information to capture the impact Pennsylvania libraries have on their communities on a typical day. It’s being called Library SnapShot Day and is an advocacy project between libraries and the Pennsylvania Library Association. Its purpose is to encourage libraries to collect data, such as how many people use computers and technology, attend programs, check out books, etc. All across the state, libraries are cornerstones of their communities, places where people come together to learn, visit and share ideas. Library patrons will be given an opportunity to comment on what their library means to them, and pictures from libraries all over the state will then be shared. Visit the German-Masontown Public Library on Monday from 3 to 7 p.m. and become part of history on Library SnapShot Day.
Other upcoming library programs include Storytime on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Knitting on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. Join us Oct. 29 for popcorn and a movie.
Our 4-year old preschool program, “Be Excited about Reading,” starts on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Call the library at 724-583-7030 to sign up for that program.