Courtesy of the Courier Express
As a tradition of DuBois, members of the Pittsburgh Steelers will be coming to the DuBois Area Middle School to play along with the DuBois Area United Way All-Stars to help raise money for those in need. This special occasion will be partnered with the last regular season gave of the local semi-pro basketball team, the DuBois Dream. The Dream’s game will be a part of a special Military Appreciation Night, the first promotion of the team. This will be a special night for everyone in attendance and bring great benefit to great causes. United Way Executive Director Herm Suplizio is proud to join together with the Dream and expand the night, while bringing attention to a great cause. The will be a great way to generate a crowd for the teams and make a push for the Dream to enter the playoffs.
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DuBois is a great town, with many citizens having connections to the military. This will be a great way to bring attention to their service and give them the honor that they deserve.
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The Steeler Basketball Game has been a great event in DuBois for the last 15 years. Along with the United Way, more than $150,000 has been raised through these games, directly benefiting the members of the community in need. The players coming to the game are always a surprise, and in the past many greats have come such as James Harrison, John Kuhn, and Antonio Brown. This creates an excitement in the crowd of almost all Steeler fans.
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Tom O’Malley, manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers Basketball Team, has given praise to DuBois for its hospitality and welcoming atmosphere. He says that this is always one of his favorite places to visit and come stay.
Courtesy of GoDuBois.com
The combination of these two great events truly capture the community of DuBois and what it believes in. Too often the media is focused on the negative aspects of live, and what is going wrong, while not paying attention to the greater things that are going on. I find it remarkable that a small community is able to come together every year to make a great effort to improving the lives of this in need around the area.
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On a similar note, the military appreciation aspect in DuBois is often taken for granted. There are many members of the community who have served in the armed forces, but are not given the special thanks or gratitude that they so deserve. I feel as though this is not a problem in only DuBois, but most likely even more of an issue in larger cities or areas. It makes me proud to see a local team starting to break out of the darkness and show thanks for these special community members. i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i
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Albert Varacello III, the owner and player of the DuBois Dream, says that the idea for starting a Military Appreciation Night along with their last regular season game of the year came from discovering how many members of the community had previously served in the military. It was a shock to see truly how many people around the area had put their life on the line for our country. This called for a special ceremony that would bring light to these people who were in need of acknowledgement.
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The event is taking place this coming Saturday, the 24th of March. Although I will be unable to make it back home to attend, I hope for the best event possible!
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On a complete side note, I highly recommend taking a trip back in time to my last post regarding some buried treasure in the hills of the great state of Pennsylvania. I’m still worked up about it…
How great that your town raises money for United Way and has a Military Appreciation Night all surrounding one fun, good-natured basketball game. Sports can really bring a community together and raise spirits so a basketball game could be the perfect way to rally support for such great causes. I know I have really strengthened some friendships over watching football or basketball games together and having discussions about them or even competitive March Madness brackets with them! I also agree with you when you say that the media focuses too much on the negative aspects of modern-day America. They do this to get better ratings/more article clicks, but it really creates a strongly pessimistic world view that I believe can be damaging. As we have grown up, all we have heard is that the good days are over, the world is in crisis, and the future is dim. I wonder how that has affected our mindsets and development. Keep focusing on the good in the world and I hope that the event went well!