Alburtis residents are busy getting ready for their holiday festival Dec. 2.

The big day begins with breakfast at the community center 8 to 11 a.m. with Santa along with a kids' craft corner. Pets can have their photo taken with Santa noon to 1 p.m. hosted by Cold Nose Lodge.

The Fitness Academy will be open to Alburtis families at no charge 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Alburtis Lockridge Historical Society will be open 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will host a cookie baking contest 2 to 4 p.m. Contestants may pick up entry blanks at the borough hall, or call Kevin Shoemaker at 484-366-9987 or Vickie at 610-751-9381 by Nov. 30.

At the Alburtis Area Fire Company, children are welcome to visit Santa 2 to 4 p.m; holiday music will be provided at the pavilion 5 to 6 p.m. The day ends 6 p.m. with the announcement of the house decorating and cookie contest winners and the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the fire company.

Horse-drawn surrey rides will be offered 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. for a charge and will leave from ESSA Bank.

For more information about the day's activities, call the borough office at 610-966-4777.

The next Alburtis Lock Ridge Historical Society meeting will be held 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Society's building on Church and Franklin streets. The meeting is open to the public.

The borough office will be closed Nov. 22 in observance of Thanksgiving Day.

The Alburtis Senior Citizens meet noon Nov. 21 at the Church of the Good Shepherd UCC, Penn Avenue and Quarry Road.

The Alburtis Area Community Center board members meet 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 in the kitchen of the center. The meeting is open to all Alburtis residents.

The Alburtis Centennial celebration will be held May 10 to 12, 2013. Anyone having old pictures of homes, stores or businesses is asked to call Nancy Malewicz at 610-966-3025.

The next Camp Fire Girls hoagie sale will be held Dec. 1.

This Thanksgiving we all have something to be thankful for. While we were inconvenienced by no lights and no heat, too many people lost everything. Thank you to all who gave of themselves and their time. Thank you to the men who came from all parts of the country to do the dangerous repair work and thank the Lord for watching over us.