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<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; The gap-toothed, buzz-cut blonde spells his name &#8220;S-T-A-N.&#8221; Remember that, it&#8217;s important.</p><p>U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, and State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, came to Barnes &amp; Noble in the Arena Hub Plaza Tuesday to read to students in the SHINE afterschool program, and Stanley Punko, 7 sat in the front row smiling unabashedly despite missing a few upper front baby teeth.</p><p>Barletta read &#8220;&#8216;The night before Christmas,&#8221; and each time he showed the beautiful illustrations accompanying the classic by Clement Clarke Moore, Punko&#8217;s eyes lit up.</p><p>&#8220;Santa!&#8221; he whispered reverently at the little old driver so lively and quick. &#8220;That&#8217;s Santa&#8217;s sleigh!&#8221; he sighed as the reindeer mount to the sky. With &#8220;and to all a good night,&#8221; Punko smiled and waved bye.</p><p>The politicians weren&#8217;t pushing for votes; they came to highlight Barnes &amp; Noble&#8217;s annual Holiday Book Drive. Each year the store picks a worthy local cause, asks customers if they want to donate, and buys books for said cause. SHINE, brought to Luzerne County this fall with help from Barletta and Yudichak, is this year&#8217;s recipient.</p><p>The program has provided anywhere from 300 to 3,200 books, Barnes &amp; Noble Community Business Development Manager Donna Wench said. The drive began Nov. 1 and runs through the end of December. &#8220;We&#8217;re hoping to break the record,&#8221; she said, smiling.</p><p>None of which seemed relevant to Punko, who relished the book Yudichak read: &#8220;Bear Says Thanks&#8221; by Karma Wilson. It recounted the story of a bear yearning to have a Thanksgiving feast for friends but finding his cupboard, well, bare.</p><p>Once all of bear&#8217;s friends came through with food for a happy ending, Punko conceded, unsolicited, &#8220;I like the story.&#8221;</p><p>Okay, you&#8217;re wondering why his name matters.</p><p>Every child got a book by grade. Barletta gave the lad one from the Junie B. Jones series. But other first-grade students got a &#8220;Flat Stanley&#8221; book instead. Punko quietly but persistently worked to get the attention of Barletta, easily more than double the tyke&#8217;s height.</p><p>When the youngster finally got to swap books, he grinned, leafed through the pages wide-eyed, then held the Flat Stanley title next to his face for a photo with the other children, clearly happy.</p><p>Because, after all, his name isn&#8217;t spelled J-U-N-I-E.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Hazleton) reads &#8220;The Night Before Christmas&#8221; to children in the SHINE afterschool program at Barnes &amp; Nobles at the Arena Hub Plaza while State Sen. John Yudichak (D-Nanticoke)looks on. The store&#8217;s annual book drive, running to Jan. 1, will provide books to children in the program </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515shineread1.jpg</photo0><caption0>U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Hazleton) reads &#8220;The Night Before Christmas&#8221; to children in the SHINE afterschool program at Barnes &amp; Nobles at the Arena Hub Plaza while State Sen. John Yudichak (D-Nanticoke)looks on. The store&#8217;s annual book drive, running to Jan. 1, will provide books to children in the program </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515shineread2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Princess Franklin, 8, and Lucero Lara leaf through the books given to them at the Barnes &amp; Nobles at the Arena Hub Plaza after U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and State Sen. John Yudichak read to them. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515shineread2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Princess Franklin, 8, and Lucero Lara leaf through the books given to them at the Barnes &amp; Nobles at the Arena Hub Plaza after U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and State Sen. John Yudichak read to them. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515shineread3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and State Sen. John Yudichak hand out books to children in the SHINE afterschool program at Barnes and Noble at the Arena Hub Plaza. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515shineread3.jpg</photo2><caption2>U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and State Sen. John Yudichak hand out books to children in the SHINE afterschool program at Barnes and Noble at the Arena Hub Plaza. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

A book by any other name: Bookstore helps afterschool program