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Letter to the Editor: South Wilkes-Barre Residents’ Association urges attendance at Feb. 22 meeting

<p>LUZERNE &#8212; For more than 40 years, George Slinzer essentially lived in the Luzerne Borough Building.</p><p>As the borough&#8217;s caretaker, Slinzer had a job that wasn&#8217;t filled with glory or accolades as he answered the phone and made minor repairs.</p><p>But outside the borough, Slinzer was a champion on a global scale.</p><p>Born in Scranton in 1928, Slinzer contracted polio as a child. He went on to serve as caretaker for Luzerne Borough for 49 years and passed away in 2001 at the age of 73.</p><p>But outside his borough work, Slinzer was a champion archer with both the recurve and crossbow. He won competitions on the state, national and world levels and Slinzer&#8217;s name still resonates with the archery world to this day.</p><p>&#8220;George Slinzer did so much for competitive archery, I don&#8217;t know where to start,&#8221; said Bill Janosky, of Shavertown, a close friend of Slinzer&#8217;s.</p><p>At the state level, Slinzer won the Pennsylvania championship in the recurve division 14 times in a 19-year span. Janosky said one of those championships came a month after Slinzer broke his right wrist.</p><p>&#8220;He quickly taught himself how to shoot left-handed and, with a cast on his right wrist, he still won the championship,&#8221; Janosky said.</p><p>Nationally, Slinzer was the first person to win the U.S. Target and Field National in the same year &#8212; 1989 &#8212; and three years earlier, became the first American to win the Crossbow World Championship, staving off an ardent challenge from the team from Finland.</p><p>And he did it with a crossbow he made himself.</p><p>Janosky was at the 1986 World Championship in Ohio, and vividly remembers Slinzer&#8217;s victory among a field of more than 500 competitors from places such as Japan, Australia, Finland, Portugal and New Zealand.</p><p>&#8220;We put him on our shoulders and carried him to the front of the board with his name at the top. He started crying,&#8221; Janosky said. &#8220;I get emotional every time I think of George.&#8221;</p><p>Slinzer put his name on the archery map with his championships, but he is also remembered for his generosity and willingness to help other shooters.</p><p>William Pimm Jr., president of USA Crossbow, competed with Slinzer many times over the years and still has a tuning tool Slinzer made for him 25 years ago.</p><p>Pimm said Slinzer&#8217;s nickname of &#8220;Gentleman George&#8221; was fitting.</p><p>&#8220;In a lot of sports, the elite don&#8217;t share their ideas or help their competitors. But George would bend over backwards to help someone,&#8221; Pimm said. &#8220;That carries on to this day in the crossbow community.&#8221;</p><p>Slinzer&#8217;s influence and unselfishness helped others succeed in the sport of competitive crossbow shooting, including Old Forge resident Terry Butler.</p><p>Butler, also a decorated shooter on the national and world levels, competed in his first tournament in 1997 and, down the line, there was Slinzer shooting from a motorized wheelchair due to the effects of polio.</p><p>&#8220;I heard George yell from the other end of the line &#8216;How&#8217;s the kid doing?&#8217; He was referring to me,&#8221; Butler said. &#8220;At the end, George came up and said he&#8217;d been watching me and offered some recommendations. He worked with me for an hour and a half.&#8221;</p><p>As polio further impacted Slinzer&#8217;s health, his competitive time dwindled. Near the end, Butler said, Slinzer could no longer go up to the target to pull the arrows he shot.</p><p>&#8220;I did it and I felt it was an honor to pull arrows for this man,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Slinzer&#8217;s death in a nursing home in 2001 marked the end of an era in the archery world.</p><p>&#8220;To us, he was the godfather of archery,&#8221; Butler said. &#8220;He laid the foundation for all of us, and we do our best to uphold his memory.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A photograph of the crossbow team in the 1986 world championship.  From left to right, Don Violenti, Jim Thomas, George Slinzer, Bill Janosky and Mike Blessing (taking the photograph). 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A photograph of the crossbow team in the 1986 world championship.  From left to right, Don Violenti, Jim Thomas, George Slinzer, Bill Janosky and Mike Blessing (taking the photograph). 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill Janosky, of Shavertown, holds the crossbow invented by George Slinzer that he used in the 1986 championship. 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Bill Janosky, of Shavertown, holds the crossbow invented by George Slinzer that he used in the 1986 championship. 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill Janosky, of Shavertown, shows his crossbow invented by George Slinzer. Slinzer made this revised crossbow after the 1986 championships with added features.   2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Bill Janosky, of Shavertown, shows his crossbow invented by George Slinzer. Slinzer made this revised crossbow after the 1986 championships with added features.   2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill Janosky holds up Easton arrows that George Slinzer also customized for better precision when shooting targets. Janoski said Slinzer was a humble guy. &quot;He could have made a lot of money off these arrows, but he wasn't like that, &quot; he said. 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021916Slinzer4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Bill Janosky holds up Easton arrows that George Slinzer also customized for better precision when shooting targets. Janoski said Slinzer was a humble guy. &quot;He could have made a lot of money off these arrows, but he wasn't like that, &quot; he said. 2/12/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_George_Slinzer1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne Borough native George Slinzer was the first American to win the Crossbow World Championship in 1986. Slinzer crafted his own crossbows and won numerous state and national competitions as well. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_George_Slinzer1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Luzerne Borough native George Slinzer was the first American to win the Crossbow World Championship in 1986. Slinzer crafted his own crossbows and won numerous state and national competitions as well. </caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photo Submitted photo </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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The name of Luzerne’s George Slinzer lives on in the world of archery competition