James Colangelo, center, president of the Columbus Day Association of Lackawanna County, presents Italian American Men of the Year awards to basketball coaches Kenneth Bianchi, left, and Ross Macciocco during the association’s 109th annual dinner Sunday at Fiorelli’s in Blakely. The event honored Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America 525 years ago, and the awards go to Italian men who have made notable contributions to the local community. Bianchi led his high school teams to 747 career wins. In 2006, he was inducted into the northeast chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, among numerous other awards. The Times-Tribune presented Bianchi with the Joseph M. Butler Memorial Award in 2016 marking his 700th win. He is the only the second person to receive the honor. Macciocco led his teams to 528 career wins, and he was inducted into the Chic Feldman Hall of Fame in 2000 and the northeast chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 2005. He spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Marywood University and currently is boys varsity assistant coach at Stroudsburg High School.

JASON FARMER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Today is Columbus Day, a federal and state holiday, and many government offices are closed.

Scranton City Hall is closed. So are Lackawanna County offices, including the courthouse.

Garbage and recycling pickup varies by town, so some municipalities may delay routes for one day.

Most banks and credit unions observe the holiday and will be closed. All U.S. Postal Service branches are closed.

The Albright Memorial Library, the Lackawanna County Children’s Library and the Nancy Kay Holmes Library are scheduled to be open. Other public libraries in the county are scheduled to be closed.

PennDOT drivers license centers statewide are closed today.

All state liquor stores are open for standard operating hours.

The New York Stock Exchange is open on Columbus Day.

— STAFF REPORT

PITTSTON — Italian and American flags flapped in a steady breeze as Pittston residents and societies made their way down Main Street toward the newly restored statue of Christopher Columbus.

The parade of local Italian and other community organizations marched, led by the Cino Paci band, from the lower Tomato Festival lot to the statue at Main Street and Kennedy Boulevard, where the Knights of Columbus surrounded the statue with an honor guard to start a rededication ceremony.

“This is reminiscent of the days when the procession would start after Mass at St. Rocco’s,” city council member Mike Lombardo said to start the ceremony. “I’m so happy to see everyone.”

City officials decided to rededicate the statue after it needed restoration following a crash last December. A man crashed his car into the corner of the statue, causing it to fall off its pedestal. The man was not injured, but the statue required repairs.

The statue was restored to its proper spot in time for the Pittston Tomato Festival in August.

Mayor Jason Klush recalled being in the middle of an interview for WVIA’s “Our Town: Pittston” special when Lombardo alerted him about the crash.

“He said ‘man down, Columbus is down,’ ” he recalled for the crowd of about 100 people gathered at the statue Sunday afternoon.

In the end, Klush thought the crash might have been a blessing in disguise as he looked at the cleaned statue and freshly built pedestal.

“I think he looks better, he needed a little cleaning,” he said. “This is a beautiful pillar for our community. He’s been here so long, and I’m glad he’s back.”

Council member Danny Argo said for the Italian immigrant families of Pittston, Columbus has always stood for prosperity in a new world.

“Immigrants looked at him as an inspiration that we’re going to make it to American and we’re going to establish ourselves and our families,” he said. “Pittston is a great example of that.”

Contact the writer:

sscinto@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2048, @sscintoCV

CARBONDALE — A new walking track, light fixtures and fences at Russell Park will be the latest additions to the city’s park offerings.

The $100,000 project, funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant program, will provide a new amenity to the park where youths play and practice football, basketball, cheerleading and soccer while boosting security at the park, Mayor Justin Taylor said.

The stone trail will run around the perimeter of the field, with the city planning to install a dozen 25-foot poles with light fixtures so people can walk at night — with the park possibly closing at 8 or 9 p.m.

City officials said they hope the well-lit area will deter vandalism. The city added about $55,000 worth of playground equipment to the park several years ago and saw much of it damaged.

Public works crews still are excavating the track and working on the logistics of some of the turns, said Brian Durkin, parks and recreation director.

“We’ve tried to keep up-to-date and to continue modernizing and trying new things, whether it’s a dog park or a skate park,” Durkin said. “We thought this walking track would be a nice addition.”

Taylor expects the work to wrap up this fall.

