Confusion discourages voters

Just as the rally to protest the state’s voter ID Law that has been wending its way through the courts was about to get underway, Allentown NAACP executive Linda Renick got the word over her cellphone that Governor Tom Corbett had withdrawn the state’s appeal of Pennsylvania’s voter ID law. This might have been the occasion for jubilation among the small group assembled—there were no regular citizens attending the May 8 rally on Payrow Plaza at the intersection of North New Street and East Church Street at Bethlehem City Hall. Pedestrian traffic was sparse and none stopped to hear what was going on. Motorcycles and buses occasionally drowned out the speaker’s voices. But Renick’s news brought only smiles from rally leaders; no congratulatory hugs or hi-fives. Buried in the news of a tactical victory was the strategic intent of the Governor and the Republican Pennsylvania state legislature to rewrite the law to get around Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley’s objections. McGinley issued an order on January 17, 2014 permanently blocking the controversial photo identification law; Corbitt dropped the state’s appeal of that decision citing the expense of continuing. Corbitt reportedly said he would work with the legislature to develop a law that would survive legal challenges. At the beginning of Pennsylvania’s defense of PA’s voter ID law (which proponents touted as necessary to prevent voter fraud) the state stipulated or admitted that it had no specific cases of voter fraud to bring before the court. At least one Democratic political leader was quick to support Corbitt’s decision. U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) said, “I’m pleased that Governor Corbett has agreed to forego further appeals of the current Voter ID proposal. I called on Governor Corbett to drop his Administration’s appeal because implementing this law would have prevented eligible Pennsylvanians from exercising their right to vote. Make no mistake, Voter ID cannot be retooled or tweaked in a way that would make it fair to those who would be denied access to the ballot. Voter ID is a scheme whose very premise is flawed.” National Republican leaders kept quiet about the decision. Neither Representative Charlie Dent’s (R- PA) nor Senator Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) website’s had statements as of May 11 regarding Corbett’s decision to drop the appeal the law. The attendees were mostly from the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP led by Esther Lee and from the Allentown Chapter of the NAACP led by Dan Bosket with a few people from Lepoco (Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern) Peace Center and other supporters. Walt Garvin the Chair of the Northampton County Democratic Committee also attended. “Confusion discourages voters,” said Nancy Tate of Lepoco. “Our country cries out for more justice and more access for all citizens in the election and governing process. We cannot abide the cynicism, distortions, and chicanery that result when dollars and those who toss around millions, have so much more power to determine the outcome of elections than do average people.” Tate also decried the gerrymandering that carves out political bases that effectively guarantee that incumbent politicians stay in office. “Locally, we know all too well how voting districts are distorted by gerrymandering,” she said. For example, U. S. Representative Charlie Dent’s (R-PA) 15th Congressional District stretches in long line along I-78 from Hersey near Harrisburg to the Delaware River south of Easton.

The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice” said Reverend Gracher Selby, the Pastor of St. John A. M. E. Zion Church in ceremonies honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Selby was quoting King’s speech he made in 1964 King when he delivered the Baccalaureate sermon at the commencement exercises for Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. It was King’s restatement of a metaphor with a long history of being used by other leaders, beginning with Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister who called for the abolition of slavery. Selby spoke to a crowd of adults and children at Moravian College on January 19 in the Haupert Union Building. The event was presided over by Tomacene Nickens, the Vice President of the Bethlehem NAACP. Nickens is a retired Bethlehem Area School District teacher. Rita Johnson attended, bringing her Sunday School Class from St. John’s A. M. E. Zion Church. Children from the church’s youth choir sang for the occasion, accompanied by pianist and artist Jessica L. Lee. “It’s not enough to have a day off,” Reverend Selby continued. “We need to do something!” Selby recalled important dates from the history of slavery and the struggle for civil rights. “2013 was a year of significant anniversaries in which we put our hands on that arc,” said Selby in her sonorous voice that held even the children’s attention. January 1, 18 63—the Emancipation Proclamation; March 1963—the March on Washington; January 21, 2013—the second inauguration of the first African-American President—all dates that stand “as milestone moments in the grand sweep of American history,” said Selby. She said the Civil Rights movement began 400 years ago “when the first slave said, ‘I ain’t do’n this.’” She drew a parallel between the Israelites’ fears of entering the Promised Land with modern believer’s hesitation to “keep trusting God to bring us through.” “If we want to make a difference and get where Dr. King was trying to lead us, we as a people are going to have to stay focused and keep thrusting God to bring us through. We’ve got to help this new generation to be focused.” “We all have a part to play; we have got to be focused on the main thing which is the liberation of all people.” Selby urge her listeners to deal with issues like racism, poverty and unemployment. “We have come a long ways, but we have a ways to go yet.” “Each generation hold a responsibility to uphold their fight for freedom and peace in society,” she said. The service concluded with a film, “Backyard Philly Project,” presented by Stacie Bell, YMCA Chairwoman of the Coalition on Racism and Race Relations. Caption Reverend Gracher Selby, the Pastor of St. John A. M. E. Zion Church was the keynote speaker in ceremonies honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at Moravian College. By Douglas Graves “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice” said Reverend Gracher Selby, the Pastor of St. John A. M. E. Zion Church in ceremonies honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Selby was quoting King’s speech he made in 1964 King when he delivered the Baccalaureate sermon at the commencement exercises for Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. It was King’s restatement of a metaphor with a long history of being used by other leaders, beginning with Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister who called for the abolition of slavery. Selby spoke to a crowd of adults and children at Moravian College on January 19 in the Haupert Union Building. Tomacene Nickens, the Vice President of the Bethlehem NAACP presided over the event. Nickens is a retired Bethlehem Area School District teacher. Rita Johnson attended, bringing her Sunday School Class from St. John’s A. M. E. Zion Church. Children from the church’s youth choir sang for the occasion, accompanied by pianist and artist Jessica L. Lee. “It’s not enough to have a day off,” Reverend Selby continued. “We need to do something!” Selby recalled important dates from the history of slavery and the struggle for civil rights. “2013 was a year of significant anniversaries in which we put our hands on that arc,” said Selby in her sonorous voice that held even the children’s attention. January 1, 18 63—the Emancipation Proclamation; March 1963—the March on Washington; January 21, 2013—the second inauguration of the first African-American President—all dates that stand “as milestone moments in the grand sweep of American history,” said Selby. She said the Civil Rights movement began 400 years ago “when the first slave said, ‘I ain’t do’n this.’” She drew a parallel between the Israelites’ fears of entering the Promised Land with modern believer’s hesitation to “keep trusting God to bring us through.” “If we want to make a difference and get where Dr. King was trying to lead us, we as a people are going to have to stay focused and keep thrusting God to bring us through. We’ve got to help this new generation to be focused.” “We all have a part to play; we have got to be focused on the main thing which is the liberation of all people.” Selby urge her listeners to deal with issues like racism, poverty and unemployment. “We have come a long ways, but we have a ways to go yet.” “Each generation hold a responsibility to uphold their fight for freedom and peace in society,” she said. The service concluded with a film, “Backyard Philly Project,” presented by Stacie Bell, YMCA Chairwoman of the Coalition on Racism and Race Relations.

