(10/2022) It is October. The leaves will start to change into brilliant colors – a last "hoorah" before they fall. The farmers in the area will finish harvesting their crops, and the birds will migrate south. The Summer Movies in the Park series will end on October 21st. This last movie will be "Hotel Transylvania 4." And then, on October 31st, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., children and adults will dress up in "strange looking" costumes to celebrate Halloween and go around the community proclaiming, "Trick or Treat." While at the same time, the Carroll Valley’s "Trunk or Treat" event will be held in the Borough parking lot. To reserve a parking space to set up your Halloween Trunk, call the Borough office at 717-642-8269 by Friday, October 28th. Set up starts at 4:30 p.m. and should be completed by 5:45 p.m. The Halloween "Trick or Treat" visitors’ line will open at 6 p.m.

The last Covered Device Recycling for 2022 will be held on Saturday, October 15th, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Freedom Township Building, 2184 Pumping Station Road. This event is for current Park’s Garbage Service customers in the boroughs of Carroll Valley and Fairfield and Freedom, Hamiltonban, Highland, and Liberty townships. The following is a list of acceptable electronics recycling items: computers, copiers, gaming equipment units (but not their peripherals), keyboards, modems, monitors, printers, routers, scanners, stereo receivers, and televisions (the TV must be removed from the wooden cabinet). If questioned, proof of residency is requested.

October 9th thru 15th is National Fire Prevention Week. The National Fire Protection Association is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week (FPW). This 2022 year’s FPW campaign, "Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape", works to educate everyone about simple but meaningful actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires. Half of home fire deaths result from fires reported between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when most people are asleep. One-quarter of home fire deaths were caused by fires that started in the bedroom, and three out of five of those deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Only one-third of Americans developed and practiced a home fire escape plan; of the remaining three-quarters who have an escape plan, over half never practiced it. These statistics collected by NFPA indicate several things for you to think about.

First and foremost, make sure you have working smoke alarms and remember to check them. Install a smoke alarm in each bedroom and throughout the house. Finally, do you have an escape plan? You could have less than 2 minutes to get out safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Heat is more threatening than flames, and room temperature can rise to 1,000o Fahrenheit. Bottomline, an escape plan and practice could save a life.

On October 16th, the Fairfield Fire and EMS Department is holding an Open House from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The next Medicine Take Back day is Saturday, October 29, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This Medicine Take Back day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Large amounts of medicines go unused or expired, and how we dispose of them makes a difference to our waters and our environment. In the past, the advice was to flush our drugs or mix them with kitty litter and throw them in the garbage. Well, flushing drugs sends them directly into our waters, harming the environment. Medications thrown in the trash are available for others to take and use and can still get into the environment. Returning medicines to a take-back program is the only environmentally sound method for disposing unused medicines.

Carroll Valley Police Department Administrative Assistant, JoAnn Myers, has retired after over 27 years of faithful service to the community. We wish her well. Please note, if you need to report something to the police, please call 717.334.8101 for Police Dispatch. For immediate assistance, dial 911. If you are returning a police faulty equipment notice, leave it with the Borough secretaries or in the silver mailbox out front of the Borough entrance. If you have administrative business, please either email pdadmin@carrollvalley.org or leave a message at 717-642-8269 ext 185, and as soon as someone is available, the police department will be in touch. If you have a dog complaint about dogs running loose, call Dog Warden Brandon Mitchem at 717-756-4350. If you have a complaint about dogs barking, please email the above address with the details, and we will get back to you. Please join me in welcoming Sarah Ginn to the Borough staff. She is the young lady who greets you at the front desk. If I can be of help, call me at 301-606-2021.