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Brown
Cassarella
Granza
Brady
Danny Cassarella, a Conyngham native, has won the “Modern Day Caesar” contest put on by Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and GQ magazine. Cassarella was one of five finalists in a national search put on by Caesars and GQ. He entered by filling out an online questionnaire and submitting a photo in May. Cassarella was selected as a finalist by a panel of judges from GQ and Caesars and then won his title as the modern day Caesar by winning an online vote that the public participated in on GQ’s Web site. Cassarella is set to receive a prize package that includes a fantasy getaway for four to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and a photo spread in the December 2006 issue of GQ magazine. Cassarella was recently announced the winner of the contest on the television show “Extra.” Cassarella resides in Boston and serves as the president of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Class of 2008. He coaches Little League Baseball in disadvantaged areas of Boston and participated in the 2006 Boston Marathon for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Marathon Challenge team. Cassarella is the son of Daniel and Patty Cassarella, Conyngham. He has two sisters, Nancy Fritch and Jill Cassarella.
Dara Coslett Granza has been named vice president of communications, membership and marketing of the Girl Scouts of Penn’s Woods Council. Coslett Granza, who was formerly employed as the council’s communications director and core services director, assumed her new duties in September. She has a background in higher education that includes work in admissions, alumni affairs and volunteer programming. Coslett Granza has served as an admissions representative and the coordinator of student ambassadors at Johnson College and the alumni coordinator for admissions at Wilkes University. In her new position, Coslett Granza will create and produce council publications, brochures, Web site content, newsletters and two newspapers that reach more than 230,000 total community members. Additionally, she will design and implement strategies for the cultivation, recruitment and retention of girl and adult members while overseeing the council’s communications and membership departments. Coslett Granza received degrees in journalism, public relations and advertising from Temple University. She volunteers with Junior Achievement and the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) organization. Coslett Granza is a member of the board of directors of Northeast Network. She and her husband Robert reside in Olyphant.
Joseph Brady, Wyoming Valley Art League artist, was presented with a certificate of appreciation in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Luzerne County Community College’s commercial art department and his efforts to make the realization of a permanent art gallery come true during the opening ceremonies of the new Schulman Gallery at Luzerne County Community College on Oct. 27. The award was presented by Susan Sponenberg, director of the commercial art department, and Patricia Donohue, president of Luzerne County Community College. Brady, a well known, award-winning artist and a long-time member of the Wyoming Valley Art League, has several works on display at the Schulman Gallery and at the Wyoming Valley Art League’s Mid-Town Gallery in Wilkes-Barre. Brady studied at the Murray Art School in Wilkes-Barre under the direction of artist John Cabore. Brady is taking classes with Michael Molnar at Luzerne County Community College.
Brian Brown, 40, Plains Township, has done a lot of work with a campus-wide drive for supplies for Ruth’s Place, an emergency homeless shelter for women at the First United Methodist Church in Wilkes-Barre. Ruth’s Place is dependent upon donations, volunteers and the parish community to support and operate the facility and soup kitchen. The shelter is operated by the Methodist Urban Ministries, a collaborative effort by the six Methodist churches in the Wilkes-Barre area. Brown is working toward his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and history at College Misericordia after completing his military commitment and beginning a family with his wife Maria. He is a pre-school teacher and father of two: Emily, 4, and Theodore, 2. For more information, or to volunteer or make a donation, call the First United Methodist Church’s office at 822-6817.