Meet Your New Amherst Patch Editor

Volunteers needed. Amherst PTA is looking for help stuffing folders for students at Wilkins School and then to pass them out on registration day. Two volunteers are also needed on Aug. 22 to help stuff folders from 9-11 a.m. at Clark. If you can help out, please email Denise Alderson at dna99@live.com. Volunteers are also needed for Kick-Off Day, Aug. 26, at Amherst Middle School to help pass out folders. If you are able to volunteer for any of the following times, e-mail Alderson: 8-10 a.m.; 10 a.m.-noon; noon-2 p.m.; 2-4 p.m. or 4-5 p.m.

Calling all Boston Marathoners who didn't get to cross the finish line in 2013. There are more than 5,000 of you. Registration began Monday and will be held through Aug. 29, for the 5,633 people who ran in this year’s Boston Marathon but never finished due to the marathon bombing incident.

According to a blog post on Competitor.com, those runners don't need to submit a qualifying time, but the $325 entry fee is required. If runners have a valid qualifying time, they will will be able to enter it between Nov. 1 and Feb. 1, but it is not required to gain entry to the 2014 race on April 21. Runners who do not enter before Aug. 29 will have the chance the enter through the qualified runner registration or through a charity.

A new editor in town. If you're an Amherst Patch Facebook fan, you may have read yesterday that Amherst Patch has a new editor going forward. That's me, and I'm Carolyn Dube. I have been, and continue to be, the Merrimack Patch editor since the site's inception in June 2011. Please feel free to reach out if you have story ideas, questions you want answered about Amherst, photos of bears or reports of sightings to send (yes, the bear map will live on) or even just to say hi! As can be expected, there may be a bit of a transitional period for a short time, but I'm committed to continue bringing news, events and more to Amherst Patch. If you see me out and about in the community, please introduce yourself. And please shoot me a quick note if there were stories Robert Michaelson was following that you want updates on. I will do my best to fill his shoes, but they are awfully big shoes to fill. Reach me at carolyn.dube@patch.com or 603-290-4045.

Give Blood. The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive at St. John Neumann Church, 708 Milford Road, Merrimack, from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20. For more information or to reserve a time, call 1-800-733-2767 or visit www.redcrossblood.org. Breakfast and Pizza Kitchen pizza will be served to donors.

Weather watch. If you've been enjoying the August weather we've been having, get ready for more. Today's forecast calls for patchy fog before 7 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 88. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 61.