Blue Valley Times

The Musconetcong becomes newest designated National Recreational Trail By Art Charlton Congress designates the Musconetcong Watershed National Water Trail to safely increase public access to outdoor recreational opportunities...Continue reading

Drive Thru Trick or Treat in Upper Mt. Bethel By Michael Ortoski UMBT - The folks in Upper Mt. Bethel did it again! They gave the community a halo ween trick or treat event at their park on the hill on Saturday. They did it the correct way with social distancing, masks and event goers staying in their cars. Fire companies Upper Mt. Bethel, East Bangor and Portland handed out tons of candy and treats to the children as they drove thru the maze of fire trucks, tractors, dec...orated cars and the live characters of the ‘Addams Family’ from Dotta Chrysler Jeep in Pen Argyl. UMBT councilman John Bermingham and volunteers greeted everyone at the gate as they entered the park and thanked them as they exited. This is one of many events UMBT has put on during these enduring times, Thank you UMBT! UMBT will hold their next event on Nov. 7th 5pm at the park for their Veterans Day Celebration honoring all who served and fireworks in the evening. See more

Drive Thru Trick or Treat in Upper Mt. Bethel Video 02

Drive Thru Trick or Treat in Upper Mt. Bethel Video 01

Special Olympics: Pen Argyl Raises the Bar By: Zoee Edmonds / PAHS Green Echo Newspaper Writer People of all ages love participating in athletics. Getting involved in groups and organizations can better yourself as well as affect the community as a whole. Young people specifically enjoy being a part of sports teams because of the fun environment and growth they can obtain through it. The Special Olympics organization is inclusive to those who never got the chance to be part ...Continue reading

AWARDS FOR THE PEN ARGYL BANGOR FOOTBALL GAME By Michael Ortoski PEN ARGYL - Charles R. Sampson Award: Recognizes the outstanding lineman in today’s game. It is sponsored by The Sampson Family and Jim Trach Plumbing & Heating. The award will be presented by Pen Argyl Athletic Director, Tim Egan on their behalf this afternoon Recipient: Reese Karp #80 Bangor Most Valuable Player Award: Sponsored by the Slater Football Alumni. Representing the Slater Football Alumni and pr...esenting the award today is Steve Panczer. Recipient: Jared Reto #11 Pen Argyl Most Valuable Player Award: Sponsored by the Green & White Athletic Association of Pen Argyl. Representing the Green & White and presenting the award today is the organization’s Football Coordinator, Mr. Bob Krasnopera. Recipient: Collin McKeague #2 Slate Belt Award: Awarded to the victor of today’s Pen Argyl Bangor game. Sponsored by Instant Replay Sporting Goods of Wind Gap. Representing Instant Replay and presenting today’s award are Mike and Brooke Engler. Recipient: Pen Argyl Green Knights 28-21 See more

Green Knights Beat Slaters In 101 Rivalry Classic Game By Michael Ortoski PEN ARGYL - The 101 meeting between the Pen Argyl and Bangor football teams was one for the books as it went back and forth as a rivalry should. Green Knights senior Collin McKeague scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to push Pen Argyl to a 28-21 home win over Bangor on Saturday afternoon. The second half had three lead changes and a pair of ties as the two ...rivals battled it out . Pen Argyl’s final scoring drive was 72 yards and took 6:40 off the clock when McKeague finished off his sweep by touching the pylon with the ball. Continued on page 9 A key play on the final drive was the Green Knights converting a fourth-and-4 on a fake punt that featured senior Gavin Amerman taking a direct snap and running for five yards to the Bangor 49 with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter. Amerman also converted a fourth-and-2 to the Slaters’ 39-yard line with 2:14 remaining in the game. Bangor tied the game 21-21 on a 75-yard touchdown pass from senior Joe Genteel to classmate CJ Miles with 7:03 left in the fourth quarter. It came just over a minute after McKeague gathered in an interception and returned it 70 yards for a score to make it 21-14 Green Knights. McKeague had a 7-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-4 play with 3:42 left in the third quarter to tie the game 14-14. The Slaters struck first in the second half with a 20-yard touchdown run by Genteel on a fourth-and-2 snap to put the visiting team ahead by a touchdown with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter. Top performers: McKeague won the Pen Argyl MVP award with 76 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. He scored the game-winning touchdown and had a pick-six in the fourth quarter. Amerman, the Green Knights quarterback, ran for 132 yards on 21 carries. Pen Argyl senior Dylan Ashenfalder had a 37-yard interception return for a Continued on page 9 touchdown to open the game’s scoring with 6:31 left in the first quarter. Green Knights senior Reese Karp won the Charles R. Sampson award for the rivalry game’s most outstanding lineman. Senior Jared Reto had six catches for 116 yards for the Slaters. He was named Bangor’s MVP for the game. Miles had four catches for 126 yards and a touchdown for the Slaters. What it means: The Green Knights won their second consecutive game in the rivalry and lead the all-time series 52-45-4. Pen Argyl ended its regular season with a 2-4 record. The Green Knights are the sixth seed in the District 11 Class 2A playoffs and will play at Palmerton in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. next Saturday. The Slaters fell to 1-5 on the season. They will not qualify for the D-11 4A playoffs. Bangor coach Paul Reduzzi said he hopes to schedule a game for next week. See more

