1. TONIGHT
KATIE’S KITCHEN FREE
COMMUNITY MEAL, 5 to 6 p.m.,
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church, 201 W. Jefferson St.
Served in conjunction with Trinity
Lutheran Church.
BUTLER DUPLICATE BRIDGE
CLUB meeting, 7 p.m., B’nai
Abraham Synagogue, 519 N.
Main St., Butler.
TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSI-
BLY meeting, 7 p.m. following
weigh in at 6:30 p.m., St Peter
Roman Catholic Church, 127
Franklin St. For information, call
Sandie at 724 352-9111 or Karen
at 724 287-3926.
FRIDAY
FREE HOT MEAL, 11:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m., Salvation Army
Open Door Feeding Program, 313
W. Cunningham St., Butler.
FREE COMMUNITY MEAL, 5
to 6 p.m., First United Methodist
Church, 200 E. North St., Butler.
SPAGHETTI DINNER AND
BAKE SALE, 5 to 8 p.m., Trinity
Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Dri-
ve, Center Township. For informa-
tion, call 724-822-0780.
BUTLER TWO STEPPERS
meeting and dance, 7:30 p.m.,
Tanglewood Center, Lyndora.
Music by DJ.
SATURDAY
SALAD AND BINGO PARTY,
noon to 3 p.m., St. John’s Byzan-
tine Catholic Church, Lyndora.
PORK CHOP DINNER, 4 to 6
p.m., Moose Lodge, 225 W. Jef-
ferson St.
MEATLOAF DINNER, 4:30 to 7
p.m., St. Peter’s Lutheran Church,
202 Van Buren St., Evans City.
Benefits the Kelley family, victims
of a fire. Takeout available.
FREE COMMUNITY MEAL, 5
to 6 p.m., Community Full Gospel,
215 W. North St.
ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE
CLUB OF AMERICA Butler Old
Stone House Region spring buf-
fet, 6 p.m., Butler Farm Show
building off Route 68, Butler
Township. Meeting will follow.
Take a favorite casserole or
dessert and place setting. Bever-
age will be provided.
PUBLIC CARD PARTY, 7:30
p.m., Jefferson Grange, Bull
Creek Road, Jefferson Township.
SUNDAY
HAM DINNER, 11 a.m. to 5
p.m., Tanglewood Center, 10
Austin Ave., Lyndora.
Notices of local club meetings,
card parties and dinners should be
received by the Focus Department
one week in advance of the event.
N
BULLETIN BBULLETIN BOOARDARD
A rummage sale is planned for
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 29 and
from 9 a.m. to noon April 30.
MT. CHESTNUT PRESBY
The youth group of Mt. Chest-
nut Presbyterian Church, 727 W
Old Route 422, will attend the
Presbytery Gateway Clipper
Cruise Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Gently used items are being
collected this week for the 9 a.m.
May 1 church rummage sale.
The deacons will meet at 7
p.m. Wednesday at the church.
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN
MINISTRIES
New Life Christian Ministries
worships at South Butler Primary
School, 328 Knoch Road, Sax-
onburg.
A Come Let Us Build update
will be shared Sunday.
NORTH MAIN STREET
CHURCH OF GOD
North Main Street Church of
God, 1201 N. Main St. Ext., will
open the Common Shop at 10
a.m. Saturday.
The Christian Education meet-
ing will be at 8:15 p.m. Wednes-
day in the conference room.
OLD UNION PRESBY
The worship committee of Old
Union Presbyterian Church, 200
Union Church Road, Mars, will
meet after worship this week.
Those planning to join the
youth group for the Sunday
Gateway Clipper cruise Sunday
must be at the church by 4 p.m.
Speak with Peter.
The youth group will lead wor-
ship this week.
PARK UNITED PRESBY
Joy Ride Bible study will meet
at the home of Stacy Sieminski
at 7 p.m. today.
The worship committee will
meet at 7 p.m. Monday in Park
Hall.
