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Holy Redeemer volleyball passes four-set test from Valley West

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<p>FORTY FORT &#8212; When the Forty Fort pool had to end its season early due to a costly leak, some borough children decided to take matters into their own hands.</p><p>Ten year-olds Lily Shymanski, Natalie Wilson, Aaron Girvan, Jack Wilson and Lola Wojciechowski &#8212; plus 8-year-old Maggie Wilson &#8212; refused to let their place of summer haven meet a dire fate, stepping up to the plate and holding a series of events and sales to raise money for repairs.</p><p>Their efforts &#8212; the latest of which netted nearly $900 &#8212; were honored by borough officials Tuesday.</p><p>Forty Fort mayor Andy Tuzinski kicked off Tuesday&#8217;s council meeting by presenting the children with certificates of appreciation. Tuzinski commended the youngsters for their desire to help and make a positive change within their community.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s people out there that say &#8216;something should be done, something should be done,&#8217; and then there are others &#8212; like these young residents of the borough &#8212; that say &#8216;I must do something&#8217;,&#8221; said the mayor.</p><p>Residents, friends and students of Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Dana Street Elementary took it upon themselves to organize a variety of activities and sales to help raise money throughout the summer. Between a series of bake sales, lemonade stands and other events, the children were able to present the borough with $187 earlier this summer. The youngsters had another check to deliver to council Tuesday &#8212; this one totaled $894.</p><p>&#8220;We came up with the idea (of fundraising), and then we came up with a bunch of ideas,&#8221; Natalie said.</p><p>The friends began to hold meetings on what they would do, and started spreading word around their school. While their goal was to get the pool fixed, many of the children admitted they never thought it would create so much publicity.</p><p>&#8220;We weren&#8217;t expecting this at all,&#8221; Girvan said shyly.</p><p>Besides being honored with certificates from the borough, councilman Jeff McLaughlin made the children&#8217;s spirits soar by announcing the borough planned &#8212; and ultimately passed &#8212; a motion to begin accepting bids to repair the pool.</p><p>&#8220;This motion paves the way to get the pool done,&#8221; councilman Ted Ritsick said after the meeting, saying he hopes the project can be completed in time for next summer.</p><p>The children said they were happy to hear the pool may be getting repaired, admitting they were astonished they were able to raise as much money as they did.</p><p>Beaming with pride, Tuzinski said he feels reassured the future of Forty Fort is in good hands, especially when the youngest members of the community are choosing to step up when times get tough.</p><p>&#8220;As far as I&#8217;m concerned, they&#8217;re the cream of the crop in our community,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Shymanski&#8217;s mother, Lynn, said that as parent she&#8217;s just as proud of her daughter and her friends for choosing to become proactive. She noted the kids learned a lot about teamwork and responsibility during the process.</p><p>Meanwhile, the children said their fundraising attempts may not be over just yet, as they are contemplating holding a sale for a future Halloween event in the park.</p><p>In other business Tuesday:</p><p>&#8226; Tuzinski announced that he and state Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, will be hosting a community get-together at the Betty Mascelli Park in Forty Fort on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. All are welcome.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Aaron Girvan, 10, of Forty Fort, hands Forty Fort council president Jeff McLaughlin an $894 check Tuesday that represents what he and his friends helped raise to restore the borough&#8217;s leaking pool. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090717fortyfort.jpg</photo0><caption0>Aaron Girvan, 10, of Forty Fort, hands Forty Fort council president Jeff McLaughlin an $894 check Tuesday that represents what he and his friends helped raise to restore the borough&#8217;s leaking pool. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Marcella Kester</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Forty Fort kids present council with more money for pool fixes