The Council Rock High School North Class of 2018, numbering more than 400, listened as student speakers Amanda Abrohms, Rachel Stillman and Duke Wu imparted the final words of wisdom and pieces of advice to the graduating class. Abrohms, in her address entitled “Only (in Twelve Moments),” noted that 12 years of school has boiled down to one moment “when we finally say goodbye to the place where we grew up. “Whatever choice you make after leaving this stadium make sure you do something that doesn’t leave you thinking, ‘If only.’ If only I had laughed more. If only I had taken that risk. If only I had told that person how much they meant to me. “Time will fly by. They told us the first day of freshman year that this would be the fastest four years of our lives,” she said. “If only I would have believed them.”

Addressing the 823 graduates were student government president Courtney Fegley, graduating senior Sonali Deliwala, Superintendent William Gretzula, Pennsbury High School Principal Reggie Meadows and Pennsbury School Board President Jacqueline Redner. Ninety-one percent of the class will be attending post-secondary education, two percent will enter the military and four percent will join the workforce.

Rarely do you see perfection in the sporting world. There ae just too many obstacles blocking any team’s ultimate Dream Season. The Council Rock North volleyball team defied those odds and produced a perfect 19-0 mark on their way to a PIAA District One league championship. Going into the 2018 campaign Ed Mancinelli, senior libero, sensed the Indians were headed for a stellar season. “We knew we had a similar team to last year. The whole last season was almost all juniors so we all came back with a big chip on our shoulders that said basically District Title or bust.” As the season unfolded, the initial goal seemed more reachable. “We’ve been clicking really well. I know we’ve been getting better and better every practice and we learn more and more about each other. If one person makes a bad play the other guys are there to pick him up.” Part of the Indians success is the complete athleticism they bring to the court. “I think we’re very well balanced. The guys up front, Harry (Wyatt), Jack (Gunshenan), Justin (Burns), Kevin (D,Arcy), and Will (Hewitt) all have huge vertical leaps. Those guys can jump out of the building.”

PENNDEL >> The community gathered at the Penndel Ball Fields on Memorial Day weekend to send a message of sacrifice, remembrance and gratitude to the future. During a ceremony following the annual Penndel-Hulmeville Memorial Day Parade on Saturday, leaders of the committee that brought the Traveling Vietnam Wall here in 2017 lowered a time capsule into the ground as a solemn reminder of what took place during the Wall’s visit to Penndel. The ceremony followed the annual Penndel-Hulmeville Memorial Day Parade which stepped off Saturday morning beneath partly sunny skies. Applause filled the air along Bellevue Avenue as members of the Penndel American Legion led the march from Hulmeville to the ball fields in Penndel Borough. More applause greeted a caravan of cars carrying veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. A U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard proudly marched down the street carrying the flag of the nation followed by the All Division Detachment of the Marine Corps League and the Tri-County Band. Politicians from Penndel and Hulmeville boroughs waved to the crowds from a lineup of vehicles as U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick walked the route shaking hands along the way. Also riding by were State Senator Tomlinson, State Rep. Tina Davis and District Judge the Hon. Daniel Baranoski. The Uptown String Band strutted the route performing patriotic favorites including “This Land Is Your Land.” The band Big Whiskey rode by belting out the song, “We’re An American Band.” Teams of Wildcats joined the parade. So did Scouts from Penndel and Levittown. Members of the Redeemer Lutheran Church rode by singing patriotic hymns. Also joining the parade were the Daisy Jug Band, the Andalusia Jug Band, the Nashville Cats, the Penndel Rescue Squad and Fire companies from Penndel, William Penn, Parkland, Langhorne-Middletown and Eddington.

“The Stations of the Cross” recounts Christ’s last hours, from his sentencing by Pontius Pilot to bearing the cross to Calvary, his crucifixion and finally his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. In a slow possession across the gym floor, the students portrayed Jesus’s pain-filled walk to Calvary. With a crown of thorns on his head and bearing a heavy cross, Jesus is met along the way by his mother, Mary; a woman named Veronica who wipes his face; Simon, who helps him carry the cross; and a group of weeping women.

LOWER MAKEFIELD>> In an Easter tradition dating back 35 years, seventh and eighth graders from St. Ignatius School will retell the story of Holy Week and Easter on Friday, March 23 at the church. The presentation of the Passion Play, which has become a rite of passage at the school on Reading Avenue, was written by Monsignor John Marine, now the pastor at St. Bede Church in Holland, when he was an assistant priest at St. Ignatius. Mary Alice LaMorte, Janet Padula and Margie Badman will direct a cast of 42 students as they tell the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. This year for the first time in many years, the narrative will begin with the nativity and then fast forward to the events of Holy Week, including Jesus’s triumphant arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Last Super on Maundy Thursday, the Way of the Cross on Good Friday and the Resurrection on Easter morning. The play is punctuated by moving and inspirational songs, including “I Surrender All” sung by Siana Falkenstein as Mary Mother of Jesus, “Lamb of God” by Kate Abdallah as Mary Magdalene, “Were You There” and “He’s Alive” by the entire cast.

Levittown >> The Bucks County Saint Patrick’s Day Parade marched through Levittown Saturday morning turning the snow covered landscape green with Irish pride. From the members of the Ancient Hibernians (Newtown, Levittown and Bristol chapters) to the Irish Step Dancers from the Nicholl and Fitzpatrick schools of Irish Dance, the parade had Irish eyes smiling up and down New Falls Road. The Falls Township Police Honor Guard and State Rep. John Galloway (gold sponsor) led the march followed by the official parade banners and sponsorship recognition. They were followed by U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, State Senator Robert Tomlinson (gold sponsor) and 2015 Parade Grand Marshal Joe Hogan, who was instrumental in helping Bucks County secure the location for the Washington Crossing National Veterans Cemetery. More than 2,000 marchers participated in this year’s parade, including the Truman Tigers Marching Band and the Bracken Cadets, Irish dance groups, South Philadelphia-based mummers and string bands, Eagles’ play-by-play announcer Merrill Reese, local law enforcement and emergency responders, veterans, a number of pubs including the Five Four Bar and Grill, Stadium Bar and Grill and Dacey’s Irish Pub, community groups and hosts of proud Irish-American participants.

Bristol Borough - Thousands turned out Friday night and Saturday afternoon to welcome the season Bristol-style. The festivities kicked off Friday evening as record crowds jammed Mill Street and the wharf for the town's tree lighting and A Very Borough Christmas, which included shopping along Mill Street, entertainment, hot beverages and Philly pretzels. Standing before a sea of faces at the wharf, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub was given the honor of officially lighting the town's Christmas tree at the intersection of Mill and Radcliffe streets. As the tree, donated by Jim and Maureen Bayer, broke through the darkness in a sudden flood of glistening lights, cheers erupted from the crowd as performers from the Bristol Riverside Theatre broke into a rousing chorus of "Joy to the World."

A siren pierced the quiet morning air as firefighters and emergency medical service providers from throughout Bucks County paused to remember the county’s fallen firefighters and EMS Responders on Sunday. Gathered around the Bucks County Fallen Firefighters Memorial in the courtyard of the county administrative building, they bowed their heads in silent remembrance of friends, colleagues, family members and volunteers who answered the call and never came home. Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, speaking on behalf of her colleagues on the board, Charles Martin and Rob Loughery who were unable to attend, thanked the firefighters and EMS providers for their service to the county and for answering the call.

Despite a few weather hiccups, thousands again descended on this year’s Middletown Grange Fair on Penns Park Road in Wrightstown, making it one of the best events yet.