Mary Ann and Gino Testa

On July 4th, 1953, Gino and Mary Ann were married in St. John’s Evangelical Church in Susquehanna, PA. by Father Joseph Kennedy. They have spent their entire lives in Susquehanna where they raised their three sons, Gene (Kim), Jerry (Nancy) and Joe (Cathy). Along with their three sons, they have three very special grandchildren who they are very proud of, Kristina Testa and Samantha and Zachary Testa.

Gino worked for Leva Bros. tile company for many years before going to work at Matis Lingerie factory with Mary Ann, where they worked together several more years.

Gino and Mary Ann are both very active in St. John’s Church. Gino is the oldest member of the Men’s club and Mary Ann is a member of the Altar and Rosary Society.

Gino spends his time playing golf, fishing and hunting. Mary Ann loves to read and shop and is known for keeping an immaculate house.

A family dinner will be held in honor of this special celebration.

After many weeks of rain, the Awesome Archers 4-H Club was finally able to have another meeting on Thursday, June 20th. 19 members attended. Several members attended Camp Brule on June 22. Helpful ideas were shared on how and what to pack for camp. This was the last meeting to bring collections for the can and bottle drive to raise money for club t-shirts. The club decided to have t-shirts made in a teal color.

Megan McVaugh shared information with the club about collections for the Food Bank in Montrose. She said there is a huge need for all food and nonfood items. Club members plan to bring donations to their July 11th meeting so a collection can be made for the Food Bank. There is also an opportunity for members to volunteer at the Food Bank by helping with a community garden. After finishing business the members took turns shooting.

On Friday, June 21st several members of the Awesome Archers 4-H Club volunteered to help set up for the Relay for Life Event held at the Montrose High School. Bridget Bendock, Mario Mollo, Maverick Naylor, Rileigh Naylor, Heile Pearson, Rilee Pearson, and Connor Roberts helped put together and set up signs around the high school track. They also helped set up tables for the cancer survivor’s dinner. Another way members helped was to blow up and tie balloons to decorate around the track. They passed out event schedules to participating campsites.

Connor Roberts of the Awesome Archers 4-H Club

One last job was to put together Luminaria in remembrance of loved ones lost to cancer or to honor those who are cancer survivors. Club members were glad to help with such an important cause. It is a good feeling to know that you are doing something to help others who have been through so much.

All libraries in Susquehanna County will be participating in a summer reading program. This year’s theme, “Dig Into Reading,” is all about the wonders under our feet - root vegetables, buried treasure, dinosaur bones, evidence of ancient civilizations and, of course, the critters.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every child participated in summer reading, and as a result, we raised literacy rates throughout the area? When children read only 16.9 minutes a day, they are exposed to 1,168,000 words a year and test in the 70th percentile. If we dig into reading just a little deeper and average 33.4 minutes a day, they devour a staggering 2,357,000 words a year. Together with the family, libraries can build a stronger future for our children by opening a book for minutes a day.

Nurturing a more literate society is one of five literacies in PA Forward, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Library Association. When leveraged properly, our libraries can help solve some of Pennsylvania’s biggest economic and social problems. More than 75% of jobs in Pennsylvania demand education beyond high school. And yet, nearly 120,000 Pennsylvania youths have dropped out of high school. For more information on how PA Forward impacts Pennsylvania visit www.paforward.org.

Reading is the root of every child’s success. We hope you dig into our summer reading fun. Visit www.susqcolibrary.org or call 570-278-1881 for a complete list of activities and events. Online registration is open now. Help us plant the seeds to learning with our summer reading program.

The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains extends congratulations to the sixty one students who will receive tuition assistance from college scholarships that are administered by The Foundation. Through affiliated School District Foundations more than $70,000 will be provided to graduates from high schools in Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming Counties.

Furthermore, The Community Foundation’s participation in the Pennsylvania PATH program will allow students who matriculate at Pennsylvania colleges to be nominated for potential matching funding. The Community Foundation thanks the donors who have established these permanent scholarships and wishes good luck to all the scholarship recipients on the next phase of their education. For more details about the scholarships and their recipients please visit the Scholarship section of The Community Foundation’s web site at www.community-foundation.org.

