Pocono Farms Weathervane

September 2014

182

LA KE

R OAD

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TOBY H AN NA,

Our Community Garden

P E NNS Y LVANIA

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in this iss u e

By Linda Penett

Hard to believe it’s already August and harvesting has begun in our community garden. It has been another successful year for our gardeners and the entire area looks wonderful. All of the garden plots are flourishing and the lovely flowers that were planted along the fence, courtesy of Pocono Farms and through the hard work of Heather Savage, add to the total overall fantastic appearance of the garden. What a delight it is to walk on the treadmills or work out on one of the elliptical machines at the fitness center and be able to look down at the beautiful flowers and healthy plantings.

Our Community

Brian and Suanne Cavanaugh are to be congratulated on coming up with the idea in the first place. Now in it’s third year, the community garden has certainly become a welcome addition to the many fantastic amenities that are available to the members of our community.

Calendar of Events

Continued on Page 2

Thoughts from the Manager

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Board of Directors

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Crime Watch Activity Report

4

Recreation Events

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BOD Meeting Schedule

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In the Farms

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September Calendar

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Sports Swim Team News

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Tennis Anyone?

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Round by Round

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SAVE THE DATE Oct. 11th - Fall Fling

Golf Tournament Oct. 12th - Breast Friends

5K Walk/Run Oct. 18th - Oktoberfest Oct. 24th - Teen Halloween Party Oct. 25th - Turkey Bash

Golf Tournament Oct. 26th - Kids Halloween Party Oct. 30th - Trunk-or-Treat

POCONO FARMS COUNTRY CLUB FROM

182 Lake Road, Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania 18466

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Thoughts from the Manager

By Dave Timko

Our Community Garden CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

If you haven’t come down to see the gardens at their finest as yet, please make a point of walking down behind the fitness center to take a look. There is seating available on the back patio and it’s a lovely spot to sit and relax for a few moments. Here are just a few pictures to spark your interest.

The Garden Committee will be sponsoring a late summer garden party in September which will be open to everyone interested in coming. Our favorite band, Yesterday, will be performing and a good time will be had by all. Come on out, bring a beverage of your choice and a plate to share. Hope to see you then.

As most are aware, the annual meeting was held on July 19th at the Pocono Community Church located on Route 611. As was stated in the August Weathervane, 3 of the 4 voting issues did pass. The only issue that did not was that which would have allowed the Board to sell a block of lots owned by the Association. Overall it was a productive meeting with a lot of positive questions asked by those members in attendance. A couple of those questions I would like to address as they affect members of the community that may not have been able to attend the meeting.

Question #1 – Is there a plan to add more fire hydrants within the Pocono Farms community? We have a good working relationship with PA American Water Company. What we have established with them is that when they plan a main line water replacement, that they approach the Township with a request to pay for the installation of fire hydrants along that line. This year, there will be (3) hydrants installed at the following locations: 1) The intersection of Minqua Trail and Seven Nations Drive 2) Minqua Trail at/or near lot 5573 3) The intersection of Miqua Trail and Minisink Circle.

If you live near any of these areas, it may benefit you to contact your homeowner insurance provider, as

182 Lake Road • Tobyhanna, PA 18466 www.poconofarms.com admin@poconofarms.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS Neil Carlson, President Mike Elbert, Vice President Collette Houston-Ong, Treasurer Wayne Meyers, Secretary

Richard McCormick Frank Milano Steve Bunker Brian Cavanaugh Bill Weimer

BOARD LIAISONS - TBA A&B, Environmental Communications Crime Watch Elections/Nominations Finance Fitness Golf Long Range Planning Pool Recreation / Tennis AD-HOCS Insurance TBA Fitness Center TBA Community Garden TBA Marketing Appointed as needed COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE Collette Houston-Ong Linda Penett Linda Becht Marianne Stephen Sue Miller Peg Scott Ginny Day NEWSLETTER COORDINATOR Denise Wilson 894-4435 ext. 106 CAPFWeathervane2@yahoo.com

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DEPARTMENT HEADS General Manager David Timko 894-4435 ext. 100 dtimko@poconofarms.com

there may be a discount available to you due to the proximity of the new hydrants to your home. It never hurts to ask.

Question #2 – Will there be any paving done within the Community this year? Typically, we attempt to coordinate any paving with PA American Water Company when they plan on doing any individual water line replacements within the cul-de-sacs.

Unfortunately, they are not planning on that type of work this year.

However, Coolbaugh Township has contacted us about some paving projects that they will be doing within the community on a few of the main roads. There are (2) large sections within Pocono Farms that have been awarded by the Township to the paving contractor.

Section 1 – is within the Cayuga drive north area in and around Owasco Terrace, Champlain Drive, Longwoods Road., Hounds Ear Road., Otsego Lane, and Conestoga Lane.

Section 2 – is within the Oak View Lane, Laurel View Lane, Buck Run, Cedar Lane, Wren Run, Hickory Road, and Stag Lane areas.

We will have a map available at the Administration office for you to view in greater detail. This work is scheduled to be completed by September 30th, weather permitting. Due to the amount of paving be done in Section 1 stated above, we are trying to partner with the paving company chosen by the township to get a better price on paving our largest and longest cul de sac -Pebble Beach Road. We should be able to get a better price as the paving company chosen by the Township will already have their equipment mobilized on site, versus us going at it alone. Stay tuned. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Michael’s Carpet, Custom Kitchen, Bath & Window Treatments

Accounting/Office Manager Lorraine Daviduk 894-4435 ext. 103 ldaviduk@poconofarms.com Golf Pro 894-4435 ext. 110

THE ONE STOP SHOP FOR ALL OF YOUR HOME IMPROVEMENTS!

Kyle Monahan golfshop@poconofarms.com

Greens Superintendent Adam Herman 894-4435 adamh@poconofarms.com Executive Chef 894-4435 ext. 130

Jonathan Harding pfchef@poconofarms.com

Food & Beverage Director 894-4435 ext. 132

Katrina Weithman katrinaw@poconofarms.com

Activities Director 894-4435 ext. 113

Joe Sprovkin recdir@poconofarms.com

Director of Security Artie Furman 894-4435 ext. 105 afurman@poconofarms.com Building Coordinator & Compliance Director 894-4435 ext. 104

SUMMER SPECI AL !

50% O FF RETAIL KITCHENS!!!

FOR FREE ESTIMATES CALL 570-646-1502 580 SR 940, SUITE 101, POCONO LAKE, PA MONDAY-FRIDAY 9-5 SATURDAY 10-4 SUNDAY by appt only www.michcarp.com

Richard Savage rsavage@poconofarms.com

MAINTENANCE 894-4435 ext. 160 (voicemail only)

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CUSTOM INSTALLATION : KITCHENS & BATHS, COUNTER TOPS, BACKSPLASHES , HARDWOOD, TILE, LAMINATE, VINYL, CARPET, WINDOW TREATMENTS & AWNINGS

From Your Board of Directors

BY NEIL CARLSON

It is great to be back and thank you to all. Your new board officers are Neil Carlson President, Mike Elbert, Vice President; Collette HoustonOng, Treasurer; and Wayne Meyers, Secretary.

On a personal note, it is great to be back on the board and I truly want to thank all of those for their tremendous support and votes. In addition, I greatly appreciate the confidence in my colleagues in electing me to the position as Board President.

It is great to come back to the board at this time as we have continued to make tremendous progress over the last year. Many compliment to the prior Board of Directors for a great 2014 season along with our staff for executing on an extremely successful summer season.

This is a great time to be a resident of Pocono Farms. The golf course is in good shape and the clubhouse continues to host great events. Our new chef has certainly elevated the quality of the menu and the food, and the service is exceptional.

Please utilize your food credit and join the membership in a meal or event at the club house.

Our new golf professional is doing a great job and many complements to both Kyle and Matt for a great junior golf program this season.