Carbondale resident Joy Baron regularly brings her children — Mason, 11, Olivia, 10, and Gavin, 2 — to the park and likes the idea of a new amenity adults can use while kids are engaged.

“My daughter has cheering practice, so we’re up here three or four days per week,” Baron said. “My son actually plays fall ball. Gavin likes to play at the park. Everything is here.”

Durkin said investing in city parks increases property values, improves the quality of life for residents and beautifies the city.

The city’s skate park on Belmont Street also got an upgrade when the Carbondale Area Ministerium gathered donations, and volunteers put up a pavilion that provides a permanent structure there to host events.

Taylor hopes to use CDBG funding to create a new park next year — which he described as a linear park running along the railroad tracks between Seventh and Salem avenues, tying in with a new section of trail Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority is developing.

In the meantime, Taylor said he hopes the public will help the city preserve all of its offerings.

“We just need a little more cooperation from organizations (using the parks) and the public to understand the limitations the city has, but at the same time, we’re trying to invest,” Taylor said. “If you see vandalism, contact us. If the city buys something with a grant, and it’s destroyed, that was a one-time source of funding.”

Contact the writer:

kwind@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9100, x5181;

@kwindTT on Twitter

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, psychologist Ann Marie Lewis was working for the American Red Cross taking crisis calls to its mental health hotline.

She answered one from a woman in California who was listening to the news on her car radio and, overcome with emotion, had to pull off the road.

“She said, ‘It’s so silly. I’m in San Diego and these people are in New York City and I just feel their pain,’ ” she said, remembering the phone call.

People around the nation, whether or not they have direct ties to these tragedies, struggle to process

them in their own way, several psychologists said.

For people in Northeast Pennsylvania, recent crises have been just as far away.

Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 25 barreled through Houston — 1,400 miles away — and surrounding areas, causing heavy flooding. Officials believe at least 82 people died as a result of Harvey.

Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20 raked across Puerto Rico — 1,700 miles away — wiping out electricity and access to essential services for the entire U.S. territory. At least 34 people are dead as a result of Maria, officials say.

A lone gunman rained bullets on thousands of concertgoers and killed at least 58 Oct. 1 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas — 2,200 miles away.

Helplessness can set in when images depicting pain and destruction flood the news cycle and social media.

Volunteering in any way can help people combat that feeling, said Deborah Belknap, a psychology professor at Keystone College in La Plume Twp.

“Whether it’s donating money or blood or even volunteering locally — to feel like they’re contributing to make the world a better place instead of sort of sitting back and absorbing all of this bad news,” she said.

Be aware of your own emotional state, the psychologists said. It’s normal to feel empathy for those suffering, but if it lingers or starts to interfere with normal life, seek help from a mental health professional.

“If a person gets that gut feeling, that ‘I’m not sure if this is going on too long,’ that’s the flag,” said William Chase, also a psychology professor at Keystone, who added the feeling is different for everyone.

Processing, as the psychologists called it, happens behind the scenes in our brains, but it takes some cognitive effort, Belknap said.

That means confronting the tragedy, understanding it and allowing it to sink in.

We’ve processed it when it no longer drags us down or stops us in our tracks, she said.

It’s important to stay informed, but cut it off when the same images start repeating. Focus on the good in humankind, they said, rather than the bad actors inflicting pain on others.

Look for the heroes, because they always surface as a bright spot amid tragedy, Belknap said.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

How to cope with disaster

The American Red Cross offers a mental health hotline for people struggling to process crises. Contact the Disaster Distress Helpline at 800-985-5990 or text “TalkWith

Us” to 66746. It also offers these tips:

Limit your exposure to the sights and sounds of disaster.

Eat healthy. During times of stress, it is important to maintain a balanced diet and drink plenty of water.

Get some rest. Giving your body and mind a break can boost your ability to cope with the stress you may be experiencing

Stay connected with family and friends. Giving and getting support is one of the most important things you can do.

Be patient with yourself and with those around you.

Set priorities. Tackle tasks in small steps.

Stay positive. Remind yourself of how you’ve successfully gotten through difficult times in the past.

A new after-school drop-in center for teens in Scranton plans to open in a few weeks.

The nonproft NEPA Youth Shelter organization will operate the drop-in center on the second floor of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Human Services Building, 541 Wyoming Ave.

