By ANITA COHAN
Correspondent
Article Photos
Gift collection
During November and December the Youngsville High School Science Club coordinated an angel tree gift collection for local families in need this Christmas season. Students, staff, faculty, administration and Student Council all contributed to this effort. Pictured with some of the collected gifts are some members of the Science Club, left to right, Samantha Tome, Thomas Henry, Austin Miller, Angela Renninger and Andrew Lalwani.
Holiday Decorating
Contest
The Revitalization of Youngsville will be sponsoring home decorating for the holidays again this year. Judging of decorated homes will take place this evening, Dec. 20. Call Helga with any questions at 563-4959.
Basket Raffles
for Bicentennial
The basket raffle for the bicentennial fundraising three baskets and a child's basket will be drawn on Saturday, Dec. 22. The next bicentennial meeting will be at the Youngsville Dairy Queen on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 8:30 a.m. They are on the downhill side of the planning, help is still needed, everyone is invited to the meeting.
Boro Office
Holiday Schedule
Youngsville Borough offices and services will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, 2013 for the holidays. Garbage pick up will be the same for Monday, Dec. 24 and 31. Tuesday, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 pickups will be collected the next day, Wednesday, Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
YPL Angel Tree
The Annual Youngsville Library Angel Tree is filling up with Angels, thanks to community members who have taken an ornament from the library tree and donated monies to help support the library with "general operating" items that range from general donations to copy paper to our newspaper subscriptions. Each person who has donated received a "Library Angel" to place back on the tree.
The Youngsville Library Board thanks all of our recent "Library Angels" for their generosity and for supporting the community library. Donations can be made in honor of a family member, in memoriam of a loved one or as a general donation.
Stamps: Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam, In Honor of Allyson, Mason, Tori, & Kate, made by Deb Henry; In Honor of Nicole Cowan, made by Gail Cowan; In Honor of Ailene Thompson made by Julie Anderson; Fax Paper: In Honor of Shay, Layton, & Maddie made by Bill & Pam Hummel;
Phone Bill: In Honor of Shay, Layton, & Maddie made by Bill & Pam Hummel;
Children's DVD: Roxann Mace; Stephanie Maze; In Honor Of Ailene Thompson made by Julie Anderson;
Copier Paper: Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam; Georgetta Bishop; In Honor Of Allyson & Madilynn made by Tammy & Johnny Johnson;
Toward newspaper subscription: In memory of Rhea Lord made by June Natale;
Office supplies: Jim & Ellie Dunn; Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam;
Light Bulbs: Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam;
Magazine subscriptions: Jean & Steve Zock; George Good;
Toward books/circulation materials: In Honor Of Shay, Layton, & Maddie made by Pam & Bill Hummel; In Memory of Susan Dunn made by Jim & Ellie Dunn;
General Library donations: The Honharts; Bill Meyers; Norma Bankoske; In Memory Of Rhea Lord made by June Natale; In Memory of Grammy Rockwell made by Sherry Brzezinski; In Honor of Bonnie Anderson made by Kerry & Connie Ozer; In Honor of Glenn & Cathy Anderson made by Bonnie Anderson.
Also a special thank you to Herb & Jo Trask who bought 17 books from the library "Wish-List" In Memory of Elmer & Samuella Trask and Susan Trask Jones.
The last day for the Library Angel Tree will be Friday, Dec. 21 (business hours 1 to 5 p.m.). Reminder that the Youngsville Library will be closed from Monday, Dec. 24 through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. Regular business hours will resume beginning Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013: Mon.-Tues. Noon-7:30 p.m., Wed. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Fri. Noon-4:00 p.m.
Services
Saron Lutheran Church is celebrating Advent and Christmas this week with Advent 4 services on Sunday, Dec. 23. We welcome Connie Hoffman as our guest organist, the bell choir and adult choir will sing. St. Elizabeth will be preaching the sermon 9:10 a.m. On Christmas Eve, Saron will celebrate with a children and family service at 4 p.m
Berea Lutheran Church is celebrating the birth of Jesus on Sunday, Dec. 23 with an all-congregation program and worship. Christmas Eve services will be Dec. 24 at 9 p.m. at Berea with Candlelight Holy Communion. On Sunday, Dec. 30, both congregations will celebrate A Festival of Lessons and Carols.
Wrestling
The Youngsville Wrestling Team will be hosting a JV/Junior High Tournament at Youngsville High School on Saturday, Dec. 29. To register your team and for more information, call 563-1606.
Youngsville Helps
Beads 4 Needs
This is an update on a recent article in the Times Observer about a little girl's idea to help raise money for the Shriner's Hospital so that other children could be helped the way she is being helped. It is also an update on her physical progress.
The project is called Beads 4 Needs. Seven-year-old Emily Mellish of Erie started selling her bracelets last July. As of Dec. 15 with a little help from her family and friends, she has turned in $9,500 to the Erie Shriner's Hospital. Emily knows that her Allegheny Artistry friends are helping her sell her bracelets, but she has friends in Youngsville that she doesn't know yet. Annika and Reagan Chase, two girls from YEMS, were so moved by Emily's story that they wanted to help by making bracelets and selling them for Emily's project. The girls received support and permission from their teacher and principal. The students have been so supportive that the girls continue to move their goal higher and higher. The girls are planning an event to present the money sometime in January.
Emily was born with spina bifida, curvature of the spine and a severely constricted left leg. She has been treated by the Shriner's hospitals since she was six months old. After 16 surgeries and a lot of loving care by her family, Emily is on her way to a much brighter future. Her most recent surgeries were to correct her leg. Before that surgery, the Mellishs sought opinions from two orthopedic specialists in Manhattan. Both recommended amputation. That was unacceptable. In August, surgeons at the Philadelphia unit of the Shriner's hospital moved Emily's hip, knee, and ankle joints around in order to straighten her leg and secured them with 14 screws. Her specially designed brace came off Dec. 5. Her leg is in now in a brightly-colored cast that she proudly shows everyone.
Her mother says, "It is a miracle! Emily's leg is straight and four inches longer in just three months." That means that the lift on her shoe will be four inches instead of eight inches. Other procedures will follow to help the leg catch up in length. She will continue to have biannual surgeries to lengthen the rod in her back as she grows.
Recycling of Clothes
Gently used clothing can be deposited in the shed provided by St. Pauley located behind the PNC bank. Donations are provided to the "Restore", a ministry outreach of Branch Fellowship Church. Restore is your local clothing outlet where shopping is affordable located across the street from Allegheny Artistry in downtown Youngsville.
Thank You from YPL
The Friends of the Youngsville Public Library thank the Borough Council members for once again sponsoring the "Santa Shuttle" wagon, driven by Dennis Eckstrom. For the second year the wagon has been used as a Santa Shuttle and has transported people from downtown Youngsville to the library to hear Christmas stories, visit Santa, receive cookies and a toy, as well as a "gently used" book, during the ROY Home Town Christmas event.
"Although the Friends of the Youngsville Library have hosted a 'Stories & Santa' event long before Hometown Christmas, they (the Friends) were more than willing to coordinate the library event so that they would be supporting ROY's efforts," said Library Director Kristy Wallace. "This year 260 people visited the library to hear stories and see Santa within the two hours of Hometown Christmas and of those 260, 230 used the Santa Shuttle. The Friends are really organized and have this activity down to a science. We get complements each year about how smoothly run the Friends Stories and Santa program is and have even had repeat visits from folks who live in Jamestown. We can't wait until next year."