Penn State Extension and the Susquehanna County 4-H Program are very excited to welcome back Rachel Smarkusky as the 2013 4-H Summer Intern. Rachel, of Nicholson, is the daughter of Bill and Mary Smarkusky. She has just completed her sophomore year at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, where she is an Agribusiness major. She also has an Accounting minor.

Rachel Smarkusky

At DelVal, Rachel is involved in many different clubs and activities. She is a member of Dairy Society, Block and Bridle, Farm Bureau, and is even a member of Collegiate 4-H. This spring Rachel participated in the North East Student Affiliate (NESA) Contest with other DelVal students at Rutgers University. She also took part in DelVal’s A-Day where she exhibited a market steer that she fit and taught to lead. Furthermore, Rachel spends some of her college time working at Farm 3, the beef, sheep, and swine facilities, performing daily feeding and cleaning tasks for several animals.

Rachel has been involved in 4-H for numerous years. She was as 10 year 4-H member in the Elk Mountain Community 4-H Club in Susquehanna County and the Grow ‘Em and Show ‘Em Club in Wyoming County. Rachel’s brothers Matt and David, and sister, Brianna were and are still involved with 4-H. In 2010, Rachel served as the Wyoming County Dairy Princess.

Rachel was the 2012 4-H Summer Assistant, and has already been hard at work for the many different 4-H events she will help with this year. She has been doing inventory, making signs, attending meetings, and creating buttons for events. Be sure to look for Rachel at Camp Brule, Dairy Camp, Livestock Clinic, One-Day Camp, and of course, the Harford Fair! Welcome back Rachel.

Laurren Whitney has been selected to join 250 leaders representing many high schools from throughout central and northeast Pennsylvania at the Central Pennsylvania Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar (HOBY) from May 16-19, 2013 at Shippensburg University.

Representing Blue Ridge High School, New Milford is the daughter of Glen and Christina Whitney, New Milford, Pa.

For the past 55 years, HOBY Leadership Seminars have brought together select groups of high school sophomores to interact with groups of distinguished leaders in business, government, and education to discuss present and future issues in an enthusiastic learning environment.

HOBY was established by the veteran actor Hugh O’Brian following a visit to Africa where he was inspired by a meeting with Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Says O’Brian, “HOBY’s goal is to seek out, recognize, and develop outstanding leadership potential among our nation’s youth.”

Further information about HOBY activities and sponsor opportunities is available by visiting HOBY www.hoby.org or www.centralpahoby.org.

Mrs. Jami Hyndshaw, a sixth grade teacher at Susquehanna Community, offered a challenge to her sixth grade reading students this year. The district implemented a reading requirement for sixth graders of reading 15 minutes per night of non curriculum related material which had to be kept track of in a daily reading log. Students who completed the reading logs had an opportunity for an extrinsic prize for each quarter. Finally, any student who had turned in logs totaling 2,000 minutes of reading or more throughout the year was included in a drawing for either a Kindle Fire or a Nook Color E-Reader. Mrs. Hyndshaw received a grant from the Susquehanna Chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees (PASR) to fund the final prize.

Pictured are the Sixth graders from Mrs. Hyndshaw's class who met the goal of reading 2,000 minutes.

The long awaited moment finally arrived and the excited students assembled to find who would receive the coveted prize. Mrs. Hyndshaw explained that she had 34 reading students of which 6 had completed the goal of 2,000 minutes. There were other students who had been very close to the goal. The eager readers were Lia Heath, Adam Rockwell, Michael Braun, Rhiannon Potter, Robert Burns, and CJ Stone. The lucky reader whose name was drawn from the hat was Robert Burns. He reported that he really enjoyed reading bird books and there was a large one on his desk at that moment. Another student reported that he enjoyed “The Hunger Games.”

The Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees (PASR) congratulates all the sixth graders for attempting to do the required reading plus parents and teachers for encouraging them.

We have made it to our 2 year anniversary! Thanks to all of our supporters and the hard working folks behind the scenes. Special thanks this week to Girl Scout Troop 50177, New Milford for the food drive fund raisers! They collected 650 cans of pet food plus dry food. They did an amazing job. Thanks to Bridgewater Baptist Church for the help cleaning and walking dogs. Thanks also to the PA State Police for their compassion for people and pets at the scene of an accident. Our community rocks!

Sadie

Sadie is the pet of the week. She is 4 years old, spayed, housebroke and friendly. She needs a family's love. Could you share your life with a new companion?