Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership

Alumni association gets funding to build wall with names of Black Creek graduates

The Black Creek Township High School Alumni Association is halfway toward realizing the dream of completing a memorial to their alma mater. State Rep. Todd Eachus, D 116, delivered a $5,000 state grant to the alumni association Friday that will be used to help build a wall with the names of the 800 graduates of the former high school – which was then Rock Glen Junior High School from 1966 to its closing in the early 1990s. Betty Hodgson, co-chairwoman of the association, said the grant will mean the association has to raise another $22,000 to have enough money to build the wall, the cost of which has been estimated at $45,000. The wall will represent the second phase of the project, work on which the association started in 2003. The first phase saw the construction of three gray granite monuments side by side, with the school’s alma mater on the left stone, a drawing of the high school on the center stone and the names of those alumni who died in wars. There is a brick walkway to the monuments with gray bricks purchased with the names of alumni on them and the year they graduated. There is also an American flag there. Eachus said that when Hodgson approached him for help with the project, he referred her to Bob Skulsky and the Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership so the association could use the partnership’s 501 ©3 non-profit tax designation to seek grant funds. “Many times, people come into my office with great ideas and visions,” Eachus explained. “When Betty came in, I referred her to Bob (Skulsky). The partnership was created because we needed an organization that could do many things for many people. “The partnership has undertaken many projects, like the (Greater Hazleton) Rails-To-Trails, the Scholarship, the Gateway project and others,” Eachus continued. “The organizations can use the Partnership’s 501 (C) 3 status so they don’t waste administrative time seeking their own designation.” Anyone who wants to donate toward the project can call Hodgson at 455-3256 or Skulsky at the partnership at 455-1508.