The Board of Commissioners and staff are holding the seventh annual troop support program to collect donated items to send to township residents in the armed services who won't be home for the holidays. To register a loved one in the holiday program, call 610-966-6924. Donations of food, toiletry items, batteries, magazines and phone cards will be accepted at the community center 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday through Nov. 10. A list of acceptable donations is available at the community center. Over the last five years, 578 boxes of donated items were sent to 81 soldiers.

The Lower Macungie Township Historical Society will host an evening of ghost stories 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Lower Macungie Township Log House in Wescosville Park on Hamilton Boulevard. Master Storyteller Charles Kiernan will read family friendly stories for the first 40 minutes. After an intermission, the stories will get scarier. Refreshments will be provided.

The township is also collecting old cell phones to be recycled in exchange for prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas. The community center is an official drop-off point for "Cell Phones for Soldiers" until Oct. 31.

Throughout the month of September, Lower Macungie Library will feature the paintings of Catherine Rhoades. Her paintings in acrylics and acrylic ink display a variety of scenes in and around the Lehigh Valley.

Lower Macungie Library will celebrate the 25th anniversary of National Library Card Sign-Up Month with a raffle for a $25 gift certificate to Pickles for new cardholders. The library Book Club will meet 10:30 a.m. Oct. 3 to discuss "Ship of Fools" by Katherine Ann Porter.

John Royer, Emmaus resident and retired MUFON field investigator, will give a presentation on local UFO sightings in the Lehigh Valley 6 p.m. Sept. 25. He will also discuss his sightings of a triangular object in 1977 and 2003 over Emmaus High School.

Lower Macungie Library has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to present a 12-week program of films, lectures and live music called, "America's Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway." Scheduled for the fall of 2013, the programs and films will be free to the general public and will cover six genres of American popular music; blues and gospel, Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, swing jazz, bluegrass and country, rock, mambo and hip-hop.

Rick and Cherie Zettlemoyer of ValleyWest Financial Group will provide an educational presentation on retirement planning 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the library.

For more information on these events or others, call the library at 610-966-6864 or go to library website www.lowermaclib.org.

There will be a Team Megan Fundraiser for VisionWalk 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at Friendly's in Trexlertown. Proceeds from this event will benefit The Foundation Fighting Blindness to raise funds and awareness for retinal diseases. For more information, call Sue at 610-965-6796.

There will be a Father-Daughter Dance for girls enrolled in kindergarten through sixth grade 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Lower Macungie Community Center. To register, call or go to the community center 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or call 610-966-6924.

Curbside collection of yard waste will take place Oct. 15 through 19. Containers/bundles should be placed separately at the curb on the regular collection day. Grass clippings are not included. A maximum of four bundles or containers per household will be collected. For more information, see www.lowermac.org.

There will be a breakfast with everyone's favorite orange fish from the Great Barrier Reef 9 to 10:30 a.m. Oct. 20 at the community center. Ticket price will include breakfast, photo opportunities and fishing for a prize. Registration is limited to 100 people.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center and Lower Macungie Township will hold a blood drive Oct. 30 at the community center.

The Yippee Puppet Show will present a live puppet show Rumpledillskin 1 to 2 p.m. Oct. 21 at the community center. The program, for children ages two through eight, will include making a paper bag puppet. Registration is limited to 30 children.

The Cedar's Believers team of Relay for Life of Macungie will hold a parking lot sale 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 22 at Cedar Church at 3419 Broadway, Cetronia. Refreshments will be available. Proceeds benefit American Cancer Society.

The kick-off meeting for this year's relay for Life of Macungie will be a potluck dinner 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Macungie Institute. Participants will be planning the upcoming year's fundraisers and advocacy activities as well as the main relay event scheduled for May 3 and 4, 2013. For information, see their website http:// www.RelayForLife.org/PaMacungie or Facebook page http://www.facebook. com/RFLMacungie or email MacungieRFL@ gmail.com.

Crafters are needed for Concordia Lutheran Church's first annual Holiday Bazaar Nov. 10. For more information, call Sue at 610-391-9006 or 484-661-6186.

Crafters are needed for the annual craft and vendor fair 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Lower Macungie Township Community Center. For more information, go to www.lowermac.com.

The Friends of the Library meet 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26 of the month at the Lower Macungie Community Center.

The Lower Macungie Senior Citizens Club meets noon Oct. 2 and 16 at the community center. After a business meeting, members play bingo or card games. On the third Tuesday of the month, the games are followed by special entertainment.

The Lower Macungie Garden Club meets 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 10 in Room A of the community center. The website is www.lmgctoday .org.

The Lower Macungie Township Community Center offers a number of activities, classes and programs. For more information or to register, visit the community center 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or call 610-966-6924.

Yard waste site hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 31. They are closed on Tuesday and Thursday. Be prepared to show your photo ID as proof of residency. For more information, call Public Works at 610-966-4343.

The next township column will be published Oct. 17; copy deadline is Oct. 11.