It’s hard to believe it’s time to say farewell to 2018 and welcome 2019. Time seems to fly by.

Weather played an important role in our lives in 2018. Remember the 14-day stretch of sub-freezing weather that ended Jan. 8? Remember the 13 days of snowfall in February, with an 8-inch snowfall on Feb. 17? Then on Feb. 21 we hit a record high temperature of 80 degrees.

In March we were hit by three Nor’easters.

Do you remember the 15-inch snowfall on the first day of spring?

In September, we all talked about Hurricane Florence that hit North and South Carolina and in October, Michael hit Florida and the Carolinas.

I’m sure you haven’t forgotten because it was only a month ago, the 8-inch snowfall Nov. 15 that caused many motorists to spend the night on Interstate 78. Also, it went down in the record books as the coldest Thanksgiving for the area.

In 2018, two longtime Emmaus businesses closed – the Emmaus Bakery, which had been in business for 80 years and Wentz Hardware, which had been in business 75 years. Egypt Bakery opened in the Emmaus Bakery facility.

And, we said goodbye to Rodale Press, which had a 90-year history with Emmaus. Rodale Press was sold to Hearst. Many of Rodale’s buildings will have new lives as other organizations and businesses renovate them.

We said goodbye to Mayor Winfield Iobst, who retired after serving the community for 20 years and welcomed Lee Ann Gilbert as the new mayor.

We welcomed a new fire inspector and several new police officers.

On a personal level, I am thankful we could still take our annual trek to Ocean City, Md. in late July. My grandson now attends Eyer Middle School, so we enjoyed visiting the school for the Christmas Choral Concert.

The new addition to the Emmaus Library opened in November, adding 2,780 square feet. It will be used as a children’s wing and teen lounge. We said farewell to Amy Resh and welcomed Maryellen Kanarr as the new library director.

The library is a fun place to visit during the winter months. All the youngster and teen regular programs continue in January 2019. STEM fun continues for school age youngsters noon Jan. 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2019. Some new offerings in January include board games night for the family 7 to 8 p.m. Jan. 5, 2019; video game design for sixth graders and up 6 p.m. Jan 9, 2019, families can build a cat castle, 2 p.m. Jan. 12, 2019 and a beach party, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31, 2019 (come dressed for summer. Bring your shell collection to reminisce about the summer fun). Teens will create backpack charms, 7 p.m. Jan. 3, 2019.

Adults can attend the find your ancestors program 5 to 7 Jan. 21, 2019 (call 610-965-9284, ext. 210 for a 30-minute appointment). The memoir writing group meets 1 p.m. Jan. 22, 2019 and the coloring club meets 7 p.m. Jan. 28, 2019. The craft in January is a project using washi tape 7 p.m. Jan. 14, 2019.

For information on family films movie night and the movie matinee, visit www.emmauspl.org.

The library will be closed for the holidays, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, 2019.

Plaudits to the Friends of the Emmaus Public Library for its donation of $36,200 to the library, representing funds raised and other donations made in 2018.

For information on library programs and/or to register for programs, visit www.emmauspl.org or call 610-965-9284.

Something new in 2019 is the mobile office of Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, which will be at the library 10:05 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday instead of once a month.

Emmaus Borough Council meets 7 p.m. Jan. 7 and 21, 2019 in council chambers, 28 S. Fourth St.

The borough offices are closed Jan. 1, 2019 for the holiday. Reminder: Place refuse/recycling out Dec. 26 for Dec. 27 pickup. For information, visit borough.emmaus.pa.us.

The Public Works Department will collect Christmas trees Jan. 2 and Jan. 9, 2019. Place trees at curb without a bag for pickup. Trees discarded after Jan. 9, 2019 will not be picked up. After that date, residents must take their tree to the compost site for disposal. The compost site will be open daily 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 7 to 11, 2019 for disposal.

The Emmaus Farmers Winter Market at the BB&T parking lot, 235 Main St., starts Jan. 13, 2019. Hours are 10 a.m. to noon. The winter market is held the second and fourth Sundays in January, February, March and April, 2019. 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 welcome to attend. The programs in January are Jan. 4, 2019: Steve Myers, musician; Jan. 11, 2019: a film; Jan. 18, 2019: Glen Pritchard, musician and Jan. 25, 2019 is game day. For information, call 610-966-4273.

Another fun and interesting place to visit is the Emmaus Historical Society museum, 218 Main St. The museum is decorated for the holidays and wintertime through mid-February, 2019. Also, enjoy the vintage train putz as well as many other nostalgic memorabilia. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday or by appointment. There is no entrance fee. For information, email emmaushist@ptd.net, visit www.emmaushistoric-pa.org or call 610-966-6591.

It is membership renewal time for the Knauss Homestead Preservation Society. The society is continuing restoration work on the third of four rooms on the second level of the historic homestead at 152 E. Main St. The society is also busy planning next year’s events. If you are a current member needing to renew or interested in supporting the Knauss Homestead as a 2019 member, visit www.theknausshomestead.org.

Plan ahead: The Emmaus Arts Commission will host the SnowBlast Winter Arts Festival noon to 7 p.m. Feb. 2, 2019. The event is held in Triangle Park and throughout the town. The festival features live musical performances, children’s activities, games, the Palette Walk Scavenger Hunt, the Community Art Project and a juried photo contest. The Ice Princess, Laura Wetzel, Olympic medalist, will perform. The deadline for submissions for the photo contest is Jan. 25, 2019. This year’s themes: The Architecture of Emmaus, Sports in Emmaus and Time Lapse. For information on the photo contest, email Joe Fritz at mail@josephfritz.com. For information on the arts commission, visit emmausarts.org.

The deadline for the next column, which will include February 2019 news, is Jan. 16, 2019. Please send information to 913 Little Lehigh Dr., email durdock@aol.com or call 610-967-2661.

Happy New Year everyone.