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11/06/2006
Youth task force readies headquarters
BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS STAFF WRITER
The transformation
of the building at 24 S. Prospect St. from Stickney
Fire Co. headquarters to Greater Nanticoke Area
Drug Task Force and Youth Task Force headquarters
is nearly complete.
Although the official grand opening won’t be for
a little while yet, members of the anti-drug group
recently had a chance to show off their handiwork
at the first public event, a Halloween party.
Down in the basement, where the Stickney firefighters
once met for refreshments, several 10th graders
from Greater Nanticoke Area gathered around task
force president Frank Vandermark — who they affectionately
call “Uncle Frank” — to assess what needs to be
done.
There will be a snack bar and game room, with board
and video games. There is a full kitchen, a bar
and a small ornamental fireplace, which, even if
it doesn’t work, adds atmosphere.
“This place is gonna be hot,” said youth task force
secretary Sharon Provenzano.
“I can’t wait for this to be all done. It’s going
to be sweet,” agreed task force president Kaila
Sakowski.
In the main floor garage, there are pool tables,
ping-pong and air hockey tables, and a piano. More
play equipment is being donated, Vandermark said.
Upstairs, there is a computer lab and rooms where
the task force and other groups such as Alcoholics
Anonymous meet. The walls were painted in bright
colors by the young volunteers.
Youth task force members, all Greater Nanticoke
Area High School students, did most of the renovating
themselves, Vandermark said.
The task force board agreed teens would feel it
was really their own place if they put in the sweat
equity. Which they did, at least twice a week, Provenzano
said.
Heavy-duty jobs like the electrical system and air
conditioning were provided free by local professionals,
Vandermark said.
Next spring, the task force plans to lay concrete
behind the building for a basketball hoop and an
outdoor picnic area.
The Greater Nanticoke Area Drug Task Force was formed
in August 2003 when police, school district officials
and community members decided to combat a growing
drug problem. The group aimed to give teens a recreation
center, and to educate them about drug and alcohol
abuse.
At first, meetings were held in the basement of
St. Francis Church on East Green Street. But swelling
enrollment led the task force board to seek a bigger,
permanent home.
Nanticoke council leased the fire hall to the task
force in June 2005. This May, council closed the
Stickney and Washington Fire Co. buildings because
the financially distressed city could no longer
afford them.
The Stickney firefighters were reluctant to give
up the building at first. They ended up being very
cooperative, moving their equipment out of the Stickney
building and into the main fire hall on at 2 E.
Ridge St. and giving their fire truck to neighboring
Newport Township, councilman Brent Makarczyk said.
The task force will honor the Stickney firefighters
and their 121 years of service with a permanent
exhibit in the fire truck bay, Vandermark said.
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com
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