WEST PITTSTON — When members of the selection committee for the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival scoured the borough looking for an appropriate grand marshal for the annual event, they didn’t have to look too far when they chose Peter Sidari, Sr.
“We try to find someone from our community that is community minded,” said Ralph Salerno, of the Cherry Blossom Committee. “A lot of people may not know what Pete does with his foundation he started for his daughter.”
Salerno referred to Dr. Jen’s Hope, a foundation in the name of Pete and Patty Sidari’s late daughter Dr. Jennifer Sidari who passed away May 29, 2013 after a brief illness.
Dr. Sidari was days away from beginning her medical residency at Geisinger Hospital, Danville, when she died.
Shortly after Jen’s passing, the Sidari family, including son Peter Jr. and daughter Victoria, began a quest to raise money to help future medical students and members of the community in need.
“Pete’s the type of guy that doesn’t boast about what he does,” Salerno said. “That’s one of the reasons why we chose Pete. With the foundation, they’ve donated to the Moose Lodge, the Scouts, the Cherry Blossom Festival and many other charities that you are not aware of.”
“I was somewhat surprised … actually flabbergasted because we never expected anything like that,” Sidari said.
Sidari, 62, won’t take full credit for the foundation or its success.
“The entire family — that’s Patty, of course, Peter and Vicky and myself — we all kick in on just about everything we do,” Sidari said. “We’re doing it because of Jen’s memory, of course, trying in part to do what she would be doing as a doctor. With Jen, it was all about giving back.”
According to Sidari, Jen was extremely proud to be from West Pittston and Northeast Pennsylvania. She always gave credit to the schools, the people who surrounded her, and her hometown for giving back and being helpful.
“To date, including scholarships, we’ve returned over $500,000 to local scholarships and charities,” Sidari proudly admitted. “The charities that we try to support more than others are the charities that pertain primarily to children and women’s causes because Jen was going to be a pediatrician and would have been doing that anyway.”
Sidari added if someone in need were in dire straits, they would try to help, as well.
Dr. Jen’s Hope Foundation’s mission statement is: “Modeled after the life and work of Jennifer A. Sidari, M.D., the Foundation aims to support local efforts, humanitarian causes, educational endeavors, and women’s and children’s needs through collaboration, charitable giving, and independent projects.”
As for the foundation, Sidari believes it has a long future.
“We’re transitioning Peter and Vicky into the lead positions in the foundation,” Sidari said. “They’re going to take over and we hope, in some form, it carries on well into the future.”
Sidari is a retired broadcasting engineer of 35 years, having started his career as an intern at WNEP-TV in the ’80s. He soon gained a full-time job with NEP Production, a broadcast production company subcontracted by ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and other networks, eventually becoming the largest in the world.
As a result of his job, Sidari was able to travel all over the world being a part of many major events like Super Bowls, World Series, NBA championships, the Olympics, Emmy Awards, Oscars Awards, Tony Awards, and Broadway plays, to name a few.
“I was traveling 265 days a year on average, so Patty, in effect, and I can’t give her enough credit, she was a single mother for a major part of the year,” Sidari said. “When people say the kids turned out so great, it’s credit to Patty, the people in the neighborhoods and the town that supported us.”
Regarding the duties of the Cherry Blossom Grand Marshal, Sidari said, “It will be a blur and it will be nice to be a part of it. West Pittston has helped us tremendously the way everyone got together after the flood of 2011 and it’s nice to give back.”
