‘Takeover’ Events Planned to Bolster Wood Street Playground

June 10, 2016, By Dave Sutor, Johnstown Tribune-Democrat

As a child, Tony Penna Sr. learned a lot about life while spending countless hours at a playground in Dale Borough.

Having lost his father at a young age, Penna was mentored by several adults, including former Johnstown Mayor Herb Pfuhl, who volunteered their time at the playground.

They not only taught him about sports and other activities but, more importantly, about friendship, teamwork and character. Penna wants to give the same kind of positive memories to children now living in Johnstown.

Tony Penna, Sr.

Tony Penna, Sr.

Starting next week, the longtime educator and coach plans to hold Wood Street Playground Takeover events this summer. The activities will take place at the playground, located at Wood and Cedar streets in the city’s Hornerstown neighborhood, from 4 to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.

“I just want to give back some things to the young kids in our community,” said Penna, who is staging the “takeovers” through his Coaches 4 Kids Foundation.

He plans to provide opportunities for children to play sports, listen to music, watch plays, meet with mentors, enjoy parties, learn life lessons and more.

“Hopefully we’ll get some values through to the young people,” he said.

Penna is receiving assistance from the Goodwill GoodGuides Youth Mentoring Program.

“We are always looking for engaging activities for our kids,” said Cindy O’Connor, youth coordinator and program manager for GoodGuides at Goodwill of the Southern Alleghenies

Anyone interested in helping to mentor the children can contact O’Connor at 536-3536, ext. 304.

Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at (814) 532-5056. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Sutor.

Online Shopping at Goodwill

Through the Shopgoodwill online auction site, you can experience a fun and exciting way to shop for specialty items such as one-of-a-kinds, collectibles, antiques, estate pieces, jewelry, nostalgic items, and more!

At Goodwill of the Southern Alleghenies, we know that our donors value their donations to Goodwill and want us to get the maximum value possible to support our mission. Listing these items on Shopgoodwill allows us to generate more revenue because these items go to the highest bidders who know the values of the items.

Donors can be sure that the revenue generated from the sale of their donated items on Shopgoodwill.com will support job training and employment services for people in their community – just as it does through purchases made in our 10 Goodwill Retail Stores.