Curiosity is in your DNA

The Eagle Scouts of the Minsi Trails Council gathered May 21 in Fogelsville to be recognized and honored for the many Eagle Scout projects they have completed in the several areas where Minsi Trails scouts call home. Even though over 220 Eagle Scouts were at the Eagle Scout Court of Honor and Recognition Dinner, they are still, statistically speaking, rare birds. Only four percent of boys enrolled in Boy Scouts nationwide earn the coveted ranking. “It’s not easy,” said Master of Ceremonies Matthew Planer. “You need a tenacious mother!” The many Eagle Scouts were honored for their accomplishments and community projects which ranged from building a pergola for the Alburtis Community Pool (Eagle Scout Tyler Ables Troop 431) to landscaping and a restoration project at New Bethany Ministries in Bethlehem (Eagle Scout Robert Anderson, Troop 359). Scholarship recipients were Anthony Sagrestano and Jacob Alfieri. A special recognition by the Scouts was extended to Don Walp, the oldest living Eagle Scout in Minsi Trails Council. “Don Walp is almost 98 years old,” said Don Sachs an executive with Minsi Trails Council. “He is very active as a member of the Minsi Trails Council Advisory Committee. He is the former owner of the well-known Walp’s Restaurant that sat on the corner of Union St. and Airport Rd. in Allentown.” Another attendee was Eagle Scout John Lahutsky there with his mother, Paula. Lahutsky, standing with an aluminum walker was adopted from Moscow as a child. In spite of have cerebral palsy he has attained scouting’s highest rank. He is from the South Mountain District. Freedom High School senior Jacob Srock, 18 attended with his father, Matt Srock. “The Boy Scouts taught me life lessons like overcoming obstacles, how to achieve goals and how to be a good person,” said Srock. Liberty High School student Tyler Reinhart, 16 attended the gala event. “Scouting has been a huge honor for me,” said Reinhart. “It has helped my accomplish skills that I can pass on.” Parkland High School student Zachary Reich, 18 and his friend Christopher Hamil, 19 attended. Both live in Orefield. Zachary is the son of Clark and Janay Reich and Hamil is the son of Durward and Sandra Hamil. Bethlehem Catholic High School graduate Alex Ferencin, 18 also attended. “Scouting gave me a chance to learn skills I wouldn’t have learned in school,” said Ferencin. He is the son of Wayne and Anne Ferencin of Bethlehem. Jason Siegfried, 16 of Liberty High School attended. Jason is the son of Jeanine and Todd Siegfried of Hanover Township. Keynote speaker Dr. Michael J. Manyak, Executive Director for Global Medical Affairs for GlaxoSmithKline and Professor at George Washington University led the Eagle Scouts and their guests on world tour of adventure mixed with good advice. “An adventure is an expedition that went wrong,” said Manyak who has been on many expeditions including diving to the Titanic, exploring the deepest canyon in Peru, trips to central Africa and sojourns in Mongolia among other places.” He said he has been on expeditions that found gold on sunken ships, and has been hunting with Pygmies in central Africa. He shared camping tips. “There are nothing like seven-inch Huntsman spiders to encourage you to tuck your mosquito net in.” Manyak described a trip to Antarctica with high school students and other trips; one where he discovered human footprints believed to be between 30,000 to 120,000 years old. He said he had been on an expedition in the Gobi Desert when scientists determined that camels there were of a species never identified before. Dr. Manyak described a program by the National Eagle Scouts Association (NESA) encourage Eagle Scouts to apply for the world of exploration through the NESA World Explorer Program run by himself as NESA Vice President and Director C. William Steele. He said the Boy Scouts of America’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) initiative is designed to encourage the natural curiosity of youth members about these fields. “The practice of sending an Eagle to a remote location dates to Paul Siple who accompanied the first Byrd Antarctic expedition in 1928 and later became an Explorers Club Fellow,” said Manyak in a Washington Explorers Club newsletter. “All of you—curiosity is in your DNA,” said Manyak.

Golden threaded-coral denim

By Douglas Graves “Golden threaded-coral denim,” “radical free draping,” “amethyst-dyed mink vest,” all exotic phrases to describe the fabulous couture clothes designed by Pamela Ptak that draped beautiful models at a lunch-time show at the Hotel Bethlehem. The Saturday May 3 show was the Society of the Arts’ (SOTA) first annual fashion show to raise money for the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley. The officers of SOTA joined forces with well-known Lehigh Valley clothing designer Pamela Ptak, jewelry designer Roy Rover, and Maximilian at Bloomingdales who provided furs to outfit over 20 models all to show potential clients a great array of Ptak’s couture collection for 2014. Several local celebrities modeled the clothes, furs and jewelry, but they could not be easily distinguished from the professional models. Among the well-known personalities contributing their time and talents were WFMZ-TV (Channel 69) broadcast journalist Eve Tannery. Fitness expert, actor, and model Stacey Redfield, a Bethlehem business woman attended as a model. Redfield owns Physical Methods Pilates at 653 East Broad Street in Bethlehem. Repertory Dance Theatre board member Tamantha Yanders was one of the models. Yanders also volunteers for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Not modeling but helping the models “glam-up” for the event was Perla López Baray of Fountain Hill who provided her line of perfume, “Perla,” for the women. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist, currently with WFMZ-TV (Channel 69) where she is a member of the Spanish language broadcast. The celebrity models showed their fashions to some other local luminaries such as Allentown Art Museum supporters Dolly Butz, Yvonne Kuklis, and Erica Spontak. Tracie Springer, a former board member of the YWCA of Bethlehem attended with her friend Kimberly Murray of Allentown. Zina Hamati of Allentown attended with her friend Bloomsburg University student Angela McCavera who is developing a career in fashion photography. Models included Nicole Meyer of Bethlehem, NJ, Kelsey Graham of Bethlehem, PA, and Monae Mallory, a 2005 Parkland High School graduate. Quakertown model and actor Christine Stauffer attended. Bethlehem resident and Kutztown University student and model Jacinth Sutphin attended. Betty Moran and Jill Stevens of SOTA attended the gala affair. Stevens said she has been with the service organization for 14 years. SOTA is a non-profit women’s service organization that supports and provides volunteers for the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley.

Race Against Racism

By Douglas Graves The first three medal winning men crossed the finish line within three seconds of each other in the annual “Race Against Racism” five kilometer race in Bethlehem Saturday April 27, 2013. They ran in perfect temperate weather under blue skies. The race, sponsored by the YWCA, is to raise money for the Young Women’s Christian Association’s Racial Justice Program, according to Corrina Passaro, the association’s Director of Development. Dr. David Mariner, 58, of Shavertown, PA came in first by leading the field and earning the Men’s Division First Place medal. His time was 21 minutes, 29 seconds. Mariner is a vascular surgeon and works at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre). Right on Mariner’s heels was Edmund Ogutu from Palmerton making the course in 21 minutes, 30 seconds and winning the Second Place medal in the Men’s Division. Ogutu, 57, originally from Kenya, said he had just recovered from abdominal surgery. Sixteen-year old Bethlehem Catholic High School student John Spirk was the third man across the finish line at 21 minutes, 31 seconds. He said he runs the 800-meter and hurdles in school. Spirk is the son of Bethlehem City Solicitor Jack Spirk. Stephanie Jones of Catasauqua crossed the finish line only a minute behind the men to take the Woman’s Division First Place medal at 22 minutes, 34 seconds. Lehigh Valley Health Network Health Systems’ Dr. Lynsey Biondi followed Jones across the line at Adler Place and Highland Avenue with a time of 23 minutes, 14 seconds. Biondi’s family was there supporting her. Her husband, Craig, and daughter Lula, 3, seemed thrilled with mom’s success. Her son Jubal, 10 months, slept through the whole thing. DeSales University Student and William Allen High School graduate Rouba Daher-Mansour medaled at Third Place in the Women’s Division with a time of 25 minutes, 59 seconds. Maria Spirk, 18, John’s sister and fellow Bethlehem Catholic High School student, also ran the race. People were at the race for many reasons, but many had definite ideas about racism and supported the YWCA’s program to reduce racism in America. “It’s definitely irritating that racism still exists,” said runner Jack Spirk, a student at Bethlehem Catholic High School. “It needs to be put to an end but it has a long way to go.” Edmund Ogutu, originally from Kenya, said he supports the YWCA and shares the organization’s values. Taylor Lutz, a volunteer at the race, said she is involved in the Coalition Against Racism which she said is a program of the YWCA. “There absolutely is racism everywhere,” said Lutz. “This gets people to actually think about racism. We have events, and dialogs with people from different walks of life and discuss how they have experienced racism and how to make it better.” Bethlehem Township’s Shelley Speirs said, “Racism is an issue we still deal with today in many ways.” Speirs said she is an avid runner and is a new board member on the YWCA’s board of directors. Runner Rouba Daher-Mansour who won the women’s third place medal said she “loves the cause—it’s a good cause.” Abby Gassler, an 11-year old student at Nitschmann Middle School in Bethlehem said she was there, “Because I wanted to know if I could run three miles.” She was accompanied by her father Thomas Gassler Jr. who ran with his daughter. “The Race Against Racism appealed to me”, said Dr. Lynsey Biondi, whose adopted children are African-American’s from Alabama, “because we are a mixed race family.” Kayla Sherry from Lehighton said she ran, “To support the charity.” Alexander Ardle, 15, a student at Northampton High School said he ran, “To get in shape for football.” “I don’t like racism,” said Ardle. “There’s a lot of it still around here. This race is really good.”

