The filling from St. Matthew's EC Church's annual November sale in Kunkletown is ready for pickup on Tuesday, Nov. 24, two days before Thanksgiving. Orders close Sunday, Nov. 15, nine days earlier.
Most of the West End's November works the same way. Across Eldred, Polk and Chestnuthill townships, church kitchens and volunteer groups set their calendars by order cutoffs, and those cutoffs come well before the food. For anyone who wants filling on the table on Nov. 26, a hoagie tray on a Friday, or a gift under the Effort UMC Angel Tree, the dates that matter fall in the first half of the month.
The filling: $8 for two pounds, ordered by Nov. 15
St. Matthew's Laymen's Fellowship runs its Annual November Filling Sale out of the church at 102 Church Rd. The October 4 church bulletin lists the terms:
- Filling: $8.00 for a 2-lb. container
- Gravy: $2.00 a pint
- Order by: Sunday, Nov. 15
- Pickup: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1 to 5:30 p.m.
- How to order: see any Laymen's Fellowship member, or call Renee in the church office at 610-381-2442, Monday, Wednesday or Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The office phone is staffed three weekdays, four hours a day. After today, Thursday, Nov. 5, that leaves three office days before the Nov. 15 cutoff: Monday, Nov. 9, Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 12. Anyone who wants to order in person can also do it at the church's bazaar this Saturday.
St. Matthew's plans further ahead than most. The same bulletin asks for leaders, ideas and volunteers for the congregation's 250th anniversary, which comes in 2029.
The pattern across three kitchens
The filling sale isn't the only one built this way. Over about six weeks this fall, three West End congregations ran or announced pre-order sales, and each closed orders several days before the food was ready.
| Sale | Orders close | Food ready | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effort UMC soup sale, minestrone with sausage and cream of cheddar | Oct. 21 | Oct. 25 | 4 days |
| St. John's Lutheran hoagie sale, Effort | Nov. 8 | Nov. 13 | 5 days |
| St. Matthew's EC filling sale, Kunkletown | Nov. 15 | Nov. 24 | 9 days |
The soup sale is already over. The hoagie cutoff is this Sunday. The Oct. 28 Times News West End column printed the Nov. 8 order date and the Nov. 13 sale date but no hoagie varieties or prices. An Oct. 7 column lists St. John's Lutheran Church at 164 Merwinsburg Road in Effort, with the church phone at 570-629-4309, and that number is where to ask about varieties and prices.
Nov. 8 is also when St. Matthew's wants its filled Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes back.
Saturday, Nov. 7, runs from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Since so many sales close on Sundays, the Saturdays before them carry a lot of the month. This Saturday has three separate stops in three different places, and their hours overlap only in the morning.
9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kettle Creek Environmental Education Center. According to the Times News, the gallery is showing "Inspired by Nature," with work by Claudia Hill and Joan Lech, through Nov. 30. On weekdays the gallery is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It opens on only a few Saturdays, and Nov. 7 and Nov. 21 are the last two. Admission is free and no registration is needed. Call 570-629-3061 with questions.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., St. Matthew's EC Church, Kunkletown. The Laymen's Fellowship Annual Bazaar has food to eat in or take out, a bake sale, a soup sale at $10 a quart, a ticket raffle and a PA Dutch raffle. Raffle items had to be worth $25 or more, so the prize table is a step above the usual bake-sale basket. This is also the easiest place to get a filling order in person.
4 to 6:30 p.m., Effort United Methodist Church. The Times News lists the menu for the Pork & Sauerkraut dinner at 178 Merwinsburg Road: roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, applesauce, a roll, homemade dessert, coffee and tea. The church asks diners to call for the price at (570) 629-1890.
Effort UMC and St. John's Lutheran are both on Merwinsburg Road, about 14 house numbers apart. If you're dropping off a St. John's hoagie order before Sunday, you can do it on the same trip as the dinner.
The second weekend is for shopping
Next weekend the pre-order deadlines give way to sales.
On Friday, Nov. 13, St. John's hands out its hoagies. The same day, Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 1402 Route 209 in Brodheadsville, opens its third annual Christmas Sale & Basket Raffle from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the sale runs again Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The donations it collected cover a lot of the season: Nativity sets, Christmas trees and ornaments, indoor and outdoor lights, blow molds and inflatables, vintage Christmas items, holiday kitchenware, new toys, homemade crafts, Christmas folk art, holiday linens, and Christmas movies, books and records.
That Saturday, St. Peter's UMC in Saylorsburg holds the event it announced in the Oct. 7 West End column, its its Fine Arts Showcase and Craft Fair Expo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., so Nov. 14 has two sales at once on the Brodheadsville and Saylorsburg side of the township.
The next day, Sunday, Nov. 15, is the last day to order filling.
Nov. 21: fifteen stops and one ticket
The Saturday before Thanksgiving week has the biggest event of the month. VALOR's Holiday Cookie Trail runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 21. Tickets are $30 and cover at least 15 stops around the West End. The trail starts at the VALOR Food Pantry, 1134 Old Route 115 in Saylorsburg, and registration is on VALOR's event page.
Fifteen stops in four hours works out to about 16 minutes a stop, driving included, so it helps to start close to 11. Kettle Creek's gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day for the last Saturday of "Inspired by Nature," so you can stop there before the trail.
On Tuesday, Nov. 24, St. Matthew's hands out the filling from 1 to 5:30 p.m., two days before Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26.
The December deadlines that start now
The two biggest dates of the early holiday season follow the same pattern, with the work due well before the day.
Effort UMC's Angel Tree is set up by Friday, Nov. 6, with about 40 children's names and wishes, which the church supports through PVEN. Unwrapped gifts are due back at the church by Dec. 6, and the church delivers them to PVEN between 8 a.m. and noon on Dec. 7. Anyone who takes a tag this weekend has four weeks to shop.
Over Blue Mountain, Palmerton holds Christmas in the Park at Palmerton Borough Park on Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 5 p.m. The tree lighting is at 4:45 p.m., luminaria are lit at dusk, and the rain date is Dec. 6. The trees that residents adopt for the park have their own schedule. Decorating starts Nov. 22 at noon, and every tree has to be finished by Wednesday, Dec. 2, according to the Times News.
Here are the dates on one list:
- Fri., Nov. 6: Effort UMC Angel Tree is up
- Sat., Nov. 7: Kettle Creek gallery, St. Matthew's bazaar, Effort UMC dinner
- Sun., Nov. 8: St. John's hoagie orders and St. Matthew's shoeboxes due
- Fri.–Sat., Nov. 13–14: St. John's hoagies, Our Lady Queen of Peace Christmas Sale, St. Peter's craft fair on Saturday
- Sun., Nov. 15: St. Matthew's filling orders close
- Sat., Nov. 21: VALOR Holiday Cookie Trail and the last Kettle Creek Saturday
- Tue., Nov. 24: filling pickup, 1 to 5:30 p.m.
- Sat., Dec. 5: Palmerton Christmas in the Park
- Sun., Dec. 6: Angel Tree gifts due at Effort UMC
Cass Chies has worked in Palmerton and the towns around it for more than 20 years, and the church kitchens, borough parks and volunteer calendars are part of what she knows about this area. If you have questions about Kunkletown or the West End this season, from the filling sale to your own street, Cass Chies is glad to talk. Let's Connect.
