User: rsheposh Time: 12-24-2012 20:11 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 12-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: news_f PageNo: 1 A
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The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
Firefighters lured into trap, shot
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2012
50¢
A fixture for years outside of the old Boston Store in Wilkes-Barre, sidewalk entrepreneur Peter Chaivanik touched the lives of many
For the love of Pete By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
PITTSTON – In the days when the city’s downtown was bustling with shoppers and stores lined Public Square and South Main Street, one businessman sat quietly waiting for customers to sample his wares. Peter Chaivanik, affectionately known as “Pencil Pete,” was a man familiar to everybody – “He was kind of an iconic figure in part of the the city at a fabric of time before the Americans Wilkeswith DisBarre.” abilities Act and mandatoFrank Henry ry accessibilOwner of Martz Trailways ity. Chaivanik had Cerebral Palsy. He couldn’t walk. His speech was difficult to understand. But he had a smile that could warm cold hearts, and whenever someone would drop some money in his cup, he would smile as he struggled to say “Thank you.” “He was part of the fabric of Wilkes-Barre,” said Frank Henry, owner of Martz Trailways. “He was not a vagrant – he was an institution and a positive one at that.” Henry and many others interviewed said the same thing about Chaivanik -- he never complained and he was an inspiration to all. “And when you gave him something, he felt good, but you felt better than he did by helping him out,” Henry said.
Man convicted for killing grandmother with a hammer in 1980 sets car, house on fire. By JOHN KEKIS Associated Press
WEBSTER, N.Y. — An ex-con gunned down two firefighters after luring them to his neighborhood by setting a car and a house ablaze early Monday, then took shots at police and committed suicide while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas. Police restricted access to the neighborhood, and offi“We are a cials said it was not clear whether there were othsafe com- er bodies in the seven houses left to burn. munity, The sister of the gunand to man, who lived with him, was unaccounted have a for. The gunman’s motragedy tive was unknown. befall us The gunman fired at the four firefighters like this is when they arrived just horshortly after 5:30 a.m. at rendous.” the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, Gerald town Police Chief GerPickering ald Pickering said. The Police chief first police officer who arrived chased the suspect and exchanged gunfire. He lay in wait outdoors for the firefighters’ arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said. “It does appear it was a trap,” he said. The gunman, William Spengler, had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where Monday’s attack happened, Pickering said at afternoon news conference. Spengler, 62, was paroled in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess weapons. Two firefighters, one of whom was also a town police lieutenant, died at the scene, and two others were hospitalized. An off-duty officer who was passing by was also injured.
PHOTO GREGG ELLMAN/FILE
Grew up in Pittston Chaivanik grew up on Lambert Street in Pittston, son of John and Anna Bauristick Chaivanik. He was of Czechoslovakian heritage. His father died years before his mother, who passed away in September 1961. Chaivanik was taken in by Joseph and Sonia Dulney,
Peter Chaivanik sells his pencils outside the South Main Street entrance to The Boston Store in WilkesBarre in the 1980s.
See PETE, Page 16A
See LURED, Page 5A
MERRY CHRISTMAS: Sharing our very favorite holiday memories
Hey, where did all the presents come from? By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – More than 50 years later, Jeanne Lynch Habblett still doesn’t know where the presents came from. With Christmas approaching in 1961and her father out of work, her mother was keenly aware the holiday was going to be lean. “We had seven kids in the house, three of them young,” Habblett said. “Fortunately, my sister and I both
INSIDE
A little girl restores the old holiday magic Editor’s note: In 1995, reporter Terrie MorganBesecker, then a staff writer for the Press Enterprise in Bloomsburg, wrote a column about the joy her then-17-month-old daughter, Alison, brought to her at Christmas time. Alison turned 18 this summer. The column is reprinted here as a reminder of the joy and meaning children bring to their parents at Christmas, even after they enter adulthood.