“We’re not going let someone violate the zoning laws [just] because they do it in the name of Jesus Christ.” (First published in 2009)

It looked like a sleep-over for adults in the basement efficiency apartment of a nice home. Sleeping bags, some on cots, most spread on the tile floor. The hosts were serving a hot meal; cookies waited at the end of the serving line. The 14 guests, the homeless people who were spending the night, for the most part had already had dinner. But a party atmosphere was absent from the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hanover Township on Friday, Feb. 20. While a small group at a table shared some laughs, the overall mood was somber. Several resigned women sat at one of the tables. No trace of makeup softened their faces, no high-lights livened their salt and pepper hair. A thin young man in his twenties seemed out of place as he stood at the serving line for a second serving. As for the older men, the main difference between them and any other was fresh a haircut. This was an emergency rescue operation to take ordinary but homeless men and women off the streets during a bitterly cold winter in the Lehigh Valley. The Reverend T. Scott Allen and his volunteers were “sharing [their] faith, welcoming and serving others”—the motto on the reverend’s calling card. Bob and Rita Sorenson of Hanover Township cleaned up in the kitchen after cooking the night’s supper of chicken noodle soup, beef stew and baked ziti. “The church has been doing this for weeks,” said Rita Sorenson. “We wanted to volunteer. Our sons also helped by baking cookies and rolls.” It was Reverend Allen who first responded to the request for help sent out by the Trinity Episcopal Church on East Market Street in Bethlehem. Six other area churches agreed to help said Reverend Elizabeth Miller, director of the soup kitchen at Trinity Episcopal Church. Asked if the township authorities have contributed to or tried to interfere with his activities, Allen said, “No.” In Brookville, Pennsylvania last year, a district judge fined the pastor of the First Apostles Doctrine Church $500 for allowing three homeless men to stay in the church parsonage. Brookville’s solicitor reportedly said, “We’re not going let someone violate the zoning laws because they do it in the name of Jesus Christ.” Each night a different church takes in a group, feeds them supper, beds them down, and fixes them a breakfast the following morning before they have to go back to the street. Volunteers bring and prepare the food; two of them spend the night with their charges as the homeless get a warm and dry sleep. A second shift of volunteers will come in around 6 a. m. to prepare breakfast. And what’s for breakfast? “Oatmeal, Hot Pockets, waffles, cereal, coffee and juices,” said Rita Sorenson. “We could use some more cots,” said Reverend Allen when asked what else he needs. “We haven’t needed money. People have donated their time.” Asked if this is a year-round program, he said “No. Only when it’s cold—when the temperature falls below 32 degrees or the wind-chill factor is below 32 degrees.” Cindy Bowlby from Slatington said, “It was something very important. We were worried about the people.” Does it worry her to work with and spend the night with strangers? “Everything is fine. It’s very enjoyable.” She has volunteered to spend the night twice. Bowlby grew up as a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church but now drives down from Slatington to fellowship with her congregation. These people were homeless there for a variety of reasons. One had sold his house when he got cancer but had no insurance or money to pay for the treatments. The thin young man had been kicked out of his house by his father. One man told his story but was fearful that any detail in the newspaper would attract the attention of an abusive family member whom he wants to avoid. Only Julio Millan agreed to be interviewed by the Press, the others being too private or too proud. Millan, originally from Puerto Rico but most recently from Florida, said he came to the area in June of 2008 looking for work as a truck driver. He said he has a commercial driver’s license but the depression has dried up jobs. “I’ve had to sleep in the woods,” he said. “I’ve even slept under the Minsi Trail Bridge.” “They let me shower at New Bethany Ministries,” he said. “I can do my laundry there.” Another’s story was a cautionary tale; how a skilled, self-employed tradesperson, injured on the job and without medical insurance can, in short order, be on the streets. No longer able to ply a trade due to a crippling injury, this person is hoping to qualify for some kind of disability payment. The homeless person’s spouse works part-time for minimum wages and with no benefits to barely survive. “We’ll be OK,” said the homeless person. The Reverend Joel Atkinson, Canon Missioner from the Cathedral Church of the Nativity was there. He had just brought a group from his church where they had spent Thursday night. “We have warm, empty buildings,” said Reverend Allen. “Why not share them?” Other churches participating: Church of the Manger at1401 Greenview Dr Bethlehem, the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley at 424 Center St. Bethlehem, the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 514 Third Ave. in Bethlehem and the New Covenant Church at 23 E Broad St. Bethlehem, the El Shaddai Ministries’ Christian Training Center 529 East Broad St. in Bethlehem and the Cathedral Church of the Nativity at 321 Wyandotte St. in Bethlehem.

“That one is for me.”

Natasha Velez stifled tears as she accepted congratulations from Bethlehem Housing Authority’s Zulma Rodriquez upon gaining ownership of her new Habitat for Humanity-built home on James Street in South Bethlehem. Rodriquez said she has known Natasha Velez all of Velez’s life and had been best friends with her mother who had died in a car accident. “Thank every one of you that I have met on this journey,” said an emotion choked Velez. “Thanks again for everything.” Monsignor Father Robert Biszek of Holy Infancy Catholic Church prayed for the new home to be “a dwelling of love” then sprinkled holy water on the estimated 20 attendees as they recited “The Lord’s Prayer.” During his short remarks preceding the symbolic baptism, Biszek let Velez’s six-year old daughter Anaya Velez hold the small bottle of holy water who seemed thrilled to do it. Anaya couldn’t have been happier as she watched the congratulatory ceremony. Besides the hugs from her aunts and uncles and other well-wishers, it meant she would have her own bedroom in a brand new house. The pretty blonde child also beamed when presented with a large box of candy from Dot Cressler of Just Born, one of the sponsors. Other well-wishers presented presents, too. Bethlehem Garden Club member Roseanne Cilente gave flowers; Hilda Lauber of the Lehigh Valley Embroidery Club gave a framed memento. Anaya and her mom had worked hard for this day—especially her mom who contributed more than the required 250 hours of “sweat equity” toward the 1,200 square-foot two-story house. Anaya’s father, Rafael Ramirez, was credited by Habitat’s Assistant Construction Manager Joe Polizzotto with putting as many if not more hours of labor into the project. “Her father was here every bit as much as Natasha,” said Polizzotto who was still in his work clothes. He had come from next door where he and his crew are building another home. The joyful scene and the home-cooked food in the kitchen of the new home were proof of the close family relationships found throughout the local Hispanic community. Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley officials, Debrah Cummins, Melissa Lauer, Elise Smolinski and Jehan Moustafa attended the ceremony. Executive Director Cummins said this is the 98th home her organization has built in the community. “This is a hand up not a handout program,” said Cummins. She said recipients of these homes get a zero-percent mortgage for the homes. This particular home has handicap friendly features said Cummins. It was originally designed for a client with a handicap but who was not in the program any more. She said that clients typically don’t get much say in the design of the homes. “We are not custom builders,” said Cummins. “We build safe, decent and affordable homes in Habitat for Humanity’s model. James Street has several homes built by the non-profit organization, but previous construction featured garages which Velez’s home does not have. Cummins said garages are now “too expensive.” She said the design has had to change in order to keep the homes affordable. “We always adapt our design so we can make our homes more affordable.” Velez will still have off-street parking on a concrete parking space in front of the house. Velez, who works for the Easton Water Authority, has been renting an apartment from the Bethlehem Housing Authority but her mortgage payment will be less than what she was paying for rent, according to Cummins. Velez said she first heard of the Habitat for Humanity program via the internet and then connected with the program through the Bethlehem Housing Authority’s Family Self Sufficiency Program Coordinator Mirella Snow. Velez said she will close on the house August 15 and move in around August 17. Damaris Torres, who runs the Senior Center at the Hispanic Center on East 4th Street in Bethlehem, also attended the dedication of the new home. She pointed to a half-built house down the street. “That one is for me,” said Torres who, like Velez, is a single mom.

“Politicians are looking at that [voter ID law] like a 10-year plan to ensure they win future elections.”

The Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg heard closing arguments on August 1 in the Voter ID Law court case that has pitted Republicans against Democrats in the state legislature. No Democrats voted for the law when the Republican-controlled state legislature passed the law in March 2012. A legal challenge to Pennsylvania's law was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a then 93-year old woman and others. The law, if enacted, will require all voters to present an approved photo identification card at the polls prior to voting. However, PA state attorneys arguing the case agreed to extend the injunction in place since 2012, regardless of the court’s pending decision, to not enforce the law until after the November 2013 elections. Supporters argue that the law is needed to guard against voter fraud. However, the lawyers for the state at the beginning of the trial which started in 2012 stipulated they could cite no cases of voter fraud in PA. Opponents of the law argue that the law is an attempt by Republican lawmakers to limit access to the polls of the poor, the young, the elderly and the minorities most of whom they believe would vote for Democrats. This view gained ground when, in June 2012, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny said the new law would help Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney beat Obama in Pennsylvania. “Why do they want to enforce a voter ID law to begin with?” said Bethlehem NAACP director Esther Lee in an interview. “We are all American citizens. Your name and signature are on the rolls.” “We need to be encouraging people to vote,” said Lee. Lee said in an interview that she believes that the law is aimed at “people of color” because the majority of the population is “turning brown.” “Politicians are looking at that [voter ID law] like a 10-year plan to ensure they win future elections,” said Lee. She also took issue with the redistricting that allows politicians to remain in power when populations move across congressional district lines. “This realignment of districts is only to favor the future of the Republican Party; to ensure their future success winning elections,” said Lee.

