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Girard Volunteers cleanup Stambaugh Park

Niles lad's wish comes true, meets Kelly Pavlik                             

Joe McGuire meets and shakes hands with his idol, Kelly Pavlik  That's his mother next to him along with some folks from Make-A-Wish. Photos by Mike Varveris.

Joe holds the boxing gloves given to him by Kelly and poses with the champion.

On Saturday, a group of Girard City employees, Councilmen, Girard High School students, and resident volunteers (pictured below) spent their morning clearing, mulching, and cleaning-up Stambaugh Park on Mosier Road.
This was the first of two such events. On Saturday, May 3, beginning at 9 a.m. there will be another, bigger, clean-up project at Liberty Park, also on Mosier Road. Volunteers are needed.

By Mike Varveris

The local Make-A-Wish Foundation made a wish come true for a 14-year-old  Niles youngster last week at the Southside Boxing club gym
Joe McGuire, who has been diagnosed with acute lymphobiastic leukemia  (a cancer affecting his white cells) had one wish. He met his hero, Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik, middleweight champion of the world who was in training at the gym. The lad got more than he bargained for. Not only did he meet Kelly, shake hands with him and see him in training, he received a pair of red boxing gloves signed by the champ.
The thrill of being with Kelly in center stage could be seen in his eyes. When asked what he thought of meeting the champ, he expressed himself with one loud word, "HAPPY!!" Asked what he thought of receiving the gloves from the champ, he said, "SWEET"!!
He later said Kelly signed one of the gloves for his friend "who has the same thing I do." With him were his mother and a group from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Recently, Larry Lencyk of Canfield and Jeff Simon of Poland bought a pair of gloves signed by Kelly for $3,000 each. That money was then donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation that Simon said is a "charity which I always support for the work it does for these kids.".
Since 1980, he Make-A-Wish Foundation has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions by granting them their great wish…no matter what the cost.
Seeing these kids with a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes in the midst of their illness as they receive their wishes is the goal of the Make-A-Wish volunteers.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS.

LEAP Group enjoys a night of Bingo and Fellowship

On Wednesday, April 23 the Trumbull County LEAP group members along with their parents and guardians enjoyed a night of bingo and fellowship at the Children's Rehab Center in Howland. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO.