Mohegan Pennsylvania to Host A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper On Saturday, October 7th and Sunday, October 8th, the Keystone Grand Ballroom at Mohegan Pennsylvania will host the popular special event, A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper. This spine-chilling event allows the audience to become a part of the action during a 90-minute murder mystery. Guests will be playing detective and tasked with following clues, interrogating suspects and more. The show on October 7th starts at 8:00pm and the show on October 8th starts at 2:00pm, with doors opening 30 minutes before the start of each show. Tickets are on-sale now for $35.00, and available online through Without A Cue Productions. Tickets will not be available for purchase at Mohegan Pennsylvania. The Golden Girls are at it again! Miami’s Fab Four are planning their annual Halloween Shindig, and the goblins and ghouls have all come out to play. As Rose dresses the room in traditional St. Olaf Halloween decorations and Blanche dons her cat ears, Dorothy eagerly anticipates a surprise guest…but the surprise might be on her when things don’t work out the way she hoped and Sophia shows us her Psycho side. In the end, all we can say is…thank you for being a fiend! There will be several opportunities to take selfies with the characters (and a fun race to see who can get them all first), hidden clues, and even an opportunity to get a mugshot taken. Once the performance begins, guests will become part of the action as they play detective and try to solve the mystery. This fun-filled event will not serve dinner, but cocktails and other drinks will be available for purchase. For more information, guests can visit WithOutaCue.com. A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper is an event recommended for guests ages 13 and up. Please note, most areas of Mohegan Pennsylvania, including the hotel, are restricted to ages 21 years and older. All minors attending the show must enter through the hotel entrance, proceed directly to the event and be accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older at all times.
WVIA Named A Finalist For Nine Public Media Awards The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) has announced that WVIA is a finalist for nine Public Media Awards in several different categories. This year is the 55th Annual Public Media Awards. The Public Media Awards, presented by NETA, honor their member’s work in the highest caliber community engagement, content, education, and marketing and communications. WVIA’s works were announced as finalists in the following categories; Education Resources for the Community, Cultural Feature, Annual Report, Integrated Marketing Campaign, Promotion, Social Media, and Special Events. A standout production that was named as a finalist in multiple different categories is WVIA’s original documentary ROAR: The Story of the Southern Columbia Football Tigers. ROAR was released on May 12, 2023, after months of building anticipation and awareness through various promotions, culminating in a community pep rally held at Southern Columbia High School with a special showing of the film the day before the official public release on May 11th. “ROAR became something more than a football documentary to me. I got swept up in the drama of the season and the emotions of the players while capturing this incredible story,” said filmmaker Alexander Monelli. “It’s awesome to not only see the film recognized nationally by NETA, but all of the marketing and promotional efforts as well. So many people at WVIA touched this project and I think we all produced something special that I’ll never forget.” WVIA’s Mind Over Matter, Season 2, a mental health initiative presented in conjunction with Geinsinger, was also named as a finalist. Mind Over Matter began as a television program, but quickly led to a podcast as well. The success of the program has resulted in a renewal for a third season, debuting in fall/winter of 2023. “Our team is honored to be recognized by our public media peers for the content that we produced highlighting the people and places in the communities of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania which we are proud to serve,” said Ben Payavis II, Chief Content Officer at WVIA. The 55th Annual PMA winners will be announced on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at the 2023 NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum in Grand Rapids, MI. With the exception of the overall excellence categories, stations competed within their divisions based on their station size. Awards are judged by a group of expert panelists from within the public media system, as well as industry professionals working outside of public media.
Scranton Area Community Foundation to Host 4th NEPA Learning Conference The Scranton Area Community Foundation, through its Center for Community Leadership and Nonprofit Excellence, will host its fourth NEPA Learning Conference on September 20 – 22, 2023. This event will offer nonprofit organizations and nonprofit professionals across the region the opportunity to receive in-depth training from local and nationally-recognized presenters. The event will take place at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center (100 Adams Ave, Scranton, PA). Ruchika Tulshyan, best-selling author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work, will be the keynote speaker.Tulshyan is also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journal, Tulshyan is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review and a recognized media commentator on workplace culture. Attendees will experience three transformative days of networking and interactive sessions while gaining the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the challenges and maximize the impact of their nonprofit organization. They will learn from over 45 local and national experts in a variety of fields, exploring the powers of collaboration and advocacy. A crowd of roughly 200 representatives from nonprofit organizations is expected to attend this event. While attendance is geared toward nonprofit professionals and board members serving on local nonprofit organization boards, registration is open to the public. Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1. Attendees can register through the conference website at NEPALearningConference.com. “Through the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s Center for Community Leadership and Nonprofit Excellence, we prioritize the importance of enhancing organizational capacity building and view it as transformative to the region as a whole,” said Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation. “We are grateful for so many of our partnering foundations right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania supporting our efforts to bring this learning conference to the nonprofit community of our region.” Sponsors of the event include the Moses Taylor Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The William C. McGowan Charitable Fund, The Hawk Foundation, Wayne County Community Foundation, Fidelity Bank Wealth Management, McGrail Merkel Quinn & Associates, United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, Hilton Scranton and Conference Center, Center City Print, Indraloka Animal Sanctuary, Children’s Service Center, and KMMK Communications. For more information on the 2023 NEPA Learning Conference, please visit NEPALearningConference.com or contact Brittany Pagnotti, Communications Manager of the Scranton Area Community Foundation at 570-347-6203.
