Here Comes the Bride

Weddings 2022

Lauren Opsasnick and Edward Rogers

&Lauren Opsasnick Edward Rogers

Lauren Opsasnick met her future hus-

band, Edward Rogers, when she was in grad school at the University of

Michigan. Lauren is the daughter of Dr. Stephen and Margo Opsasnick of Scranton, and Edward, a native of Michigan, is the son of Lawrence and Josephine Rogers. After dating for over a year, the couple moved to Chicago where Lauren had secured a job. The couple became engaged in their apartment before the Christmas holidays. They had dinner reservations and plans to attend a Christmas lights show at the Chicago Zoo. However Eddie wasn’t able to wait until the evening so he ended up proposing prematurely. “He got down on one knee…it was a very sweet and special memory,” Lauren recalled. The moment involved a gift given to Eddie by his late grandmother with whom he had shared a very close bond. The pandemic postponed the couples’ wedding celebration plans but they were finally able to set a date for July 24, 2021.

The marriage ceremony took place at St. Peter’s Cathedral in

Scranton with some familiar faces from Lauren’s high school,

Scranton Prep. “Fr. A.J. Rizzo was the celebrant and gave an incredible homily filled with so many personal touches,”

Lauren said. In addition, Sheila Zeleniak, Lauren’s former basketball coach at Prep, was the service minister.

The couple’s wedding reception was held at the Glenmaura National Golf Club. “Our wedding was the first event that many people attended in over two years so we felt everyone would feel more comfortable with an outdoor setting. “The location worked out exquisitely, with Posh Floral doing elegant work. The couple had an eightpiece band from Philadelphia who played a great mix of music that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. “My parents surprised us with fireworks in the evening that just was the perfect highlight of a beautiful summer’s night celebration,” Lauren said. The couple currently resides in Michigan, where Lauren is back at the University of Michigan for her doctorate. She is currently employed as a statistician at Northwestern University. Lauren received an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Boston College. Eddie attended Michigan State for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. He works in financial consulting. The couple took a mini honeymoon to Lake Tahoe and have re-booked their originally planned honeymoon to Italy where they will now celebrate their one year anniversary.

The Wright Center’s North Pocono Practice

While driving in her

rural community, Amanda Turoni, DNP, CRNP, FNP-C, began noticing empty sites in Northeast Pennsylvania where doctor’s offices once stood and grew concerned about an apparent decline in the availability of nearby primary care.

Turoni, a board-certified nurse practitioner, soon began a quest, seeking a solution that would keep high-quality health care close at hand for her immediate neighbors and others in the North Pocono School District.

She dug into local demographics to demonstrate the community’s need. She talked with health care professionals and leaders of an area food pantry. She even surveyed families in the school district.

Turoni summarized her findings and presented them to the top executives at The Wright Center for Community Health – pitching a plan to launch a small practice about 12 miles southeast of downtown Scranton.

The Wright Center evaluated Turoni’s proposal and her passion to serve. She received the green light. “I want to help my community,” says Turoni, 29, who during her short career has pursued advanced nursing degrees, culminating in a Doctor of Nursing Practice. “I don’t want to tell a patient who is sick in the middle of winter that they need to drive to a clinic in Scranton or Jermyn.” The new clinic, located in a Covington Township building that formerly housed another medical practice, contains six exam rooms and a dedicated sick patient examination room with a separate entrance. Turoni, who will treat patients there four days per week, considers the expansion part of The Wright Center’s natural “branching out” to better serve the region’s residents, especially those in rural and underserved areas.

The North Pocono Practice is the ninth clinic operated by The Wright Center for Community Health, joining sites in Clarks Summit, Hawley, Jermyn, Kingston, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Each practice is open to new patients of all income levels.

“Our intent has been to establish primary care practices in locations where large numbers of residents previously had lacked access to high-quality, affordable, non-discriminatory care,” says Dr. Jignesh Sheth, The Wright Center’s chief medical officer. “Amanda’s proposal fit within our strategy and matched our mission.”

The Wright Center received designation in mid-2019 as a

Federally Qualified Health

Center Look-Alike, reflecting its steadfast commitment to serve vulnerable populations and eliminate common barriers to health care such as expense and transportation.

For certain residents in the North Pocono territory, Turoni says, the main obstacle to receiving timely care is a lack of locally based providers. “Many area residents have recently lost their primary care because physicians relocated outside the immediate area or are retiring,” she says. “So, the issue of accessibility is a big thing; if there’s not a doctor close to them, they’re not going to go. Yet they need the care.”

“I don’t want to tell a patient who is sick in the middle of winter that they need to drive to a clinic in Scranton or Jermyn.”

