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Times Leader speller Peter Khoudary takes preliminary, written test; enjoys sight-seeing in DC area

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Community calendar for week of May 25, 2016

<p>While scrolling through this news site, you might see an award winner such as Michelle Nackley or Christopher Concert clutching a plaque and think, big whoop.</p><p>Their names don&#8217;t often make headlines. Their accomplishments &#8211; even when publicly highlighted &#8211; don&#8217;t spark the kind of contagious hype reserved for Billboard Music Award recipients or, heck, the runners-up on reality TV shows. If Patrice Persico, for instance, passed you in a local supermarket&#8217;s cereal aisle, you probably wouldn&#8217;t snap a selfie with her and text it to your friends.</p><p>Yet these area residents &#8211; and dozens more like them &#8211; deserve their moments in the limelight, not only to recognize their good deeds, but also to inspire others to do the hard work of bettering their communities. Before we pursue the topic further, some background:</p><p>&#8226; Michelle Nackley and husband John Nackley, president of Intermetro Industries, this month received the Salvation Army of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s 2016 Community Service Award. They were recognized for &#8220;significant service to our community,&#8221; including their long-time involvement with nonprofits and their philanthropy.</p><p>&#8226; Christopher Concert, Swoyersville&#8217;s mayor, was among those honored this week by the area&#8217;s Peace and Justice Center. Alarmed by a white supremacist group&#8217;s recruitment efforts in the area last year, Concert organized a candlelight vigil to allow local residents to send an alternate message of appreciation for diversity and love.</p><p>&#8226; Patrice Persico, a Shavertown resident, recently was named as the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce&#8217;s 2016 Athena Award recipient. Her community service and efforts to help women excel professionally will be recognized at the chamber&#8217;s &#8220;Extraordinary People Inspiring Community&#8221; celebration on June 7.</p><p>Each of these winners has decided to devote time, expertise or resources, or all three, to benefit the common good. Collectively, they follow a long tradition of Wyoming Valley residents who have rolled up their shirt sleeves, and sometimes stuck out their necks, to improve life for others, including generations yet to come.</p><p>Star treatment? If anyone merits it today, it&#8217;s the usually unheralded people whose kind acts serve as the stitches holding together our community.</p><p>Their names might not always be recognizable to you, but that shouldn&#8217;t diminish the value of their deeds.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Nominate</strong></p><p>Do you know of an individual, group, company or nonprofit organization in Northeast Pennsylvania &#8220;whose work has had a positive impact on the region&#8217;s environment&#8221; and is deserving of recognition. If so, <a href="http://pecpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016-Nomination-NE-Environmental-Partnership-Awards.pdf" target="_blank">submit information</a> to The Northeast Environmental Partners. Nominations for its 26th annual Northeast Environmental Partnership Awards are due by June 25.</p></factboxMeta></div>

Our Opinion: ‘Stars’ of community service make NEPA brighter; won’t you join them?