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The Times Leader timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE, PA
SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2011
DON CAREY PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER
ROSE LOPRESTO
LOTTIE ZIKO
STACIA OKO
TILLIE JAMES
VOICES OF THE AGES
Remembering the past and looking ahead after living for a century
$1.50
Judges will not run for full term They had said when appointed they would serve only the remainder of the term. By MATT HUGHES and JERRY LYNOTT mhughes@timesleader.com jlynott@timesleader.com
CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
ROSE ROSSI
“We have nothing else to do anyway,” said Rose Baiz Rossi, 101. “But I have a party to go to later today.” Rossi sat with two of her fellow residents of Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre – Father Harry Lewis, 99, and Anna Madeline Moyer, 99. “I’d give anything to go back,” Moyer said. “To be in my old neighborhood, my friends and family. If only I stayed young, I could be able to do all the things I never had time for.” They all worked hard – most of them left school early to help their large families put food on the table. And they did it without question; without protest. They did, as the saying goes, what they had to do.
By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
T
hey’ve lived for a century each but they don’t talk about the historical events that occurred during their lives. The members of this group like to remember family, friends and neighborhoods. They remember the hard work and
difficult times. None of them can say why they’ve lived so long, but they are thankful and look forward to every day ahead. Five area residents who are 100 years old and older – and two who will turn 100 this year – agreed to talk about their lives.
AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
See VOICES, Page 7A
TILLIE CAREY
Two judges who considered running for the office they agreed not to seek after serving out their temporary appointments said Saturday they will not be candidates for the Luzerne County bench this year. Judges Joseph Cosgrove and Joseph Van Jura separately announced their decisions not to run for a full 10year term for the Court of Common Pleas. They were among three nominees whose appointments came with agreements that they would serve only their Cosgrove terms. But Cosgrove and Van Jura had circulated nominating petitions and considered joining the list Van Jura of attorneys running to fill six vacancies in the court. The number of vacancies was one of the considerations for Cosgrove, he said in a prepared statement. “I recognize that the circumstances of our judiciary are considerably different now than they were at the time of my swearing-in,” said Cosgrove. He acknowledged that he explored a run for office, but added that he neither declared his candidacy nor formed a campaign committee. The 54-year-old Democrat See JUDGES, Page 2A
INSIDE: SNAPSHOTS OF OUR CENTENARIANS, PAGE 8A. VIDEO: GO TO www.timesleader.com
INSIDE A NEWS: Obituaries 10A B PEOPLE: Birthdays 5B C SPORTS: Outdoors 12C D BUSINESS: Mutuals 6D E VIEWS: Editorial 2E F ETC.: Puzzles 2F G CLASSIFIED
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INSIDE: The statements, Page 2A
Flood of 1936, which had a double crest, was area’s worst until Agnes But things didn’t work out Devastating event was last quite as planned for the Nantiflood to hit the area without a coke Street teenager as the water dike system in place. around his home began to rise. By TOM MOONEY For The Times Leader
Paul Dugan, 89, in his old neighborhood in Hanover Township where he lived as a boy during the 1936 flood. Dugan, who now lives in Kingston Township, was one of 40,700 people affected by the flood, but not one of the 15,000 who had to be rescued.
“I got the raft built and pulled it over by the back steps and jumped on it, and I pulled with the clothesline. But the clothesline broke and I went in. Fortunately it wasn’t too dangerous or anything because it was only about four feet deep.” Dugan, now 89 and a resident of Kingston Township, was one of thousands of Wyoming Valley people affected by the flood of 1936 – 75 years ago this month. The low-lying areas of Luzerne
When 14-year-old Paul Dugan heard talk about a possible flood, he decided there was just one thing to do – build a raft. “It took me about a week to make it,” said Dugan, who in March of 1936 was a resident of the Breslau section of Hanover Township. “I had lumber there because my dad stored lumber. He always did repair work on the house.” See 1936, Page 14A
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER