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Youngsters “accepting” $10,000 for after-school program say “no” to snow day

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No decision made at public hearing on fate of Wyoming Area’s Sarah J. Dymond Elementary School

<p>If optimism can remedy what&#8217;s wrong with this nation and Northeastern Pennsylvania, look to young adults such as Nick Rosati to lead the way.</p><p>Rosati, 26, aims to slowly resuscitate a long-neglected, seven-acre industrial site in Wilkes-Barre, converting part of it into a distillery.</p><p>The Wilkes University alumnus bought the run-down complex for $500. He <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/502022/moosic-man-trying-to-save-a-piece-of-wilkes-barre-history" target="_blank">told the Times Leader</a> he intends to pour $50,000 to $100,000 into rehabbing space and starting the liquor business inside one of several Miller Street structures that formerly served as a grain-processing mill. &#8220;I want to save the rest of the buildings, too,&#8221; he said. &#8220;All the buildings are so cool.&#8221;</p><p>Other people might be daunted by this project&#8217;s scope. Concerns about costs, building codes and changing economic conditions would prohibit them from diving in, dooming yet another potentially community-enhancing idea barely minutes after its wouldn&#8217;t-it-be-neat conceptual stage.</p><p>Thankfully, certain souls reject the commonly held notions of what can and cannot be done, re-imagining our collective circumstances. These dreamers and doers make life better.</p><p>Our region benefits by retaining, or attracting, residents of this type. They include, for instance, some of the people now repopulating downtown Wilkes-Barre, drawn to its emerging stock of apartments and condos. Their ranks also include many of the area teenagers who participate in local governments as junior council members. Ditto for those high school students who carry out community projects in <a href="http://www.leadershipwilkes-barre.org/junior-leadership/" target="_blank">Junior Leadership Wilkes-Barre</a>.</p><p>They don&#8217;t all live in Luzerne County&#8217;s most populated places. For example, Newport Township residents Lauren Gorney and Patrick Dane Cooper are stirring up community spirit there by connecting like-minded neighbors via a Facebook page called &#8220;Newport Township NOW!&#8221; The page includes a roundup of township happenings and project updates. Ideally, the duo <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/502025/young-couple-creates-newport-township-now-facebook-page-to-promote-a-positive-life-in-the-community" target="_blank">told the Times Leader</a>, their social media outreach, in conjunction with existing efforts such as the Newport Township Community Organization, can make the area even more desirable for establishing roots.</p><p>Incidentally, the upbeat outlook that powers these and other projects isn&#8217;t a trait exclusively possessed by teens and twenty-somethings.</p><p>Optimism stirs among people of all ages. Despite passing dangers on both the world stage and close to home, they recognize there is a future. And it&#8217;s up to us to shape it.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nick Rosati and his business partner, Katrina Toporcer, plan to create a distillery in a long-abandoned mill in Wilkes-Barre, slowly restoring a site that others saw as only blight. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_Minersmills1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nick Rosati and his business partner, Katrina Toporcer, plan to create a distillery in a long-abandoned mill in Wilkes-Barre, slowly restoring a site that others saw as only blight. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our Opinion: Optimism of ‘youth’ can create better days for NEPA