Thoroughly Modern Millie Review

When Millie with her two cheap suitcases arrive in prohibitionist-era New York, she brings her irrepressible modern attitude with her. Thoroughly Modern Millie is based on a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon and is playing at the Pennsylvania Playhouse through April 1. Director Will Erwin brings a wonderful, fast-paced musical to life with some of the Lehigh Valley’s best dancers and singers. Gorgeous and immensely talented Casey Elizabeth Gill is completely charming and perfectly cast in the title role of Millie. The naïve girl from Kansas meets handsome but apparently penniless Jimmy Smith played by Doug Ace, but she keeps her hat set for a wealthy husband. Gill has great comedic timing augmented by a repertoire of smiles, eye raises and saucy poses. Millie’s best friend, roommate and apparent romantic rival is Miss Dorothy Brown played by strikingly beautiful Kimberly Tassinaro who claims to be a wealthy orphan who wants to experience life as a poor person. The part showcases her singing range and acting skills. Millie and Dorothy lead a talented troupe of singing dancers through Gwen Swanson’s beautifully choreographed numbers. Their duet, “How the Other Half Lives” is charming to see and to hear. The dramatic lighting by Ryan William Kloss is tremendous, especially when it suddenly captures and visually isolates Dorothy Brown and Millie’s boss and hoped for husband, Trevor Graydon (played by Brian Vigorito) as the two first meet and are smitten. The biggest laugh getter is Ted Williams as Mrs. Meers, the cross-dressing Chinese owner of the cheap hotel for single women where he and his henchmen do a thriving side business kidnapping any orphan woman who checks in, selling them into white slavery. When Mrs. Meers sets out to Shanghai Dorothy, his bungling henchmen, Ching Ho (Peter Sikalias) and Bun Foo (Nathan Chipman), sympathize with the pretty girl. Sikalias and Chipman are standouts in that their dialog is mostly in Chinese, helped along by sub-titles for the benefit of the packed house. Sikalias, who has a seemingly hopeless crush on the patrician Dorothy, charms the audience with his broken English and good-hearted nature. The minimalist but effective set design by Colleen Shea provides plenty of room for the energetic “Moderns” led by talented dance captain and eye-catching Morgan Reilly. Muzzy Van Hossmere, a wealthy socialite is, played with laugh-getting charm by Kirsten Rani Almeida. Redheaded Miss Flannery, played by Mary-Catherine Bracali, keeps the comedy moving as the crusty floor supervisor who tries to keep effervescent Millie grounded in work a day reality. Though unseen in this production, the orchestra, led by Lucile DeMasi Kincaid, is wonderful. Director Erwin also gets credit as the Costume Designer and with the assistance of the multi-talented Tassinaro, dresses the cast in striking costumes evoking the Roaring Twenties’ style.

“It wasn’t her red Slurpee—it was her own blood!”

“It wasn’t her red Slurpee—it was her own blood!” said Ce-Ce Gerlach describing how a childhood friend had been killed in a drive-by shooting in Washington D. C. Gerlach, an Allentown School District School Board member, was talking to about forty people gathered near Rep. Charlie Dent’s office on Hamilton Street August 21 to urge the Republican Congressman to co-sponsor H. R. 1565 which supports background checks for people purchasing guns. The outdoor, lunch-time meeting was sponsored by the Lehigh Chapter of Organizing for Action (OFA) in an effort to bring pressure on Dent to support the House of Representatives bill which is sponsored by Rep. Pete King (R-NY) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). The bill, H. R. 1565 is described on Thompson’s website as “Legislation to Keep Guns Out of the Hands of Criminals, [and] Dangerously Mentally Ill.” Rep. King introduced the bill on April 15, 2003. OFA, the organizer of the short meeting, claimed that Dent had “assured local activists” that “he would vote for a background checks bill if it arrived on the House floor.” It seems unlikely that the bill will make it out of the Judiciary Committee during this 113th Congress without overwhelming support in the House of Representatives. The Committee has 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Bills in the House can only be released from committee without a proper committee vote by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership. That’s why the political activism group wants Dent to do more than promise to support the bill when it gets to the floor; it wants him to also co-sponsor the bill. There are now 184 co-sponsors of the bill who presumably would vote for sign a discharge petition according to the website congress.gov. Proponents need a majority—218. OFA’s Gloria McVeigh put it this way: “That means we want the bill to bypass efforts by GOP House Judiciary Committee members to stall until this Congressional session ends, requiring the re-introduction of the bill--and all that requires--in both the House and Senate after the next session begins in January, 2014. At a later Town Hall meeting in Allentown after the OFA gathering dissolved, responded to a question from Justine Wesner from Schnecksville wether he would support HR 1565. According to Wesner, Dent said while he supports Toomey’s effort he would not be a co-sponsor of the bill until he has seen the final version. “This is not a divisive issue,” said OFA’s Fritz Walker who pointed out that Republican Senator Pat Toomey supports the bill. Toomey when on the news show “Face the Nation” April 14, 2013 made the case for background checks. “There is not a single word in this legislation that in any way infringes on the Second Amendment rights of a law-abiding citizen, but we think the laws that make it illegal now for a criminal or a potentially violent, dangerously mentally ill person to have a weapon -- that's the law of the land -- we think that makes sense, said Toomey. “And we think a background check to help increase the likelihood that we'll be successful in keeping guns out of the hands of very dangerous people, it just makes sense. It's common sense. And so I think when people see the bill, they're going to support it.” Allentown School District teacher Beverly Rickles attended the gathering. “I’m here because I strongly believe it’s time for us to lay down our guns.” Rickles said she was concerned that “you can buy a gun at a gun show and walk out without a background check.” Two church ministers attended the meeting and offered prayer referencing the pending legislation. “We acknowledge that there are rare moments in life when we must defend ourselves or our loved ones, but reject the idea that the best way to do this is by assuring the easy and unimpeded access to firearms to everyone without regard to criminal history or mental status,” said Rev. Don Garrett of the Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley. Rev. Elizabeth Goudy of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley led the group in a minute of silence at 12:30 p. m. and the men, women and children present held hands. The gesture was in solidarity with other groups across PA who organizers said were holding similar rallies. “We must be fearless in approaching political leaders for changes in policy,” said Goudy. “We must be fearless in the face of well-funded gun lobby …too often our opinion is drowned out by those with money, money, money and more money.” Rev. Garrett challenged the idea that there’s no point to a law restricting gun ownership because criminals will get guns anyway. “That’s like saying there should be no law against murder because no law will prevent death by firearms,” said Garrett.

It’s important to step back and understand what happened and to discover how you can make it better.

Members of the Bethlehem and Allentown Chapters of the NAACP traveled to Washington D. C. this past weekend to observe the 50th anniversary of March on Washington when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his history-changing “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. According to Dan Bosket, the President of the Allentown Chapter of the NAACP, 108 people booked seats on the two buses that left the parking lot at Redner’s market on Airport Road early Saturday morning. Artie Ravitz of Easton was at the March on Washington 50 years ago. “I sat on the edge of the Reflecting Pool with my feet dangling in the water as I listened to Dr. King’s speech,” said Ravitz who said that as a young man he was a devoted follower of the civil rights movement. Asked Friday why he is attending this 50th anniversary ceremony, he said that working for civil rights is still important. “It’s more important than the first time because the Supreme Court is nullifying parts of the Voting Rights Act,” said Ravitz. “The Supreme Court doesn’t care about the rights of black people and brown people.” The August 28, 1963 march was part of a larger civil rights movement. 1963 was also the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Earlier that year, President John F. Kennedy announced that he would push for a Civil Rights Act. Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas and didn’t live to see the Act signed into law by his successor President Lyndon Johnson. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. The 1963 March on Washington was a major factor in these two laws being passed. Esther Lee, President of the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP, said commemoration of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” August 28, 1963, is important so that people of this generation will remember the struggle that African-Americans have made. She also decried in a recent interview what she calls a “genocide of our [black] youth.” She said the future of African-American families is at stake. She said children from “neighborhoods in economic strife” who then “don’t do well in school” become “candidates for jail.” This “pipeline,” according to Lee, disrupts families. Approximately 12%-13% of the American population is African-American, but they make up 40.1% of the almost 2.1 million male inmates in jail or prison as of 2009 according to the U.S. Department of Justice. “I fear that there will not be a family in the future,” said Lee when talking about the effect of having so many black men in jail or prison. The march on Washington 50 years ago challenged the morality of “Jim Crow” laws that pervaded life in most southern states. Jim Crow was systematic legal discrimination designed to keep African-Americans in a second-class citizen status. Included in its many injustices were laws that effectively restricted or denied voting rights to African-Americans. This, according to some civil rights advocates, is an issue that has resurfaced today in the form of various “voter ID” laws passed by Republican dominated state legislatures. Fredrick Montgomery, an educator with the Allentown School District, attended last weekend’s event in Washington D. C. He said that commemoration of the March on Washington is important to do today’s generation. Montgomery’s trip to Washington on a “jam-packed” bus resulted in what he called a “grand time, a memorable experience.” “Emotions were running high,” said Montgomery in an interview after his trip. “There were people from every walk of life there.” He said it was an example of how people from different races and cultures “can love each other.” He said he was pleased to see a significant number of young people go on the trip. “As an educator it’s important to me to see us learn to listen, bridge cultural gaps and be able to work things out,” said Montgomery. “We have no alternative except to work with diversity.” “Important history has occurred,” said Montgomery. “Tears, sweat and blood were shed by those that fought against oppression. But, repression still occurs for whatever reason.” “Many people put their lives on the line--white, black, Jews, gentile, young and old,” said Montgomery. “It’s important to step back and understand what happened and to discover how you can make it better.”

