Grace Lutheran Church will offer its free takeout community meal 4-5:30 p.m. Dec. 13 inside fellowship hall. Take out is also available.

Grace Lutheran Church holds a weekly free food distribution 2-4 p.m. every Wednesday in December – Dec. 4, 11 and 18 for East Penn School District residents. The food cupboard will be closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Signs will be posted with directions for parking and pickup.

Macungie Tree Lighting will take place 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Macungie Flower Park by the train tracks. Frosty and Jasper the Macungie Bear will be there. There will also be giveaways, hot chocolate, a sing-along and Santa.

There will be a Horlacher Chapter “Penguin Frolic” Brewery Collectibles Show 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 7 at Macungie Park Memorial Hall.

Macungie Holiday will be held Dec. 14. Santa will be seen around town riding the fire truck and will visit Macungie Memorial Park 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Out of Our Minds Art Studio will have holiday selfie stations with Frozen characters.

There will also be a borough-wide scavenger hunt 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; wagon rides 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Macungie Memorial Park; 9-11 a.m. Breakfast with the Elves at Grace Lutheran Church; a holiday artisans craft show at Macungie Memorial Park 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; a petting zoo at the park and the 22nd annual Gingerbread display at Kalmbach Park 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Activities at Macungie Memorial Park include barrel rides for the kids, live reindeer, Plow Boys, Boy Scouts hot dog sales, music and more. Come see the Grinch in jail at the Macungie Police Department. Macungie Animal Hospital will host pet photos with Santa. For more information, go to www.MacungieHoliday.com or the Macungie Holiday Facebook page.

There will be a New Year’s bingo starting 7:15 p.m. Dec. 31 at Macungie Memorial Hall. The package price includes a buffet meal 6 p.m.; doors open 5 p.m. Reserve your seat in advance by calling 610-966-4289 or emailing macungiepark@gmail.com.

Lower Lehigh AARP will meet noon Jan. 2, 2025 in the lower level of Macungie Memorial Hall at Macungie Memorial Park. For more information, contact Dot at 610-967-3284.

The Alburtis Seniors will meet noon Dec. 18 at Church of the Good Shepherd, 135 Quarry Road, Alburtis. There will be a potluck buffet lunch followed by a meeting and bingo. There is a small charge. Bring a covered dish. For more information, call Doris at 610-966-3653.

The Macungie Institute will continue to offer free weekly Pinochle and Mahjong Wednesdays. Pinochle is 10 a.m. to noon and Mahjong is 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Zumba with Rashida is offered 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays and 2-3 p.m. Tuesdays. For more information, go to www.macungieinstitute.com.

New members are welcome to join the Macungie Town Beautification Committee. They meet 6 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every other month at the Macungie Institute.

Macungie Borough offices are open to the public 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information, call 610-966-2503.

Macungie Borough Council has in-person public meetings at the Macungie Institute. The next meetings will be 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and Jan. 6, 2025.

Cash 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.

The Macungie Park Board of Directors meeting is 7 p.m. Dec. 10 in the downstairs of Macungie Memorial Hall.

Matt was out grocery shopping when he ran across an employee sweeping up frozen peas. It took self-restraint for Matt to refrain from asking “Who pea’d on the floor?”

Recently we have been offering items on the local Facebook page Buy Nothing. Usually it is a fairly anonymous, low human contact exchange. Two days ago I offered some Christmas swags. I negotiated exchanges with two different people. The first woman to pick up followed up with a thank you on Messenger and a picture of how she had creatively re-purposed the swags. It was fun to see them being used!

The copy deadline for the Jan. 1, 2025 column will be Dec. 24.