The Wright Center Celebrates Community Health Worker Awareness Week One of the fastest-growing careers in health care has nothing to do with direct medical care. Using their encyclopedic knowledge of local resources, community health workers (CHWs) help people meet various basic needs, including housing, utility bills, nutritious foods, clothing, insurance, transportation to and from medical appointments, and more. “Community health workers, they’re pretty much the foundation,” said Amanda Vommaro, CCHW, director of patient-centered services and supervisor of the community health workers at The Wright Center for Community Health. “We make sure the patients are getting their social needs met so that they’re able to address their health.” For example, a patient with financial difficulties may have to choose between buying food or medication, according to Vommaro. Connecting to a food pantry could help that patient afford the life-saving medication a doctor prescribes. “If you don’t have your basic needs met, you’re not really able to do anything else,” she said about patients. “When they’re not buying medication and taking care of their health, that’s where we come in.” As the health care world celebrates National Community Health Worker Awareness Week from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, the need for CHWs is greater than ever. Employment of community health workers across the United States is projected to grow 12% between 2021 and 2031 – much faster than the average for other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the demand for CHWs, according to Chelsea Wolff, a health educator with the Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Thousands of people lost their jobs and found themselves navigating an often-overwhelming system to apply for unemployment, food stamps, rent and mortgage relief, and other aid from government entities and local social service agencies. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan called for hiring 100,000 CHWs over 10 years starting in 2021 to support the prevention and control of COVID-19. But many entities that employ CHWs are having trouble filling the jobs, including The Wright Center for Community Health. It’s partly because people are not familiar with the position. “People are starting to know about it, but we have a long way to go,” Wolff acknowledged. AHEC hopes to help fill the need locally through training courses, some of which are held virtually for community members. The center began offering CHW courses in 2009, Wolff said. Since then, demand has soared for these specialty workers. The course covers the basics of what a CHW needs to know, from building an understanding of different cultures and health literacy to learning how to complete documentation and how to avoid job burnout. CHWs live in the communities they serve, so they become experts in knowing what resources are available and how best to connect clients to them, Vommaro and Wolff said. The AHEC classes feature many guest speakers, so trainees can begin building a list of local resources that provide help. “It’s helping to connect the dots and really building those contacts,” Wolff said. Vommaro said clients are often more comfortable talking to CHWs because of their shared community roots. “It’s just a different level of comfort when you’re talking to a community health worker because sometimes we’ve been in the same situation they are in; we’re people who live in their community,” she said. “It’s a little less intimidating than talking to their doctor.” For more information about the course, visit the AHEC’s website at NEPA-AHEC.org. AHEC also offers monthly informational sessions about CHWs every second Monday of the month. To learn more, go to PACHW.org/upcoming-sessions.
The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement Supports People Facing Hardships During a community-outreach project, Kara Seitzinger was handing out free back-to-school supplies at the South Side Farmers Market in Scranton on a sunny Saturday when she got an urgent call from a colleague at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice. The caller, a community health worker, explained the still-unfolding situation: A mother, homeless and pregnant, had come into the clinic in Jermyn needing food, diapers, and other essential supplies. The caller asked: Can we help her? Yes, said Seitzinger. Within hours, the woman received what she needed. The same day, Seitzinger and a group of volunteers distributed 85 school backpacks to families visiting the farmers market. It’s all in a day’s work for Seitzinger, executive director of public affairs at The Wright Center, and like-minded employees who volunteer with the nonprofit organization’s subsidiary, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE). Oct. 23 is National Make a Difference Day, an annual observance during which people are encouraged to find ways to improve their communities. Motivated by a similar spirit, many of The Wright Center’s employees and resident and fellow physicians are active year-round, doing impactful projects with PCE to improve people’s health and well-being. PCE’s roots can be traced to an informal auxiliary started years ago by staffers at the Mid Valley Practice and funded by their donations. They sporadically passed the hat to help a patient or family with a pressing need. However, The Wright Center’s leaders soon recognized the profound need it filled in the community and formalized the initiative in 2020 to make it self-sufficient. Mary Marrara, a longtime community champion and a member of The Wright Center for Community Health Board, helped complete the paperwork to establish PCE officially. “The initiative to do patient and community engagement started with little bites, and then we folded in the auxiliary to launch what it is today,” she said. ‘We take care of it’ PCE strives to help people in the region overcome food insecurity and other negative social and economic determinants of health, such as inadequate housing, lack of educational access, and poverty. The Wright Center’s leaders recognize that addressing these basic needs is critical to improving patients’ health over the long term, said Seitzinger, who serves as advisor liaison to The Wright Center’s president and CEO. “Transportation has always been a huge problem for many of our patients,” said Seitzinger. “And, food insecurity has increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic began and really rose again in the last six