The drop-in center will be for teens — age 14 to high school seniors — “looking for a safe space to hang out and have some fun,” its website says.

With about 7,000 square feet of space in several rooms, the center will have spots for homework, tutoring, activities, games, dining, relaxing and a clothing exchange for teens with limited wardrobes, said NEPA Youth Shelter Executive Director Maureen Maher-Gray.

One initiative will aim to have youths learn about business by running their own online clothing store.

As NEPA Youth Shelter’s Phase 1 project, the drop-in center is not, and won’t become, an overnight shelter for homeless teens, she said.

Establishing an overnight shelter for homeless teens, at an as-yet-undetermined site, is a Phase 2 goal of the nonprofit organization, she said. Plans and fundraising for a shelter remain ongoing. A shelter would host up to 12 children between the ages of 14 and 17 and have 24-hour paid staff.

According to a recent survey in 11 NEPA counties, there were 310 homeless teens in ninth through 12th grades, she said. Of those, 32 teens from Lackawanna County were homeless, she said.

They may stay temporarily at friends’ homes, shelter near the Lackawanna River, sleep in cars or at relatives’ homes, or go into foster care. Such moves could displace the teens from their social networks, which could be detrimental to them.

“We intend to keep local kids local, so they can attend their own high school and stay in any extracurricular activities,” a NEPA Youth Shelter promotional pamphlet reads.

The organization envisions the drop-in center as a shelter precursor, and a way to reach out to the teen community and establish credibility and trustworthiness, Maher-Gray said.

Volunteers, vetted through background checks and clearances, will monitor the drop-in center.

Iris Hamilton of Madison Twp. attended a recent open-house tour of the center and plans to volunteer there.

“Thank God somebody’s reaching out,” Hamilton told Maher-Gray during the tour.

The drop-in center will be open weekdays from 2:30 to 9 p.m., said Maher-Gray, who hopes to launch it Oct. 23. She thinks it could attract dozens of kids.

The nonprofit organization relies on donations and got a kick-start from a $10,000 contribution from a private donor who asked to remain anonymous. The group now has GoFundMe pages for the drop-in center and shelter.

The building at 541 Wyoming Ave. is owned by Meals on Wheels of Northeastern Pennsylvania. NEPA Youth Shelter will start paying rent in January for that space, after a six-month grace period ends, Maher-Gray said.

The organization also stands to receive a $29,000 block grant from the city that would go toward remodeling bathrooms at the drop-in center.

“There are lots of community partners. The support has been tremendous,” Maher-Gray said.

To volunteer or donate, call Maher-Gray at 509-951-5014 or see nepayouthshelter.org, or visit NEPA Youth Shelter on Facebook.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com;

570-349-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter

MONDAY UPDATE

brings

Times-Tribune readers up to date on past or pending stories of interest. To offer a suggestion for a Monday Update, please email metrodesk@timesshamrock.com with

“Monday Update” in the

subject line.

WILKES-BARRE — A Scranton man threatened a woman with a knife, struck her and whipped her with a cord during an argument, police said.

City police charged Nicholaus Burke, 25, of Scranton with simple assault after responding to a domestic incident on Blackman Street on Sunday around 10:05 a.m.

The 22-year-old female victim told police she woke up to find Burke yelling and trying to damage her cellphone. She said Burke took her phone downstairs and tried to smash it, then grabbed the alleged victim’s hair and neck before slapping her in the face with an open hand.

She told police Burke then struck her all over her body with a closed fist and open hand, then got a knife from the kitchen and threatened her with it. Police said Burke later got an HDMI cord and whipped the woman with it.

— SARAH SCINTO

Liberty Bond sale

expected to hit $6M

Directors with the Liberty Bond drive reported they believed they would reach $6 million in subscriptions by the end of the day.

The directors said large subscriptions were great, but they felt that receiving a large number of small subscriptions would really help them reach the goal set for the area.

Dr. Thomson case up before medical society

The Lackawanna County Medical Society planned to hold a hearing on whether to again expel Dr. C.E. Thomson from the society.

Thomson was accused of unprofessional conduct after making statements about a fellow physician’s treatment of a patient. The society had already expelled him on that charge, but his membership was restated after Thomson appealed the decision to the state board of censors.

