Happy Easter! Easter is late this year, April 16, so the chances of nice weather are good.

Check your church’s listing in this newspaper for the schedule of Easter services.

If you have young children or grandchildren, bring them to one of several Easter egg hunts scheduled locally.

Salem Bible Church will hold a community Easter egg hunt 2 p.m. April 9 at the church, 8031 Salem Bible Church Road, Upper Milford Township. The event is for 1- to 10-year-olds and will feature more than 5,000 eggs and prizes. The rain date is April 15.

Vera Cruz Community Association will hold its egg hunt beginning 1 p.m. April 15 at Jasper Park.

Western District Fire Company will host a hunt 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. April 15 at the fire company, 6341 Chestnut St., Zionsville. Easter egg coloring starts 9 a.m. April 14. This year the organizers are debuting a men’s egg hunt, sponsored by Funk’s Brewery of Emmaus, as part of the day’s festivities.

Earth Day is also celebrated this month, with a couple of local events scheduled.

The Emmaus-Upper Milford Earth Day 2017 Community Cleanup will be held 8:30 a.m. until noon April 8. The event will begin at Emmaus Community Park, Shimerville Road at South 14th Street. Instructions and directions to all cleanup sites will be provided.

Electronics recycling as well as document shredding will be available at Emmaus Community Park during the event. Some fees will apply.

The Great Lower Milford Clean-Up Day will be held 8 a.m. until noon April 29 in Lower Milford Township. As part of the Pennsylvania Great American Cleanup program, volunteers will remove trash from around the township. Supplies such as gloves and trash bags will be provided, as will lunch and refreshments. Volunteer by calling the public works director at 610-967-4949, ext. 112 or emailing publicworks@lowermilford.net.

Lower Milford Township will offer a rain barrel workshop 9 a.m. to noon April 8. The workshop includes three free sessions: Learn how to assemble a free rain barrel kit (pre-drilled) and instruction on installation. Limited numbers of barrel kits (not pre-drilled) will be available for pickup after the last session. Register on the township website. Space is limited and priority will be given to Lower Milford and Upper Saucon townships residents.

At the Upper Milford Historical Society April 27, former Zionsville store proprietor Henry Kradjel will share memories about his country store and as a former Zionsville postmaster. The meeting will be 7 p.m. at the Upper Milford Township building in Old Zionsville.

The historical society meets 7 p.m. the last Thursday of the month except for November and December. The July meeting, which will be the annual picnic, begins 6 p.m.

The Emmaus Lions would like to thank everyone who attended and/or supported the club’s “Nite at the Races” fundraiser in March.

Upper Milford Youth Association will hold tryouts for fall travel soccer teams for girls and boys born in years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 on May 2, 3 and 4 at Jasper Park. Registration is now open specifically for this called “Fall 2017 Travel Soccer.” Times of the tryouts are to be determined but should be scheduled between 5:30 and 8 p.m. There is no cost for registration. The purpose of the registration is to confirm what interest there is at the different age groups.

Registration will close April 15 and immediately following UMYA will announce what girls and boys teams will be available based on registration numbers.

For more information or questions, contact Randy Faurl at umaysoccer@gmail.com or 610-216-9196.

The Western District Fire Company usually serves an all-you-can-eat breakfast 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the first Sunday of every month. There are senior, adult and children’s prices. The next breakfast will be May 7. For information on the breakfasts, call the fire company at 610-966-3541 or Carol Shade at 610-966-3902.

The Upper Milford Fire Company’s ladies auxiliary meets 7 p.m. the first Monday of the month. New members are always welcome.

Vera Cruz senior citizens meet 1 p.m. the first and third Thursday of the month at the Vera Cruz Fire Company. All are welcome. The next meeting is April 6.

Lower Milford Township supervisors meet 7:30 p.m. the first and third Thursday of the month. The first meeting, April 6 this month, is a workshop and the second meeting, April 20, is the regular business meeting. Action may be taken at both meetings.

Other Lower Milford meetings are as follows; unless otherwise noted, meetings will begin 7:30 p.m.: the planning commission meets the first Monday of the month, which this month was April 3; planning commission workshop, April 17; recreation and open space board, April 12; historical commission, April 11.

Upper Milford supervisors will meet 7 p.m. April 6 and April 20.

The Upper Milford Open Space Committee meets 7:30 p.m. April 12. The Upper Milford Recreation Commission meets 7:30 p.m. the third Monday of the month, January through November. The next meeting is April 17.

The Upper Milford Planning Commission meets 7:30 p.m. the Monday prior to the first Thursday of every month unless that is a holiday.

The Joint Environmental Advisory Council meets 7 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month and alternates between Emmaus borough council chambers, 28 S. Fourth St., and the Upper Milford Township building. The council will meet April 24 in Emmaus.

If you have news or information for this column, which runs the first Wednesday of every month, please call me at 610-838-8923 or email me at bruce.swan@rcn.com.