had part-time jobs and were able to purchase gifts for the little ones.” Habblett and her mother wrapped gifts for all the kids, decorated the tree and then went to bed. “I knew there were no gifts under the tree for me, but I understood the circumstances,” she said. “On Christmas morning I awoke to the squeals of the kids as they See GIFTS, Page 10A
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CARDBOARD TUBES from empty paper towel rolls, a mirror and lots of duct tape. They’re not the typical items you visualize when thinking of Christmas, but for me they represent my most treasured childhood memory of the holiday. It was from these meager supplies that my brother Stephen and I hatched a plan one
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TERRIE MORGANBESECKER OPINION year that would, once and for all, prove or disprove the existence of that jolly ol’ fat man our parents insisted was leaving presents under the tree each year. The year was 1969. At age 7, I had come to doubt that this See MAGIC, Page 10A
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User: rsheposh Time: 12-24-2012 20:05 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 12-25-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: weather PageNo: 16 A
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PAGE 16A TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2012
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THE TIMES LEADER
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SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Pete Chaivanik with the Dulneys on vacation.
Pete Chaivanik with his brother’s baby.
Pete Chaivanik with his siblings.
PETE Continued from Page 1A
neighbors on Lambert Street. They made Pete a part of their family. They would drive him to Wilkes-Barre in the morning and pick him up in the evening. The Dulneys’ son, Joseph, still lives on Lambert Street a few doors from the house in which he grew up. Dulney was born in 1961, the year Chaivanik, then 39, came to live with the family. “He was part of the family,” Dulney said. “He was a good guy.” Dulney said Pete loved to watch professional wrestling – his favorite was Chief Jay Strongbow. Occasionally Pete would take a drink of whiskey or beer, Dulney said. “Sometimes he would put a raw egg in his Four Roses,” he said. Dulney said Chaivanik would eat anything – never complaining about the food or anything else. He would go with the Dulney family wherever they went – Rocky Glen Park, Harveys Lake and Niagara CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER Falls to name a few destinations. “He was like a brother,” Dulney Joseph Dulney talks about his memories of growing up in the same house with Pete Chaivanik, the man who had cerebral palsy and would sit outside Boston Store in downtown Wilkes-Barre and sell pencils from his custom-built wagon. said. Self-sufficient entrepreneur Chaivanik had several wagons over the years. Dulney learned to make them and fashioned a few that were lighter and folded for easier transport. Even though Chaivanik couldn’t drive, he bought his own cars, Dulney said. He remembered a Monte Carlo that Chaivanik really liked. “He made money,” Dulney said. “He was self-sufficient; he
paid for everything he needed.” Chaivanik liked to go to the Barnesville beer festival in Schuylkill County, and he could be seen at the St. Ann’s Novena in Scranton and at the Bloomsburg Fair – always on the last night. “He never talked about his cerebral palsy,” Dulney said. “We overlooked it – it was never something he dwelled on, nor did we.” Dulney doesn’t know where Pete came up with the idea of sell-
ing pencils, but the concept worked. Most people, Dulney said, would drop money in Pete’s hat or cup and not take a pencil. John Aponick taught a business course at what was then Wilkes College in the 1960s and 1970s. In one of his classes he used Chaivanik as an example of entrepreneurship. “He went to work every day, he was a hard worker, he set up his own shop and he regularly market-
ed a product and didn’t rely on the government to subsidize what he was doing,” Aponick said. “That’s why he was an entrepreneur.” Scott Burnside, whose family owned 50 percent of The Boston Store during the time Chaivanik was selling pencils from his wagon, said it was clear that Pete was always welcome. “In those days there was an overhang where he could stay dry or seek shade,” Burnside
said. “People loved him. When I think of those days and the downtown, Pete is one of the first people I remember.” Lesson learned Several current employees of Boscov’s remember Chaivanik from his days in front of what was then Fowler Dick & Walker the Boston Store. They remember him more from their youth than from working at the store.
Jolynn Materewicz, who has worked at Boscov’s for 32 years, said Pete always had a positive attitude. “He gave you a lot of encouragement,” she said. “When I first saw him I was uneasy, but the more you were around him you realized he was a friendly guy and he inspired people to go forward.” Mark Todd, who was shopping at Boscov’s on Friday, remembered Chaivanik from years ago when he worked downtown. “He always said hello when we walked by,” Todd said. “He was out there in all kinds of weather and he always smiled.” Chuck Thomas has worked at the South Main Street store since 1966. He said that at first glance one might look at Pete and say “Awww, look at that poor guy.” But, Thomas said, his opinion changed after he got to know Pete. “He made me be thankful for what I had,” Thomas said. “I felt if he was sitting there selling his pencils, I should do something with my life.” Dulney said he and many others learned a lot from Pete. “There should be more people like him,” he said. When Chaivanik died in 1988 at age 66, Dulney said, many people came to the wake and funeral to pay their respects. “My mom had a good heart,” he said. “She made sure Pete was cared for.” Asked what lessons he learned from Chaivanik, Dulney had the perfect answer. “Be respectful of one another,” he said. “Never look down on anybody. If we all were that way, maybe the world would be a better place.”
