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Carbon Chapter joins with Berks, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill Chapters to make up Region 2 of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees. Our members are former school teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, secretaries, aides, cafeteria workers, bookkeepers, business managers, bus drivers and maintenance staff.

Carbon Chapter of PASR is meeting the needs of former co-workers and friends, raising money for scholarships, visiting members in nursing homes, doing volunteer work in the community, and lobbying state legislators on issues of importance to school retirees.

If you are not a member of Carbon chapter or of our state association won't you please join us?

We are waiting for you!

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Message from your President

Dear Members,

It is an exciting time here in Carbon County as well as across the state to be part of PASR’s 75th anniversary.

There were 86 people in attendance on Thursday, April 26th at the Mahoning Valley Country Club, to help in Carbon County PASR's 75th Anniversary Celebration.

PASR State President Dr. Stephen Vak, a former Schuylkill County resident was our guest to present the rededication of our Carbon PASR Chapter charter.

It is hard to believe that I already am in the second year of serving as your president. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” We in Carbon may be small, but we are mighty and have many different activities going on all the time.

Won't you consider joining us, WE are waiting for YOU!

A warm welcome to our newest members: Lynda Wolfe, Louisa Sarge, Joe Genits, Joseph Mogilski, Curtis Ashner, Jr., Suzanne Nagy, Vince Gogal, Edward Moyer, Carolyn Bonser Galle, and Nancy Melber.
And we are saddened by the death of Anna Moore who passed away at the age of 105 in October 2011.

Marjorie K. Balliet

President 610-377-4740

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Vince Spisak

Lansford American Legion Post 123 will honor, Vincent T. Spisak as their "2012 American Legion Person of the Year" on May 26, 2012.

Vince will be honored for his many years of service to the community of Lansford. He has faithfully served the community for over 40 years as teacher, coach and friend.

The Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame will induct its 2012 class on May 27 at Memorial Hall in Jim Thorpe. Among this year's inductees is Vince Spisak.

Vince Spisak, a 1957 graduate of Lansford High School, enjoyed a 40-year career in education and athletics before retiring in 2002.

At LHS, he was an outstanding athlete in basketball and football and later played on the gridiron at East Stroudsburg State College.

He initially taught in the Lansford School District before its merger into the Panther Valley School District, where Spisak coached several sports, including basketball, baseball, football, wrestling and track.

In 1967-68, he introduced wrestling to the district, and went on to coach for many years. In 1976, he coached the Schuylkill Wrestling League All Stars against the Susquehanna Valley Conference All Stars at St. Joe's Gym, Hazleton, in the First Annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Wrestling Classic.

One of his most successful coaching stints came in the 1977-78 season at PV, when his Panther team went 15-0 and won the Schuylkill League Northern Division championship.

He coached numerous wrestlers who went on to win tournament and district championships, as well as state qualifiers.

In 1980, he was inducted into the Pottsville Chapter of Wrestling Officials Hall of Fame.

As an educator, Spisak won several honors, including Educator of the Year in 2000 from the Panther Valley Chamber of Commerce and recipient of the John J. Dillon PASR Service Award" in 2010, when he also received the PASR Commendation Award."

He remains very active with the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees, serving as state chairman of the Retirement Planning Committee.

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The Carbon County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees (PASR) presented a scholarship to a local education student during its annual spring business meeting at the Mahoning Valley Country Club. The group also recognized a long-standing member for her contributions to the Carbon County chapter.

An education scholarship was awarded to Maria Mesko of Summit Hill, a junior at East Stroudsburg University. She is majoring in integrated early childhood education and special education and will graduate in May 2013.

Mesko graduated summa cum laude from Lehigh Carbon Community College in 2004 and began attending classes at East Stroudsburg in 2010. She works as head teacher in the toddler room at Saucon Valley Community Center and continues to work there as well as the Little Bear Cub Care in Coaldale while attending classes and finishing her degree.

The scholarship was presented by Jill DeLong, the chapter's Educational Support chairperson. Chapter President Marjorie Balliet also commended Mesko's academic achievements and career goals, and wished her well in the future.

