The LuLac Edition #2433, May 27th, 2013

The White Haven Library and Visitor's Center building facade. (Photo: Times Leader). 

WHITE HAVEN'S MONUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT 

Friday night the borough of White Haven achieved something special. After 16 years of planning, fundraising, special events, money raising, corporate solicitations and just plain hard work and dogged determination, a ribbon was cut. Not for just any building but for the White Haven Area Community Library and Visitor’s Center at the Historic Engine House. Mrs. LuLac and I have been making the annual trip to White Haven every year to attend their Wine and Cheese and Taste of White Haven events to, in our own small,  way cheer this great community project on. 
For me, the return to White Haven brought back memories of the work my father and his brother did on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. As a young child, I knew the town of White Haven very well. Whenever we experienced huge snow storms and blizzards, my father usually got the 10PM phone call to put on his winter gear and meet the truck that would take him and a crew to White Haven. Once there, the crew would double back to Coxton after cleaning the tracks. Many a cold night, the men would congregate in that Historic engine house. 

My father and his railroad crew. They never made many visits to White Haven in the summer. And no picture exists of them in snow gear. I'm looking though. (Photo: LuLac archives). 
The first time I entered the building, (and it was a shell of how I remembered it being described as a kid) my first thoughts were how are these people going to turn this into a Library? But they did. It was a step by step process that took time. Sometimes it seemed, as an outsider looking in, that there was no progress at all. But the never say die attitude of White Haven prevailed. Friday night,  as the cold winds blew the event inside, there was a palatable pride in what was accomplished. A new parking lot with lines replaced the gravel lot that many a person judiciously traveled to get inside that big building. The large White Haven railroad sign hung stately in a lobby.  That sign that once indicated the destination of the town has become a directive for learning of future generations. 

The iconic White Haven Railroad sign that is now on permanent display at the newly opened Library and Visitors Center. (Photo: LuLac archives).
Remarks were offered by Diane Lamson, President of the White Haven Area Community Library Board of Directors, Elissa Garafolo of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Wayne Gower of the White Haven Historical Society as well as John Klem of the White Haven Borough Council. 

20th District Senator Lisa Baker. (Photo: Citizen's Voice)
A speech that really resonated was the one from Senator Lisa Baker who recalled how growing up near the Back Mountain Library literally gave her a better appreciation for learning. Baker talked about the importance of a community looking beyond its own present and gazing toward a future that would ensure future generations of a place to explore all the possibilities life can offer. Baker was involved with this project when she served as Regional Director of Governor Tom Ridge’s office. Now to put that in perspective, there have been four Governors in office since this project has been underway. 
A tireless volunteer and Chair of what was dubbed The Engine House Project, Charlotte Carter was also recognized. I have been coming to these events for years and the thing that struck me about Mrs. Carter is that she has this calm demeanor I have rarely seen from people who bear the title, “Project Manager”. If Carter became one of Donald Trump’s Project Managers, he would wind up being The Apprentice! 
I had a chat with former White Haven Councilman Bill Radley. Radley and I talked about our fathers. Radley said his dad was the last guy out when the Powerhouse shut down. I told him about the work my father and his brother did in the very place we sat. Then I thought about those hard winter night when those men would make the trek to White Haven. Both my father and uncle always used to stress that more education would always bring better things. As I gazed at the beautiful book shelves lined with tomes of learning, I knew they’d get a kick out of the fact that the Engine House they toiled in was now a Library. My family saw beyond their present and urged our generation to learn. Expand, be better than their present. 
That vision, that generosity of spirit and optimism I saw growing up was magnified a thousand fold by what the people of the White Haven community did with this project. Whether it was carrying boxes, making foods for events, soliciting corporate grants, donating books and money, this community kept its head down, did the work and got it done. Our heartfelt congratulations to this great American community. This is what the American spirit is all about.