The mother-daughter banquet
will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in
Park Hall. Reservations are due
Tuesday. Call Kathy Brown at
724-473-8034.
SAINT ANDREWS U.P.
A new members class will form
in May at Saint Andrews United
Presbyterian Church, 201 E. Jef-
ferson St. See Pastor Merry, or
call 724-287-4777.
An indoor basement sale will
be held from 7 to 9 p.m. April 30
and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 1.
Drop off donated items during
church hours or from 11 a.m. to
1 p.m. Saturday. Helpers are
needed; contact Don Roberts or
Esther Radvinski.
The sale of four stained-glass
windows is being finalized. If you
would like to purchase a window,
let us know by May 1. If you pre-
viously expressed interest, con-
firm by calling or e-mailing the
church office.
SAXONBURG MEMORIAL
PRESBY
A gospel concert featuring the
group One in Spirit will be held
at 7 p.m. May 2 at Saxonburg
Memorial Church, 100 Main St.,
Saxonburg.
SPRINGDALE LUTHERAN
Springdale Lutheran Church,
1061 Mahood Road, West Sun-
bury, will not hold Bible study this
week.
The Mother’s Day dinner will
be at 6:30 p.m. May 8.
ST. JOHN U.C.C.
An informational meeting about
the new associate member pro-
gram will be at 9:30 a.m. Sunday
in the choir room of St. John’s
United Church of Christ, 501 E.
Main St., Evans City.
Sign-ups for the 6 p.m. May 6
mother-daughter banquet are
being accepted.
Thursday morning Bible Study
resumes at 9 a.m. April 29.
ST. MARK’S EVANGELICAL
LUTHERAN
An all-committee meeting night
will start at 7 p.m. April 29 in
Schramm Hall at St. Mark’s
Evangelical Lutheran Church,
201 W. Jefferson St.
Reservations are due Sunday
for the 12:30 p.m. May 2 moth-
er-daughter tea in Fellowship
Hall. Call 724-287-6741.
Eve Bible Study will be at 7
p.m. Tuesday in the lounge.
A recognition luncheon for staff
and Sunday school teachers will
follow the 11 a.m. Sunday serv-
ice. Call 724-287-6741 for reser-
vations.
ST. PAUL R.C.
A Spanish Mass will be held at
2:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul
Roman Catholic Church, 128 N.
McKean St.
SUMMIT PRESBY
A blood drive will be held from
8 a.m. to noon Sunday at Sum-
mit Presbyterian Church, 181
Caldwell Drive. A fundraiser
breakfast will be held in the Fel-
lowship Hall.
A men’s breakfast will be held
at 7 a.m. Saturday in the Fellow-
ship Hall of Jefferson Center
Presbyterian Church. For infor-
mation, call 724-287-2378.
The all-Committee meeting
night is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
TRINITY LUTHERAN
A class for instruction about the
sacrament of Holy Communion
will be held from 9 to 11 a.m.
Saturday at Trinity Lutheran
Church, 120 Sunset Drive, Cen-
ter Township.
The first planting for Katie’s
Garden will be at 9 a.m. Satur-
day.
Paper products and personal
hygiene items are being collect-
ed in May for Covenant’s Com-
munity Food Bank.
WESTMINSTER PRESBY
Sign up at the information cen-
ter at Westminster Presbyterian
Church in America, 420 N. Main
St., for the May 21 and 22
women’s retreat at Seneca Hills.
The Golf League at Krendale
begins May 3; contact Bill May-
hew.
ZION U.M.
The second New Beginnings
meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. Sat-
urday in Fellowship Hall at Zion
United Methodist Church, 438
Bear Creek Road, Sarver,
Information is available in the
narthex about the family camping
trip to Shawnee State Park. Con-
tact Cheryl Peters for information
and dates.
The mother-daughter banquet
is May 1. Contact Amy Boltz for
information.
