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Chisenhall, Harding united in marriage

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Around Town: A trip to Olde Brook Inn, a stop at Cork and St. Patrick’s fun

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; During the past seven decades, the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center has seen thousands of baskets sunk in the gym and probably even more laps swum in the pool &#8212; it was once, after all, the practice site for championship swim teams from the former Bishop Hoban High School.</p><p>It&#8217;s held charm schools and fashion shows, too, along with teen dances and other activities designed to help kids get to know each other and develop skills.</p><p>&#8220;I used to come to arts and crafts on Saturdays,&#8221; executive director Mark Soprano said, reminiscing about another popular program of the past. &#8220;I built a book shelf.&#8221;</p><p>Nowadays the venerable institution, which will mark its 70th anniversary in October, has taken on new roles, primarily as a home-away-from-home for hundreds of children who need care while their parents are at work &#8212; before school, after school and, sometimes, through the night.</p><p>&#8220;Over the years,&#8221; director the Rev. John Terry said, &#8220;the CYC has been willing to adapt itself to the needs of each generation. Now we provide child care 24 hours a day.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The CYC used to be a place to hang out,&#8221; Soprano said. &#8220;Now the focus is on the education of young people. The majority of people we serve are lower income, and some kids are behind where they should be educationally, socially and physically.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We have 260 kids a day coming here, ages 6 weeks to 13 years old, and 140 of them are school children,&#8221; Soprano said. &#8220;We serve 10,000 meals a month.&#8221;</p><p>As the CYC&#8217;s 70th anniversary approaches in October, Terry has been pondering the agency&#8217;s history and its success stories, including a recent one involving a boy named Ethan.</p><p>Ethan is on the autism spectrum, Soprano said, and he is not comfortable in crowds. So the swim instructor waited until other children left the pool and gave the boy some private lessons. It took a while for Ethan to learn how to move through the water with a simple &#8220;doggy paddle,&#8221; but he was determined to improve, and practiced two hours a day, three days a week, for months so he could be part of the swim team.</p><p>&#8220;Now his favorite strokes are the butterfly and the breaststroke,&#8221; Soprano said, &#8220;and they&#8217;re the hardest strokes.&#8221;</p><p>The CYC has been working to be a similar positive influence on thousands of young people since the 1940s when, Terry said, &#8220;Bishop William Hafey had a vision of addressing the social and recreational needs of children.&#8221;</p><p>Hafey&#8217;s vision included summer camps in rural areas and Catholic Youth Centers for population centers such as Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.</p><p>&#8220;In those days, you had ethnic parishes,&#8221; Terry said, &#8220;people from the &#8216;Irish church&#8217; or the &#8216;German church&#8217; or the &#8216;Italian church&#8217; might not have socialized very much, but the children could come together here and maybe feel like they were part of a team.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The idea was not really to propagate the faith but to get to know each other.&#8221;</p><p>The Scranton CYC closed a few years ago, and Lackawanna College now uses its building as a gym, but the Wyoming Valley CYC is still going strong. &#8220;It&#8217;s because we have such dedicated lay volunteers,&#8221; Terry said. &#8220;They are very invested.&#8221;</p><p>Four of those invested folks will be honored during the CYC&#8217;s March Madness fund-raiser, set to begin at 6 p.m. March 24 at the Westmoreland Club.</p><p>Honorees at the $125-per-person affair include Kate McCarthy Lambert, John Cavanaugh, Bob Mericle and Mike Hirthler. All four are &#8220;huge basketball fans,&#8221; Soprano noted, so they should enjoy the event, which is timed to coincide with the airing of the Elite Eight games in the NCAA Tournament.</p><p>&#8220;From anywhere you stand at the Westmoreland Club, you&#8217;ll be able to see a TV screen,&#8221; Terry said.</p><p>The fund-raiser will feature the raffling off of a trip for four to a Disney resort &#8212; tickets can be purchased at the CYC or at the event &#8212;as well as a silent auction that includes autographed items from Penn State alumni who made it into the NFL Hall of Fame, a luxury box and tickets to a January 2019 Disney on Ice performance, a Ruth&#8217;s Chris wine-pairing dinner for two, and, &#8220;just in time for Easter,&#8221; as event spokeswoman Ruth Corcoran mentioned, &#8220;a 20-pound chocolate rabbit made by Michael Mootz Chocolate.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">It wasn&#8217;t all basketball and swimming, you know. As the Rev. John Terry looks at scrapbooks from the CYC&#8217;s 70-year history, he can see photos of party organizers posing with horses, and nuns with voluminous habits holding tea cups and saucers. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC1.jpg</photo0><caption0>It wasn&#8217;t all basketball and swimming, you know. As the Rev. John Terry looks at scrapbooks from the CYC&#8217;s 70-year history, he can see photos of party organizers posing with horses, and nuns with voluminous habits holding tea cups and saucers. </caption0><photoCredit0><strong></strong>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Over 70 years, CYC director the Rev. John Terry and executive director Mark Soprano said, the CYC has adapted to meet the needs of new generations. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Over 70 years, CYC director the Rev. John Terry and executive director Mark Soprano said, the CYC has adapted to meet the needs of new generations. </caption1><photoCredit1><strong></strong>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Photos from the past will be displayed during the CYC March Madness fund-raiser, set for March 24 at the Westmoreland Club. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Photos from the past will be displayed during the CYC March Madness fund-raiser, set for March 24 at the Westmoreland Club. </caption2><photoCredit2><strong></strong>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dances were a popular activity at the CYC in Wilkes-Barre, back in the days of stiff bouffant skirts. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Dances were a popular activity at the CYC in Wilkes-Barre, back in the days of stiff bouffant skirts. </caption3><photoCredit3><strong></strong>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Photos from the past will be displayed during the CYC March Madness fund-raiser, set for March 24 at the Westmoreland Club. The CYC scrapbooks offer a glimpse into the past. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032518CYC5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Photos from the past will be displayed during the CYC March Madness fund-raiser, set for March 24 at the Westmoreland Club. The CYC scrapbooks offer a glimpse into the past. </caption4><photoCredit4><strong></strong>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>March Madness fund-raiser to help agency fulfill mission</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> March Madness fund-raiser</p><p><strong>To Benefit:</strong> Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 6 p.m. March 24</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Westmoreland Club, 59 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $125 per person</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> Contact the CYC at 570-823-6131</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

March Madness fund-raiser to benefit 70-year-old Wyoming Valley CYC