months as SNAP benefits were cut.” PCE seeks grants and conducts several fundraising events to fulfill its mission. The organization hosted its inaugural golf tournament in May, which raised more than $45,000. In August, proceeds from the second annual Road to Recovery Car Show at Nay Aug Park assisted patients of The Wright Center for Community Health’s Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence with transportation to and from appointments. Similarly, when possible, PCE helps community members get past short-term crises, as it was able to do for the pregnant, homeless woman who needed assistance. “People can come to us without worry,” said Marrara. We have people come to us privately, and we take care of it, but we maintain 100% accurate records. I want people to know – everything we do is checked and double-checked.” ‘The next step’ PCE relies on volunteers to chip in during food distributions, school backpack giveaways, and other events at The Wright Center’s primary care practices and other locations in the community. Seitzinger sees it as a win-win: Employees make a difference in the communities they serve, and they raise public awareness about the affordable, high-quality health care and preventive services available by visiting The Wright Center’s clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties. “The Wright Center is federally funded, so in a sense, the community owns it,” said Seitzinger. “We’re trying to find ways to contribute to the community and get our staff out there to give back.” Looking to the future, Seitzinger envisions building more lasting ways for PCE to help the community, including adding a permanent food pantry and a dedicated clothing closet. “Having the ability to have a food bank or a clothing closet right there in the clinic, that’s the next step,” she said. Marrara echoed Seitzinger’s goals, noting that she’s excited to see how PCE will continue to grow over time. “I’m proud of what we have become,” she said. “And I would venture to say that a year from now, I’ll be even prouder.” For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org.
The University of Scranton to Host Annual Volunteer Fair The University of Scranton will hold its annual Volunteer Fair for local nonprofit organizations from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, on campus. The fair offers University students and student-led clubs interested in service projects and community-based learning sites a chance to meet representatives from nonprofit organizations in need of volunteers. There is no cost for a nonprofit organization to participate in the fair, however, registration is required. To register, email ellen.judge@scranton.edu or call 570-941-7429.
Waverly Community House Calls for Golf Tournament Volunteers The Waverly Community House is requesting volunteers for the Comm Classic Golf Tournament. If interested and available to volunteer on Monday, September 18th, from 11:30am until 4:30 pm, please call Kathy at The Comm office for more details: 570.586.8191
The University of Scranton Ranks Among Best Colleges in the Nation for 22 Years Marking the 22nd consecutive year, The Princeton Review selected The University of Scranton as one of the best colleges in the nation, and, for the seventh year, ranked Scranton among the “Best Science Lab Facilities” (No. 18) in the U.S. According to Princeton Review, students are impressed by the “recent improvements Scranton has been making, from laboratories and simulation spaces that impart vital firsthand experiences to ‘the gorgeous glass study rooms in the Loyola Science Center,’ and the cadaver lab to ‘academic buildings [that] are the greatest strength of the school because most have nice classrooms and places to study that foster learning.’” Students also boast about Scranton’s Alumni network that continues to look “for their Scranton successors, which helps explain the high 99% job-placement rate: as the school puts it, ‘more than 1,000 Scranton alumni are CEOs of their company or organization.’” Students also mention Scranton’s Jesuit ideals which permeate the course work and that “are designed to help students graduate with a ‘strong commitment to…ethics.’” Scranton is among just 14 percent of schools listed in the 2024 edition of the “Best 389 Colleges” guidebook to be selected and recommended by The Princeton Review as one of the top colleges in the country. The Princeton Review does not include an overall ranking of the schools selected as the best in the country, however they do publish rankings of schools in 50 categories based on results of their surveys of 160,000 students at the 389 colleges included in the book. Information from the surveys is also used in the profiles included about each school in the publication. In addition to Scranton’s ranking of “Best Science Lab Facilities,” The Princeton Review also ranked the school among the “Most Religious Students” (No. 22). The 2024 edition of the guidebook published online on Aug. 15.
Woodloch Secures 4th Title in 5 Years as USA TODAY’s #1 Family Resort in the U.S. For the fourth time in five years, Woodloch Pines, an all-inclusive family resort nestled in Pennsylvania’s picturesque Pocono Mountains, has been selected by USA TODAY as the number one family resort in the United States in the 2023 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Woodloch Pines previously claimed this impressive accolade in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Additionally, sister property and destination spa, The Lodge at Woodloch, secured the number three spot as the 2023 best all-inclusive resort. Nominees are chosen by a panel of travel experts, a well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields and their cities but also discriminating in their tastes. These include a combination of editors from USA TODAY, editors from 10Best.com, and other professional contributors.“We are incredibly honored to be chosen as the number one family resort for the fourth time in five years. Woodloch has been in our family for over 65 years, and it is humbling to see our resort ranked among so many amazing properties and national brands,” said Brad Kiesendahl, CEO and President of Woodloch. “We are grateful beyond measure for the hard work and genuine hospitality of our staff members as well as our loyal and passionate guests who generously shower us with praise year after year,” he continued.To obtain more information or to book a stay, please visit woodloch.com, or call 1-800-Woodloch.