Is Black Carbon Good for Kids? No.

Broughal Middle School students would be exposed to a lot less air-born “black carbon” if they avoid Broadway for their walk to and from school, according to a survey of South Bethlehem’s air quality by scientists at Lehigh University. About 250 local business and government leaders attending the annual Lehigh Valley Research Consortium’s annual presentation Thursday June 28 heard this and other statistics about the quality of life in the Lehigh Valley. The meeting was at Iacocca Hall on the mountain-top campus of Lehigh University. Black carbon is part of the air pollution in the Lehigh Valley and is associated with emissions from airplanes, train locomotives and diesel engines. It’s not gas…it’s solid microscopic particles. “Diesel [fueled] vehicles such as trucks, buses and heavy equipment are a primary source of black carbon pollution in the region,” said the report accompanying Holland’s findings. The particles are too small to be filtered by the human body’s natural systems. Black carbon particles are part of a larger family of harmful chemicals generally referred to as “fine particulate matter.” The EPA refers to this collection of air-born contaminates as “PM,” meaning particulate matter. They are tiny pieces of solid or liquid matter suspended in the atmosphere as an aerosol. They are microscopic air-born particles which often measure 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter or small enough to go straight into the lungs when breathed. A million micrometers are in one meter. The researchers, supervised by Dr. Breena Holland, a political science professor at Lehigh U., measured three spikes of near 30 micrograms of black carbon in each cubic meter (μg/m3) of air along Broadway, a route back and forth from home to school favored by a student participating in the experiment. These three spikes measured from 2:45 p. m. to 4:00 p. m. on an Oct. school day in 2011 contrast sharply with the results of a second set of measurements taken along an alternate route that avoided Broadway. The second set of measurements during the same time but on an alternative route from school to home that avoided Broadway as much as possible showed that exposure ranged from zero to three micrograms of black carbon exposure. The EPA’s daily maximum per day for exposure to PM2.5 (which includes black carbon) is 35 micrograms per day. However, Holland caution, there is no “safe” level of exposure. In the spikes measured, people were getting near the maximum that is legally allowed. Is black carbon good for kids? No, according to Holland. “In my personal opinion, black carbon in south Bethlehem poses a threat to both the elderly and the young. The young have developing respiratory systems and are therefore more vulnerable, while older adults have weaker immune systems. South Bethlehem has a lot of traffic running through it and the Valley is already non-compliant with the Clean Air Act that establishes safety standards.” Other scientists, as reported in a 2009 article on www.Time.com, say that sooty air is bad for the climate. “Black carbon may be responsible for as much as 18 percent of the planet's warming, making it the No. 2 contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, which accounts for 40 percent,” said Bryan Walsh, writing for the website’s Science and Space column. “The world could think that we just cut CO2 and the problem is solved and we all go home, but it's not," says Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climatologist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and an expert on black carbon. A paper by Thomas J. Grahame of the U. S. Department of Energy presented to the Pittsburgh Coal Conference on Oct. 18, 2012 said that “highway proximity studies” show increased health risks to people living close to a major road. According to Grahame, these residents have a “significantly increased” risk of death from breathing PM2.5 particulates. He defined close proximity as being within 100 meters of a major highway or within 50 meters of a major urban road. Grahame’s paper also concluded that “oxidative stress” as caused by breathing black carbon and related particulates hastens the “shortening of telomeres, the end caps of chromosomes. This, in turn, increases biological ageing. Grahame reported that studies in Beijing, China show that wearing facemasks reduce the negative health effects of airborne particulates generated by fuel-burning vehicles. The DOE scientist, Grahame, cites a 2012 report from the World Health Organization which claims that black carbon “may operate as a universal carrier of a wide variety of …toxicity” to lungs, defense cells and, possibly blood circulation.” The general neighborhood of “Five-Points,” the area around the intersections of Wyandotte Street, Dakotah Street and Broadway in South Bethlehem, registered even higher air pollution levels for black carbon. Measurements taken over rush hour or 3 p. m. to 5 p. m. on a day in Oct. 2010 showed an average of about 375microns per cubic meter of black carbon in the air with several spikes exceeding 500. Local studies cited by the report say that the primary sources of PM2.5 pollution are “industrial processes, dust, mobile sources, and fuel combustion.” According to the research consortium, burning fuel and industrial processes “produce the largest quantity of particle pollution in Lehigh County and Northampton County.” Lehigh Valley daily average PM2.5 concentration measured in June 2011, documented exposure levels at a daily average of about 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Spikes to 60 μg/m3 are evident in the graph supporting the study. The lowest pollution levels recorded never dropped below 10 μg/m3. However, having your kids take the less polluted route to and from school may not be as easy as it sounds. Holland said students walk on the trafficked routes partly because they are populated by people and therefore the routes seem safer. “Addressing the pollution exposure problem will therefore, require making sure that alternative routes are also ‘safe’ for children,” said Holland in an email. And, they might want to consider face masks. Dr. Melissa Rodriquez, a naturopathic doctor living with her family in Beijing writing on www.Beijing-kids.com said, “If you must go outside on a heavily polluted day, wear a facemask. The adverse effects of air pollution on the heart have been shown to be a result of fine particles in the air, which come from vehicle exhaust and industrial sources. Wearing a facemask with a high quality filter prevents people from inhaling these potentially harmful particles.”

“We like M&Ms."

Troi Pitt has her name in lights---really. The 15-year old math whiz’s name is literally in lights at the corner of Easton Ave. and E. Elizabeth Ave. where Liberty High School’s digital message machine trumpets successes and important events to passersby. Pitt recently won a Bronze Medal in Houston, TX when she placed in the ACT-SO math competition sponsored by the NAACP. The LHS sophomore was one of four girls that the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP sent to the national competition. According to her mother, Pitt maintains a 3.9 GPA and is an honor student. She credits Northeast Middle School math teacher Linda Shive and LHS 9th grade honors algebra teacher Marietta Zweifel as being inspirational teachers in her daughter’s academic success. ACT-SO is the Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, according to www.actso.org. It is a youth program sponsored by the NAACP encouraging academic and cultural achievement among underserved minority high school students. Community volunteers and business leaders serve as mentors and coaches in promoting academic and artistic excellence among African-American and Hispanic students, according to the website. In an interview, Pitt said her love of M&Ms lead to the winner math project where she demonstrated the probability of finding brown M&Ms in any given package of the popular candy. She said there are six colors of M&Ms and that her project demonstrated that statistically there will be 10 brown ones in a batch of 100. The other colors are red, blue, green, yellow and orange, according to an internet search. Pitt plans to be a pharmacist and wants to attend the University of Maryland after high school. She is the daughter of Jennifer Harris of Bethlehem and Christopher Pitt of VA. She said her mother suggested the idea and she worked out the math that impressed local then national judges with her mastery of statistics. Pitt said she and her mom ate the M&Ms after the project was completed—that would be two 12-ounce bags. “We like M&Ms,” said Troi’s mom.