Teacher writes about Army life in Texas

Former Dunmore High School teacher Martin Jennings sent a letter to his friend Joseph Rafter, of Technical High School, detailing his work in the quartermaster’s shop at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

Jennings wrote of the rays of the hot Texas sun and his visits to San Antonio. And he wrote of adventure: “I shall leave with men, fight with men, and feel the intimate throb of life. I sleep under the canopy of stars, and hear the night winds moan funeral dirges in the trees. I shall lose myself or find myself somewhere in feverish, fretful old France.”

He also wrote about two other young men from Scranton who were in San Antonio, and about reciting the poem “Lasca” to a group of Spanish maidens.

Jennings had enlisted with the Army Aviation Corps in July.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager,

oversees The Times-Tribune’s

expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@

timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.

SCRANTON — A woman and a male child were taken to the hospital by ambulance for minor injuries Sunday after the car they were in rolled onto its side in West Scranton, police said.

A man was taken into custody for suspected DUI, police said. The names of the driver and two victims were not available Sunday.

The gray four-door Honda Civic struck a parked car during the crash about 8 p.m. on a Van Buren Avenue’s 200 block, about 100 feet from the Lafayette Street intersection.

Crews closed the block to traffic for about an hour.

— JON O’CONNELL

A 42-year-old Scranton man arrested for driving under the influence tried to convince a woman to tell police she was driving after officers responded to a vehicle crash Sunday night, Scranton police said.

Joseph Trygar, 923 Hampton St., Apt. R, eventually admitted to Patrolwoman Bryanna Gifford that he drank two 24 oz. cans of Keystone Ice beers shortly before the wreck in West Side.

“I slammed one 15 minutes ago, and the second one is in the car,” police records say he told Gifford, referring to a Honda Civic overturned in the middle of the 200 block of North Van Buren Avenue.

Police, the fire department and an ambulance were dispatched to the crash at 9:49 p.m. Once there, multiple bystanders told police that the driver, Trygar, tried to convince a passenger in the Honda, Sarah Frommert,to say that she was driving. Frommert didn’t take the fall and Trygar, who was last arrested for DUI in August, acknowledged he was driving, police said.

Trygar failed a failed sobriety test and a breath test concluded he had a preliminary blood alcohol level of 0.12 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Trygar was arrested on charges including DUI and driving on a suspended license. Bail and preliminary hearing information was not available Monday.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9144; @jkohutTT on Twitter.

SCRANTON — A 23-year-old Scranton woman is organizing a rally this weekend to protest reports of abuse at Lackawanna County Prison.

The rally will take place from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday on the sidewalk outside the North Washington Avenue jail, organizer Montana Levinson said.

Levinson said abuse of prisoners can be easy to dismiss because they are lumped into a “category of bad people.” A rally, which she said may include candles, signs and chants, will protest abuse and reassure victims they have support.

The county jail, plagued by allegations of inmate abuse over the years, is under investigation by a statewide investigative grand jury probing reports of sexual abuse of inmates.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

SCRANTON — A 34-year-old Scranton man is charged with misdemeanor assault after Scranton police arrested him Sunday morning on allegations he hit a woman in the face.

Augusto Malaret, 114 N. Rebecca Ave., Apt. 1N, accused his girlfriend, Erica Nunez, of talking to another man and struck her several times with a closed fist, police said.

Nunez had swelling and redness on her face, police said.

Malaret told police she “pulled a knife.” Nunez acknowledged she grabbed a kitchen knife but did not point it at Malaret.

Police charged Malaret with simple assault and cited him for harassment.

Bail and preliminary hearing information was unavailable Monday.

— JOSEPH KOHUT

Business helps local business

Cedar BMX raised money for the Mess Hall restaurant in Covington Twp.

Candy Rosencrance, administrator of the BMX track in Clarks Summit, presented Mike Yzkanin with a check for the proceeds from the race held Saturday, Sept. 2.

Yzk-anin is the son of Mess Hall owner Anne Griffiths. The family lost their home in a fire this past August.

The military-themed restaurant donates some of

its profits to “Helping Hands,” an organization that supports local veterans in need of assistance.

