Jim Dino
Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
WEATHERLY, Pa. — The Weatherly Hillclimb Association wants to help the Weatherly Ambulance Association, so one association is holding a fundraiser for the other.
After the parade that opens the latest hillclimb event this Friday evening, the “Meet the Drivers’ Pit Fundraiser” will he held to raise money for the ambulance. A menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad and soda and water will be served.
Weatherly Councilman Joe Cyburt, also president of the hillclimb group, said he believes past success of the event can be to the benefit of the ambulance association this year.
“We always have a little picnic after parade to kick off hillclimb weekend,” Cyburt said. “We charge a nominal fee. Whatever money we raise will go toward the ambulance association. I’m hoping by pushing this, maybe we will get more people there. In the past, they did fairly well. We are going to try to double that number.”
Councilwoman Theresa D’Andrea, a member of the ambulance board, said aside from the hillclimb fundraiser, the next three ambulance fundraisers will be in June.
“We will have a bake sale at the Silver Ridge Hunting Club at their breakfast Sunday from 7 a.m. to noon,” D’Andrea said. “Donations of baked goods are appreciated. We are also selling tickets for our Father’s Day fundraiser. We will also have a hoagie coupon fundraiser sometime in June. The Mother’s Day fundraisers netted $1,973.86.”
Those who want to donate should call 570-427-4137, D’Andrea said.
“We are trying to attract new EMTs (emergency medical technicians) and new members for community involvement,” she said. “We are launching a new Facebook page, posting jobs and using it to market to the new generation as well as the local community. Our fund drive letter is going out now. We now have a new business operations manager, Jessica Adamcyk from Weatherly. That is a blessing right there. If we didn’t have the community help, we wouldn’t be this far.”
Those who are interested in being an EMT should call the station at 570-427-8772, D’Andrea said.
The ambulance association, incorporated in 1977, began using paid EMTs in 2013. Financial problems arose last year, when it was revealed the association was spending more than it was taking in.
The Hillclimb
The Friday to Sunday event is the first of two annual events the hillclimb has held since 1961. The other is in September.
The hillclimb race will be held Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The event gives civic, non-profit groups such as the Scouts, Little League, library, high school class groups and local churches and fire companies the opportunity to raise money by selling food. There will be a variety of food available.
With the help of a First Federal Foundation grant, the Hillclimb Association will be building a permanent, pavilion-type structure in the grassy area of the pits where the vendor tent is usually placed during the event. Construction will begin after the this weekend’s hillclimb, Cyburt said.
Contact the writer:
jdino@standardspeaker.com 570-501-3585
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©2019 the Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pa.)