Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
This is a passage in the book of Malachi in the Old Testament of the Bible on tithing.
St. Peter's United Methodist Church is 154 years old.
Originally it was an Evangelical Association church that was started by the Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking people of the area, located on Brick Church Road. Later it became a part of the Evangelical United Brethren church when the Evangelical Association merged with United Brethren.
After it was condemned due to flooding, a new church was built along Old Route 115.
In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with Evangelical United Brethren, which created the United Methodist Church (UMC). Since then, St. Peter's is UMC.
The great adventures of Rebecca McHale are interesting enough to be made into a feature length movie.
Rebecca, a Tamaqua native, left the mountains of Pennsylvania in 2007 to explore the richness of humanity. She ended up tending to an orphanage in a far away land. In the process, she traded one small town for another, but discovered lifestyles worlds apart and cultures as diverse as the life forms on the planet. She also found love.
"Down, down, let me down. I need to get down on the floor. I just want it to stop."
The pain was obvious, both from the expressions on the men's faces as well as the words they gritted out through clenched teeth. And to think they actually volunteered for this. Even better, they eventually laughed about the experience, although each admitted they never, ever wanted to go through it again.
Such was the scene one recent Saturday as members of the Tamaqua Police Department went through a TASER certification class.
Mickey Padora uses a simple and basic bread baking technique that dates back to the time of the Egyptians in the 20th century BC.
He uses four simple ingredients: flour, water, yeast and a bit of salt. Each begins around 5 a.m. Padora begins by carefully pouring a high gluten flour - 100 lb. bags of ConAgra Mills flour - and other measured ingredients into the mixer. When finished mixing, the dough is shaped and molded by hand into loaves. The loaves are placed in long wooden racks to proof, or rise. Tails, or sheets of canvas, separate the loaves as they rise.
Lawrence "Mickey" Padora, 83, is a master baker who specializes in only one product - Italian bread.
Born Lorenzo Guiseppe Padora, Mickey has spent over 50 years making fresh, hard-crusted Italian bread in Tamaqua's Italian Bakery. The small, white wood-frame structure clings to the hillside unannounced at 122 Railroad Street. Locals call the area Pleasant Row.
Christman, who was born along Pohopoco Drive, presented a program a recent meeting of the Towamensing Historical Commission and he spoke of the days in the 1950s and 60s when his family farmed.
Christman owns over 1,000 slides but only brought along 60, plus one each of the local one-room schools. The school pictures were taken shortly after the buildings were decommissioned.
But on this day, he focused primarily on the heritage of farming.
A Lewistown Valley woman wants people to avoid being penny wise and pound foolish.
Jane Sunday, 47, says it's a lesson she learned when dealing with home finances.
"We were looking for extra help to pay the bills," said Sunday. Sunday's home is heated with an electric heating system. The electric bill has been high due to the recent cold snap.
Sunday and her mother, Carol Sterner, figured that an old diamond ring from Sunday's grandmother might help.
"Mom wouldn't want you to struggle," said Sterner to her daughter. "It's time for you to sell the ring."
A Barnesville woman's eye for the unusual has earned her recognition in a national photography publication.
But Carolyn Jenkins will be the first to tell you that none of it was planned, not even the photo.
One morning in 2009 after a night rain, Carolyn Jenkins looked out her kitchen window and happened to notice a striking pattern of raindrops on the glass.
