With an extremely busy week with holiday activities, I thought I would hold off writing this column as late as possible, which is Friday evening.
Sometimes and it’s rare, I may pen the column midweek and not worry about pushing to the very end with having to write other articles and getting photo packages ready for Sunday’s edition.
Christmas time has always been busy in the past, and it’s always been a fun time of the year. There is the shopping, the parties, decorating and more shopping and more parties.
It’s not always a happy time and this holiday season we will try to put on our best face in the midst of losing our buddy Dave Galli – a Pittston Area legend.
Legend has been the most common term all over social media after the word of his death was known.
I looked at Dave like an institution at Pittston Area, after all, he’s been employed there for decades, he had become a part of the furniture.
There was never a time when I stepped on the high school campus and not see Dave.
HI TONE! He’d say in that gruff toned voice of his. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TONE?
Of course, I typed in capital letters indicating that Dave was a bit on the loud side, but that was okay, that was him.
Early on, he just knew I was the guy that took photos and worked at the Sunday Dispatch, but over time, it was fun to get to know him.
Once he knew my name, I knew I was in.
WHAT’S NEW, TONE?
Seeing Dave on the sideline of every Patriot football game was comforting to know, after all, he was the Director of Football Operations.
He had been with the program since the fall of 1983 helping in any way with coaches and the team. He was everything about Patriot football.
In his later years, Dave was given a golf cart to use on campus and use it he did.
He no longer participated on the sideline with his clipboard, but instead, he was parked in the end zone in his cart and usually, you could find someone stopping by to say hello, including myself.
I know he was particularly close to Pittston Area Vice Superintendent John Haas.
John really did look after Dave all the time. If the Patriots were in basketball playoffs, John took Dave along for the ride.
As a matter of fact, Dave had a great relationship with the Superintendent Kevin Booth.
Dave was like one of the top brass in the district and everyone made way for him.
What I loved seeing at Pittston Area was how Dave was treated with respect from administration to staff to faculty and especially the students.
Dave, ever the Patriots biggest supporter, would attend home basketball games. He’d sit near the entrance to the gym and when I’d shoot a game there, I’d hear, “TONE, I CAN’T SEE THE GAME!”
So when Dave spoke, everybody listened, including the press.
On Oct. 3 2014, Pittston Area had a big night planned with homecoming at halftime of the game and prior to the game; I covered the naming of the roadway at the high school campus, Galli Way.
He was all dressed up, clean-shaven and was on cloud 9 that day.
The event drew a crowd from the football team, cheer squad, family and friends.
Dave’s good friend John Haas was the MC for the ceremony and aided Dave in removing the shroud from the sign for the unveiling.
I think for me that was when I really got to know Dave better and what he meant to Pittston Area.
It was great knowing Dave for a good part of the last decade, and I always drew a smile when he could shout out my name. HI, TONE!
As I look through pages and pages of posts on Facebook, the acknowledgement of Dave’s passing keep pouring in. The Pittston Area community is deep in sadness. Things won’t be the same at Pittston Area High School and there will never be another Dave Galli.
English satirist Terry Pratchett said, “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.” I believe Dave made enough ripples to last a few generations.
Dave will be missed not by a few, but by all, he was just 58 years old.
This past Thursday evening, West Pittston Police Chief Mike Turner was in a very serious head on collision on Rt. 11 at the Midway Shopping Center.
Mike suffered some broken bones including a nasty hit to the head and the driver in the other vehicle lost his life.
It’s unclear on the how and why on the accident, and I’m sure that will all become clear in the days ahead. I know weather conditions were terrible that evening and that may have contributed to the incident.
Mike has been a great chief of police in the Garden Village, and we hope he has a speedy recovery.
The Wyoming Area Regional Police Department will be getting off the ground on Jan. 1 and Mike will play an important roll in the new department.
The entire community on the west side is pulling for Mike and that says a lot about the man.
Quote of the week
“’Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that on a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” – Alice Walker
Thought of the week
“The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it’s been broken into a million pieces.” – Robert James Waller
Bumper stick
“Where there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Ghandi
