SmilesAckermanEditorial1

SUNDAY DISPATCH, SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2012

OUR OPINION

Ethnic pride is still good This weekend was one for the Irish.

There was plenty going on in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day including the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick banquet last night.

The fierce pride Greater Pittston people have for their European ethnic heritage is one of the many unique things about our area.

Where else but here could you ask someone, “what are you?” and have them know what the questions means.

But ethnic heritage ain’t what it used to be.

As generations pass, intermarriage and modernity blur the distinctions and break the connections that made us proudly say “I’m Irish,” “I’m Italian,” “I’m Polish,” “I’m Czech” or Slovak or Russian or Ukrainian or Lithuanian, etc.

Of course, identifying ourselves by our ethnicity wasn’t all good. Ethnic groups were discriminated against and they discriminated against each other. The earliest generations lived in their own little enclaves. Convinced of their own superiority, they discouraged intermingling and forbade intermarrying.

But the intermingling of cultures and the intermarrying of ethnic groups was inevitable and it is what made America, America and Americans, Americans and in that we are unique in the world.

It is said that in 50 years European-derived Caucasian Americans will be a minority in this country. It’s described as “the browning of America.”

That’s good, too. As races intermingle and intermarry, America and Americans will become more unique.

The hope is that one day there will be no such thing as minorities in America, no such thing as hyphenated Americans That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hang on to the best of our ethnic traditions.

Keep the Friendly Sons, the IACC, the Polish Falcons and the Lithuanian Clubs going. Raise a “hear, hear” with an Irish stoudt, pass the pasta with a glass of red wine, dance a polka, put on an embroidered folk dress, and eat a wurst.

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West Pittston Tomorrow West Pittston Tomorrow is meeting tomorrow at St. Cecilia’s in Exeter at 7 p.m..

The group is open to ideas for flood recovery in the Garden Village.

Input is appreciated.

G R E AT E R P I T T S T O N I M A G E

Just what is it?

This unusual image captured by Dispatch photographer Bill Tarutis may seem confusing at first. Just what is it? One may ask.

Well, it is the railroad bridge that stretches across the Susquehanna River between West Pittston and Duryea. The photo shows the debris from September’s flood that still clings to the bridge.

The shot was taken from Susquehanna Avenue in West Pittston.

YOUR OPINION

SJD parents ask school board to keep Harding school open Is it us the parents, or are we missing something here? The Wyoming Area School District, its families and children just went through one of the most horrific natural disasters with the flood during the 2011 school year. Many families and children are still displaced, and families are trying to figure out when they will return to their own home. The emotional distress and impact on these children is hard enough.

So with all of this going on, the board in its infinite wisdom feels the need to throw a little salt in a wound that’s not even closed. Now the board will be voting to close a school which according to the rumors is already a done deal.

Why in the world, especially now, would they close a school within the district and move to centers all in the same year? It makes no sense at all.

You are asking the children and their families, not just those

affected by the closing of Sarah J. Dymond to again adapt to a change in schools, teachers, organization and community structure. This decision you make will affect the entire district, community, and the children.

If you as a board were truly looking out for the best interest of the students and their families within our district and community, you should reconsider closing any school. Have a little compassion and common sense here. Not everything is about money, or in this case is it?

So again, to the school board, we urge you to look at all options on the table again to make informed decisions for the children and WA taxpayers.

Concerned parents: Rhea Schutter, Jim and Nicole Gashi, John and Tara Bonin

SUNDAY DISPATCH, SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012

OUR OPINION

Wonderful benefit today Please stop by the fourth Annual Joseph F. Coyne III Memorial Tournament today, Sunday, May 20, at the Exeter Little League Fields located behind St. Cecilia’s Church on Wyoming Avenue.

It starts at 8:45 a.m. and runs most of the day.

We urge folks to go because the tourney benefits 5-year-old Faith Stoshak. Faith is the daughter of Andy and Danielle Stoshak of West Wyoming.

Faith was diagnosed back in the summer of 2011 with Acute lymphocytic.

Commonly called acute childhood leukemia, it is cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Faith’s chemotherapy treatments are being increased every week. This diagnosis has really turned the family’s world upside down, including that of Faith’s twin sister, Tiffany.

The local community can support Faith by coming to the tourney to donate, visit the food concession or buy raffle tickets.

The tourney is named for former Mayor Joseph F. Coyne III and organized by his granddaughter current mayor Cassandra Coleman.

Coyne loved baseball and spent many hours on the Exeter field umpiring.

Over the past three years the tourney has raised more than $16,000 for three local families in need.

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Downtown is shaping up Accuse us of being cheerleaders for downtown Pittston and we’ll plead guilty.

Today there are two more stories about happenings downtown.

Two businesses are coming, Dempsey’s Fashionable Laundry and the UFCW credit union.

Dempsey’s is taking over an old Main Street storefront, while UFCW is building a new office from the ground up.

Then there is the artist painting wreaths on downtown doors. It’s a small touch, but part of the whole package.

High school students are helping out, too. The Pittston Area National Honor Society donated $650 to the city for flowers to be planted downtown.

Jim Norris, the downtown volunteer landscaper and retired PA teacher, will do the actual planting.

YOUR OPINION Letter carriers grateful for food drive support We would like to thank all of the families and individuals who contributed to the letter carriers food drive last Saturday, May 12.

We received approximately 28,000 pounds of food, which will greatly assist us in meeting the needs of individuals we serve daily throughout the year.

This drive would never be possible without the assistance of the volunteers who worked with us to separate and properly sort and store all we received by the end of the day.

The drive started at 9:30 a.m. and we finished sorting at 7 p.m.

