The folks in Highland always step up in a big way when someone is deep in their health struggles and is having a tough time. Our local neighbor Kimmie Sue Thiele has been struggling with some serious health issues for the past several years and her husband, Mike, her friends and neighbors have been by her side as she has undergone many rounds of chemotherapy, surgeries, CT scans, biopsies and the excruciating back and forth with insurance companies and endless doctor visits to figure out what the next steps of treatment will look like. It takes guts and a lot of prayer and the support of your family and friends to see it through. But Kimmie Sue is staying strong and doing what needs to get done. Many of us know this lovely young woman as the small business owner of the Do Right Cleaning Company located here in the Town of Highland. Her family and friends are planning a fundraising event to help with her medical expenses, so with a little help from her friends-“Pinky Strong Day! in the Park” is planned for Saturday, June 22nd, starting at 1pm in Circle Park in Lumberland. There will be food and sodas, a Bake Sale, cupcake decorating (for a tiny fee) raffles from several local businesses, and a 50/50. So, join your friends and neighbors at Pinky Strong Day! If you are unable to attend, you can donate at Venmo, or bake a cake or cookies for the bake sale-we all can do something to help her along her path to recovery. For more information about volunteering or donating contact Tara Cleary, Rebecca Lynn, and Chrissy Bruno on Facebook. 

Charles Perez is the Pastor of the Barryville Community Church and has recently started a new community program called Holy Hoops where the fundamentals of basketball will be taught and there will be plenty of game time to improve your basic skills. Pastor Perez has trained and coached basketball for over twenty years and he is sponsoring a weeklong Basketball Clinic starting on July 15th through the 19th from 1-3pm. The clinic is free of charge and is open to both boys and girls and will take place at Circle Park basketball court in Lumberland. For more information or to register for the clinic you can contact Pastor Charles Perez by texting or calling him at 973-901-2903. 

Yippee some good news- The small restaurant at the junction of 55 and route 97 formerly known as Clancy’s Diner and then the Barryville Creamery is now open once again and called The Hungry Goat Café and Creamery. They are serving breakfast and lunch and the ice cream take out window is open. The ice cream service will operate six days per week from 1-10pm-closed Tuesdays. When a friend and I stopped by last weekend they featured about twenty Hershey’s brand hard ice cream flavors but not SoftServe. There is nothing better than a cone with the family on a summer night after dinner. I have not eaten at the café yet, but the return of the ice cream window is a big plus. For more information and updates go to their site on Facebook.