Our swim team has wrapped up their season and has continued to make a significant donation to the Monroe County Hospice House with their Laps for Cancer Event. I would be remiss not to thank our Recreational Director Joe Sprovkin for the great events that he has planned for all within the community year round.

target and hosting events that are unsurpassed in comparison to any of our neighboring communities.

Last and certainly not least, we need to acknowledge Adam Herman for his exceptional work on both the golf course and the community.

Adam and his staff have continued to add to the beautification of this community year after year.

The new board will have their first meeting this month. I continue to encourage our residents to attend the meetings; your input drives our actions. During this month we will begin to define those initatives that we will need to work on for 2015. Attendance at these meetings as in past years continues to be low. The Board strongly encourages you to attend and let your voice and options be heard. We will continue to strive for a strong sense of community and work diligently to differentiate ourselves in the most positive way from other communities.

I, along with the Board, are extremely excited about our path forward and we look forward to continuing to build on the success with our management team.

The official publication of the Pocono Farms Country Club AssocIation, Inc. PUBLISHED BY NIKI JONES AGENCY, INC.

39 Front Street Port Jervis, New York 12771 P: 845.856.1266 E: info@nikijones.com Articles appearing in The Weathervane are presented as a community service. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher or of the Pocono Farms Country Club Association, Inc. The publisher and the PFCCA disclaim any liability for any advertisements published herein, in no way endorse or guarantee these ads and reserve the right to reject any ads submitted. Position of advertising in the newspaper is not guaranteed.

Katrina has done a great job in both our in house and external events in achieving her budget

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POCONO FA RMS

RECREATION EVENTS

Crime Watch Activity Report

BY ED AALBUE JULY 2014 As of this writing we are mid-way into to our summer in the Farms. Hope everyone is enjoying themselves. We still have a ways to go until school starts. I hope you will get out and enjoy what is going on in the Farms. During the month we had 17 drivers patrolling the community for a total of 150 hours. We lost two patrol drivers due to illness; however, we picked up one new driver.

Welcome Marilou Preus, thanks for joining us.

I received this article in a e-mail from RSVP and thought I would share it with you. SCAM ALERT Scammers Pose As Grandchildren Pleading For Emergency Cash The BBB has issued a warning about a distressing scam that’s increasing in popularity. The target? Grandparents. Scammers based in Canada are thought to be randomly dialing US phone numbers until they reach someone who sounds like a senior citizen. They then pose as a grandchild who has been in a car accident and needs money. The BBB says: While many seniors have reported the scam without falling prey to it, unfortunately, many others have been victimized. One well-meaning grandmother sent $15,000 to scammers, thinking she was helping a grandchild who had been in an auto accident. The scammers’ basic tactic is to pose as a grandchild and let the unsuspecting grandparent fill in the blanks. For example, the scam caller might say,” It’s me, your favorite grandchild,” to which the grandparent will guess the name of the grandchild it sounds the most like, and then the call proceeds from there. A grandmother from Utah received a call in the middle of the night, and knew something was wrong. The caller told her, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Grandma. “I’m really sorry to do this to you.”

She said it sounded a little bit like he was crying.

The caller told her, “I’m in trouble, Grandma. I’m up here in Toronto. I need money. I’m in jail. I had a rented car, and I wrecked it.” She thought the caller was her grandson, so she wired $4,400. The caller said his calling card only had a few minutes and he didn’t have much time, but could she wire the money within two hours? He would call back in two hours to get the personal ID number. Once she got to Wal-Mart to get the MoneyGram, she wanted to be safe about it, so she asked the clerk to tack on a security question, something only her grandson would know. However, on the other end of the transaction, nobody asked her security question to the con artist. She had already given him the personal ID number ,and that’s all the clerk on the Canadian end asked for. As long as you have the pin you can get the money. BBB recommends reporting the incident immediately to local police departments and state Attorneys General offices. It might be a good idea to ask the security question of the caller before you make arrangements to send the cash. Pass this on to family and friends.

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Our children’s favorite Pocono Farms very own bouncy house.

We had set up for all three mayor events for the summer, Memorial Day, 4th of July and again for Labor Day.

