1954 – 64 YEARS AGO
Pittston City Council and Mayor Joseph Saporito were “engaged” in a review of operational costs with regard to the city’s 1955 proposed budget. In 1954, expenditures totaled $596,764.00 with “anticipated like income.” The budget provided for $92,435 for the Department of Public Affairs which included, police, parking meters, communication, city engineer and Bureau of Health, $30,545 for the Department of Accounts and Finance headed by Joseph Walsh. Council budgeted over $80,000 for Department of Public Safety and $177,793 for Department of Streets and Public Improvement. The Department of Parks and Recreation was allotted $8,362 which included the cost of maintenance of city hall and payment of employees. Other accounts provided for were $33,000 for redemption of bond issues, $4,530 for interest, $2,000 for Social Security payments, and $6,500 for compensation and insurance. According to the US Inflation Calculator, these budgeted items totaling $1,031,929 would equal $9,756,522 today.
Mrs. Orlando Biscontini, of West Pittston, was visiting St. Cecelia’s Cemetery in Exeter when she noticed an overturned candle had started a grass fire threatening to spread to gravesite decorations and flowers and shrubbery. Without hesitation, she stamped out the fire, saving the cemetery from costly damage.
1964 – 54 YEARS AGO
On Nov. 1, 1964, Pittston City Street Department workers Joe Suhocky, William Narbut, Mike Cappizzi, Jack Zalvonus, Joe Miller, Al Rheinschmidt, Joseph Hadakowski, Joe Connors, Leo Tighe, Tony Fabrizio, Leo Rovinski, Cal Hite, Phil Fullmer and Joe Wassil held their annual Christmas party. One would think this a bit early, but actually it was 11 months late. They were celebrating the 1963 holiday because the original party was cancelled due to heavy snow and conflicting work schedules. After a time, the party plans were forgotten. They planned to get together again in a few weeks to celebrate the ‘64 holiday season.
Joe Hood, veteran Democratic politician from the Fourth Ward of Pittston, could not remember a time when the Fourth Ward polling place was not located on North Main Street. In prior years, the polling place was located in St. Michael’s Greek Catholic Church on North Main but because of a church renovation project, the site had to be moved to the Sullivan Park Playground in the hill section of the ward.
Bonnie Ann Baird, of Wyoming, was elected the first president of the newly formed Wyoming Valley Junior Miss Sorority. She represented girls who, over the years, were finalists in the Wyoming Valley Junior Miss Contest sponsored by the West Side Junior Chamber of Commerce. Miss Baird and the winners of other such contests across the state went on to compete in the Miss Pennsylvania Junior Miss Pageant and, if chosen, advanced to the America Junior Miss Pageant. In 2010, the pageant name was changed to Distinguished Young Woman of America. The program gives young women a chance to win college scholarships and offers life skills training. According to the pageants website, the program has made over one billion dollars in scholarships available.
1969 – 49 YEARS AGO
Mrs. Carlton Stauffer, president of the West Pittston Women’s Club, announced that Mr. James Pietrangeli, deputy director of Keystone Job Corp Center for Women, would speak at the club’s next meeting. The club supported the Job Corp Center located in Drums as it assisted many underprivileged women to become self-supporting. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 established the Job Corps offering remedial education and job training. The act authorized the establishment of corps centers. By 1969, President Nixon mandated a restructuring of the Corps, leading to the closing of many centers across the country. The Job Corp Center in Drums offers a no-cost education and career technical training program that helps people ages 16 to 24.
1972 – 46 YEARS AGO
The Wyoming Area environmental class organized a paper recycling program to make students and teachers aware of the importance of recycling. Each student of the class was assigned to collect waste paper from classrooms during the week. Those who participated in the program were Jack Peppe, Rosemary Migliosi, Marcy Schiffman, Kathy Reilly, Dan Kepick, Ray Bjorheim, John Grochal, Dotty Martin, Lou Degnan and Paul Pugliese. Paper recycling began in Britain in 1921 upon the establishment of the British Waste Paper Association. Recycling campaigns were carried out in World War II, urging citizens to donate metals out of the sense of patriotism. In the 1970s, the focus on recycling increased due to rising energy costs.
1974 – 44 YEARS AGO
Ensign Walter “Skip” Stocknick, of West Pittston, graduate of the United States Naval Academy, was stationed at the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia with the Squadron VA-176 Attack Bomber Squadron, which flew the A-6 Intruder twin engine jets. He received training both in Yuma, Arizona and aboard the Franklin D. Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier. Known as a basketball and track star at Wyoming Area High School, Stocknick was set to attend flight school to become a Navy jet pilot. Most A-6 Intruders were shore based in South Vietnam at Chu Lai and Da Nang and in Nam Phong, Thailand.
1984 – 34 YEARS AGO
Pittston Area School District offered Creative Enrichment classes to give first-hand information to students on the political process. Special events gave the students a comprehensive look at the American system of government and its elections. John Denney of the Reagan-Bush headquarters and Jennifer Wintner of the Mondale-Ferraro headquarters visited the school to discuss the various facets of attending conventions, meeting candidates and debating issues facing the country. The students held a pre-election poll and staged a mini-mock debate. In 1984, the Presidential election was held on Nov. 6. Republican Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term, defeating Democrat and former U.S. vice president Walter Mondale. Reagan won 49 states and received 525 electoral votes to Mondale’s 13, making the election one of the biggest landslides in U.S. history. Mondale also made history that year by choosing as his running mate Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman selected by a major political party for its presidential ticket.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1842 — Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill.
1854 — Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrive in the Crimea.
1863 — From the main Confederate Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet‘s troops are sent northeast to besiege Knoxville.
1922 — The entrance to King Tut’s tomb is discovered.
1924 — Nellie Taylor Ross and Miriam Ferguson are elected the first and second women governors (Wyoming and Texas).
1946 — The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is established.
1952 — General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected 34th president of the United States.
1980 — Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th president of the United States.
2008 — Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is elected the 44th president of the United States, the first African-American to hold that position.
BORN ON THIS DAY
1879 — Will Rogers, American actor and writer
1916 — Walter Cronkite, reporter and news anchor for CBS News; dubbed “The Most Trusted Man in America”
1916 — John Basilone, US Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Pacific Theater of World War II
1916 — Ruth Handler, businesswoman, toy designer who co-founded Mattel with her husband and created the Barbie doll
1918 — Art Carney, actor; best known for playing Ed Norton, sidekick to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden on the TV series “The Honeymooners,” he received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in the film “Harry and Tonto”
1946 — Laura Welch Bush, wife of US President George W. Bush; she served as First Lady from 2001-2009, using her position to champion education and literacy.
1969 — Sean Combs, rapper, record producer, actor; at various times, used the stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy. He won three Grammys and two MTV Video Music Awards.