“Anne Griffiths and her family are an inspiration of selflessness. They generously give their time and resources to help local veterans,” said Rosencrance. “The Cedar BMX riders and families rallied to support such a giving family in their time of need.”

Local organization gets boost

Old Hollywood Italian Style was the theme for Keystone Union Chapter’s annual pig roast dinner at Fiorelli’s Catering in the Peckville section of Blakely.

Serving Seniors Inc. was the recipient of funds raised during the dinner.

Mary Anne Maloney-Evans, executive director of Serving Seniors, accepted the donation.

Keystone UNICO members, including John Mecca, Valerie Riggi, Marilyn Vitali and Mark McDade attended the dinner along with Cathy Bianchi, chapter president; and members Bob Collins and Frank Coviello.

Super students

Raeva Mulloth spent seven days in Bangkok, Thailand, for a leadership symposium.

Mulloth, a Wilkes University neuroscience major from Waverly Twp., along with four of her classmates, joined 1,000 of the world’s most promising leaders from 90 universities and colleges around the world at the University Scholars Leadership Symposium from Aug. 1 to 7.

To attend, Mulloth underwent a screening process to assess her leadership potential, genuine appreciation for different perspectives and reflect diverse interests, backgrounds and ambitions, according to Wilkes. Along with her peers, they attended the conference as part of an honors course in International Leadership.

The Scranton School District deepened its deficit to $25.3 million in 2016, according to an audit obtained by The Times-Tribune on Monday. The struggling district, already on financial watch status by the state, spent more than it received in revenue for the fourth straight year.

“It’s disturbing but not surprising,” school Director Cy Douaihy said.

School directors have not yet received a copy of the independent audit prepared by Michael A. Barbetti LLC, certified public accountants. The audit only covers 2016, and since then, the district used more one-time revenue and pushed debt into the future to balance its 2017 budget.

Bond documents prepared for the district earlier this year showed a current deficit of $33.6 million, which could grow to $47 million by the end of the year.

“I don’t think anyone has any doubt something has to change,” Director Paul Duffy said.

The problem could eventually force the state to place the district in receivership or financial recovery status.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Scranton School Board president canceled what he called a “non-public informational meeting” for today

about a forthcoming audit by the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General. After The Times-Tribune raised concerns about the meeting potentially violating the state’s open meetings law by not allowing the public to attend, board President Bob Sheridan

said administrators would receive the information from the state and then give it to school directors.

The independent audit, which happens annually, shows the fund balance is $1.1 million less than 2015, while debt grew by $2.8 million in 2016, to $183.5 million

. The district must implement a strategic plan to control expenditures, the audit states.

In an attempt to balance its 2016 budget, the district borrowed money from its capital project fund — money set aside to maintain and update schools — to meet operating expenses. The board also authorized the district to extend its debt, as the board authorized borrowing of $13 million.

“I’m not liking it, but we have been working very hard and doing a lot of things to bring that deficit down,” said Sheridan, whose term on the board is up in December. “None of us like to have a deficit. Even when I’m gone, I’ll still be concerned.”

The board must pass a 2018 preliminary budget next month, and Scranton teachers remain without a contract.

Douaihy, who also leaves the board in December, blamed most of the district’s deficit on contractual obligations — including those with the teachers union. The district must reduce staffing levels, he said.

Teachers and others — including two state auditors general — have criticized the district’s no-bid busing contracts with DeNaples Transportation. The board voted last year to extend the contract without bidding it.

“The bus contract is an absolute abomination. The board needs to take credit for that mistake,” Douaihy said. “We have to do something differently, but we can’t find five votes to do anything differently.”

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9133;

@hofiushallTT on Twitter

MOSCOW

The American Board of Medical Specialties has named Dr. Richard E. Hawkins its new president and CEO.

A native of Moscow, Hawkins was an officer in the Navy Medical Corps and served in numerous leadership positions for national medical professional associations, according to an announcement from the Chicago-based organization.

Most recently, he was the American Medical Association’s vice president of medical education outcomes.

The organization’s board of directors selected Hawkins after a national search. He succeeds Dr. Lois Margaret Nora, whose term ends at the end of the year.

— JON O’CONNELL

SCRANTON

Today is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 7 general election.