Kids, trying to find all the dinosaurs during the Dino Dig during a summer event.

While most of the activities are outside during the July 4 celebration, there were also arts and crafts in the community room. Natalie and Dominick Gortych are shown here participating.You can see that there are lots of other tables.

(Love the red, white and blue theme)

Unlce Sam with two Recreation Staff Jordan Caprioli (left) Kaitlynn Timko (right)

What an experience to watch the stocking of the lake over Memorial Day Weekend. The lake is stocked with large mouth bass, black crappi and small mouth bass. The truck pulls up to the dock and the operators fill nets with water and fish and the children walk the nets out to the edge of the dock and dump the fish in. Amazingly, no children got dumped along with the fish. After the stocking, Artie had a fishing contest infront of the community room and on the beach. A good time was had by all.

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2014/15 Board of directors meeting schedule all meeting times are 7pm unless otherwise noted

Uncle Sam with all the kids who joined in for the Bike Parade.

Music Together on the Mountain” Sunday June, 22nd at 2:30pm in the community room of the fitness center Music Together was directed by Mrs. Christina Mann a mom to two toddlers, lover of music, local teacher, and a longtime Pocono Farms resident. Free of charge, about 13 children attended. It was an hour long music program for “Mommy and Me,” aged children, all preschool, then a music based craft to take home.

Friday, September 26 Friday, October 24 Friday, November 21 Friday, December 19 Friday, January 23 Friday, February 27 – work session Friday, March 27 Thursday, April 23 Thursday, May 21 Friday, June 26 Friday, July 17 Saturday, July 18 annual meeting at 10am

The swim team operated the dunk tank for a fundraiser during the 4th of July festivities.

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Swim Team News Although this was a very quick 2014 swim team season, it was a totally successful one! Our team had 86 swimmers on it this season. Our youngest swimmer was 5 year old and our eldest swimmer at the age of 18. We had highly competitive swimmers and we had swimmers just learning and being introduced to competitive swimming. The team practices 5 days a week with 7 meets. Once again the team represented our community with great sportsmanship and were a very competitive team.

As always, the team competed in the Pocono Summer Swim League and ended this season with an impressive record of 3-2. The season had many highlights, but the most team effort came at the championship meet held at ESU on Aug. 2nd. The team placed 2nd overall and multiple swimmers won medals. The Farms had five of our competitors win gold medals at the Championship meet. They were Patrick Labella and Julia Meister who both won gold in two different events. Mackenzie Piacenti, who was impressive with a gold medal in the 50 yard freestyle. Nikko Guy who won the 13/14 boys breast stroke and a fan favorite, 8 year Christopher Storck won a gold medal in the 8 and under Butterfly.

On Thursday Aug. 1, the team held its banquet where all the swimmers on the team were recognized for all of their hard work. The event was held at the Pocono Farms Clubhouse for the ceremony portion and then there was a pool party, in which, fun was had by all! Each swimmer received a trophy and several swimmers were recognized by age group for their exceptional accomplishments throughout the season.

swimmer is chosen who best demonstrates what we want a Pocono Farms swimmer to be. The award is in memory of a former member of the team who tragedy lost his life and will always be remembered as the type of person who we as coaches want our swimmers to be, a person who demonstrates work ethic, team spirit, and high character. This year the winner of the award was 14 year old amazing swimmer Julia Meister.

The swim team had our annual Laps for Cancer and through the efforts of our swimmers and supporters we raised over $1200.00 that will be donated to the Monroe County Hospice House.

This event demonstrates the character and the good will of not only the team but the Pocono Farms Community as well!

I would like to thank all members of the Pocono Farms Community that supported our team this season. The Board of Directors, the General manger, the entire Pocono Farms staff were extremely helpful to in providing this program to our children. I’d also like to thank the parents of the swimmers and the swim team committee for all their hard work, especially Donnalee Serrano. I’d like to recognize my coaching staff, Jen Pero, Deb Pero, and Louis Schaefer, who did an outstanding job this season. This was a great season and I feel extremely lucky to be part of this program. I am looking forward to seeing everyone next season!

