Wilkes-barre Rec Dept Holds Tennis Camp

Aldo Russo 
Aug. 9, 1996 
Aldo Russo, 88, Of New Hancock Street, Wilkes-barre, And Formerly Of Scott 
Street, Parsons, Wilkes-barre, Died Friday At Home.

By MARK GUYDISH; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, August 11, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1 





WEST HAZLETON -- Borough native Edward Gundy helped raise one girl, and
over 300 boys. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His gardening skills have produced a grape vine, a small flower bed, and,
he estimates, at least 10,000 trees he and those boys planted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A pioneer of sorts, he even had a small community named after him. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy served as scoutmaster of Boy Scouts of America Troop 16 from 1948 to
1970. The troop disbanded after he retired. He then volunteered over two
decades with the All American Senior Citizens, which serves the West Hazleton
and Hazleton areas. Gundy, 84, can recount enough anecdotes to fill the
proverbial book -- with a few left over. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There's the time one of his scouts -- the designated bugler required to
blow reveille every morning at camp -- woke late, grabbed his bugle, emerged
from his tent in his underwear and crashed down a wooded hill to trumpet the
wake-up call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He tells how Tenderfoot scouts would grumble about smoke from campfires
constantly blowing in their faces and then naively follow the orders of a
troop leader to travel from tent to tent, earnestly asking older scouts where
they kept the mythical "smoke-shifter." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy sent younger scouts to bed early at his camps. Older scouts stayed
awake long enough to share a curious creation Gundy innocuously dubbed "garlic
bread": slices of fire-toasted bread rubbed vigorously with raw garlic, coated
with vegetable oil and sprinkled with salt. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Though some scouts might gasp for water at the first taste of the
concoction, hearty veterans would see who could eat the most slices without
reaching for the canteen. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The games, tricks and rituals were all devised, Gundy said, to prepare his
troops for adult responsibilities. By his own reckoning, it seems to have
worked. Many of his former scouts stayed in touch. They became priests,
doctors, teachers, engineers and community leaders. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He instilled strong devotion. The first year his troop attended a week-long
summer outing at Camp St. Andrew outside of Tunkhannock, Gundy had his boys
pitch their tents in a thickly-wooded camping area far removed from other
scout troops. His scouts dubbed the site, which they returned to every year,
"Gundyville." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy describes the scouts as eager and energetic in bringing his projects
to completion. One day a year they planted trees, hundreds at a time. Many of
the area's abandoned strip mines sport a thick, forested look due to the
10,000 trees Gundy estimates they planted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy clearly instilled commitment by example. A soft-spoken, even-tempered
man, he smiles often as he modestly recounts his life: 22 years as a
scoutmaster, 23 volunteering with Senior Citizen groups, over 50 years working
in the same bakery. And 59 years married to the same woman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna Gundy took ill her last four years, and Gundy devoted most of his time
to her care. Her death in November prompted Gundy to finally stop and
contemplate his own accomplishments. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "When you're active in it, you're just doing and doing, and you take
everything for granted. When you stop and think about it, about what you've
done, it staggers the mind," Gundy said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His daughter Georgianna has convinced Gundy to move to Texas and live with
her family. It will be the first time Gundy has ever lived outside the
borough. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'll miss this place, but my grandchildren will make up for it. I'll
finally get to spend time with them," Gundy said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As he prepares to sell his house and most of his belongings, Gundy sifts
through piles of memorabilia from his scouting days, including old books,
camping awards, and embroidered patches commemorating some of the annual
camping trips. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy picks up a scout hat and says he will probably take some of the
memorabilia with him, "so my grandchildren have proof I was a scoutmaster." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gundy sports a full head of undyed, jet-black hair with only a few streaks
of gray, but concedes that at his age, he may never return to his hometown. He
softly recites the opening lines to a scout song he had his troops sing every
evening before leaving the campfire for bed. "Softly falls the light of day,
as our campfire fades away. Silently each scout must ask, have I done my daily
task." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "That carried a lot of meaning," he says with a wistful smile. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER PHOTOS/PETE G. WILCOX &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some of the embroidered patches Edward Gundy collected during his 22 years
as a scoutmaster in West Hazleton. The patches are from camps ranging from
1954 to 1970. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/PETE G. WILCOX &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Edward Gundy holds up one of the awards he received during his 22 years as
a scoutmaster. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 CUTLINE: TIMES LEADER/PETE G. WILCOX Edward Gundy served as scoutmaster of
Boy Scouts of America Troop 16 from 1948 to 1970. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Scouting Out Memories After Decades Of Volunteer Work, Edward Gundy Will Leave His Beloved Hometown And Live With His Daughter In Texas