Voter registration applications are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Department of Elections, 2400 Stafford Ave. Completed registration forms may be mailed to the Department of Elections but must be postmarked no later than today.

County residents may also register online at www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us.

— STAFF REPORT

A Lackawanna County probation officer ignored evidence that would have proved a parolee had a valid prescription for a narcotic, needlessly causing the man to spend eight months in jail for a probation violation, according to a federal lawsuit.

Steven J. Guziewicz, 301 Adams Ave., Scranton, says he had a prescription for hydrocodone from Regional Hospital of Scranton, but his parole officer, Ninouska Gomez, never checked with the hospital to verify it was authentic, according to the suit he filed. Instead, she took the script to Kurt Moran, M.D., a doctor who previously treated Guziewicz.

An employee in Moran’s office advised Gomez the script was a forgery, then showed Gomez another script in Guziewicz’s medical file that was a suspected forgery.

Based on that, Guziewicz was arrested for a parole violation March 1, 2016, and was charged in May 2016 with two counts of forgery.

The suit, filed by Scranton attorney Matthew Comerford, says the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office withdrew the forgery charges against Guziewicz

in September 2016. Guziewicz was cleared of the parole violation a month later and released.

The suit claims Gomez illegally obtained Guziewicz’s medical records and failed to properly investigate the initial parole violation, then conspired to have Guziewicz charged to shield herself from a lawsuit.

The lawsuit names Gomez, her supervisor, Al Munley, and William McCarthy, director of the probation office, as defendants. It also seeks damages from Moran, alleging he violated patient confidentiality rules by releasing information about Guziewicz to police without a warrant.

Attempts to reach Moran, McCarthy, Gomez and Munley were unsuccessful.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

DUNMORE — Several borough council members seemed amenable Monday to a resident’s suggestion the borough add a volunteer firefighter program.

After witnessing both borough police and fire crews work a Throop Street house fire Wednesday, resident Jeff Sleboda encouraged council to consider augmenting the borough’s professional, paid fire department with a team of volunteers.

“Give me a pager, I’ll come out,” Sleboda said. “I have three of my friends that are my age who said they would all come out, too.”

Sleboda made the suggestion after noting several issues at that fire, including a tangled fire hose and police officers carrying hoses. They’re issues he feels can be addressed by the increased manpower volunteer firefighters would provide.

“If you can get something going Jeff, council would be really grateful,” Councilman Timothy Burke said. “I know there’s other people like yourself that would like to volunteer. It’s a very good thing to help your borough out like that.”

Councilman Michael Dempsey agreed.

“I’m 100 percent on board for a volunteer program,” he said. “We’ve already discussed it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen overnight. ... If there’s something that you can do to help us get the volunteer program going, we’re all for it.”

Dempsey and others also lauded borough police and fire crews for working together to keep residents safe.

In other business Monday, borough solicitor Thomas Cummings presented a proclamation on behalf of council and Mayor Patrick Loughney declaring Oct. 20, “Tommy Williams Down Syndrome Awareness Day” in Dunmore.

Sitting on his father’s lap, 1-year-old Tommy, who has Down syndrome, smiled as the proclamation was read.

“It’s rare that we as council are without words, but we couldn’t be more happy and more proud of this fellow Dunmorean,” council President Michael McHale said following a chorus of claps from the crowd.

Among those clapping were members of Tommy’s family, all of whom wore matching yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Dunmore Gets Down with Tommy.” The shirts are available for $10 each at DePietro’s Pharmacy in Dunmore, with all proceeds from their sale benefiting the nonprofit group North Pocono Parents of Down Syndrome.

Also Monday:

n Council unanimously approved the borrowing of $1 million for the borough’s 2017 paving project, which has already begun. Councilman Thomas Hallinan was not present Monday.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter

Salvage campaign keeps growing

Officials with the Salvage for Victory campaign reported that in the first week of a three-week campaign between 175 and 200 tons of scrap metal had been collected. Thomas Kennedy, head of the salvage committee, reported that the Koch-Connelly American Legion Post 121 and the YMCA donated the iron fencing from around their properties. Many other property owners also donated their iron fencing. Kennedy said they had 400 sets of iron fencing. He said once the fencing and larger metal objects are broken down for processing that the total could reach 1,800 tons.