Paul McCrone, Pocono Farms Head Swim team Coach

The largest honor any member of our team can be bestowed, is the Galen Award. Each year a

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Round by Round BY adam herman

Golf course sup erint endent

Golf Co u rse Update It's raining! The lack of rain the past few weeks has been great for golf but very strenuous on the turf.The rough and parts of the fairways are starting to show signs of drought stress.As of this article, we are receiving a nice soaking rain which will perk up all that thirsty turf.The irrigation system has done a nice job but there's nothing like the water from Mother Nature!

Tennis Anyone?

by Linda Penett

This summer has marked a rebirth of some tennis enthusiasts and it’s great to see the courts being utilized again. For those of you who did not know, tennis, at one time, was almost as popular as golf in the community. There was a tennis pro, a paid membership tennis club that sponsored several tennis socials, and fees charged to utilize the courts between the clubhouse and fitness center. There were also free courts located on Presidential which was where my husband and I used to try to play back in the 80’s.

Unfortunately interest in tennis declined, the free courts were dismantled, and we no longer have a tennis pro. However, the three main courts, now free of charge to members in good standing, are open and ready for business. Tennis is a great game that offers many physical benefits. According to Consumer Reports, tennis ranks among the top five activities for most calories burned per workout. You’ll burn more calories in a half hour of singles tennis than rowing, riding a stationary bike, doing yoga or playing golf.

Tennis also provides the benefits of weight-bearing exercise that builds denser, stronger bones and improves flexibility in the joints, particularly in the hips and shoulders. It develops and tones your quadriceps hamstrings, calves, arms, shoulders and upper back, as well as helping to improve your overall core strength.

Several men play Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 a.m. and the ladies try to get out Mondays at the same time. I am a beginner myself and never actually liked the game but have been playing a couple of times a week this summer. Now I actually look forward to getting out on the courts. If you’ve never tried tennis, the fall is the perfect time to come on out and give it a try.

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So far this year we have sifted the stones out of the sand traps twice.Although there are still some lingering stones, we have removed the majority of them.

Since we are at a pretty good place with them now, we will begin moving on to our other projects.Toward the end of September we will sift them a third time.

By the time this article is published the greens will have been aerified.We go with half inch coring tines in a 2" x 2" pattern.We go with this size and spacing this time of year because the turf is still actively growing giving us the best possible aerification with the quickest recovery.

Any lingering issues from winter will be taken care of with this aerification.After the greens are complete we will then move onto the tees. Fairways will be done towards the end of September. In the middle of all this aerification we will install the drainage on #7 fairway.Then to conclude the major projects for the year the blue tee on #17 will be extended forward to make more room for the white tees.This will also include a new retention wall and stairs.

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Pocono Farms Events

September Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

• 10:30am-12pm Mommy & Me

• 3-5pm After

School Program

•10:30am-12pm Mommy & Me • 3-5pm After School Progr am

• 10:30am-12pm Mommy & Me

• 3-5pm After

School Program

• 10:30am-12pm Mommy & Me

• 3-5pm After

School Program

• 10:30am-12pm Mommy & Me

• 3-5pm After

School Program

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Sat

Football Sunday

FOOTBALL SUNDAY KICK-OFF!

EVERY SUNDAY Wings - 65¢ per wing

SUNDAY, SEPT. 7TH AT NOON

Clams - 65¢ per clam

in the Grill Room

Bowl of Chili - $3.95 Nachos Grande - $5.95 Tortillas topped with cheddar, onion, tomatoes, Jalapenos, black olives, served with sour cream and salsa. Add chili or chicken $1.00

Beginning at Noon

BEER SPECIALS! RAFFLES, GAMES & PRIZES!