Invisible Wounds and the Veteran's Administration

The Department of Veterans Affairs is increasing its staff of mental health professionals to support the growing number of veterans needing mental health care. The VA is planning to hire about 35 new psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, nurses assistants and administrative support personnel according to Margaret B. Caplan, the for the VA Medical Center in Wilkes Barre, PA. Vincent L. Riccardo, Jr., the Staff Assistant to the Director and Public Affairs Officer for the Medical Center in Wilkes Barre in a recent interview was not able to say how many of these positions will be assigned to the Allentown, VA Outpatient Clinic on Hamilton Street though he said that some were definitely slated for Allentown. Caplan said the new hires are part of national effort to meet increasing mental health needs of veterans. “We have all heard of the high rates of post traumatic stress ,” said Major General Gerald Still, a retired U. S. Air Force general and currently the President of the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council. Stills was speaking at a recent meeting of Lehigh Valley health care professional working in cooperation with the VA to standardize the way information is collected and disseminated when a veteran is seen by one of the many hospitals, clinics and outreach programs in the Valley. Mental health for veterans is getting national attention. In a recent National Public Radio report, Erin Toner of WUWM in Milwaukee reported that this is part of an effort by the VA to recruit 1,600 mental health professionals for the country’s veterans. Toner reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs will be aggressive in recruiting candidates for the new mental health positions and hopes to have most on board within six months. According to Caplan, last year the VA provided specialty mental health services to more than 1.3 million veterans. She said in addition to the 1,600 mental health professionals being hired by the VA, about 300 support staff will be added and about five of those will be assigned to the Wilkes Barre VA Medical Center, which is the parent organization of the Allentown VA Clinic. According to Caplan, the VA has increased its mental health care budget by 39 percent since 2009 and the number of mental health professionals by 41 percent since 2007. According to the Veteran Administration’s web site, veterans who have seen combat may have been on missions that exposed them to horrible, life-threatening experiences such as being shot at, seeing a buddy shot, or seen death. “These are types of events that can lead to (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) PTSD,” according to the website. The site lists statistics describing the prevalence of PTSD among veterans: 11- 12 percent of Iraqi and Afghanistan Wars (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom) have PTSD…or 11 to 20 veterans out of 100. Of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans, about 10 percent have PTSD and of Vietnam War veterans, about 30 percent have PTSD. The VA cites sexual assault and harassment as contributing to PTSD among women veterans. Among veterans using VA health care, about 23 percent of the women reported sexual assault while in the military. In addition, among the veterans using VA health care, 55 percent of the women and 38 percent of the men have reported sexual harassment when in the military. Over half of all veterans with military sexual trauma are men. “Sexual harassment can happen when drill instructors address recruits using sexually oriented language,” said Liz Bradbury, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Diversity Network, in an interview designed to put this statistic in perspective. She said that any remark by a supervisor to a subordinate or by a co-worker referring to sexual body parts or sexual activity can be considered sexual harassment. “Since October 2001, approximately 1.64 million U.S. troops have been deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq,” according to a Rand Corporation report, “Invisible Wounds,” by Benjamin R. Karney and others. According to Karney and his colleagues, these deployments have come with a disproportionately high “psychological toll” when compared to combat related injuries. Three conditions have received the most research; post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and traumatic brain injury. They report an increased risk of suicide, substance abuse, and cardiovascular disease and the associated “mental health conditions among veterans are also associated with reduced work productivity and future job prospects and may be a precursor to homelessness.”

“He believed in God, family and country.”

“He was very hard working and very loving,” said Eric Stevenson, grandson of George R. Karabin. Karabin was a church and community leader who died Feb. 9 in Bethlehem, his hometown. Stevenson and about 40 other relatives and friends gathered in the gymnasium on the campus of St. Anne Catholic Church May 12 where Father Anthony Mongiello led a ceremony naming the gym after the man who all have credited with being the leading force for its construction in 2001. “We spent a lot of time together,” reminisced Karabin’s grandson, the son of Debbie, Karabin’s daughter. “We worked on his land. We would work hard and would be sweating. He taught me to take pride in what I do.” “George was a leader in getting support for the gym,” said Fr. Mongiello in remarks to the gathering seated in the wooden bleachers of the gym. “He was a leader in the fundraising. It’s very appropriate to dedicate this gym after George.” Fred DeBellis remembered the night that Karabin got the ball rolling on the gym project. “He was the president of the Catholic Youth Organization. He got up in a meeting and made an impassioned plea for a gym,” said DeBellis. “He saw the project through to completion.” Karabin spent his life in the service of others, especially in the service of young people. He initiated sports programs for the Catholic Youth Organization; he served as the president of the Bethlehem Catholic Booster Club and was treasurer of the Northeast Little League. While church life was integral to his world, he found time to serve his country during World War II, serve his city as Bethlehem City Councilman, and serve the Bethlehem Area School District on the Board of Education. “He was one of the kindest, nicest guys I ever met,” said Jim Broughal in an interview when asked about his friend. Broughal said he first knew Karabin when they both served on the Bethlehem Area School District Board of Education. “He was a very giving guy; he always served his community.” “He would visit people when they were sick,” remember one friend. “Dad always loved to see kids play sports,” said Drew Karabin, his youngest son. “He was just a good guy.” After the brief ceremony in the gym, Fr. Mongiello led the group to the entry vestibule where a young man removed a curtain over a plaque naming the building after George Karabin. “He was a kind-hearted, decent person of great integrity,” said Robert Donchez in a recent interview. Donchez is a past president and current member of the Bethlehem City Council. “He was a person of deep faith and conviction. He was very active in CYO and church, city government, and Bethlehem Catholic High School. “He believed in God, family and country,” said Donchez.

“It Has Boosted My Confidence.”

The Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP honored local high school students at the 67th Annual Freedom Fund Dinner Feb. 19 when they were recognized before an audience of about 160 people at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Hanover Township. Ashanti Littlejohn, Devante Littlejohn, Kristina Conaway, all from Freedom High School and Liberty High School students Troi Pitt, Imanni Gaye, Rachel Anson and Ka’yon Ross were honored by the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP. Each were competitors Jan. 19 in the NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. ACT-SO includes 26 categories of competition in the sciences, humanities, business, and performing and visual arts. Kristina Conaway, a senior at Freedom High School and one of the honorees said she has been competing in the ACT-SO program since she was 12. “It has boosted my confidence,” said Conaway. She won a bronze medal for a drawing. Several representatives of the Bethlehem Area School District attended the ceremony, as did David DiGiacinto who is a member of the Bethlehem City Council. “It’s important to be here because the NAACP recognizes kids as part of the community,” said DiGiacinto. BASD Superintendent Joseph Roy, Liberty High School Principal JoAnne Durante and Freedom High School Principal Michael LaPorta attended in support of their students. “The NAACP is important in the community,” said Roy. “We are happy to be here to support them.” “We’re here to see our students recognized by the community,” said LaPorta. “We are here to recognize our students,” said Durante. “The NAACP and Liberty High School has a good partnership in the community. Liberty is proud to have Junior NAACP Council. “This is a very important branch,” said Hilary O. Shelton, the NAACP Washington Bureau Director, the keynote speaker, speaking of the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP. “The NAACP continues to do great work in the struggle for all Americans,” said Shelton. Shelton said that Lee is well known for her hard work and strong believes and her willingness to give her time. “She is well known nationwide,” said Shelton. According to Lee, the ACT-SO winners will go to Huston, TX for a national competition in July.

"I think it recognizes peace in the world."

In a quiet ceremony at the Boy Scout Service Center on Postal Road in Hanover Dec. 14 local Boy Scouts received the Peace Light after it had made the flight from Bethlehem, Palestine via Austria. Cub Scout Pack 352 and Boy Scout Troop 352 from Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church conducted the 25th annual ceremony that included a Scout color guard and escort for the yellow flame that fluttered from a wick in red kerosene lantern carried by a Scout. The Boy Scouts who accepted lighted candles from the flaming wick of a kerosene camp lantern took the light back to share its message with their communities, families, schools and places of worship. According to information provided by the Minsi Trails Council, the Peace Light is from an oil lamp that has been burning for centuries in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. That flame was used to light an explosion proof minor’s lamp Nov. 2, and an Austrian Scout carried it to Austria aboard Austrian Airlines. Local Boy Scouts received the Peace Light as part of an annual program originated by Austrian scouting, Austrian Airlines and the Austrian Broadcast Corporation. Organizers held a flame transfer ceremony Nov. 29 at JFK International Airport’s Our Lady of the Skies Chapel. Volunteers from several countries will be distributing the Peace Light in the U. S., Canada, Mexico, and to countries in South America, according to information released by the local Boy Scout Council. The Scouts will share the Peace Light with military chaplains at Fort Hood, TX and Fort Bragg, NC “as a message to all who serve our country that we appreciate their service.” Retired New York firefighter and heroic first responder to the 911 terror attack Jim Sorenson brought the Peace Light from JFK to Bethlehem, PA. His grandson Steven Schneible, a member of Boy Scout Troop 352, and his daughter, Cathy Schneible attended the ceremony. Boy Scout Saleh Abdussalan, 9 of Lehigh Valley Academy and his mother Yasmin Abdussalan were among the several Scouts and parents in the small audience. “I think it recognizes peace in the world,” said Cub Scout William Wyckoff from Easton Area Middle School.

