Bethlehem Press

Christine Ussler from Artefact, Inc., was granted certificates of appropriateness for project proposals for the four proprieties she represented at the Historical and Architectural Review Board hearing Sept. 6.

With Chairman Fred Bonsall unable to attend, vice chair Philip Roeder took charge of the meeting held in the Rotunda.

Golazo House at 123 W. Fourth St. was the first of three small businesses to be granted certificates of appropriateness for signage by the Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission during the Aug. 21 Banana Factory meeting. Represented by co-owner Javier Alvarado, approval received to install a solid or cutout metal sign featuring the name and logo. The building owned by Jose and Rafaela Nunez was the former home of Horns Restaurant. Alvarado was also given the option to repaint the windowless front door red or to replace it with one having a three-quarter window.

Students from Freedom and Liberty high schools volunteered time from their summer break to run a three-day sports camp for Bethlehem area elementary students July 10, 12 and 14. BASD Mini-Thon members partnered with the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley to organize the event. Athletes from the Freedom and Liberty varsity teams provided instruction in the basics of field hockey, baseball, football, cheerleading, lacrosse and volleyball to the eager day campers, who ranged in age from 5 to 11 years old.

Donna Danielson and Tom Kline, of Washington, N.J., were in line since 3 a.m. Aug. 2, the first day that members of Easton’s State Theatre Center for the Arts could purchase tickets for the 2017-18 season.

Jim and Shirley Van Norman of Easton got in line at 7 a.m. Aug. 1.

Marishka Michener and Marlene Frew, both of Easton, accompanied by Jeff Hawk, of Pohatcong Township, N.J., were first in line. All three had been camped out at the box office door since July 29.

Tickets became available for sale to the public Aug. 16.

The Minsi Trails Council launched its annual Boy Scout Popcorn Fundraiser with a little assistance from Bumblebee and his arch enemy Megatron at the Aug. 1 kickoff event at Moravian College. More than 250 adults and 150 Scouts, representing 180 Scouting units, turned out for the event.

“Megatron,” the actual Deceptacon Mack truck from the movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” courtesy of Mack Trucks, was kept in line by the series’ hero “Bumblebee,” a yellow Chevy Camaro sponsored by Scott Chevrolet.

Douglas Wiltraut received a Ruth G. Rosenau Silver Medallion in the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors for “A Cool Sip” (dry brush watercolor, 35 in. x 54 in.).

Wiltraut’s long-time friend, Bob Schaffer, posed for the watercolor near the “Poughkeepsie Bridge,” a 19th-century railroad trestle south of Slatington along the Lehigh River. This is the third time Schaffer modeled for an award-winning work by Wiltraut. The award presentation for “A Cool Sip” was Aug. 4 in Old Forge, N.Y.

The occasional cloudbursts couldn’t dampen spirits at the Cub Scout Day Camp at Louise Moore Park in Easton July 14, the last day of a week-long adventure. Fortunately, it was sunny for most of the week while the nearly 100 Cub Scouts from area packs moved among various activity stations to have fun and learn.

Staffed by 60 scout leaders and volunteers, these included stations for scouting skills, science, sports, water sports, archery and BB gun marksmanship.

The Historical and Architectural Review Board granted a certificate of appropriateness to Jean Therman for a proposed pergola at 132 E. Market St. during the Aug. 2 hearing at city hall. The eight-foot high privacy screen/arbor for the back yard of the home she shares with husband Terry had recently been rejected by the zoning office as being too tall. This exceeded a six-foot height limit for fencing, they had been told. “This is not a fence,” said chairman Fred Bonsall, advising Therman to refer to it as an “ancillary structure” in her appeal to the zoning department.

The $10 price for a lifetime “America the Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass” is set to increase dramatically for those 62 years or older.

The “Interagency Senior Pass,” formerly the “Golden Age Passport,” is available for purchase for $10 through Aug. 27. The price of the Senior Pass has been $10 since 1994.

Legislation passed in December 2016 will bring up the price tag to $80 beginning Aug. 28.

The proposal to erect a seven-story residential over retail building on a vacant lot at 13 W. Morton St. was tabled by the Bethlehem Historic Conservation Commission at the July 17 hearing in the Banana Factory. Andrew Twiggar and Ryan Dunn, partners in DunnTwigger Real Estate Co. represented Lehigh Properties, LLC, the owners of the property, that is flanked by a one and one half story garage and a two and one half story commercial building.