All three bishops were iden-
tified in an Irish government-
ordered investigation pub-
lished last year into decades
of cover-ups of child-abusing
clergy in the Dublin Archdio-
cese. The report found that all
bishops until 1996 colluded to
protect scores of pedophile
priests from criminal prosecu-
tion.
Last week, the Vatican for
the first time issued guide-
lines telling bishops they
should report cases of abusive
priests to police where civil
laws require it. While the Vat-
ican has insisted that was long
its policy, it was never written
explicitly and victims, lawyers,
government-backed inquiries
and grand juries have all
accused the church of mount-
ing a cover-up to keep clerical
abuse secret and away from
civil jurisdiction.
Benedict said in a homily
last week that Christians must
repent for sins and recognize
their mistakes — comments
widely interpreted as concern-
ing the scandal. But his com-
ments Wednesday marked his
first public and direct remarks
on the crisis since March 20,
when he wrote a letter to the
Irish faithful concerning the
abuse crisis in that country.
In that letter, Benedict chas-
tised Irish bishops for leader-
ship failures and “gross errors
of judgment” in handling
abuse cases. But he laid no
blame on the church hierar-
chy, whom critics blame for
mandating a culture of secre-
cy that encouraged bishops to
keep abuse quiet.
Three Irish government-
ordered investigations pub-
lished from 2005 to 2009 have
documented how thousands of
Irish children suffered rape,
molestation and other abuse
by priests in their parishes
and by nuns and brothers in
boarding schools and orphan-
ages. Irish bishops did not
report a single case to police
until 1996 after victims began
to sue the church.
Pope
Puz has studied Buddhism
and meditation for eight
years. She said she had
always been interested in
books on Zen, but once she
began studying Buddhism, it
just felt right.
“It felt like I had found
what I had been looking for,”
she said.
She has since traveled to
China, Tibet and Mongolia to
learn more about Buddhism
and meditation and uses
those experiences to provide
an atmosphere of calmness
and serenity for herself and
the others in the Flower
Dance group.
The aim of the group is to
give back to the community.
Therefore, there is no charge
to attend the sitting hours.
The group merely wants to
provide a comfortable, calm-
ing respite for the community.
“We want to be a refuge for
an hour that you can take
home with you and into your
life,” Puz said.
Meditate
By MCT NEWS SERVICE
BALTIMORE — Erin Nicol-
son sifted through her collec-
tion of bedtime books and held
up her favorite: “Hanna’s Sab-
bath Dress,” by Itzhak
Schweiger-Dmi’el, about a girl
waiting to try on a new outfit,
once customary during the
Jewish period of rest.
While the 4-year old from
Owings Mills, Md., spoke of
staging her own rendition of
the tale, her 2-year-old brother
Adam pointed to one of his
favorites: “Five Little Gefiltes,”
by Dave Horowitz, a Yiddish
parody of the children’s song,
“Five Little Ducks.”
The two youngsters are
among thousands of children
learning about their Jewish
heritage with tales and songs
suited for their age and imagi-
nation — most often heard
while cuddled in the arms of
mom or dad before the night
light comes on.
Their parents, Lara and
Roger Nicolson, enrolled them
in the PJ Library Jewish Bed-
time Stories and Songs For
Families, a program that offers
free Jewish books and music
each month to more than 2,100
Jewish and interfaith families
in the Baltimore area alone,
along with local activities and
events.
The Massachusetts-based
program, which serves 60,000
children in North America and
Israel, is hosting its annual
conference at the Pearlstone
Conference Center in Reister-
stown later this month. The
program’s name, “PJ,” stands
for pajamas, referring to when
parents and children often
cuddle up with a book.
Some Jewish adults say that
their generation didn’t have
such books.
“I heard many Jewish stories
as a child, but few of them
were in books. Most were
Bible stories or stories told
orally, but good Jewish chil-
dren’s books were not always
easy to come by,” said Melissa
Lebowitz, the PJ Library’s
coordinator in Baltimore at the
Center for Jewish Education.
