News

December 22, 2009

And the show goes on

Courthouse workers rally to put on concert

By Dotty Martin dmartin@mydallaspost.com
Editor

The morning after workers removed a Nativity and menorah from the lawn outside of the Luzerne County Courthouse, the holiday spirit was still being made inside.

On Thursday, Dec. 17, after a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union prompted removal of the cr�che and menorah – and the same day Greg Skrepenak was resigning from his commissioner post -- several county employees rallied to put on a holiday show for courthouse visitors.

Students from a Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18 multi-handicapped class had traveled from their school in Pittston to hear the music of high school choirs fill the courthouse.

But after the LIU students settled into chairs in the rotunda and those in wheelchairs waited as patiently as they could, it became apparent there was no choir. A scheduling problem had left the courthouse quiet that afternoon.

Jennifer Thomas, executive assistant to county Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla, was notified. On the way to a scheduled holiday luncheon with Petrilla, Thomas turned to Colette Check, Commissioner Steve Urban’s executive assistant.

“Don’t worry about it,” Check told Thomas. “We’ll do something.”

Check is a former LIU and public school teacher who, with her husband, Andy, originated the live Nativity at the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly in Trucksville. She remembered that Pam Smith, a county security guard, has a beautiful singing voice.

“She loves kids and is great with them,” Check said of Smith.

Smith’s boss, Basil Soroka, agreed for Smith to be temporarily excused from her duties in the Brominski building .

Smith knew that court reporter Marcia Colleran played the piano. So with Colleran at the keyboard, Check and Smith stood in the rotunda singing carols, enlisting help from the students and the adults with them.

As the music grew louder -- and the students started clapping their hands -- people from all over the courthouse came to the forefront to see the performance.

After listening to music for nearly half an hour, the students received candy canes from the performers before returning to their buses.

“The kids all loved it,” said classroom teacher Anthony Alu. “It’s a day I’ll never forget.”

Back in the rotunda, the trio finished its impromptu holiday concert with “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

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