Encounter with Pete changes little girl’s outlook on life Editor’s note: The following was submitted by Hilary Palencar of Nanticoke based on her memories of meeting Peter “Pencil Pete” Chaivanik.
I WAS THINKING ABOUT Wilkes-Barre in springtime of the good old days and downtown Wilkes-Barre as the greatest generation knew it. I and Baby Boom stragglers were fortunate enough to experience it before Tropical Storm Agnes wiped it out forever. It was a glorious May day when Pete Chaivanik made his presence known to my 6-yearold self. In my bouffant skirt,
TODAY
HIGH
Walter’s Shoe Store oxfords and that year’s Easter bonnet, I came to town on the bus with a mother who didn’t know how to drive. There in front of Fowler, Dick, and Walker, The Boston Store -smack-dab on the most prosperous block of the Valley – was plunked this twisted, drooling, palsied man. The nerve! How brazen, right in front of the Boston Store! At first sight, Pete was scary, so messy and scary. Then -- no! -- my mother made my sister and I drop a nickel in that ugly felt hat that collected his salary, and even say “hello” to him.
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WED
THU
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Oh, I didn’t want this. I was all dressed up for a day in the most glamorous city on earth. South Main Street, with plateglass windows filled with clothes that rich ladies wore and that my mother tried to emulate for us on her sewing machine, was a whole city-block of glamour, from The Boston Store to Blum’s to Lazarus to the Beverly and The Hollywood Shoppe. How could my mother do this? How could she ruin it by embarrassing me like this? Did I want one of those stupid pencils he drooled over? I snatched one with as tight and fake a smile as any mortal child could.
SUN
MON
High/low 36°/24° Normal high/low 35°/21° Record high 62° (1933) Record low -9° (1989)
LOW
23°
Snow from late morning on
Snow showers possible
Partly sunny
Snow showers possible
Rather cloudy, flurries
Partly sunny
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And then Pete, still a young man, looked at me. He smiled, too, and choked on, “Thank you! Have a nice day.” Laugh if you want, but a vain little miss saw God. I was so angry, walking away looking over my shoulder at that monstrous man with his need and poverty bared to the world, unashamed. Scandalous. Heartbreaking. I was angry more than anything because something wouldn’t let me turn away. I kept looking even after Pete struggled to maneuver his cart out of the noontime sun. Some-
THE POCONOS
Highs: 32-38. Lows: 16-22. Sunshine mixing with some clouds today. Increasing clouds tonight.
THE JERSEY SHORE
Poughkeepsie 40/19
New York City 43/31 Allentown 42/24 Philadelphia 45/32 Atlantic City 45/33
Highs: 42-48. Lows: 30-36. Cloudy this morning, then partly sunny this afternoon. Mostly cloudy tonight. Rain tomorrow.
THE FINGER LAKES
Highs: 29-35. Lows: 13-19. A snow shower in spots during the morning; otherwise, mostly cloudy today.
NEW YORK CITY
High: 43. Low: 31. Cloudy this morning with a little rain, then some sun this afternoon. Partly cloudy tonight.
PHILADELPHIA
High: 45. Low: 32. Clouds breaking for some sun today. Mostly cloudy tonight.
PRECIPITATION
24 hrs ending 7 p.m. 0.00" Month to date 3.05" Normal m-t-d 2.15" Year to date 37.22" Normal y-t-d 37.80"
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
Degree days are an indicator of energy needs. The more the total degree days, the more energy is necessary to heat.
