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Barry Kaplan the guest of honor at charity roast
Around Town
School News
September 3, 2015
Feeling the Heat
ON THE INSIDE The lastest happenings in our area Page 2
SUBURBAN
by Tucker Hottes
SPECIAL TO THE SUBURBAN
He’s typically seen popping up around town, bouncing between board meetings and lurking at Everything Natural — but Wednesday, Sept. 9, Barry Kaplan will be in the hot seat at Glen Oak Country Club. The roast of Barry Kaplan is a fundraiser for the Abington Business and Professional Association, with $50 per person tickets benefitting the organization. Cocktail hour for the roast begins at 6 p.m. with a cash bar, dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the roast to follow. “We always need money for fundraisers, and for different organizations, so we came up with the idea to do this roast of someone,” said ABPA board member Diane Calabro. “Doing a roast is actually a compliment; it’s a positive thing, nothing negative. So we figured who in the town would be best, and we thought of Barry Kaplan, because he’s such a community-oriented person and always a giver.” Previous fundraising events for the ABPA included “Men in Black” — a male fashion show featuring tuxedos from Sarno and Sons. “After a few years, the crowd started to dwindle, so we decided we needed something new and fresh,” said Calabro. Once the board decided on the idea of a roast, Calabro said Kaplan didn’t have much of a choice. “Of course, I know him on a personal level and everything,” she said. “So I said ‘Barry, guess what? We’re roasting you.’ And he said, ‘You’re kidding me!’ I said no, and that we wouldn’t take no for an answer. So we got some of his buddies to be the roasters, we’ve got a grand roaster, friends, family, and of course people like the mayor of Clarks Summit. There are so many people participating in this, everybody has come forward.” Head roaster Frank Santoriello will officiate the proceedings, and will be joined by fellow roasters Marvin Kaplan, Chris Griffing and Sid Kuvulich. According to Kaplan, it was a complete surprise, but something he’s happy to do for the community.
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“I knew nothing about what they were planning,” he said. “But one day, I go to a board meeting, and they said ‘Look, we’ve got a different thing we want to do. Barry, how about it? We’d like to roast you.’ And me, the hapless fool, ever-willing to work for a good cause, didn’t think about it and said yes. Until I got home, and my wife said ‘What are you, nuts?’ Of course, by then I was already toast — they were already cooking
The roastee himself, Barry Kaplan.
things up for me.” It seems the roasting has already begun, as roast committee members have embellished rumors regarding Kaplan’s future since putting Everything Natural up for sale. “I hear that someone on the roast committee has been telling people that I’m retiring to Florida,” he said. “I think it’s just another one of those things where they’re feeding some lies as part of the roast. The store is on the market for sale, yes that’s true, however I’m still an active realtor with Classic Properties. I have no intention of leaving that, nor do I have any intention of leaving northeast Pennsylvania and my community involvement. I think it’s probably more accurate to say that once the store has been sold and I’m actually completely out of it, then I’ll be working ‘only’ full-time instead of like the maniac that I’ve been all these years.”
Kaplan said he’s looking forward to seeing new ownership take Everything Natural into the future. Though there is still plenty of vision for the store, he said it’s time to let someone new follow through on the long-term plans. “We do, of course, want to see this continue, we’re a community resource,” he said. “Most people tell us (to our faces, at least!) that they love us, and people vote with their dollars, so we know that people appreciate us. We just want to make sure it continues on for many years to come.” It’s not quite time to step away, though, and Kaplan said it’s important to him that the Everything Natural winds up in the right hands. “For one thing, we’re still here — nobody has stepped forward at this point, so we’re still here every day and loving it,” he said. “That’s why we announced when we announced, so that we could have the leisure of making sure that we find the right person and the right person finds us. When the time comes, I’ll be able to just jump the counter and shop here instead and enjoy that.” In the meantime, though, Kaplan will have to endure the good-natured antics of the roast committee. “I have been questioning my sanity a bit, and now I gather there will be up to 200 individuals who will make sure I’m questioning it for some time to come,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the evening with a little bit of fear, but mostly in anticipation of a lot of laughs. I think it’s going to be very funny. I don’t know what the committee has in store for me, but I know they are relishing the thought and having some fun with it. And my wife, God bless her soul, did consent to come.” For someone who’s known for his big, friendly smile, Kaplan said he’s still a little anxious about being in the spotlight for the roast. “I’m not used to being the focal point, the center of attention,” he said. “I’ve had to do plenty of public speaking and addressing groups over the years, but that’s still different. This is a little less comfortable because I’m the center of attention, and that’s a different place for me — it’s going to be interesting, I’m sure.”