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Property transfers for the week of Feb. 6, 2017

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Police: Stroudsburg man stole medication, violated parole

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The sign on the marquee at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts said it all:</p><p>&#8220;Rest in peace, Mr. Boscov. These lights shine because of you. Thank you!&#8221;</p><p>Those are, and should be, the sentiments of all of us. Albert Boscov, in one way or another, has had nothing but a positive impact on each of us, whether it be through his quality merchandise at reasonable prices, or his philanthropic efforts, or his genuine, sincere compassion for everybody he ever met.</p><p>His death Friday at the age of 87 is tragic in so many ways. And in death, we must celebrate his life because we are all so much better for having known him or known of him.</p><p>As you read or watch all of the media reports about Boscov, you will see a common theme &#8212; he was loved by everyone. From his customers, to his employees, to his business associates, to people he met for the first time and, mostly, by his family and friends.</p><p>Boscov had a way about him. It was evident when I spent a day with him in Reading three years ago. We sat in his office and talked. We walked through his Reading store and met his employees. You could see the adoration on their faces.</p><p>Nobody hid when Mr. Boscov walked by. They waited for their turn to shake his hand, give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, or flash a smile. In most encounters, Mr. Boscov knew the employees&#8217; name and details about their family.</p><p>Mr. Boscov knew this because he cared. His heart was as big as his 45 stores, which employ 7,500 people. Annual sales are nearly $1 billion.</p><p>Every time I was with Mr. Boscov, he talked about his employees. In 2014, we chatted in his office, and all he wanted to talk about were his thousands of &#8220;co-workers.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re the secret weapon,&#8221; Boscov said of his co-workers, some 200 per store. &#8220;We make friends. We make sure they know how important they all are.&#8221;</p><p>And many, if not most, Boscov&#8217;s employees are long-term workers. In Wilkes-Barre, most of them have been with Boscov&#8217;s for 15, 20, 25 years, and even longer in some cases. They simply love their jobs, and they loved their boss &#8212; the big boss &#8212; Mr. Boscov, or Mr. B, as he was affectionately known.</p><p>I asked Mr. Boscov how he had been able to find such good employees &#8212; faithful, hard-working, dedicated people.</p><p>&#8220;We find good people and we keep them,&#8221; he told me.</p><p>During the interview in Reading, Boscov&#8217;s nephew, Jim Boscov, talked about his uncle&#8217;s powerful personality.</p><p>&#8220;He brings such a level of excitement and warmth to everyone. It&#8217;s what differentiates us from the big chains,&#8221; Jim said.</p><p>He said his uncle&#8217;s &#8220;infectious spirit&#8221; has been infused throughout the company &#8212; to every store and every co-worker.</p><p>&#8220;We all have that drive, that grit that creates success,&#8221; Jim said.</p><p>And Albert Boscov loved Wilkes-Barre. That was evident every time he came to town. He always felt a special attachment to Wilkes-Barre, and he took great pride in knowing that his downtown store &#8212; one of the few still anchoring any city&#8217;s downtown &#8212; was so important to the success of the city. Boscov knew how crucial his store was to the city and to the region&#8217;s economic climate.</p><p>And when he was asked to lead the campaign to raise the funding to renovate the former Paramount Theater &#8212; now the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts &#8212; Boscov accepted and got the job done.</p><p>Since that effort 30-plus years ago, downtown Wilkes-Barre has gradually been coming back. More stores, more restaurants, more residential units have followed.</p><p>That&#8217;s why we should keep Boscoving. That&#8217;s why we should buy those tickets to the Kirby Center shows. That&#8217;s why we should be proud to say we are from Wilkes-Barre or Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>Albert Boscov always believed in this area and its people. He showed us how to be nice to one another and to appreciate each other. His example is one that should be followed by everyone everywhere.</p><p>I&#8217;m glad I got to meet Mr. Boscov and that I had the opportunity to get to know him. I learned a lot from him during the few times I was around him, and I will never forget him.</p><p>The Boscov name will last forever, but who he was will live forever in the hearts of all who knew him.</p><p>God bless you, Mr. Boscov. Thanks for lighting up our city &#8212; and our lives.</p><p><ins>For more on Al Boscov&#8217;s legacy, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/tag/alboscov" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-9.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_boscov100_026-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Al Boscov </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_boscov100_026-4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Al Boscov </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> hgGZnKaG8fI</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgGZnKaG8fI</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/hgGZnKaG8fI&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> Local businessmen react to the death of Al Boscov.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Brigid Edmunds</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Albert Boscov: a light that will always shine