The 100 plus volunteers gave nearly 450 hours and came from: Saint Barbara’s Catholic Church The United Methodist Church in West Pittston The First United Presbyterian Church in West Pittston The Second Presbyterian Church in Pittston The Verizon Bell Pioneers Scout Troops 285, Duryea, and their Cub Scout Troop and

Troop 352 West Pittston Pittston Area’s Stand Tall Against Alcohol and Drugs United Way of Wyoming Valley IBEW local 163 Teamsters, Local 401 United Steel Workers Local 15253 King’s College Masonic Valley Lodge 499 Order of the Odd Fellows National Slovak Society Leaf 75.

This shows just how much community support exists in the Greater Pittston Area and how we care for each other.

Thank you.

Anthony Dombroski Drive Volunteer Coordinator

Appreciate help with School Wide Positive Behavior program We would like to take this time to express our appreciation to those who have helped the School Wide Positive Behavior Program to be so successful.

This program was given the support from the student body who embraced the concept of improving behavior and respect in our schools.

Patrick Heck, Bryan Cumbo, Carter Kusakavitch, Megan Wysocki, Kelly Sypulski, Nicole Wright and Morgan Tarnalicki are some of the dedicated students who gave up their time to support the program.

We would like to commend the entire 7th and 8th grade for their participation in this motivational program.

We deeply appreciate the support of Lindo Sabatini. His continued generosity in support of our school and community enabled us to reward children. He generously provided pizza for reward parties, which the students greatly enjoyed.

We feel honored to work with students who through their commitment to school pride show us what makes Wyoming Area a leading school district.

Sincerely Ashley Aritz Ryan Kennedy School Wide Positive Behavior Middle School Leaders

SUNDAY DISPATCH, SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012 PAGE 14

OUR OPINION

If he were carpenter Let’s say a carpenter gets in trouble with the law. He gets arrested, admits his crime, apologizes to those he let down and serves his time.

Now let’s say he gets out on parole or probation. A condition of his parole is that he must have a job. Well, what’s he supposed to do, be a cook? He’s a trained and experienced carpenter, so he goes back to carpentry and keeps his nose clean.

He gets his second chance. That’s the American way isn’t it?

Well, yes, unless, to hear some people tell it, your name is Ross Scarantino.

If you are Ross Scarantino you are trained and experienced in public education, but now that you have served your time and are on parole, according to some, you should be a pariah to other men and women in public education.

School board members, educators, administrators must shun you like a leper or be castigated as criminals themselves.

Really?

Now, we’re not saying that Scarantino should work for a school district again, but education is what he knows so we aren’t surprised to hear reports that he is working for a private company that sells an elementary literacy program.

But we are surprised to hear reports that at least one school superintendent said his school won’t buy a program from a private company that employs Ross Scarantino.

That makes no sense to us. If the program is good and worth the money, then it is those things that matter not who is selling it.

We wonder if that super would pass on hiring an trained and experienced carpenter because of something the carpenter did in his past and atoned for.

Scarantino’s crimes were despicable, but they were about money, not about textbooks and classrooms.

Now that he must work, why wouldn’t he look for work in the field he knows?

Maybe he’s handy, we don’t know, but he’s no carpenter, he’s an educator.

And he deserves his second chance, just like the carpenter or anyone else.

By the way, we might add, unlike some of the officials around here arrested for corruption, Scarantino took his medicine like a man.

He pled guilty, he apologized, he blamed no one but himself, he served his time.

Now it’s back to work.

YOUR OPINION

Valenti says he owes Jack Smiles an apology Inspiration!

Plain and simple, when Barack Obama took office three and a half years ago, what I thought this country needed was someone to climb on top of that soap box and inspire us.

Cuz, “Ain’t that America” as John Mellancamp so passionately sings.

Yes, I was sucked in.

Sucked in by his inspiration of “yes we can.”

God, just watch this video of his inauguration and you almost get sucked in again.

Well, I have a confession and an apology to make this week.

First, as many of you know, I lean right with my political views and have been a registered Republican all my life.

Well, four years ago during the primary, I switched to Democrat.

I switched for two reasons.

One, I wanted to participate in a contested presidential primary which Pennsylvania was never really a factor in past elections.

Two, realizing that a Democrat would most likely win the White House, the thoughts of another Clinton in the White

House kinda nauseated me. Looking back, Hillary is like Ronald Reagan compared to Obama So, with that, I voted and supported Barack Obama. In fact, I was writing for the Dispatch at the time and expressed my thoughts in one of my columns.

During one of my visits to Dispatch, Associate Editor Jack Smiles looked at me like I had three heads cuz he was well aware of my conservative views.

“Why?” he asked.

“Inspiration!” I replied. “And, we need someone to inspire this great country in the right direction.”

“But he’s a socialist,” Jack responded.

“No Jack,” I quipped back, “he’s inspirational.”

Well, Obama’s inspiration was anything but in the “right” direction. It was in the “left” direction, far left direction.

So, yes, I owe Jack Smiles and apology.

Jack, please forgive me for being suckered in. You were “right” and I was wrong. I accept full responsibility for my momentary lapse of reason.

Joe Valenti

Exeter mayor thankful for tournament success I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those that helped make the Fourth Annual Joseph F. Coyne III Memorial Tournament a success.

With the help of all those who dedicated their time, and those who helped donate, we were able to raise over $6,000 for the Stoshak Family and 5-year-old Faith. This year brings our four year total to over $22,000 that went to help local families with sick children.

When I had the idea to start this event, I never imagined it

would become as successful as it has, and I truly cannot express my appreciation enough to all those involved.

I would like to especially thank Lindo Sabatini, our main sponsor the past four years, and the staff at Sabatini’s Pizza for the wonderful job they do each year.

I want to also congratulate Cuz’s Bar, the winners of the tournament, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone next year.

Mayor Cassandra Coleman