“here just weren’t that many
choices.”
But she said the program
has compiled hundreds of
books and promotes Jewish
authors and illustrators to
either write or rewrite books
with the promise of publica-
tion and distribution.
The books are a welcome
addition to the Nicolsons, an
interfaith family who moved
here from Belgium about five
years ago. Lara was born in
South Africa; her grandparents
moved there from Lithuania.
She says that with no immedi-
ate family in the Baltimore
area, she has used the books to
help share her Jewish culture
not only with her children but
husband Roger, who grew up
Anglican in South Africa.
“It gives them insight to the
tradition I came from,” said
Lara Nicolson. “For every hol-
iday, there is a book. I have no
immediate family in Baltimore,
so sadly they’re not getting sto-
ries handed down from their
grandmothers.”
Meira Horowitz of Baltimore
said she reads the books to her
three children every night
before bed as well as during
the day. “My children love all
kinds of books but especially
love books that make them
laugh and books about Judi-
asm as they are able to relate
to the characters,” said
Horowitz. “It’s always nice to
read stories about the upcom-
ing holidays as it gets the chil-
dren excited and encourages
them to ask questions.”
The program was launched
in West Springfield, Mass., in
2005 by the Harold Grinspoon
Foundation, which funds insti-
tutions and programs that pro-
mote Jewish learning. It was
inspired by country music star
Dolly Parton’s Imagination
Library, a pre-school literacy
program that sends monthly
books to children in the U.S.,
Canada and United Kingdom.
“The goal is that through
books and music, parents are
transmitting to children Jewish
values in content involving
everything from holiday cele-
brations to Jewish history to
love for Israel,” said Marcie
Greenfield Simons, director of
the PJ Library program.
Once enrolled, kids receive
a book each month. The stories
include adaptations of popular
childhood stories as well as
written versions of Jewish
tales that have been passed
down orally for generations.
Stefanie Cousins of Tuscany-
Canterbury reads PJ books to
son Benjamin, who will be 2 in
May. throughout the day. Her
son enjoys, “My First Shabbat
Board Book,” which teaches
preschoolers about the mean-
ing of the Sabbath and shows
how it is celebrated.
“I recently took it in the car
for a trip to Philadelphia,”
said Cousins, “and he really
enjoyed looking at on his own.
He is still amazed by all of the
pictures and we’ve had it for
at least six months.”
Jewish bedtime books
help kids learn heritage
12 BUTLER EAGLE - Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Butler Eagle
offers
FULL COLOR
In Memoriam &
Birthday Tribute
Photos
For Information or Details
Call 724-282-8000
Photos are $25 each
Deadline: Mon.-Fri., 2 p.m.
1072546
1078839
1078599
Pope Benedict XVI promised
Wednesday that the Catholic
Churchwould take action in the
clerical sex abuse scandal.
MCT NEWS SERVICE
Siblings Erin Nicolson, 4, and Adam, 2, thumb through their
books from PJ Library, a program that provides Jewish-themed
books to more than 2,000 families in the Baltimore area.
JEWISH BOOKS
FOR KIDS
Titles The PJ Library pro-
gram sends to families include:
✔ “The Bedtime Sh’ma,” by
Sarah Gershman, a collection of
psalms, poems and prayers.
✔ “Sammy Spider’s First
Rosh Hashanah,” by Sylvia A.
Rouss, which follows a spider
who watches a family celebrate
the Jewish New Year.
✔ “Old MacNoah Had an
Ark,” by Sally Lloyd-Jones. It
tells the story of Noah and the
Flood with the animals in the tra-
dition of the popular song, “Old
MacDonald Had a Farm.” The PJ
Library Web site says it “offers a
cheerful introduction to the story
without talking about God pun-
ishing wickedness or waters
destroying the world.”
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RELIGIOUS RRELIGIOUS ROUNDUPOUNDUP
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