“I Didn’t Realize My Father’s Impact."

The bicycles and their riders started to gather about 7 a. m.; bright sun was starting to warm the air. It was a cloudless day with brilliant blue sky. The “Pat Ytsma Ride Safe Bike Tour” Sunday, June 2 was getting underway at the Earl Adams Memorial Park in Breinigsville where organizers were expecting about 200 riders to register. Registration fees for this year’s event and for last year’s bike ride were going toward tuition costs for Willem and Caroline Ytsma, the teenaged children left fatherless when highly respected bicycle safety enthusiast Patrick B. Ytsma was killed Dec. 8, 2011 on Bethlehem’s Fahey Bridge by a motorist. Willem, just finishing his freshman year at Lafayette College, and Caroline, just ending her sophomore year at Freedom High School, wore yellow tee shirts and with about 10 other yellow-shirted volunteers, helped at the registration table. Their mother Judy Parr helped, too. Kirk Koehler was in charge of Sunday’s event. Koehler had been a close friend of Ytsma’s and a co-worker at Spillman-Farmer Architects where Ytsma was an architect. According to Koehler, whose wife Kristin was at the registration tables, the considerable logistics support for the charitable bike ride had been donated. Even a prize, a new Trek bicycle, had been donated by the Trek Bicycle Company and Bike Line, a bicycle company with locations in Allentown and Bethlehem. Many of volunteers were Spillman-Farmer employees. “Spillman-Farmer people have been embracing the kids,” said Koehler. “They have really stepped up to help with their school tuition. “This is a lot of work that no one had to do—but here we are.” Caroline Ytsma recognized the magnitude of what was being done in her father’s honor. “You would never expect so many people … we’re grateful for it. It’s a lot of work that they do,” said Caroline, a tall, slender 17-year old. Her brother, Willem, was also thankful. “It’s nice to see all of these people here,” said Willem, 19. “I didn’t realize my father’s impact. It’s easy to see now—with all of these people here in his memory.” A token of Bethlehem’s esteem for Pat Ytsma is eloquently expressed by the white bicycle chained to a light pole at the north end of the Fahey Bridge in Bethlehem. Willem said he plans to major in mechanical engineering and fine art. Koehler said Bicycling Magazine, published in Emmaus, also contributed to the event. There were many others who contributed. Bike Line had a couple of support trucks manned by Scott Kleinschuster of Orefield and Lauren Grafton of West Chester. They checked tires and chains and pumped air. Michele Nolter, Catasauqua resident and Sheckler Elementary School teacher, said she was going to do the 20-mile route. She and Bike Line’s Grafton shared some laughs while Grafton put some air in Nolter’s tires. Terry Grandfield from Center Valley entered the riding event. “I saw the ad,” he said. He said he is an avid bike rider. He brought his personal support team—his wife, Danese and daughter, Rebekah. Bethlehem residents Terry and Sharon Faul also came for the ride. Terry is an attorney in Bethlehem and Sharon said she is 7th grade science teacher at Moravian Academy in Bethlehem Township. “We’re bike riders,” said Sharon Faul. “We want to help people have an awareness of bikes on the road. We appreciate courtesy and awareness from vehicle drivers.” “When Pat passed away we decided to honor him,” said Sal Verrastro, a principal at Spillman-Farmer. “We also wanted to help the children with a benefit to finance a college fund.” Bicyclists could choose either of two routes; a 20-mile route or a 40-mile ride. The 20-milers started from Breinigsville, went through Topton then along High Road and back to their starting point via Trexler Road. For those choosing the 40-mile trip, they continued through Topton then through Bowers and out to the intersection of Route 222 and School Road before heading back via Kutztown.

I could hear the bullets hitting the side of the ship

By Douglas Graves © 2009



“I thought about stabbing myself in the heart with the two wooden pencils the North Korean had given me to sign the confession,” said former Navy man Frank Ginther as he described wanting to end his 11-month ordeal after his ship had been surrounded and then captured by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “But I wasn’t sure where my heart was. What if I missed?”
“It was the most alone feeling I ever had in my life,” said the veteran.
Ginther was speaking Sunday night at the Agape New Testament Fellowship Church in Schnecksville. Pastor Dave Farnholtz had arranged the short program with veterans in mind. Several veterans and their families were in the audience.
In January 1968 twenty five-year old Ginther was a communications specialist aboard the USS Pueblo, a communications surveillance ship in international waters but very near North Korea’s maritime exclusion zone. It was his first time aboard a ship. Commanded by Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, the ship and its 84 crewmen were captured and tortured until they signed confessions stating that they were spying.
The ship had specific orders to keep watch on Soviet naval activity in the Tsushima Straits and to gather radio messages and to record electronic intelligence from North Korea but to stay outside the 13-mile limit considered to be international waters.
When they came under attack, the captain maneuvered the ship to keep from being boarded by Koreans while the crew, including Ginther, attempted to destroy secret documents and cryptographic equipment.
One man, Duane Hodges of Cresswell, OR was killed when the Koreans opened fire on the American ship.
“I could hear the bullets hitting the side of the ship,” said Ginther. “I told the men with me, ‘If you guys know any prayers, now is the time to start saying them.’”
Though armed with two 50-caliber machine guns mounted on the deck, Bucher decided not to man the two guns but left the protective canvas, now frozen stiff, on the guns. The ship’s .45-caliber Thompson submachine guns remained locked below decks.
The recently married father of a baby daughter, a native of Pottsville, had been captured and now was being tortured by the Communists.
He described the events leading up to what he described as “the first [U. S. Navy] ship captured in over 150 years.” (In fact, it is the second; Japanese forces captured the USS Wake (PR-3) on Dec. 8, 1941 in Shanghai, China).
“It was very cold,” said Ginther describing the day before the attack. “We had been seen by two fishing boats so we knew our mission was compromised.”
“The next day we were approached at high speed by a sub chaser and soon were looking down the barrels of two cannon.”
“We started destroying classified equipment and papers, but the shredders were useless,” said Ginther reliving his baptism of fire. “They could only shred a couple of pages at a time. The incinerators were on the deck which was under fire by machine guns.”
Ginther and his fellow Sailors and Marines started burning the documents in trash cans below the decks. Soon the spaces were choked with acrid smoke.
The captain couldn’t scuttle the ship because the former Army supply ship had no scuttle valves to let in sea water. Even so, the ship was in 30 fathoms or about 180 feet of water. Captain Bucher reportedly felt that even if he could sink the ship, North Korean salvage divers could easily recover the classified equipment and documents.
The idea of sinking the ship did not appeal to crew who knew that the near freezing water would take its toll. “If we had got in the water we wouldn’t have lasted,” said Ginther.
After the North Koreans escorted the Pueblo and the crew into the port of Wonson on the Pacific side of the Korean Peninsula, the ordeal began in earnest.
Commander Bucher, who had been injured by North Korean shell fragments, was subjected to a mock execution and beatings. Finally, after the North Korean’s threatened to kill his crew, Bucher signed a confession stating that he and the Pueblo were operating in North Korean waters.
“Whatever he did,” said Ginther, “he did it for us. Years later I personally thanked him for saving my life.”
Ginther, too, was tortured. “Three officers kicked me and beat me with a leather belt, hitting me in the head with the metal buckle.”
He picked up a chair and holding it over his head, demonstrated how he had been forced to hold a chair while being interrogated.
“They would strip a man naked and tie his hands and ankles together and put a two-by-four behind his knees,” said Ginther. “Then he would be forced to squat. They would open the windows and leave him in the freezing room.”
“I prayed: ‘Lord, please help me,’” said Ginther. “I heard a deep, powerful voice—I heard it in my mind, not my ear. ‘Trust me; every thing is going to be alright.’ It was so powerful that the feeling came over me from top to bottom.”
Still Bucher and his men found ways to fight back. Ginther showed propaganda photographs taken by his Communist captors with the crewmen each displaying a middle finger in the classic American symbol of disdain. However, because they told their captors that it was “the Hawaiian good luck sign,” the Communists released the photographs to the world’s press.
Ginther said that he had to write a confession and to say that he was being well treated. “I wrote that ‘these people are very nice; just like the people at St. Elizabeth’s [a then well-known mental hospital in Washington, D. C.]”
According to other sources, the widely-read Bucher selected a seldom-used word, “paean,” to let the world know he was repudiating his forced confession. A paean is a work that praises or honors its subject. The Koreans verified the technical meaning of his words: "We paean the North Korean state. We paean their great leader Kim Il-Sung." What they missed was that the pronunciation of “paean” is similar to “pee on.”
Ginther credited his faith in God with helping him through the 11 months of torture, privation and abuse. He said that two plaques given to him by a Sunday school teacher help him remember his faith in God.
“Two things helped me,” he said. “My faith in God and my faith in my country. My faith in God is unshaken.”
“My faith in my country is getting a little shaky,” he added. Still, he had chosen to wear an American flag-themed neck tie for the occasion.
“The message I bring to you,” said Ginther, “is that you’re going to have troubles in life. Just remember that God is love. Jesus never fails.
Ginther’s career combines his communications training and his faith in God. He is the station manager of WJCS 89.3 FM in Allentown, a station featuring a religious format. He lives in Bethlehem with his wife, Judy.
The Navy awarded him the Purple Heart Medal recognizing the torture he endured. He also wears the Prisoner of War Medal.
Pastor Dave Farnholtz concluded the evening by inviting local veterans to give their personal testimony and to offer prayers. The audience then sang patriotic songs.
The USS Pueblo remains a commissioned ship of the United States Navy. It is also still in North Korea.

