Community Bulletin Board
‘Bee Season’ author to visit Temple Emanu-El

Temple Emanu-El, 100 James St., Edison, will welcome best-selling novelist Myla Goldberg at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 18. Goldberg is the author of “Bee Season” — now a major motion picture starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche — and “Wickett’s Remedy,” both of which will be available for purchase and signing. Sponsored in part by the temple’s Friends of the Barbara Kern Memorial Library, the program is free and open to the public.

Funeral home providing free bereavement support

The Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, 568 Middlesex Ave., Metuchen, continues to offer a bereavement support group. Ongoing sessions are held every Wednesday and Thursday morning from 10:30 a.m. to noon, as well as Wednesday evening from 7-8:30 p.m. The program, which is free of charge, takes place at the funeral home.

Carol Burner, a certified grief recovery specialist, facilitates the program. A professional with a master’s degree in counseling from Seton Hall University, South Orange, she has spent the past eight years offering individual and group counseling to clients suffering from significant and tragic losses. For more information, call the funeral home at (732) 548-0149 or Carol Burner at (732) 562-8565.

Bus trip to playhouse Christmas show slated

The Metuchen/Edison YMCA is sponsoring a trip to the Branson Christmas show at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse on Dec. 29

The show features The Tim Gillis Band and Crazy Elmer in an original family Christmas concert in the tradition of the stage shows offered in Branson, Mo. Reserve your tickets now for this wonderful holiday revue. The bus departs from the Metuchen municipal pool parking lot on Lake Avenue at 9:45 a.m. for an 11 a.m. seating.

Tickets are $62 and include transportation and choice of five gourmet lunches. Please inquire and specify selection when registering.

To register or for more information, call the YMCA, (732) 548-2044.

Train exhibit back on track in Woodbridge

The Barron Arts Center, 582 Woodbridge Ave., Woodbridge, is once again hosting an exhibition of model trains curated by Michael Gelesky, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge. The complete walk-around display, which opened Nov. 27, will run through Dec. 23 and can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 2-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. This year’s layout — titled “The Trains Are Back on Track!” — will feature four Lionel 027 gauge trains running on independent loops. The 300-plus feet of track will also feature a moving, operating playground and three towns including Main Street U.S.A.

Eleven different trains will be used in the display, with four trains operating at all times.

The event is free and open to the public, but donations are accepted.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Woodbridge Township Cultural Arts Commission, with the support of the Woodbridge Township Arts Council.

For further information, call the arts center, (732) 634-0413, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

‘Christmas Alive’ Dec. 11, 12 at Abundant Life

Abundant Life Christian Center, 2195 Woodbridge Ave., Edison, will present “Christmas Alive at Abundant Life” at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11 and 12. The program, which includes a performance by children, youth and adults, is a musical presentation about the true meaning of Christmas. There is no charge for admission. For more information, call the Christian center at (732) 985-6717 or e-mail alcc77@aol.com.

Law panel prepares talk on buying, selling home

The New Jersey State Bar Foundation will present a free seminar titled “Buying and Selling a Home” from 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the New Jersey Law Center, One Constitution Square (off Ryders Lane), New Brunswick.

Topics will include the contract of sale, tenancy in common, joint tenancy, mortgage contingency, home inspection clause and title insurance. A question-and-answer period will follow the presentations.

The seminar is open to the public. Advance registration is required.

For more information and to register, call (800) FREE-LAW.

Middlesex County Family Ice Rink now open

The Board of Chosen Freeholders, County of Middlesex, has announced the Middlesex County Family Ice Rink, Roosevelt Park, Edison, is now reopened following a temporary closing during November.

A combination of warm weather, rain and falling leaves have impeded attempts to make ice at the rink. Rink hours are Wednesdays-Fridays from 5-9 p.m., Saturdays and holidays from noon-9 p.m., and Sundays from noon-7 p.m. There is one session on weekdays, and two sessions Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with admission charged for each session. There are no public sessions Mondays and Tuesdays.

The rink will operate on the Saturday schedule for the holidays of Dec. 26-30 (winter recess); Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; and Feb. 20, President’s Day. It will be open noon-5 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31, and noon-7 p.m. New Year’s Day. Admission for each session is $5, and $4 for seniors, and children age 17 and younger.

For more information, call (732) 494-3785.