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Harveys Lake preliminary budget has no tax hike

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David Cassidy, former teen idol and star of ‘The Partridge Family,’ dies at 67

<p>HARVEYS LAKE &#8212; You might think boats and water when you think Harveys Lake. But the summer resort town is all about the holidays &#8212; and giving back &#8212; as well.</p><p>Twenty-eight organizations and businesses participated in the 22nd annual Grotto Pizza Parade of Trees at the restaurant Tuesday night.</p><p>Each entrant purchases a tree for $150 to decorate, and half the amount goes toward a charity the participant chooses to support. The other half goes toward a prize pool made up of the entry fees paid by the businesses and other entrants.</p><p>Visitors to the restaurant can vote for their favorite tree by donating whatever amount they choose. All of the donations are given to the charities supported by the participating groups. At the end of the holiday season, the top three trees with the most votes split the prize pool. Since Grotto Pizza owner Armand Mascioli started Parade of Trees in 1995, the event has raised over $220,000 for local charities.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a sense of holiday cheer around it,&#8221; Mascioli said, referring to Tuesday&#8217;s tree-decorating party. &#8220;People are in a happy, upbeat mood and they are in the mood of helping and giving.&#8221;</p><p>The Northeast Pennsylvania Antique and Classic Boat Society of Harveys Lake decided to support the American Cancer Society this year, a charity that is close to member Janet Nash&#8217;s heart. She&#8217;s a breast cancer survivor.</p><p>The event also gives Nash a chance to show off her decorating skills. &#8220;We all have a little bit of creativity,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The club&#8217;s tree was decorated with pink and silver ornaments. Nash chooses different colored ornaments every year.&#8220;Everybody has their own ideas and all the trees are all different,&#8221; she said. &#8220;No two are the same.&#8221;</p><p>In a far corner of the restaurant, members of the WBS Penguins Booster Club were busy decorating their tree, which contained ornaments with photographs of hockey players. The club is supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in honor of 7-year-old Amelia Nankivell, who has kidney cancer.</p><p>Nankivell was given the chance to visit Disney World two years ago with the help of Make-A-Wish. She excitedly shows off a poster that was full of photographs from the trip, posing with Micky and Minnie Mouse, Disney princesses and her favorite character, Mary Poppins.</p><p>Nankivell&#8217;s grandmother, Kathy Thomas, is glad the club is supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation so that other local children, who might be suffering from an illness, might also get a once-in-lifetime opportunity. &#8220;I&#8217;m gonna cry, &#8221; she said while talking about her granddaughter. &#8220;I get very emotional.&#8221;</p><p>Employees from Borton-Lawson, an engineering and architecture company based in Wilkes-Barre, decided to support the Domestic Violence Service Center this year. The group has participated in Parade of Trees every year since it started and always brings &#8220;the entertainment&#8221; to the decorating party. That&#8217;s none other than Elvis impersonator Dave Yefko, of Plymouth.</p><p>Yefko, an engineer with the firm, dresses up as Elvis and performs his songs as a hobby for charity events. &#8220;For people who&#8217;ve never seen me before, it&#8217;s exciting,&#8221; he said. &#8220;At some point during the night, they&#8217;ll ask me for pictures.&#8221;</p><p>However, whenever Santa Claus makes his appearance at the party, Yefko said he always steps aside, so he doesn&#8217;t hog the attention. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to step on Santa Claus&#8217; toes,&#8221; he said jokingly. &#8220;When I see him come walking around, I get in the background and I let him go around and do his thing.&#8221;</p><p>Community members can visit the restaurant and vote for their favorite tree until Dec. 31. Winners will be announced in early January.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Katie-Jo Cadwalader, 16, of Beaumont, Wyoming County helps decorate a Christmas tree for the Carrie Martin Scholarship Fund, named after her sister, sponsored by Smith&#8217;s Country Store in Beaumont. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL112217ParadeofTrees2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Katie-Jo Cadwalader, 16, of Beaumont, Wyoming County helps decorate a Christmas tree for the Carrie Martin Scholarship Fund, named after her sister, sponsored by Smith&#8217;s Country Store in Beaumont. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader  </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL112217ParadeofTrees3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dave Yefko, of Plymouth, impersonates Elvis Presley on behalf of the Plymouth Rotary Club at Grotto Pizza in Harveys Lake during Tuesday&#8217;s tree-decorating party. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL112217ParadeofTrees3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dave Yefko, of Plymouth, impersonates Elvis Presley on behalf of the Plymouth Rotary Club at Grotto Pizza in Harveys Lake during Tuesday&#8217;s tree-decorating party. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader  </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL112217ParadeofTrees1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Angela Welby and daughter Gianna, 9, of Swoyersville, help decorate a Christmas tree on behalf of Blue Chip Farm Animal Rescue sponsored by Fino&#8217;s Pharmacy during a fundraising event Tuesday at Grotto Pizza in Harveys Lake. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_TTL112217ParadeofTrees1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Angela Welby and daughter Gianna, 9, of Swoyersville, help decorate a Christmas tree on behalf of Blue Chip Farm Animal Rescue sponsored by Fino&#8217;s Pharmacy during a fundraising event Tuesday at Grotto Pizza in Harveys Lake. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader  </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kulsoom Khan</p><p>kkhan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Harveys Lake tree-decorating party helps charities