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Abington The
MARCH 7, 2019
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AH teams are district champs See page 9.
T H E VO I C E O F T H E A B I N G T O N S
AN EDITION OF THE TIMES-TRIBUNE • FREE • WWW.ABINGTONSUBURBAN.COM
MEMORIES OF A MARINE
ELIZABETH BAUMEISTER Suburban Subplots
One weekend, two plays
JASon FARmER / STAFF PhoToGRAPhER
Tom Kreidler with Michael G. McLane who’s pointing at a photo at himself.
VFW members honor Marine killed in action in Vietnam BY CLAYTON OVER STAFF WRITER
Kreidler said. According to Kreidler and CLARKS SUMMIT — Inside McLane, Parker was a quiet VFW Post No. 7069, Tom person, but one you could Kreidler and Michael McLane depend on. remember David Parker. “Dave would not stand out in McLane opens a red-bound a crowd, but he was the kind of book to a page filled with the person you’d want to have your faces of young men in uniform. back,” McLane said. They are the men of Platoon Feb. 28 marked the 50th 210, each clad in the distinctive anniversary of Parker’s death dress blue in Vietnam. uniforms of Last Thursday, American Marines. His family and casualties in finger finds friends The Vietnam War gathered at Parker’s photo, directly under his grave for ■ 58, 220 deaths, including 40,934 service memMcLane’s on a memorial bers killed in action the page. service to mark ■ 3,147 Pennsylvanians Kreidler the occasion. died in the Vietnam War knew Parker Parker, a — National Archives before the 1967 graduate ■ 1,589 missing in action Marine Corps of Abington — Defense POW/MIA and recalls the Heights High Accounting Agency days of their School, never youth, when talked much he, Parker and other children to him about what led him to roamed the streets around the enlist in the Marine Corps back borough’s VFW. Parker came in January 1968, Kreidler said. from a big family and grew up McLane, an Olyphant on Greenwood Avenue. They native, Parker, Michael spent their days playing Little Shuemaker of Jessup and League and sandlot football, Russ Kaub of Scranton all
JASon FARmER / STAFF PhoToGRAPhER
LCpl. David Parker, who was killed in action in Vietnam. enlisted in the Marine Corps around the same time. Their recruiters arranged for them to attend boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina on the buddy program. While McLane and Shuemaker grew up together, they didn’t know Parker and
Kaub, but the four of them became fast friends. Being from the same area proved a comfort during boot camp and the four would often offer signs of acknowledgement to one another outside the watchful eyes of their drill instructors. Please see Marine, Page 11
JULIE JEFFERY MANWARREN | SUBURBAn LIFE
Life in the sky
During WWII and the years following, an influx of women entered the aviation. Born during aviation’s golden age, Nancy Bailey Bushko was one of 50 female students enrolled in the flight school at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri from 1949 – 51. In a field that had been dominated by men, Bushko joined the rise of women who were stepping up in aviation. In 1950, she was one of 500 women flight instructors in the world. “To be honest, I didn’t feel opposition from men in our department. They were very helpful. They were proud of us,” Bushko said. “But, we weren’t competitive. It was the men who were out of the Air Force getting the good jobs, and women weren’t going to be given any part of that. For a long time, the most they would let women do
was be a stewardess for the airline. But then, some women started private airports, teaching and different things like that.” Bushko flew in air shows doing aerobatic flying and won spot landing contests. Early in her career she worked with Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). As opportunities opened up for women in aviation, Bushko found her niche as a flight instructor, receiving her instructor’s rating in 1952. Raised in Glenburn Township, she worked at many area airports after college, including the Scranton Municipal Airport. During her time as a flight instructor, Bushko trained GI’s returning from WWII to become pilots. “One of my students was a GI who survived the Bataan Death March,” she said. “The GI’s were
Exuberance filled the stage Saturday evening at Clarks Summit University. I wouldn’t have blamed the cast members if they slowed down just a bit. After all, it was their final of three 80-minute public performances in the school’s spring production of “Charlotte’s Web.” But it was nothing short of terrific. (I hear that’s spelled “T, double-E, double-R, double-R, double-I, double-F, double-I, doubleC, C, C.”) And the actors and actresses were radiant. I choose these adjectives not just for their associations with the story, but because the descriptions fit. Naomi Muennich’s facial expressions and antics shaped her success as Wilbur the pig. It was easy to see she enjoyed the role. Emily Miller represented the childhood innocence, compassion and excitement of Fern Arable with every line. The Lewistown resident never seemed to slow down, even when she was standing still. Sylvia Chabala didn’t need eight legs – just a friendly but laidback demeanor – to beautifully portray the heroic spider for which the play is named. In fact, the entire cast stepped into their roles with vigor that brought the characters to life: Abigail Haines of Madisonville as Lurvy, Kristen Pontz of Lebanon as the sheep/lamb/announcer, Jimmy Carr of Randolph, New York as Homer Zuckerman, Clara Gensiak of Erie as Edith Zuckerman, Mark Mallecoccio of Erin, New York as John Arable, Mariah Fredenburg of Conklin, New York as Martha Arable, Hope Showers of Millerstown as the goose and uncle, Faith Vileniskis of New York City as Templeton the rat and Jack Simons of Cadillac, Michigan as Avery and the gander. At the end of the show, Jonathan Strayer, director, expressed pride in the entire cast and gave special recognition to the two senior members, Muennich, who is from Anchorage, Alaska, and Chabala, a Peckville resident, for their final theater performances as CSU students. The two will be missed next year. Please see Plays, Page 12
What’s inside Calendar ........................ 2 Contest .......................... 3
SUBmITTEd PhoTo
Nancy Bushko in the 1970’s with the Cherokee Piper she and her husband John owned for many years. remarkably dedicated students and wonderful to teach and work with.” For three years, she worked on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts at an airport managed by WASPs. The airport was owned by Nancy Harkness Love, who, with Amelia Earhart, founded the NinetyNines, Inc., International
Organization of Women Pilots. Bushko managed a fly-in coffee shop that delivered pancake batter to tourists who camped in their planes next to blueberry bushes and grills to cook on. “Our airport was parallel to the ocean,” she said. “It was an excellent fly-in vacation spot.” Bushko flew prominent
guests, like Katherine Cornell, James Cagney and Walter Cronkite in the 1950s while she worked there. In 1956 she married John Bushko, one of only three in his company to return from WWII. The Bushkos settled in the Abingtons and had three children: John, Todd and Ann. Please see Life, Page 10
Suburban Family ............. 3 Green Scene ................... 4 Churches ........................ 4 Libraries ......................... 5 Schools .......................... 5 Sports ........................ 7, 9
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