When Abington Heights High School senior Irene Torresani first saw the picture of the young child whose portrait she was to paint, she was immediately moved.
"I want to capture their eyes more than anything because that is what makes it look like them and what makes it personal and more than just a drawing," she said. "You think of what their life is like when you're doing it. It is a nice connection we get to have with them, even though we are so far away and on the opposite side of the world."
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It is a place where people can pause to remember those who served our country, both overseas and on the home front. Now, Clarks Summit Borough councilmen Herman Johnson and Patrick Williams are spearheading an effort to make the borough's Veterans Park not only more beautiful, but also more accessible.
Veterans Park is situated on an island between State Street and Old State Street, near the intersection with Clark Avenue that includes a monument memorializing Abington-area veterans. The park project was begun several years ago and is now about to enter its second phase.
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Benefit Yard Sale
A yard sale to benefit the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) will take place at the Chinchilla United Methodist Church, 411 Layton Road, on Saturday, May 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Items for the sale may be dropped off on Thursday, May 23, or Friday, May 24, from 6-8 p.m. at the church. Call Sue at 563-8594 or Sandy at 586-8012 for more information.
Chicken Barbecue
The Lake Winola Fire Co. will host a take out-only chicken barbecue on Saturday, May 25, beginning at 4 p.m., at the Lake Winola Fire Hall, located on Rte. 307. Tickets are $8; half-chickens are available for $5. Call Carol at 388-3134 or Flo at 388-2564 for more information.
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Jealousy, trust, mistaken identities and a possible love triangle. No, it's not an episode of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey;" rather, it's this year's performance of "Shakespeare in the Park," presented by Ghostlight Productions.
"The Merry Wives of Windsor" is the company's choice for this year's open-air interpretation of Shakespeare with a few modern twists. Director Jeremy Kemmerer explained that this year's show naturally lent itself to the present day.
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All Laurie McCoy of Clarks Summit wanted was for her mother, Barb McIlwee, to heal.
Barb had been diagnosed with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, a disease which kills both of a person's kidneys, in November of 2010. To treat her condition, she had four hours of dialysis five days a week and needed a kidney transplant.
Laurie recalled the day she discovered that her blood did not match that of her mother, making her an unsuitable kidney donor.
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Raeva Mulloth did not want to take after her mother, Sujata Nair-Mulloth.
Sujata is the founder of the Kala School of Indian Classical Dance, located in South Abington Township. Raeva recently completed her Arangetram, her maiden solo performance, that shows a dance student's devotion not just to the art form but also to her Guru who, in this case, was her mother.
"I actually didn't really want to dance because my mother was the teacher," Raeva said. "When I was seven or eight, all of my friends' parents pushed them to do it, so I thought maybe I should try it. I ended up liking it and continued."
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Former University of Scranton professor and the recipient of multiple senior Fullbright awards, Jay Nathan, Ph.D., of Clarks Summit, recently endowed the professor Dr. Jay Nathan, Ph.D., scholarship at the university to provide financial assistance to graduate students enrolled in the Kania School of Management who are from Mongolia, Thailand, India, Poland or the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan. The first recipient of the award for 2012-2013 is Nathawut Suksomanat, a graduate student from Chonburi, Thailand.
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