Chapter member Mary Ellen Poe was also honored with a special commendation from the PASR Board of Directors for her outstanding contributions of service to the Carbon Chapter. Poe taught business education for 31 years before retiring from Lehighton Area School District in 1987. She joined Carbon PASR that same year, serving as chapter treasurer from 1988-2006, membership chair, and member of the Educational Support Committee.

She also served as a tutor with the Carbon County Volunteers for Literacy from 1988-1998. Poe served as member of the board of directors of the Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital and Blue Mountain Health System from 1984 to the present, serving as chairwoman from 2000-2004.

The spring Carbon PASR meeting marked the state association's 75th anniversary. The state Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees was founded in 1937 and represents more than 190,000 public school retirees across the state. PASR's more than 33,000 member teachers, administrators and school support personnel are dedicated to serving others in need and helping each other enjoy retirement. The Carbon chapter is home to nearly 300 members and is also dedicated to community service, having completed more than 46,000 hours of volunteer work in 2011.

Special guests attending the Carbon PASR meeting included PASR President Dr. Stephen M. Vak, state Sen. David Argall, and state Rep. Doyle Heffley. Also present was Region 2 Director JoAnn Bailey, who offered a short presentation in honor of past chapter presidents.

The business meeting was followed by a luncheon and entertainment by Henry Long and Group.

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Retired school professionals pile up overtime volunteer hours.

Mock Check Presentation to Carbon County Commissioners

From left: Carbon County Commissioner Tom Gerhard; Carbon County chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees president Marjorie K. Balliet; community service chair Janet Hall; member Charles Uhler; public relations chair Josephine Strausser; Commissioners Chairman Wayne Nothstein and Commissioner William O'Gurek.

After putting in years in the classroom, doing their best to spark interest and a love of learning to sometimes recalcitrant children, a group of Carbon County teachers and other school employees could have spent their hard-earned retirement basking in sweet sloth.

Instead, they devote hours of work to local libraries, churches, environmental centers, civic organizations and hospitals for no pay save the good feeling of helping their communities.

Had the work been paid, it would have totaled $983,568 for the 46,047 hours of volunteer work performed in 2011 alone.

On Thursday, several members of the Carbon County chapter of Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees presented county commissioners with a "check" for that amount.

The members were chapter president Marjorie K. Balliet, president-elect/community service chair Janet Hall, member Charles Uhler, and public relations chair Josephine Strausser.

Commissioners Chairman Wayne Nothstein, William O'Gurek and Tom Gerhard were stunned at the amount of volunteer hours the retired school employees put in.

"Please thank all the members for us," Nothstein said.

"That's a tremendous amount of hours, and equates to a tremendous amount of money. I really want to compliment the four of you and everyone else who volunteers," O'Gurek said.

There are almost 300 members of PASR in Carbon County, Strausser said.

Balliet taught third grade at Shull David Elementary School in Lehighton for 34 before retiring in 1993.

Since then, she's devoted her time to volunteering at Dinkey Memorial Church, Ashfield. She works at the annual book sale and other fund raisers, maintains the church's membership rolls and serves as its financial secretary.

PASR members offer their time and talents "anywhere they need volunteers," she said.

Another member, Charles Uhler, who taught in the Northern Lehigh School District, volunteers at the Discovery Center, Allentown, with the Lehighton Band, and at his church.

PASR partnered with the Keystone Research Group to determine how many public school retirees are actively engaged in volunteer activities in their communities.

The hours were calculated from the Carbon Volunteer Survey, in addition to a telephone survey conducted in 2011 by Phyllis Seems, who is Past Region 2 Director and former Region 2 Community Service Chairperson.

The research revealed that statewide, 63 percent of PASR members volunteer. Each volunteer contributes, on average, 308.4 hours a year, bringing the state total to 6,600,876 hours.

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Educational Support Committee – Jill DeLong

The PASR 75th Anniversary Scholarship Award of $500.00 was presented at the Spring Luncheon to Maria E. Mesko of Summit Hill. She is attending East Stroudsburg University and is currently a second semester junior majoring in Integrated Early Childhood Perk - 4 and Special Education PreK-8.

The educational support committee will also be presenting the Lauretta Woodson Award this spring to a professional educator and support personnel from the Jim Thorpe School District. This award will be presented at a future spring school board meeting in that district.

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