SEPTEMBER 7TH SPECIAL

SEPTEMBER 14TH

KICK-OFF SUNDAY! 1:00pm Oakland Raiders @ NY Jets

Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Philadelphia Eagles KICK-OFF BUFFET - All You Can Eat! Wings, sausage & peppers, homemade chili & taco bar with all the fixins — $10.00

1:00pm 4:15pm

Arizona Cardinals @ NY Giants NY Jets @ Green Bay Packers

SEPTEMBER 21st

1:00pm

Houston Texans @ NY Giants Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles

SEPTEMBER 28TH

1:00pm

4:15pm

Detroit Lions @ NY Jets Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Pittsburgh Steelers Philadelphia Eagles @ San Francisco 49ers

ALL DAY BEER SPECIALS! RAFFLES, GAMES, PRIZES!

KICK-OFF BUFFET All You Can Eat! Wings, sausage & peppers, homemade chili & taco bar with all the fixins

$10.00pp

WEEKLY SPECIALS WILL BE ANNOUNCED VIA EMAIL AND OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

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In the Farms PFCCA Office Hours Monday - Saturday 8:30am - 12:30pm & 1:00pm - 4:30pm ID Badge Picture Hours:

8:30am - 12:00pm & 1:00pm - 4:00pm Capital Improvement Fees on transfer of property: House: $1,252 Lot: $626 Building Regulations: Permits are required from the township and from PFCCA. Please check with the office (894-4435) as to your specific needs.

• Building permit required from respective township and PFCCA before construction begins • Construction permitted from 7am - 7pm Monday- Saturday – excluding major holidays • Resale certificates are required. Fee is $200.00 Refuse Collection: Curbside pickup on household trash and recycling is done on Monday’s and Tuesday’s beginning at 6:00am

by County Waste 570-382-3304. Please refer to the pickup list on our website www.poconofarms.com to determine your pickup day. Major holidays that will affect your collection day are: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When those holidays fall on a Monday or Tuesday, garbage collection will shift by one day.

County Waste will only pick up household trash and recycling. If you have any other items to discard, please call them at 570-382-3304 to set up arrangements.

Animals: Dogs must be leashed or on owner’s property at all times.

Wildlife, such as deer and black bear, are common at Pocono Farms. We ask that you NOT FEED any wild animals.

Emergencies: For ALL emergencies including medical or fire please contact 911 first, then contact Public Safety at 570-894-4435 x105.

Weathervane DEADLINE NOTICE In order to produce a better newspaper for the Community, a Weathervane submission deadline has been established. All articles, announcements, classified ads, etc. must be submitted to the Newsletter Coordinator on or before the 5th of each month for publication in the next issue of The Weathervane.

Submissions made after this date will not be considered until the following month. Your cooperation is appreciated. Publication of articles is subject to the approval of the Communication Committee.

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Thirsty Thursdays

6:00—8:00pm

Each Thursday we have a different beer special! Ask your bartender or server for details

Sept. 4th - Tacos & Nachos $10 Served with all the fixings, including chili and Spanish rice. Includes garden salad.

Sept. 11th - Roast Turkey & Gravy $11

With sweet corn, mashed potatoes, Caesar salad and fresh baked bread.

Sept. 18th - Slow Roasted Top Round Beef $12 In a brown demi glace, includes mashed potatoes, vegetables, garden salad and fresh baked bread.

Sept. 25th Asian Night $10

With sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, pasta, and rice.

Includes Asian salad and fresh baked bread.

To reserve a table contact Katrina 570-894-4435, ext 132 katrinaw@poconofarms.com

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List and Sell your home with us!

BUYERS! We have the largest inventory of homes in the Poconos.

Sellers

Buyers

• Weekend listing appointments are always available • Nobody sells more homes than we do • We’ll get you the highest price in the shortest amount of time • We advertise everyday, everywhere and especially online with the biggest and best home selling Internet sites • Ask about our global home warranties

• We offer our Independent Family of Home buying Services – One Stop Shopping when you purchase your home through Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Wilkins and Associates • We can show you any home listed in the MLS • Open seven days a week Bringing families home to the Poconos since 1988

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Weekend and evening appointments always available.

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570.421.8950 STROUDSBURG OFFICE

570.588.3440 BUSHKILL OFFICE

570.839.4174 MT. POCONO OFFICE

570.296.6946 MILFORD OFFICE

2014