Indoor garden report: The amaryllis have opened! They are beautiful.

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Reminder: Monday, Jan. 20 is a holiday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Schools, town buildings, libraries and banks will be closed. No mail will be delivered.

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Rebecca Fricke of Amherst is the general manager at the Wildwood Cemetery. She sent an email about an art and writing contest fundraiser.

“First place winners will win $100 and their work will be published in the cemetery annual report. The theme for both the artwork and the writing should include one of the following — memory, remembrance, love of those who have passed, Wildwood Cemetery, burial, obituaries, death care, dying, living life with purpose. ” For information visit: www.wildwood-cemetery.com.

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Myra Lenburg of Amherst sent me an email about a soup drive for the Amherst Survival Center at the Amherst Dog Park. Unfortunately, the news came too late for the column. However, there are many food donation options. Collection boxes are located in various town buildings and libraries.

Donations can be brought directly to the center on Jan. 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This will coincide with Rep. Mindy Domb’s food drive at the center.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also a National Day of Service with suggestions to clean up litter, visit someone in a nursing home or rehab, donate blood, donate clothing, do a good deed.

One local idea: The Amherst Recreation Department is sponsoring a community card-making event from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday at the Bangs Center. “Brighten someone’s day by making a card with a positive message, according to the press release. Give a card to a bus driver, supermarket baggers, bank tellers, sales clerks, etc.

Materials will be provided. It’s free and open to the public.

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It is light now until 5 p.m. The difference is noticeable.

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Send items for the Lehrer Report to phyllehrer@gmail.com.