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Month: December 2016

Peanut Stick

December 30, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Pat Cawley had a great nickname. But save for my friend Bobby Roman and I and our old buddy Flash Flanagan, nobody knew it. Flash, a writer who I think really appreciated the alliteration, loved saying Pat “Peanut Stick” Cawley.… Continue Reading →

Pat Cawley, Patrick Cawley

Christmas candy

December 28, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

The lad from next door had no idea the power he held in his hands when he showed up at our door with peanut brittle. I had not eaten or even seen peanut brittle in decades but as soon as… Continue Reading →

bonbons, clear toy candy, Peanut brittle, ribbon candy

That was Tony

December 23, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

As a newspaper editor I made it a rule not to attend political functions. To borrow from Bill Murrary’s character Peter Venkman in “Ghostbusters,” however, it proved to be not so much of a rule but more of a guideline… Continue Reading →

Anthony Rostock, Tony Rostock

The Christmas bird

December 21, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Just when Citizens Voice reporter James Halpin thought he was assigned to cover a boring small town council meeting, he got an early Christmas present. A bird. Not a partridge in a pear tree. Not even a turkey, but that… Continue Reading →

", "The bird", Flipping off, James Halpin, The finger, Yatesville Council

Melt-in-your-mouth memories

December 16, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

They’re eating better in Heaven today. Biagio Dente has arrived. “Pittston’s Chef” died Wednesday at his summer home in Florida. He was 78. A Certified Executive Chef and member of the Chef’s Hall of Fame, Biagio fed us all during… Continue Reading →

Biagio Dente

Tough Guy vs. Tannenbaum

December 14, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Jimmy O’Donnell Jr. calls his dad, James “Spot” O’Donnell “Tough Guy.” It’s a nickname well earned. Several years ago, the two worked side-by-side as pressmen at the Sunday Dispatch in Pittston. And when they weren’t in the pressroom, they worked… Continue Reading →

Christmas trees, Tannenbaum

Santa needs a support system

December 9, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

It was like that scene in The Godfather when Michael Corleone guns down those two guys in the little Italian restaurant. Well, a little like it. Instead of finding a gun that was left for me in the bathroom and… Continue Reading →

Red kettles, Salvation Army, Santa

Everything changed 75 years ago today

December 7, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

War, to paraphrase the words of my friend Al Kridlo on the night he learned his son Dale had been killed in battle in Afghanistan, has a way of changing everything. It certainly did for the Ackermans of White Haven.… Continue Reading →

Pearl Harbor, Tropical Lightning

A handshake to remember

December 2, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

You’ve most likely heard by now that Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, had to be evacuated from the South Pole Wednesday because of what was termed deteriorating health. Aldrin was on a sightseeing trip. Reports… Continue Reading →

Buzz Aldrin

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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