My Number is A91432

By Douglas Graves © 2009

“The Germans came into our house while we were eating dinner,” said the trim, elderly lady. “They threw our food on the floor—and they kicked us out of our house with what we were wearing. We ended up in some form of a big place—people walking about—with Germans quietly killing people.”
Her name was Lieberman then but seventy years later 83-year old Yolanda Hamer was telling her story to her children in Bethlehem—a story about losing her parents and her brothers to the Holocaust. She had written a short story for her children--one of savagery relating how a young Jewish girl was ripped from her loving family in Roztoky, Czechoslovakia and sent on a terrible journey.
“We started hearing news from Germany about the Nuremberg laws [that] were coming into effect. We felt very secure, [that] this [would] not happen to us. We went to school, spoke about Hitler in class and [tried] to make sense of it all. ‘The Nuremberg laws will never reach us’ was our answer. He left us alone for two years.”
“We were expelled from school [and] were not allowed in public places,” she said. “Our new I D was a yellow star with black letters: Juole or Jew.
“One day we heard a rumor [that we would] be deported. Shortly we were instructed to pack a small bag; little food and nothing else. They pushed us into trucks and brought us into a brick factory which they converted into a ghetto.” There single families were crammed into squalid ten-foot by ten-foot cubicles with no water nor toilets. “Within a week we were infested with body [lice] and head lice. This was the first lesson of Hell on earth.”
“One morning we got up and saw trucks lined up. They loaded the trucks and off we went to the train station. We were pushed into cattle cars, 120 per car. The two little windows were about one foot long. We couldn’t count on fresh air. We were given a bucket for a toilet—no food or water. Soon people started fainting from the heat and thirst.”
Yolanda said she thought it was in May. “We were heading east. We spent four days traveling. Half the people were dead. The stench was horrible. It was a big, big train.”
“After a few days . . . we reached [Auschwitz],” she wrote in her story for her children. [We were] greeted by Dr. Mengele, the Angel of Death. He made his selection. My sister [Jean] and I . . . remained together. My mother and two brothers went by ambulance to the gas chambers. My father was sent to a work line. That was the last time I saw them.
“They took our clothes and shaved all of our hair. Next came a permanent mark on [our arms]. My number is A91432,” said Yolanda showing the bluish, faded tattoo. “I think the nine stands for 1939.”
“I asked one of the men . . . ‘How do we get out of here?’ His answer was very simple. ‘You see the chimney? That’s your exit.’ I had no idea what he was talking about.”
“We spent endless hours just standing while we were being counted. Every morning when we came out the barbed wire [fence] was laced with bodies. They served as examples in case we decided to escape.”
“A slice of bread [and] a cup of water (they called it soup) sustained us for a day. We cleaned the streets—picked up garbage. [We were] supervised by SS [guards] and German Shepherds [dogs]. If there was no work, we stood in line. If they didn’t like the way you stood, there was no food for the next two days. [It was] another way of eliminating a body from the roster. We hoped for a miracle but none came.”
After about six months at Auschwitz the two girls were sent to Plaszow, a concentration camp near Krakow, Poland. The place was known as a slave labor camp that provided slave workers to several nearby armament factories. The death rate at Plaszow was very high.
“There we worked like true slaves: loading bricks on trucks, unloading coal, and shoveling coal down a shaft. From there we moved to unloading trains [coming] from the Russian front. [The trains were packed with] uniforms which were full of blood, body parts and, primarily, lice—we had enough of our own.”
“A bright side [for us] were the 200 children in the camp. They gave us hope for a new world. But one night we heard screams from the parents of the children and [we heard] children crying ‘Don’t take us away from our parents!’ They were taken to Auschwitz, their final trip.”
“Shortly afterwards we were shipped back to Auschwitz. We didn’t work, just stood in line, rain or shine. Our bodies were full of sores from the lice. We tried to hide it, otherwise we would be gassed. We slept in bunks—four to a bunk with one blanket. I don’t know how we survived on the ration of food. If you moved from your spot in line, you were the dogs’ next meal. If you had an itch you’d better not scratch.”
“The worst night was Kol-Nidre night [the first evening of Yom Kippur]. They brought a transport of Hungarian Jews. Among them were quite a few rabbis. They put the loud-speaker near the gas chamber to make sure we heard their cries and prayers calling to the Almighty while they were being pushed [into the gas chambers].
“Later they walked us [to a place] to watch the shooting of prisoners. After they shot them they threw them into ditches where the fire was ready for them.”
A few days later Yolanda and Jean were shipped out to Oberalstadt [Czechoslovakia]. On the way their train was attacked by Allied aircraft. “They must have known what the cargo was [as] they hit only the locomotive. The doors opened. We started jumping out—right into the SS’ hands. I [fell] on my knee, severely injuring it. We tried to get back on the train [but] they started beating us with their clubs. We were rounded up, re-counted and [forced] to walk to our barracks. I don’t ever remember being so hungry . . .”
Yolanda and her sister while at Oberalstadt worked in a yarn factory owned by Siemens [then, and now, a major manufacturer of electrical components]. “Our shift was 16 hours a day [with] one meal and very little sleep.” Yolanda now had a straw-filled pillow to go with their one blanket and four-to-a-person bed.
Some sources put the number of Jewish women working for Siemens as virtual slaves in 1941 at approximately 900.
Her knee, injured during the attack on the train and now and infected and gangrenous, didn’t stop the Germans from forcing her to dig ditches while watched by the SS and their growling dogs. “At this point I was praying and hoping I would die soon. The pain was unbearable. I was unable to work any longer. They took me to an infirmary [with] no medicine, not even an aspirin.”
“In spite of not having even anesthetic, a captured Russian woman doctor decided to operate. She was the angel who saved my life.”
Yolanda was transferred to a typhoid ward to recover. “I was positive I’d never walk out of there. The patients were delirious with fever. They screamed and . . . were praying for an end. Every few hours the orderly came in and pulled out a body or two. Those screams and cries! I still hear them sometimes at night.”
But they made it. “We started hearing rumors [that] the war was ending. Sure enough, one morning when we came out to go to work—no more SS! American and British soldiers greeted us. ‘You are free,’ they said.”
But, according to Yolanda, the next day the Americans and British left. Their zone belonged to Russians according to agreements made at Yalta. “Later that day the Russians rolled in. They saw girls and they were ready to party.” Yolanda’s expression as she tells the story reveals that “party” was a euphemism to describe much worse intentions. “We jumped out of windows and ran into the woods.”
After running into what she described as a regiment of Nazis, they came back to the barracks. But soon they were able to return to their childhood home in Roztoky.
According to Robert B. Pynsent of the University College at London’s School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, “Jews returning [to Czechoslovakia] from concentration camps were often faced with being treated as Germans.”
“There was a priest living in [our] house. He was rude to us telling us point-blank [to] ‘beat it’. [This] was my first mis-giving about surviving.”
The sisters went to Prague where they read in a Jewish newspaper that an aunt and uncle in the United States were advertising for Lieberman family survivors. Abraham and Margaret Howe, living in The Bronx, agreed to sponsor both Yolanda and Jean. They got permission to travel to the United States but, “It took four years of waiting . . . under constant scrutiny [by the Communists] because they knew we were leaving they country.”
Yolanda made it to Canada and then to New York. There, on a blind date, she met her husband, Barry, at a dance. They married in 1952 and made their home, first in Brooklyn and then in Queens, raising two children, Sharon and Joseph. Yolanda and Barry now make their home with Sharon. They attend the Brith Sholom Congregation in Bethlehem.
“When I look back [on my life]--the hunger, the beatings, the lice and the abuse were worthwhile. When somebody says ‘the Holocaust is a Jewish myth’ I am here to tell them I was there! It really happened!