November 10

PIZZA NIGHT and Open Mic Country, Thurs., November 10, 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Kirkwood Elks Lodge.

November 12

DEAL OR NO DEAL, United Way of Susq. Co. fundraiser, November 12, 6:30 p.m. at the Inn at Montrose. For info/tickets visit www.UnitedWayofSusquehannaCounty.org.

ITALIAN FEAST to benefit flooded Elks Lodges, Sat., November 12, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Kirkwood Elks Lodge.

November 15

PLANNING MEETING: Relay for Life of Susq. Co., November 15, 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Fairdale Grange Hall. For info call 570-533-1947.

WING NIGHT, Tues., November 15, 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Kirkwood Elks Lodge.

November 17

TURKEY PARTY, Thurs., November 17, 7:00 p.m. at St. Francis Church Hall, Friendsville. Free admission.

November 18

MEETING: Calligrapher’s Guild of NEPA, Fri., November 18, 7:30 p.m. at Marywood University, Shields Center for Visual Arts room 225. For info call 570-542-5416.

November 19

CONCERT: “New Appalachia: (bluegrass gospel), Sat., November 19, 7:00 p.m. at Susquehanna UM Church. All welcome.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR, November 19, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at VFW #6223, Great Bend. For info call 879-4101.

HOLIDAY BAZAAR (Franklin Forks UM Church), November 19, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at 145 Church St., Montrose Square Community Room.

November 20

HOLIDAY BINGO, basket raffle and bake sale, Sun., November 20, 1:00-5:00 p.m. at St. Martin of Tours RC Church, Jackson. Doors open 12:30 p.m.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST, Sun., November 20, 8:00-11:00 a.m. at Thompson Hose Company. All welcome.

November 21

MOBILE VET CENTER, Mon., November 21, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Rep. Boback’s office, 608 Hunter Highway, Suite 110, Tunkhannock. Appts. not required.

November 22

COMPUTER CLASSES, beginning November 22, 10:00 a.m. at the Susquehanna Branch Library. Register at library, seats limited.

Monday, November 14: roast beef, sautéed brussel sprouts w/bacon and onions, buttered noodles, grain dinner roll, gingersnap pumpkin pudding parfait.

Tuesday, November 15: hamburger, carrot salad, dilled potato salad, ww sandwich roll, chunky applesauce, chocolate chip cookie.

Wednesday, November 16: baked macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, garden salad w/garbanzo beans, grain bread, fruited jello.

Thursday, November 17: roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli spears, ww dinner roll, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie.

Friday, November 18: chicken w/peppers and onions, black bean soup, Spanish rice, ww tortilla, tropical fruit w/toasted coconut.

While many Great Bend families are busy with holiday activities, a group of local volunteers is focused on filling empty shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, hygiene items and notes of encouragement for needy kids overseas. Great Bend area families are participating in the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind - Operation Christmas Child - an effort that has hand-delivered 86 million gifts to kids worldwide since 1993.

This year-round project of Samaritan’s Purse is coming to its peak, as local businesses, churches and schools prepare to collect gift-filled shoe boxes during National Collection Week, November 14-21. Volunteers can drop off their shoe box gifts at a bustling location in the area to help kids in 100 countries know they are loved and not forgotten.

Local Collection Site: United Methodist Community Church; 406 Main Street, Great Bend, PA, 18821. Operating Hours: Mon., Nov. 14, 7-8 p.m.; Tues., Nov. 15, 7-8 p.m.; Wed., Nov. 16, 9-10 a.m.; Thurs., Nov. 17, 9-10 a.m.; Fri., Nov. 18, 6-7 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 19, 8-9 a.m. and 12-1 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 20, 2-3 p.m. and 5-6 p.m.; Mon., Nov. 21, 8-10 a.m.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, uses whatever means necessary to reach suffering children around the world with these gifts of hope, including sea containers, trucks, trains, airplanes, boats, camels and dog sleds. Tracking technology also allows donors to “follow” their box to the destination country where it will be hand-delivered to a child in need. To register shoe box gifts and find out the destination country, use the Follow Your Box donation form found at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.

What You Can Do To Get Involved

Prepare - Enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take part in creating shoe box gifts for needy children worldwide.

Pack - Fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items and a letter of encouragement. Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Volunteer - Sign up to join Operation Christmas Child volunteers in the Great Bend area as part of the effort to prepare millions of shoe box gifts for delivery to underprivileged kids on six continents.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (410) 772-7360 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 14-21; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, NC.

The Susquehanna County Commissioners announce the Courthouse will be closed on Friday, November 11, 2011 in observance of Veterans’ Day. All court related offices will be available.

The Endless Mountains Children’s Choir will perform a concert at the National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. on Thursday, December 22 at 6:00 p.m. They are the only choral group from the northeastern part of the country (including PA, NY and New England states) performing in the evening concert programs. This is truly a great honor to have been one of the groups chosen to perform at the National Christmas Tree.

The choir will also be performing holiday concerts - which include local hospitals, nursing homes and tree lighting events - during the upcoming holiday season.

Children who love to sing are invited to join the choir - there is no fee. The choir is totally funded by the community with fundraising events and donations. Rehearsals are every Thursday evening, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at the South Gibson United Methodist Church. If you are interested in having your child join the choir please contact Dr. Christine Plonski-Sezer at 570-756-2729 or drcsezer@yahoo.com.

All music is provided along with their vocal parts on a practice CD at not cost to the children. Choir robes are also provided at no cost. The Endless Mountains Children’s Choir always welcomes and is looking for new members to join them in making beautiful music!

As we admire the fall colors and begin to think about the upcoming holiday season the Farm City Feast comes along and reminds us about the important partnership between our farms and urban life. This year Susquehanna County Farm City Feast is celebrating its 45th anniversary.

The 45th annual Farm City Feast will take place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 19, at the Mountain View High School. This celebration is sure to be a gala event celebrating the cooperation between rural and urban neighbors.

Since its inception, the Pennsylvania Farm-City Program continues to keep the link between farms and urban dwellers strong. This is a unique opportunity for farm people and city people to become friends and get a first- hand look at each other’s way of life. Without farms, cities would have no food; without cities, farms would have few markets or processing facilities. It’s this continuing partnership that brings economic opportunity and progress to coming generations.

A delicious roast beef dinner will be served by the Harford Willing Workers. This year’s guest speaker will be Russell Reading, Dean of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, Delaware Valley College.

As in the past, the Farm City Feast will incorporate the annual meeting of Penn State Extension of Susquehanna County. A short meeting of this organization will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Mountain View High School auditorium. Penn State Extension has been sponsoring the Farm City Feast ever since its inception.

In order to accommodate all, there will be special needs tables and priority seating for those who need such assistance. Tickets are available at the Penn State Extension Office - call 278-1158 or stop by at 81 Public Avenue in Montrose. The deadline to purchase tickets is Thursday, November 10. Once again, a great meal and great entertainment, with good neighbors, provides a chance for folks to catch up with each other and continue the very important rural-urban partnership.