Bake Sale

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Staff at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center will host an employee yard/bake sale on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The sale will be at the "Teens & Greens" parking lot at 3015 Molly Pitcher Highway in Chambersburg, near Nitterhouse Concrete. All sale items have been donated by the FCCTC staff. Proceeds from the sale will benefit events at the school, including Field Day activities.

St. Joseph Catholic Church, off Virginia Avenue in Halfway, will hold its Christmas bazaar and bake sale Nov. 5 to 7. It will be held in the parish center behind the church. The hours are Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bazaar features handmade gifts, decorations, wreaths, floral arrangements, baby items, table runners, snowmen, hard candy, a "White Elephant" table of Christmas treasures and other items.

Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Rohrersville is holding a yard sale Saturday, Oct. 4, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be held indoors at Friendship Hall at the intersection of Md. 67 and Locust Grove Road. Furniture, clothing, children's toys and other items will be offered at the free yard sale (donations will be accepted). Country ham sandwiches, homemade soups and baked goods will be on sale. Proceeds will go to the Mt. Zion Needy Family Fund.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Lauren Taylor is just 16 years old, but she focuses much of her time and energy on end-of-life care. For about four years, she has raised money for Hospice of the Panhandle in Martinsburg, W.Va., with an annual bake sale. Lauren, who lives in Martinsburg, said she has raised more than $10,300 that has gone into a special needs fund. Hospice is a private nonprofit community program that provides in-home services, bereavement support, and education and training.

St. Joseph Catholic Church, at the corner of Halfway Boulevard and Virginia Avenue, will hold its annual Christmas bazaar and bake sale Nov. 5 to 7. It will be held in the parish center behind the church. The hours are Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bazaar features handmade gifts, decorations, wreaths, floral arrangements, baby items, table runners, snowmen, hard candy, a "White Elephant" table of Christmas treasures and other items.

Hagerstown residents Katelyn and Madison Baker recently held a cupcake, cookie and lemonade sale in their front yard to raise money for the homeless animals at the Humane Society of Washington County. Enlisting their mother, Kathy, to assist with the project, Katelyn, 8, and her sister Madison, 6, set up a stand in their front yard. The girls presented the shelter staff members with $48.34 and stacks of towels and blankets that they collected at their goodies sale. "The people in the neighborhood were really nice and they came and bought our treats," Katelyn said.

Odds and ends from a columnist's notebook: · On the bulletin board in my office are pictures of four small children. They're not my children, they don't look alike, nor do they belong to the same youth sports team. The only thing they have (or had) in common is that they were stricken with major illnesses and needed the public's help to pay their medical bills. Alivia Koontz of Hagerstown and Devin Fales of Keedysville are just the latest young people whose families have been forced to ask for the public's help because the care they need will probably cost more than their parents will earn in a lifetime.

Brownies, cookies, cakes, pies. Who doesn't like baked goods? Which is why baked goods tables are often popular spots at fundraisers and similar events. In search of something different from the usual baked goods suspects, we asked some people with bake sale experience to share some recipes. Tina Castell, of Hagerstown, shared two family cookie recipes, cinnamon cookies with icing and sugar cookies with frosted icing. The cinnamon cookies are a family favorite. "My kids and my husband love them," Castell said.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Halfway is holding its annual Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale on Nov. 8-10. The church is at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Halfway Boulevard. The event will feature handmade Christmas hard candy, a silent auction table, a white elephant table, baked goods, decorations, gifts, wreaths, and baby items. Sandwiches, soups, desserts and drinks will be available daily. Five items will be raffled, including a decorated tree, a nativity, a Christmas floral arrangement, a hand-painted folk art piece and a handmade quilt.