Earth Day is a great time to show your commitment to our community’s environment. Help out by cleaning up litter and debris. The Borough of Emmaus and Upper Milford Township Joint Environmental Advisory Council will hold a community cleanup and recycling event as part of its Earth Day 2018 effort 8:30 a.m. until noon April 14 at Emmaus Community Park, Shimerville Road at South 14th Street. Volunteers are invited to gather 8:30 a.m. for coffee and to get organized. The groups will begin cleanup 9 a.m. The event is held rain or shine. Electronics recycling and document shredding will be available during the event. Some fees will apply for recycling items. Sponsors for the event are Wesley Works, East Penn Press and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. For information, email info@uppermilford.net or visit EAC on Facebook.

The Kiwanis Club of Emmaus will hold its annual Easter egg hunt, 1 p.m. March 31 at Emmaus Community Park, 13th and Broad streets. For information, visit www.EmmausKiwanis.org or call 610-395-4818.

Fishing is great fun for the whole family. The opening day of trout season will be held at Furnace Dam March 31. The Cedarbrook Sportsmen members graciously invested their time and effort to stock the dam with trout.

Emmaus Borough Council meets 7 p.m. April 2 and 16 in council chambers, 23 S. Fourth St. The budget and finance committee meets 6:45 p.m. prior to the council meeting. For information, visit borough.emmaus.pa.us or call 610-965-9292.

The Emmaus Farmers Winter Market is open 10 a.m. to noon April 8 and 22 at BBT parking lot, 235 Main St. For information, visit emmausmarket.com.

The Emmaus Senior Citizens group meets 1 p.m. every Friday at St. Matthew’s E.C. Church, Fifth and Ridge streets. All area senior citizens are invited to attend. The programs in April are April 6: Canines for Christ; April 13: musician Al Shade; April 20: musician David Hochella and April 27 is game day. For information, call 610-966-4273.

The Emmaus Garden Club meets noon April 3 at Faith Presbyterian Church, North Second and Cherokee streets. Tom Bull from Herbein’s Garden Center will present a program, “New Perennials and Shrubs.” The members invite you to come and learn about the club and what is new in perennials and shrubs. Everyone is welcome.

Come out and cheer on the runners participating in the Emmaus Roadrunners 4-mile race through some of Emmaus’ residential streets April 8. The kids’ run is held 9:15 a.m. at Emmaus High School. The 4-miler begins 9:30 a.m. at the high school. The field size is 425 runners. For information, visit racedirector@lvrr.org. Proceeds from the race go toward the Ed Thompson/Nicole Reinhart Memorial Scholarship fund.

The Friends of the Emmaus Public Library will hold its 20th annual used book sale as part of a Community Day of Fun beginning 7 a.m. April 28 at Lower Macungie Middle School, 6299 Lower Macungie Road. The event will be held in the school cafeteria where an estimated 18,000 pre-enjoyed books go on sale. A Nutrition Health and Safety Fair, organized by Nutrition, Inc., the food service provider of the East Penn School District, will take place 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the school’s lobby. The book sale shuts down 2:45 p.m. and re-opens 3 p.m. for a brown bag blowout. Book sale proceeds benefit the Emmaus Public Library, 11 E. Main St. In the 20 years of holding the book sale, the Friends organization has raised well over $160,000 to benefit the library.

National Library Week is April 8 through 14. As part of the week’s celebration, the library has scheduled a week of multi-generational events including a Pinterest party, “Kindness Rocks,” 7 p.m. April 9; a book discussion, “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio, 7 p.m. April 11; a bullying prevention workshop, 7 p.m. April 12; a college funding workshop, 10:05 a.m. April 14 and a family film, “Wonder (PG), noon April 14. Everyone is welcome. Register at the front desk.

Celebrate National Poetry month at the library. School aged students are invited to the library’s program, “Let’s Write Poetry for Kids,“4:30 p.m. April 5.

Teens will make Shrinky Dinks during the teen craft night, 2 p.m. April 21. Sign up at the front desk.

The family fun film, “Mary Poppins” (G) will be shown 2 p.m. April 7.

For a list of other children and youth events, see www.emmauspl.org.

The library will present a program on the history of the Hess’s Department Store, 7 p.m. April 23.

The Movie Night feature is “All the Money in the World (R) 6 p.m. April 24 and the Movie Matinee is “The Greatest Showman” 1 p.m. April 26.

For information on adult book discussion groups, see emmauspl.org.

Staff from the office of Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, will bring the mobile office to the library 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 30.

The Emmaus Lioness Lions Club will hold its 21st annual basket party April 18 at Agri-Plex at the Allentown Fairgrounds, 301 N. 17th St., Allentown. Doors open 4 p.m.; drawings begin 7 p.m. There is an admission price. Food is available for purchase. To purchase tickets, call 610-967-3561.

The Emmaus Lions Club will hold its semi-annual Pennsylvania Dutch Chowder Sale April 28 at Emmaus Community Park. Containers will be available for pick up and purchase between 7 and 11 a.m. For more information on becoming a Lion or to pre-order chowder, contact any Lion member or call 610-965-7355. Proceeds from the sale help to promote Lions work with various charitable organizations in the community. Lions International motto is “We Serve,” so let them serve you some chowder, so they can serve others.

