YOUTH

John was born in Peckville, PA in1937.  This town is situated along the Lackawana River, in Lackawana County of NE Pennsylvania and is located half way between Scranton and Carbondale. He attended grade school, high school, and college in this area.

The first home he and his parents lived in  was a rental home located on Academy Street in Peckville. He moved with his parents when they purchased a home on upper Crystal Street in Peckville around 1940. He lived there until he left the valley in 1959 after graduating from the University of Scranton.

 

John1stGradeClass

A picture of John’s first grade class at Lincoln Grade School. John is third from the right at the top of the picture.

 

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A 2 year old John at the home on Academy Street

 

LincolnSchool1

  Eight grade graduation from Lincoln Grade School in Peckville, PA (1951). Top left to right. Barry Mancini, John,  James Galuardi, Alexis Barron. Paul Machiesky sitting.

One summer during our grade school years, my brother Peter and I adopted two young starlings that Mr Wall, our next door neighbor, had ejected from his pigeon coup. We named them Heckle and Jeckle and raised them on night crawlers that we obtained from our lawn at night. The starlings  would wait for us to come home from school at lunch time and at the end of the day. All we had to do was whistle  and they would fly out of the trees to be fed.   As they grew older they would often bring other starlings with them. However, as soon as the other starlings saw us, they would take off and leave Heckle and Jeckle alone  with us. Eventually they joined the flock of starlings and never came back.The pictures below were taken from old 8mm movie film.

JohnStarling

Heckel and Jeckel

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Boy Scouts

When each of us turned 12 years of age, Peter and I joined the boy scout troop at our church “Sts Cyril and Methodius Greek Catholic Church'” in Olyphant, PA.  We would walk to and from the Thursday night weekly meetings which  were held at the church in Olyphant.

We went to Camp Edwards on Little Hickory Lake (a cold spring fed lake) in Poyntelle, PA during the summers and went on many short back pack trips in the hills behind our home in Peckville, PA.  Camp Edward operated as a summer camp from 1944 through 1969.

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A patrol hike in the hills behind our house.

We eventually each became eagle scouts in 1954 and 1955, respectively.

JohnEagleScout

 

PeteEagleScout