The LuLac Edition #5, 605, March 18th, 2026

 

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our "Write on Wednesday logo.

 

To keep in the theme of St. Parick's day/week, month, I am giving you a glimpse into the past. On Saturday the 14th of March I was rooting around my clothes closet and saw an old scrap book. In it I found an article, a paper if you will of an event of March 17th, 1972. It was a Friday night  and I had just come home from a Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Day dinner.  Through the help of my uncle, the late Timmy Pribula (who passed away all too young in 1995) as well as 

Attorney Joseph Quinn, I got to meet Hubert Humphrey.  HHH as they referred to him was a Senator then after losing a hair to Richard Nixon in 1968. As a 14-year-old I worked tirelessly for him.

It's funny how your memory forgets things but remembers other aspects of an event. In retyping this letter, I totally forgot there was a bomb scare. Plus, there area few parts in my LuLac version that are corrections of what can only be explained as the exaggerations of an excited teenager. They are:

I did not talk to Humphrey for 10 minutes. Tops it was 4 minutes.

I did not shake his hand a hundred times.

Timmy and I did not hunt him down to get a photo with my uncle.

But pretty much everything else was accurate.

 

THE GRAMMAR

Again, I wrote it just like I wrote it 54 years ago. It is apparent that I was allergic to periods. Or else I was subconsciously channeling James Joyce's "Ulysis". 

Also I typed it on a manual typewriter and the red color must have been hell for me to type. I might have had a multi colored ribbon but again not sure.

That stated, today on Write on....we present the18 year  OLD of  version  of me.

 

THE PITTSTON

FRIENDLY SONS,

A BOMB SCARE,

MY UNCLE TIMMY, 

ME AND

HUBERT HUMPHREY

MARCH 17^th, 1972

 

I had been to a Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Day dinner in my life, as a matter of act I had the impression that you had to be Irish to get in, but I was wrong. Even David Yonki could be Irish on St. Patrik's Day. I must say though that my motives were not clear cut, after all, I was not going to hear the Irish sing their own praises, no sir, I was going t see my long time idol, Senato Hubert Humphrey to sing the praises of the Irish.

I was accompanied to the dinner by my uncle. Thomas Pribila. He was a member and Vice President of the board of Education in Wyoming Ara. My uncle got around and introduced me the the local politicians down at the Courthouse who attended the affair and also to former Governor George Leader. I was very impressed with the coming and going of the "brass" that were talking to my uncle. He was also ready for the arrival of Senator Humphrey, he had his trust camera ready to take photos of the popular lawmaker. The dinner began at 700 PM with Monsignor Knight, of St. John the Evangelist giving the no vocation. He was the pastor of St. John's while I was there and I must say that "Big Tom" did a great job. Dinner was served, again my uncle's connections came through and we were the third table served, he knew the head waitress. (I told you he got around!) Then everyone proceeded to enjoy their meal and right in the middle of the main course, they got some Irish dancers to do a little rendition of the dances done in Ireland. After that, the program began with Attorney Quinn, the toastmaster,  cracking the usual Itish jokes,  He was right in the middle of one joke when Congressman go up and walked to the podium and said, "Will everyone please evacuate the building, there is a bomb in here, it may be just a scare but will everyone please evacuate the building. Quickly. Will everyone please evacuate the building. I was expecting some kind of rush toward the exits but everyone was calm, they just picked up their pitcher or  bottle of beer and pranced out some laughing, some cursing, some too happy to do either, they just filed out quickly and calmy with no fuss or disorder. That was at 8:55 PM. We were ushered in 9:12 PM and by the time odder was restored the time was 9:21 PM. Attorney Quin continued with the program, the "Man o the Year" was given his award and the Irish tenor Gerald King  began to sing the melodies of the old Irish.  At 10:16PM there was a bit of noise behind us, a few scuffles and more noise,  the Irish tenor kept on sinning  but was interrupted when Senator Humprey walked in the door. My uncle  grabbed his camera, took a shot as the Senator walked by I thought to myself how lucky I really was to see the guy I admired most in public life. Congressman Flood introduced him and in talked I  typical HHH style, he was exuberant, he was witty and held everyone's attention. After the speech, many people tried to et near him, my uncle and Attorney Quin arranged it so I could meet him and get a picture with him.   I talked to him for at least 10 minutes and here is how the conversation went:

 

SENATOR HUMPHREY: WELL, HELLO HOW ARE YOU?

DAVID YONKI: FINE SENATOR, YOU KNOW I'VE BEEN WORKIN VERY HARD IN YOUR CAMPAIGN AND I HOPE YOU DO REALLY WELL IN THE PRIMARIES AHEAD. I ALSO WORKED ON YOUR 1968 EFFORT AND ENJOY THAT VERY MUCH.

SENATOR HUMPHREY: THAT'S GOOD. REALLY GOOD. I NEED YOUNG PEOPLE IN M Y ORGANIZATION. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. I HOPE YOU PLAN TO HELP US IN THE UPCOMING CAMPAIGN.

DAVID YONKI: WHY OF COURSE, I WOULDN'T MISS THAT FOR THE WORLD, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I WAS IN TOUCH WITH WALTER RIGGS ANDMARIYN YOUNG ALREADY.

SENATOR HUMPHREY: OH YES THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE  SPEAK TOO. TWO OF MY BEST WORKERS. THEY'LL GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION YOU WANT.

 

At this stage my uncle asked for a picture and he took it of me with the Senator. HE took another of me talking while Humphrey signed my program. Our conversation continued on for a little while longer and I shook hands with him for at last the20th time and I walked away a very happy person.

My uncle the introduced me to some of his friends from the press and the crowd began to thin out. I asked my uncle if he would like a picture with HHH and he said yes. So w went  hunting for him again and found him. My uncle then stood with him and I took the picture, just as I snapped it, a guy got I the way. HHH good naturally said, YOU MUST BE A REPUBKCAN!"  We tried it again and this time the button would not move. I was shocked, I did not know what to do. But Hubert Humphrey  came over and said,  "WAIT A MINUTE, YOU HAVE TO PUSH THAT BUTTON BACK, NOW TRY IT." Sure enough I worked . So again we shook hands with him and we left the building.

HHH impressed me very much that night. More than any public official ever., and I will remember this night for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!