There will be a Breweriana Beer Collectible Show sponsored by the Horlacher Chapter 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 7 at Macungie Memorial Hall.

Grace Lutheran Church will host a free community meal 5-7 p.m. Dec. 13.

There will be a shredding event for the Borough of Macungie and Alburtis Borough at the Alburtis Area Community Center 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 14. For more information, call 610-966-4777.

Macungie Holiday will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 14. Local businesses, the historical society and Macungie Memorial Park participate in this borough-wide event. The Macungie Institute will feature farmers market vendors, Boy Scout displays and food, special appearances by Elsa, Belle and Spiderman and Santa and Mrs. Claus for photos. There will be two free performances of “Nutcracker Highlights” by Coral’s Dance Academy noon and 2 p.m. at Eyer Middle School. There will also be a borough-wide scavenger hunt, horse- drawn surrey rides, a holiday craft show at Macungie Memorial Park, chainsaw wood carver Michael Blaine in Santa’s Wood Shop at the Macungie Fire Company and gingerbread displays at Kalmbach. Free minibus rides will run in a continuous loop 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Concordia Lutheran Church, 2623 Brookside Road, will hold Advent services 7 p.m. Dec. 4, 11 and 18. An Advent Soup Supper will be held prior to the service 6 p.m. and family craft will be held 6:30 p.m. There will be a tree lighting and carol sing-along 6:30 p.m. Dec. 18.

Concordia Lutheran Church will hold Christmas Eve services 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Dec. 24 and a Christmas Day service 10 a.m.

There will be a New Year’s Eve bingo starting 7:15 p.m. Dec. 31 at Macungie Memorial Hall. The doors open 5 p.m. and food will be served 6 p.m. The event is BYOB. Tickets can be reserved by calling 610-966-4289 or by emailing macungiepark@gmail.com.

There will be a New Year’s Day Bingo 2 p.m. Jan. 1, 2020, at Macungie Memorial Park. A pork and sauerkraut dinner will be served. Doors open noon. For more information, call 610-966-4289.

Christmas trees should be placed at the curb for pickup by the borough Jan. 6 and 13, 2020, for recycling at the Emmaus Compost Center. All ornaments, lights and tinsel must be removed.

Educational programs are offered through Kalmbach Institute. More information is available at kalmbachpark.com.

Macungie Fire Company meets 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at its social quarters.

Macungie VFW Post 9264 meets 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the post home on Lehigh Street.

The VFW Auxiliary of Macungie VFW Post 9264 meets 1 p.m. Dec. 19 at the post home. Macungie Rod and Gun Club Board meets 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at the club.

Macungie Borough Council meets 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and Jan. 6, 2020 at borough hall, 21 Locust St., Macungie.

Bingo is held weekly Saturday evenings at Macungie Memorial Park. Doors open 4:30 p.m. and games begin 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 610-966-4289.

Our special blessing for Thanksgiving was to have Lydia home from San Francisco for a week. Originally, she was going to come home for Caroline’s birthday, but work requirements forced her to postpone her trip. Matt and I decided to keep it a secret, which was no easy task. We dodged the question “Will Lydia be home for Thanksgiving?” with the response “She’ll be home for Christmas.” Finding an excuse to pick her up in Newark at dinnertime was a little more difficult. When Ben was invited to the Eagles/Seahawks game, everything started to fall into place. Caroline and her boyfriend were out for the afternoon and we postponed dinner with my mother. I thought we had it made. In the meantime, on the day Lydia was due to arrive, we got an email from Netflix saying there had been a new sign-in on our account and requiring that we change our password. We suspected it might be Lydia on her layover in Los Angeles. Matt asked Caroline about it since she had watched Netflix at a friend’s house and then said, “Well, it might have been Lydia at the airport.” He immediately tried to cover up his slip of the tongue, but Caroline caught it. She played along, though, and at least Ben and my mother were surprised.

The copy deadline for the Jan. 7, 2020 column will be Jan. 1, 2020.