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Month: March 2015

This ‘n’ that

March 27, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Jerry Ciampi, likable leader of First National Community Bank, is having a lot of fun telling everyone that his daughter presented him with his first grandson and then named the bouncing baby boy after a rival bank: Chase. Makes one… Continue Reading →

Ah, spring

March 24, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Feeling great Bet you are too The sun is shining The sky is blue Snow on grass Replace with dew Winter’s gone We made it through Feeling great Know what I mean? Everything white Now is green Gray, dark days… Continue Reading →

Johnny Doc, a stand up guy

March 20, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

John Dougherty held up his left fist and raised each finger as he said, “I am an Irish. White. Male. Catholic. Democrat. And any one of those can get someone upset with me in Philadelphia.” But he quickly emphasized his… Continue Reading →

IBEW, John J. Dougherty, Johnny Doc, St. Patrick's Day

Here’s hoping they were laughing last night

March 18, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

At a Wyoming Area High School sports banquet in 1970, beloved principal Bob O’Connell stepped to the microphone to a rousing standing ovation. “I have a joke,” he said when the applause subsided. “I told it to my wife before… Continue Reading →

Irish humor, St. Psatrick's Day

Hot dog, that was cool

March 13, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Pittston Area and Wyoming Area, whose bands, as per tradition marched together, Holy Rosary, Wyoming Area Catholic and Good Shepherd Academy were not the only schools represented in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Pittston on March 7.… Continue Reading →

Oscar Mayer, Weinermobile

When you bloom where you’re planted

March 11, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I spotted Bill Howley from a couple of blocks away. No surprise there. I’ve known the guy for more than 50 years. Come to think of it, he hasn’t changed a whole lot in all that time. Well, at least… Continue Reading →

Diversity of a different color

March 6, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

My late friend Richard B. Cosgrove, who wrote a delightful column for the Citizens’ Voice in the final years of his newspaper career, often talked about how the smell of cooked cabbage would waft through the air of Pittston in… Continue Reading →

Pittston parade, St. Patrick's Day, The Irish of Pittston

How cold is cold?

March 4, 2015Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you but I have trouble wrapping my head around an outside temperature of minus-6. “Just how cold is that?” I wonder as I try to figure out how to dress for an hour or two of… Continue Reading →

About the Optimist

Ed Ackerman Ed Ackerman, a consulting editor and columnist for the Greater Pittston Progress, has served the people of Greater Pittston for 48 years, starting in the newspaper field at age 17. The Pittston resident will share his thoughts in this blog and in a weekly column published in the Progress. greaterpittstonprogress.com

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