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DECEMBER 17-23, 2015
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37th annual live Bethlehem Christmas Pageant tells story of Christ’s birth by BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
The story of the Christ Child’s birth was told to an audience of several hundred people gathered in Bethlehem’s Rose Garden on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. With temperatures unusually warm, the audience comfortably sat on the ground or on benches to watch as townspeople dressed in the era of 2000 years ago paced back and forth, shepherds gathered and angels watched on the band shell stage. Narrator William Schellhaas led the opening prayer and David W. Landis, president of the pageant, welcomed the crowd and told of its beginning years ago by the late Rev. Leonardo Iacono.
The choir of Bethany United Church of Christ in Bethlehem sang a number of familiar Christmas songs. With a donkey nearby, Mary (played by Susan L. Roukis) and Joseph (Gary Snyder) arrived on the scene. Then a census taker and innkeeper spoke as Mary was with child and needed a place to give birth to Jesus. As the choir sang “Away in a Manger,” the Baby Jesus was held by the holy couple, dressed in swaddling clothes. For the two-day performance, the baby was Parker Shea Roukis and Maxwell Schleig. The choir then sang, “Mary Had a Baby” and “Angels We Have Continued on page 28
2016 budget approved; Bath Council hears of fatal accident by BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
Bath Borough Council on Wednesday, Dec. 9 approved its 2016 budget totaling $2,481,035, calling for a 15-mill tax on owners of real estate. The budget includes 1.25 mills for debt service that will be used for pedestrian crossings, roads, and information technology, and a 2.5 mills fire tax for the Bath Firefighters and Ambulance Corps. Council president Mark Saginario said that the millage for debt service would mean that once a loan is paid off there could be a tax cut, rather than list it another way and be buried there. His hope is that the loan could be paid within three to five years. Voting for the budget were Sag-
inario, vice president Carol BearHeckman, Barry Fenstermaker, Cynthia Anderson and Jennifer George. The only dissenting vote was by Councilman Michael Reph. Councilwoman Michelle Ehrgott was not present. At issue was the question of school crossing guards. An amendment to the budget that Council approved was to pay for crossing guards until the end of the school year. Members of Council recently met with the superintendent and transportation director of the Northampton Area School District, when the crossing guards were discussed. The borough has a huge amount of traffic with state highways used by tractortrailers and other vehicles, and it
is especially dangerous at the Rt. 512 intersection of S. Walnut St. & Allen St., where children cross into Allen Street for George Wolf Elementary School. To keep the crossing guards they will have to borrow $50,000 and take money from the capital improvements fund. Council will have someone attend the school board meeting on December 21 to explain their position. Council said their first priority is the safety of the children. Also approved was a schedule of fees to be charged in 2016, and a holiday meeting schedule for the new year that will be advertised. Hit-and-Run Fatality A large number of people at-
tended the meeting in regard to the recent death of a nine-yearold boy after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver along Schoenersville Rd. in Hanover Township. John Malone called for more driver accountability. The driver has been charged by Colonial Regional Police with felony-two, which Chief Roy Seiple said is one step less than murder. Seiple explained that CRPD’s jurisdiction is Bath, Hanover Twp., and Lower Nazareth Twsp. The youth dropped something when crossing the road with other children and was hit by the car and died. His mother, expressing her devastating loss, asked that additional charges be made. Continued on page 4
Marcia Hahn Page 3
Bowling scores Page 10
Home Improvement Page 16
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