What You Know May Save Your Life Last week I explained a little bit about carbon monoxide (called CO) but not about how it makes you feel or how it can end your life. The most dangerous and scary part about CO is that it is colorless and odorless. If you smell the exhaust from a car, you are smelling hydrocarbons from the burned fuel. That should be a tipoff that there is CO too but you don’t smell the CO. The hydrocarbons won’t kill you but the CO will. When gas furnaces fai...l there is no odor at all, just a buildup of CO and the symptoms start out as nausea and/or headaches. Flu symptoms best describes it at the start. How it progresses from that point depends on the concentration of CO in the air. A lethargic feeling is next, and maybe feeling fatigued and wanting to sleep. If the concentration gets high enough, that will be a long sleep. If you leave the house, you will feel better in a few hours. Survivors are people who go to work every day and feel ok by the time they come home and then the next morning are not feeling well again. People who stay home don’t get better. If the concentration is low enough they just keep feeling sick and waiting for it to go away. Especially now during the COVID pandemic, people are in their homes more than ever and if a problem arises, it may go undetected for several days. A CO detector with alarm is very important to have even if you don’t have a gas appliance in your home. Homes with attached garages can also create CO sickness depending on how long a car runs in the garage and how quickly the garage door is closed after the car leaves or enters. A low level CO detector will let you know when it senses 25 parts per million (ppm) of CO in the air for 10 minutes. A standard CO detector won’t alarm until the level exceeds 70 ppm for 4 hours. That is too high and too long in my opinion but it was designed to not cause a lot of nuisance calls for first responders. If a CO alarm goes off in your home, the best thing you can do is open doors and windows to ventilate and turn off gas appliances. It is also recommended to leave the house immediately until you have the source of the problem located and repaired. Ken Field is the owner of Slate Belt Energy and Field’s Service, Inc. As a certified energy rater and contractor, he is qualified to assess every aspect of energy usage and prescribe solutions to save energy. He can be reached at 610-759-6306 or email [email protected]

Annual Holiday Store Fine Artists/Craftsmen to Showcase Their Wares By Susan Randall Stroudsburg, PA The Pocono Arts Council will host its annual Holiday Store at The Olde Engine Works located at 62 N. 3rd Street in Stroudsburg. The popular art gift shop will be open throughout the holiday season, beginning Sunday, November 1, 2020 through Thursday, December 31, 2020. The artwork is located in Booth A100. The Olde Engine Works is open daily from 10AM-5PM.... The Pocono Arts Council is a local arts service organization serving the Pocono region. The mission of the council is to build the community artistically and culturally by providing leadership, service and education - Culture Builds Community. For further information visit www.poconoarts.org or call 570-476-4460. See more

By Scott Major Harrisburg, PA The Department of Human Services (DHS) is warning of a possible scam concerning Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits and reminding Pennsylvanians to be skeptical of unsolicited or random calls or text messages about public-assistance programs especially when the calls or text messages solicit personal information, such as Social Security numbers. We are all living through difficult times, and unfortunately, there are people who will try to take ad...Continue reading