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Wilkes-Barre city council handles full agenda during combined session

5 more MLB players positive for COVID, raising total to 80

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Pete Chaivanik was a religious man.
				He could be seen every year at the St. Ann&rsquo;s Novena in Scranton.
				I thought about Pete again when I read that the Novena to St. Ann was beginning Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.
				Pete Chaivanik was well-known in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
				Most people referred to him affectionately as &ldquo;Pencil Pete,&rdquo; the smiling man who had cerebral palsy and who sat in his wagon and sold pencils in front of The Boston Store (now Boscov&rsquo;s) in downtown Wilkes-Barre to make a living.
				I think about Pete often &mdash; his picture was displayed proudly on my desk for years.
				I think about this determined man who never let his disability get him down. A man who made sure to go to work every day, smile at the world and earn enough to help put food on the table.
				And Pete always did this &mdash; every single day &mdash; with an infectious smile and always with a thank you.
				Because of where I come from, I gained a sincere appreciation for Pete and his approach to life. My mom and dad each had a disability, but neither was ever slowed by their issues. They, like Pete, set an example for me and for everybody.
				The St. Ann Novena is a series of prayers devoted to St. Ann, whom Catholics honor as the mother of St. Mary and grandmother of Jesus.
				I will pray during the Novena, as I do every day, and Pete will be included in my prayers, as he has always been.
				Pete couldn&rsquo;t walk. His speech was difficult to understand. And whenever someone would drop some money in his cup, he would smile as he struggled to say &ldquo;Thank you.&rdquo;
				Pete was an inspiration to many people for many years. The image of Pete in his wagon the pencils in a bucket in the front, will always be etched in my mind.
				When I wrote a feature story about him in 2012, Pete, who died in 1988 at age 66. I learned a lot more about Pete than I had ever known before &mdash; that he grew up in Pittston, he was of Czechoslovakian heritage, he loved to watch professional wrestling (his favorite was Chief Jay Strongbow) &mdash; and occasionally Pete would take a drink of whiskey or beer, sometimes adding a raw egg.
				And even though he couldn&rsquo;t drive, Pete always bought his own cars. Pete liked to go to places like Rocky Glen Park, Harveys Lake and Niagara Falls to name a few destinations.
				And he always went to the Bloomsburg Fair on the last night.
				When Pete&rsquo;s parents died, the Dulney family took care of him. Their son, Joseph, told me he learned many lessons from Pete.
				&ldquo;He taught me to be respectful of one another,&rdquo; Dulney told me. &ldquo;Never look down on anybody. If we all were that way, maybe the world would be a better place.&rdquo;
				I know I&rsquo;m a better person because I got to see Pete in his wagon selling those pencils. My mom, who wore a brace on her left leg, appreciated Pete for his hard work. We always stopped to say hello and to &ldquo;make a purchase.&rdquo;
				Te late Frank Henry of The Martz Group once told me that Pete was a part of the fabric of Wilkes-Barre.
				&ldquo;He was not a vagrant &mdash; he was an institution and a positive one at that,&rdquo; Mr. Henry told me.
				Mr. Henry and many others were right about Pete &mdash; he never complained and he was an inspiration to all.
				Joseph Dulney said he and many others learned a lot from Pete.
				&ldquo;There should be more people like him,&rdquo; he said.
				When Chaivanik died in 1988 at age 66, Dulney said, many people came to the wake and funeral to pay their respects.
				In 2012, I asked Dulney what lessons he learned from Pete.
				&ldquo;Be respectful of one another,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Never look down on anybody. If we all were that way, maybe the world would be a better place.&rdquo;
				A perfect message for these pandemic times.

Remembering ‘Pencil Pete’ and St. Ann’s Novena