The new clinic supplies primary and preventive care services, covering the life span from pediatrics to geriatrics. It serves a patient population that especially can benefit from chronic care management of issues such as hypertension and diabetes.

Turoni envisions the clinic as a community hub, helping patients and non-patients alike. “If you want to establish care with us and become a patient who is seen here regularly, you can,” she says. “But if not, we can help you out in a pinch, too. We love our patients, but we’re not exclusive to them. If the broader community needs our assistance, we will respond.” Turoni, a Spring Brook Township resident and two-year employee of The Wright Center, previously worked in the emergency department of Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton. She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2019 from Misericordia University. The Taylor native is a 2011 graduate of Riverside High School, where she first exhibited a tendency to set a goal and methodically pursue it.

A former head cheerleader, she decided as a high school senior to invite all of the district’s past head cheerleaders, or “Miss Vikings,” to a season-ending dance recital. She scoured yearbooks, then contacted the women through mutual acquaintances and via Facebook, ultimately welcoming about a dozen women on stage, including grads from the early 1990s. Turoni showed a similar determination while researching and advocating for the viability of a North Pocono Practice. In this case, however, there was more on the line than school pride and nostalgia."The community needs it," she says. The new Wright Center for Community Health North Pocono Practice is located in the North Pocono 502 Professional Plaza at 260 Daleville Highway. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. M, T, Th and Fri. For appointments visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-591-5150. H

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Susquehanna Hometown Days

July 13, 14, 15 & 16 • Downtown, Erie Blvd.

Carnival provided by Huey’s Amusements 6 p.m. Nightly • Food, Fun & Music for Everyone

Wednesday, July 13 (Wristband Night) Live music by: “Carolina Moonlight” 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 (Wristband Night) Live music by: “Availables” 7 p.m. Friday, July15 Live music by: “The Look” 7 p.m. Parade 6 p.m.

Line-up at 6 p.m. Susquehanna High School • Trophies awarded to fire departments Money awarded to floats & walking groups 1st Place $100 • 2nd Place $50 • 3rd Place $25 Bands sponsored in part by Peoples Security Saturday, July 16 Live music by: “Tangerine Dreams” 7 p.m.

**8 a.m.- 5K Run/Walk @ Susquehanna Community High School Large Firework Display

Ad funded in part by Susquehanna County Room Tax Fund and the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau

Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary

Since 1980, the nearly 600-acre

grounds of the Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary have preserved the natural beauty and wildlife of

northeastern Pennsylvania. During the summer months, the tranquil Sanctuary gives life to the Wildflower Music Festival. This annual outdoor music festival brings the finest musicians to the area, performing classical, jazz, folk, bluegrass and chamber repertoires. There is no better place to be on a Saturday evening than under the majestic pines, listening to quality music while enjoying a picnic supper and glass of wine. Miles of well-maintained walking trails clear the mind and refresh the soul. In 1980, the DorflingerSuydam Wildlife Sanctuary, Inc., was formed to further natural history, conservation, artistic and cultural education and to serve the people as an agency for popular enlightenment, cultural improvement and scientific progress, recognizing through its programs the essential relationship among the natural, artistic and historic elements of the area. H

Bring a chair & a picnic!

WILDFLOWER MUSIC FESTIVAL

An outdoor festival located at the Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary, 55 Suydam Dr. Hawley, PA (just off of Long Ridge Road, White Mills, PA between Honesdale & Hawley) DAVID OSTWALD’S LOUIS ARMSTRONG ETERNITY BAND

Saturday, July 2 45 RPM

The Happiest Band on Earth! Saturday, July 9 COLEBROOK ROAD

Keystone State Bluegrass Saturday, July 16 B-STREET BAND

Tribute to “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen Saturday, July 23 THE IDOL KINGS

Tribute to Journey & John Mellencamp Thursday, July 28 VANESSA COLLIER

Blues and Soul... Saxophonist, Singer & Songwriter Phenom! Saturday, July 30 JOHN DENVER TRIBUTE BACK HOME AGAIN

Tom Becker, formerly of New Christy Minstrels

Saturday , August 6 TONY SANDS’ RAT PACK

Together Again! Saturday, August 13 $26 ADULTS / $13 CHILDREN Gate opens 5:00 pm -Concert begins 6:00 pm

IN THE EVENT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER, PERFORMANCES MAY BE IN THE AUDITORIUM OF THE WALLENPAUPACK HIGH SCHOOL, HAWLEY, PA (NO FOOD OR DRINK INSIDE) Order online www.wildflowermusic.org

Charge tickets by phone: 570-253-5500

Tickets can be purchased at the Dorflinger Glass Museum Gift Shop and on the evening of the performance at the gate.

TICKETS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE. PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.