Wilkes-barre

Area Red Cross Raising $25,000 In Quake Aid 
The Wyoming Valley Chapter Of The American Red Cross Is Accepting Donations To 
Help Victims Of The Recent California Earthquake.

Thursday, January 27, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 10A QUICK WORDS: ROOFTOP VOLUNTEERS AID
ELDERLY 





Rooftop volunteers aid elderly &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Employees of a local landscaping firm spend days shoveling snow, for free,
from roofs and sidewalks of those who can't do so themselves &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By ROBERT SITTEN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Staff Writer &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WANAMIE -- Ignore the warning shouted from the rooftop and you'll end up
with a face full of snow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Snow in the hooooollllle!" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The jokes and wisecracking fly like the clouds of snow from the shovels of
Andy Hvozda, Dan Josefowicz and Harry Meade of Winfield Peters Landscaping,
who were working Wednesday to clear the roof of Agnes Zablocki's home in
Wanamie. The Wanamie company decided, with the latest snowfall, to shovel snow
from the homes of elderly residents for free and likely will keep doing it
through the rest of the week. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We just started doing it this year, and I'll tell you, I'm pretty damn
happy about it. Somebody needs to help these people who can't do this for
themselves," said Jorge Lopez, who at a little after 2 p.m. had already had a
long day. He started shoveling at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and pulled an all-nighter,
shoveling snow from homes and a few businesses all over the Wyoming Valley. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Man, it takes a lot out of you," he said as he shoveled a path to
Zablocki's garage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not everybody had pulled as long a shift as Lopez. Hvozda said he got stuck
in the snow at his Nuangola home early in the morning, and didn't get out
until 10. "They were already sending somebody to dig me out when I called in,"
he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Josefowicz said they all try to make the work fun. Good-natured needling
and improvised "Beavis and Butt-head" routines echoed from the roof. Beavis
and Butt-head are popular cartoon characters featured on MTV. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Who's buying lunch? Jorge?" someone shouted from the roof. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Not Jorge. Jorge left his money home," Lopez retorted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lopez smiled wearily and shook his head at the lunacy of his co-workers on
the roof. "There's no better group of guys, you know," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nancy Peters, owner of the landscaping company, said she had up to 10
workers shoveling and catching sleep whenever they could. The idea to shovel
older folks' homes for free just seemed to be the right thing to do, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I mean, why not? They're a great bunch of guys and they're great workers.
We wanted to do something nice," Peters said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To aid in the company's effort, Peters said, Cellular Plus of Avoca donated
cellular phone air time, to communicate with the workers, and Northern Car
Rental of Scranton contributed vans. Peters also worked with Mr. Z's
supermarkets to make grocery deliveries to people who were kept inside by the
snow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That wasn't a problem for Zablocki, who said she had plenty of food stored
in the freezer, but still needed somebody to help her dig out of the snow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm almost 78 and I can't do everything. I'm by myself here. I'm having to
make do by myself," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "God bless you all," Zablocki said with a smile as the workers left. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lopez's brother, Julio, had also been shoveling since early Tuesday evening
and couldn't remember how many houses he'd shoveled. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I tried to lay down for five minutes, then whoops! It was time to go out
again," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Agnes Zablocki, third from left, had snow cleared from her roof and
sidewalks for free by Andy Hvozda, Julio Lopez, Tiffany Goldston, Dan
Josefowicz, Harry Meade and Jorge Lopez of Winfield Peters Landscaping in
Wanamie.

Rooftop Volunteers Aid Elderly Employees Of A Local Landscaping Firm Spend Days Shoveling Snow, For Free, From Roofs And