Yesterday 35 Month to date 626 Season to date 1853 Last season to date 1726 Normal season to date 2101
RIVER LEVELS
In feet as of 7 a.m. Monday. Susquehanna Stage Chg Fld Stg Wilkes-Barre 12.43 -2.28 Towanda 7.21 -1.99
Lehigh
Bethlehem
Delaware
Port Jervis
22 16
3.80 -0.91
16
5.66 -0.87
18
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2012
110s 100s 90s 80s 70s 60s 50s 40s 30s 20s 10s 0s -0s -10s
thing, some force wouldn’t let me turn my back to him. Some voice whispered very quietly, in the voice a child’s mind heeds, “This is the truth about the world you will live in, vain little girl. I will never let you forget that in the midst of springtime and plate-glass windows full of pale lovely things, there’s a primary feeling that will obliterate everything else.”Pete was courage personified; he was, to me, a fitting knight of the Savior I would come to worship. But I was so angry that day for being introduced to God. My friendship with Pete
would grow through the years; memories of him in winter cold in front of Zayre’s, when South Main Street would no longer have him, or at places that took him on consignment, were bitter and eternal. Pete Chaivanik is an angel who left this Earth 25 years ago this July, on a broiling hot 1988 summer day. Fifty years older now, how I wish I could walk out of Boscov’s Department Store as the kettle-guard rings the Christmas bell and meet again that visitor from heaven. Sincerely, Hilary Palencar
WORLD CITIES
NATIONAL FORECAST
Seattle 41/36
Winnipeg 0/-16 Montreal 16/7
Billings 12/6
San Francisco 54/48
Denver 22/5
Los Angeles 65/49
Toronto 31/23
Minneapolis 14/5 Chicago 34/28
Detroit 35/27
New York 43/31 Washington 48/34
Kansas City 24/9 Atlanta 60/49
El Paso
51/31 showers t-storms Chihuahua fronts Houston rain 55/28 74/34 flurries cold Miami warm snow 80/71 Monterrey 83/41 ice stationary Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation today. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Summary: A major storm over Texas will bring significant snow to the southern Plains today while strong to severe storms erupt over the Deep South and southeastern Texas. A few snow showers will linger in the Northeast while rain and mountain snow spreads into the Northwest. Anchorage Atlanta Baltimore Boston Buffalo Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver
Today
28/18/sn 60/49/r 46/30/pc 37/29/sn 33/22/sf 57/47/r 34/28/sf 38/29/pc 51/23/r 22/5/sn
Wed
27/24/sn 54/31/r 44/37/i 37/34/c 31/26/sn 58/34/r 33/23/sn 36/30/sn 38/26/pc 34/13/pc
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Today
35/27/pc 80/69/sh 74/34/t 36/29/c 49/39/pc 65/49/pc 80/71/pc 29/24/sf 62/55/r 76/44/t
Wed
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Today
51/42/pc 31/12/sn 77/61/pc 60/44/s 39/26/sf 34/19/sf 38/26/c 54/48/r 41/36/r 48/34/pc
Wed
65/44/r 25/14/pc 79/46/t 64/42/pc 33/30/sn 32/25/pc 31/18/sn 55/44/r 45/34/r 44/40/i
Today Wed Amsterdam 48/42/r 44/42/sh Baghdad 65/52/r 68/47/s Beijing 17/4/s 22/7/pc Berlin 48/42/sh 45/35/sh Buenos Aires 79/57/t 75/59/pc Dublin 45/37/pc 45/36/r Frankfurt 50/44/r 47/41/sh Hong Kong 68/63/sh 69/64/pc Jerusalem 57/44/sh 58/45/pc London 48/39/sh 48/43/r Mexico City 76/43/s 73/43/pc Montreal 16/7/pc 17/14/pc Moscow 19/16/sn 34/31/sn Paris 54/40/r 49/47/pc Rio de Janeiro 94/78/s 95/77/s Riyadh 77/57/t 66/48/s Rome 61/51/pc 61/41/sh San Juan 85/73/pc 85/72/pc Tokyo 50/36/pc 46/30/s Warsaw 42/35/pc 40/32/pc Key: s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
SUN AND MOON
Today Wed Sunrise 7:28 a.m. 7:28 a.m. Sunset 4:40 p.m. 4:41 p.m. Moonrise 2:47 p.m. 4:57 a.m. Moonset 3:33 p.m. 5:49 a.m. Full Last New First
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