The Woman’s Club of Emmaus will host its Spring Card Party 11:30 a.m. April 19 in St. John’s Lutheran Church, 501 Church St. Join the party for a light lunch of the club’s famous barbecue, homemade desserts and fun. There is a cost. This is the club’s first major fundraiser for 2018. The funds support the club’s scholarship program. For more information and reservations, call 610-395-6434.

Tickets for “Show Me the Money Bingo,” sponsored by the Emmaus Main Street Partners and the Emmaus Historical Society at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 501 Chestnut St., scheduled 2 to 5 p.m. April 29 are available at Emmaus Jewel Shop, 338 Main St. and David’s Electric, 314 Main St. Doors and snack bar open 1 p.m. Highlights include cash prizes, cash raffle and basket raffle.

The Emmaus Historical Society has several other fundraisers ongoing: Orders are being taken through April 6 for apple dumplings, shoofly pies and funny cakes. Pay and pick up at the museum noon to 4 p.m. April 14. To order, leave a message at the museum at 610-966-6591 with your name, phone number and quantity of each item ordered.

The historical society has a Dan Schantz monthly maddness card, available to purchase between April 18 and May 17. For information, visit Emmaushistoric-pa.org or email emmaushist@ptd.net.

The monthly Emmaus Historical Society meeting will be 7 p.m. April 18 at St. John’s Lutheran Church Parish Hall, Fifth and Chestnut streets. Historian and author Aaron Heckler will present an illustrated PowerPoint program, “Route 100 through the Goshenhoppen Region in the early 1900s.”

New exhibits and displays are “springing” up in the Emmaus Historical Society’s museum, 218 Main St. Two new displays feature the Emmaus Woman’s Club and the Emmaus Garden Club. The museum also has a special military exhibit recognizing the end of World War I in 1918, as well as mementos from other United States wars.

One of the museum’s newest acquisitions now on display is J.I. Rodale’s oak roll top desk, which dates back to 1930 when the Rodales came to Emaus from Manhattan, N.Y. This generous donation, from J.I.’s granddaughter, Maria Rodale, has inspired another new exhibit paying tribute to Rodale Manufacturing, Rodale Press and the legacy of the Rodale family in Emmaus.

Please keep the society in mind when you do your spring cleaning. If you have anything Emmaus related, the society’s museum collections committee is always appreciative of donations. Donations are accepted during museum hours or call the office at 610-966-6591 to make other arrangements.

Follow the society on Facebook and www.emmaushistoric-pa.org for updates.

The Emmaus Arts Commission is seeking artists to participate in a new fundraiser, “Best of the Nest” birdhouse auction. Artists are wanted to “artfully upgrade” a birdhouse for the group’s auction. The deadline for artists’ applications is April 1. See www.emmausarts.org for more information.

The Knauss Homestead Preservation Society is holding a poker bingo fundraising event 1 p.m. April 22 at Fire Company #1, Emmaus. The society welcomes new members. For membership information and information about the preservation society visit www.theknausshomestead.org or on Facebook, “the knausshomestead.” The Knauss Homestead Preservation Society is holding a fundraiser to win a river cruise with AMA Waterways. Tickets are limited. Tickets are available from any board member or by calling 610-432-9487. The drawing will be held Aug. 11.

The Shelter House will officially open the South Mountain Woodland Sensory Path 3 p.m. April 15. The path is the culmination of Patrick Hunter’s Eagle Scout project. The path is accessible to the sight impaired by hand ropes that act as guides to those needing assistance. Refreshments will be served in the pavilion following the official opening.

The Shelter House Society will hold its annual Patriot’s Day Dinner, 6 p.m. April 21 at Emmaus Citizen’s Fire Company #2, Pennsylvania Ave. and S. 10th St. There is a cost and reservations are required. The guest speaker will be historian Scott Herring, a fifth generation underground coal mining family member and the last of the anthracite coal region photographers.

Plan ahead: Emmaus Historical Society will participate in the June 2 Community Yard Sale. Drop off dates for donated items are May 19 and 20 during museum hours, 218 Main St. Call the office at 610-966-6591to make alternate arrangements. Unacceptable items are clothing, upholstered furniture, televisions or computer monitors.

Call Nancy Matika at 610-967-5715 to sign up for upcoming bus trips sponsored by the Emmaus Historical Society: “Jesus” at Sight & Sound, Aug. 14 – the deadline to order is July 24; “Run for Your Wife,” Hunderton Hills Playhouse, Oct. 9. – the deadline to order is Sept. 18. “Christmas in Paradise,” Dec. 5 – the deadline to order is Nov. 1. Society members and non-members are welcome.

The deadline for including news of events in the April column is April 18. Please send information to Corrine Durdock, 913 Little Lehigh Dr., email durdock@aol.com or call 610-967-2661.

Happy Easter everyone. However, don’t put all your eggs in one basket!