Sunday school session held at Scranton church

The Wilkes-Barre Conference of the Lutheran Ministerium held its 27th annual Sunday School Institute at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in West Scranton.

The institute opened with a prayer service, followed by classes on teaching and outreach to parishioners. The day finished with dinner for those in attendance.

Century Club makes surgical dressings

Members of the Scranton Century Club made surgical dressings for the American Red Cross over 12 months. The club started making the dressings in October 1940. From October 1940 to October 1941, the volunteers made 31,599 surgical dressings. The year’s work was on display at the Century Club.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribune’s expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.

A South Scranton funeral home is opening the city’s first crematory in modern history to offer services directly to the public.

The funeral directors at Miller Bean Funeral Home at 436 Cedar Ave. will hold an open house from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the new crematory, built behind the funeral home.

They want the public to see the facility and ask questions about the process, said funeral director Carmine Fiorillo. Hickory Crematory is to begin serving families after its Sunday introduction to the community, he said.

The Scranton funeral home is adding new services at a time when funeral directors across the state are changing their brands to promote cremation, even if they don’t handle the cremation process in-house.

It lets the public know that cremation is an option, said Kathleen Ryan, executive director of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association.

Numbers on rise

More than 50 percent of Americans chose cremation last year, according to an annual report by the National Funeral Directors Association. The association projects nearly 80 percent of Americans will opt for cremation by 2035.

For many faithful, religious docterine dictates specific rules regarding cremation.

With a crematory on site, Miller Bean can offer families, who can often feel helpless or distraught while dealing with the death of a loved one, peace of mind, Fiorillo said.

“As a funeral home, with licensed funeral directors, we’re able to do everything ourselves and make sure no one is transferred anywhere,” he said.

Funeral services remain an important part of grieving, funeral directors say, but cremation offers flexibility when scheduling them, especially if family and friends live far away.

People may request cremation for environmental reasons — they don’t want to be buried in a large box in the ground forever.

Or they may choose it for economical reasons. Hickory Crematory advertises packages starting at $785. Funerals can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

An urn on display during calling hours also sets a different tone than an open casket, which seems to demand more reverence, said Corey Brian Strauch, who owns a funeral home in Scranton and Pennsylvania Cremation Services in Gouldsboro.

“People are sharing stories … you hear laughter and giggling,” he said. “You take the body away, and it’s more celebration.”

Remembering loved ones

After the funeral, ashes open up an array of other options for remembering loved ones.

You can be pressed into a diamond, loaded into a rocket and sent to the moon, mixed in with tattoo ink or planted in a coral reef, among myriad other creative final dispositions.

“I think that really allows people to have more choice,” Strauch said. “I think you still need a service for grieving purposes … but there’s different ways to do things now.”

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

An Allentown company bought four Joe’s Kwik Marts gas stations in Lackawanna County and one in Luzerne County, according to documents filed last week.

According to property records, Dunne Manning Realty LP bought gas stations from LGP Realty Holdings LP, a subsidiary of Cross­America Partners LP, also based in Allentown, at the following locations:

n 1435 N. Washington Ave., Scranton, for $198,000.

n 620 N. Blakely St., Dunmore, for $2.2 million.

n 701 S. Keyser Ave., Scranton, for $902,000.

n 300 Meadow Ave., Scranton, for $870,100.

n 343 Route 315, Pittston Twp., for $349,685.

LGP remains owner of four Joe’s Kwik Marts in Wayne County, according to county records available online.

Documents filed with Lackawanna County show retired Allentown petroleum tycoon and former Cross­America CEO Joseph V. Topper Jr. as Dunne Manning’s manager.

Efforts to reach Topper, CrossAmerica and Dunne Manning were unsuccessful.

Securities and Exchange Commission filings show Topper is still a CrossAmerica board member. He’s also chairman of the board of trustees at Villanova University.

Topper built a gas empire in the Lehigh Valley starting with his family’s heating oil business in 1992. He formed Lehigh Gas Partners in 2012, according to The Morning Call newspaper.

Dunne Manning was founded in 2014, according to state records.

Also in 2014, San Antonio-based CST Brands Inc. acquired Lehigh Gas Partners, renamed it and kept Topper on as president and chief executive until his retirement in 2015.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter