Tag Archives: family

Dunmorean of the Month: Billy Dolphin

Posted on by
Reply
Billy Dolphin and his wife Jennifer. (Credit: The Dolphin Family)
Billy Dolphin and his daughter Mackenzie. (Credit: The Dolphin Family)

By Steve Svetovich

Jennifer Dolphin was preparing for the fight of her life when she was diagnosed with Buldchiari Disease in 2012. It is a disease that weakens the body and leads to end stage liver failure.

But Jennifer had two things going for her. She had her baby daughter Mackenzie and husband Billy.

Billy has been her anchor, and what an anchor. He has been by her side ever since the initial diagnosis.

Daughter of James and Georgette Mecca, Jennifer learned of her diagnosis at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in 2012. She was told her liver would gradually deteriorate, and she would become weaker as the disease progressed.

“I was told it would lead to end stage liver failure,” Jennifer said. “I lived with it for a time until my liver finally failed. Finally, the doctors decided on a transplant. I was told to get the transplant or I would die.

“I waited nine months for the liver transplant. I was lucky. Most people have to wait longer, sometimes for several years. I received the liver transplant July 18, 2015, at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

“I am starting to feel stronger. Everyday is a better day. It takes nine months to a year or longer to recuperate from a liver transplant. There are setbacks, but I am improving.

Billy and Jennifer Dolphin were born and raised in Dunmore. Son of Bill and Marilyn Dolphin, Billy, 41, graduated from Dunmore High School in 1992. Jennifer, 35, graduated from Dunmore in 1998.

Billy makes a living installing ADT security systems for Defender Direct, Wilkes-Barre. The company is an authorized dealer of ADT security systems.

“He has energized me,” said Jennifer. “My husband has been by my side every single day since my diagnosis. And he has cared for our daughter, Mackenzie, who is now four.

“And he never complained once. He completely gave up on himself to focus on me and our family. He does nothing for himself. He no longer golfs or even goes to the mall for himself. He does nothing that he likes or interests him. And that is his personal choice. He only wants to care for me and our daughter.

Jennifer, Billy and Mackenzie Dolphin (Credit: The Dolphin Family)

Jennifer, Billy and Mackenzie Dolphin (Credit: The Dolphin Family)

“He is such a good man. He is a wonderful father and great husband.”

Jennifer, courageous as she fights her own battle, sees her husband as the hero in his role as the caregiver.

“He is my Apollo and I am Rocky. I was in the hospital a total of eight weeks in Baltimore. I was there four straight weeks and then back again twice for two weeks each time. My husband took a leave of absence and stayed in a hotel. He was at my bedside from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every single day. I would wake up and he would be right there next to me.

“Everyday he would help me get dressed, shower and prepare my food. He would walk with me in the hall for my rehab. I heard his words of encouragement every day. He is the greatest.

“There were the little things he would go get me at the store like fruit and yogurt. He would do that for me while I was in the hospital.

“He made this all about me. He was by my side with every hospital stay, every trip to the emergency room and every time I was ill. He would not have it any other way. And not one word of complaint about not having time for himself. He continues to stand by me and take care of me and our daughter as I recuperate.

“If we can make it through this, we can make it through anything.

“It means a lot to us that we come from Dunmore. I want to get better and do the things we did together like going to football games.

“But for now, I am just so thankful to my wonderful husband. He never leaves my side. He is so special, a great man.”

When the Dream That You Wish Comes True

Posted on by
2

By Emily Fedor

*Correction to print edition made in bold.*

Two Dunmore High School alumni, Alee Bevilacqua ‘11 and John Glinsky ‘13, both went away for school to pursue their dreams upon graduating.

Bevilacqua enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia to further explore her love of the Spanish language. Glinsky traveled to Hyde Park, New York to earn his associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Two very different paths indeed, but those paths eventually crossed in a magical way.

Both DHS alum ended up finding employment with a little company started by a man you may have heard of before. Does Walt Disney ring a bell?

Bevilacqua moved to sunny California to take on an global publicity internship with Walt Disney Studios, and Glinsky took on an externship position as a prep chef in a famous boardwalk restaurant at Disney World in Florida.

Online editor Emily Fedor caught up with both of the mouseketeers in the making to chat about their big moves, their impressive gigs and, of course, the wonderful world of Disney.

***

Disney - Alee Bevilacqua

Alee Bevilaqua is currently working as a global publicity intern at Walt Disney Studios as a part of Disney’s professional internship program. (Photo Credit: Alee Bevilacqua)

Emily Fedor: Let’s start from the beginning. How did finding a job with Disney first come into the picture?

Alee Bevilacqua: I was looking for [jobs with] advertising and digital marketing agencies—things of that sort.  I just threw it into the mix. They had a public relations position open with Lucasfilm (Disney owns Lucasfilm). I applied for that, and the woman who gave me a phone screening told me about the position I have right now. She said, “We didn’t post it on the website yet, but based on your interests, I really think you would like this one.”

EF: And what are you doing in this position?

AB: I’m a publicity intern. I work on a team that does publicity with Disney Studios, and I worked on a team that does global publicity for live action films—so anything along the lines of Marvel, Lucasfilm.. I’ll help out at premieres and any other publicity events for the movies. I handle a lot of different odds and ends.

EF: You graduated from Temple with a degree in Spanish. Does that come into use at all?

AB: On the publicity team, we have some hispanic media outlets. So my Spanish does actually come in handy.

EF: So working in the publicity field in Disney, nonetheless, wasn’t ever a part of your plans?

AB: No, I definitely didn’t have this planned. When Mario [Bevilacqua] first started off with his food truck [What the Fork], I helped him out with that. I started to realize I was really interested in digital marketing. So once I got to school, I had a little marketing internship, and I did a PR internship. Then last semester, I was an intern at a digital marketing agency.

EF: How has the transition of moving to California been?

11721322_10153632286537573_1340202727_n

Alee Bevilacqua made her move to California only a few weeks after she graduated from Temple University in May. (Photo Credit: Alee Bevilacqua)

AB: I live in Burbank, so I’m still in a little residential area. There’s a lot more driving which I didn’t expect. It’s impossible to get around if you don’t have a car because the public transportation is not that great. People out here are much more relaxed,  too, and the weather is just perfect year-round.

EF: What do you miss most about Dunmore?

AB: I miss the community feeling for sure. It’s easy to walk into somewhere and see someone you know and start up a conversation. But honestly, I miss NEPA food. The best food you’re going to get here is Mexican food and sushi, because that’s what’s big out here. I could be bias because half of Dunmore is Italian, but I have yet to try good Italian [food] down here.

EF: What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had so far?

AB: I was able to go and volunteer at Comic-Con, which is absolutely incredible. We took a bus down to San Diego, and I got to watch the entire panel at Hall H, which I never thought I would ever do. People wait in line for days for that. There were 6,000 people there. It was insane just being a part of that.

EF: So what’s next for you? Is this move permanent for you?

AB: As of right now, my internship is until December 30th, but it’s up in the air. They can ask you upon mutual agreement to extend your internship for another six months. After that, there’s always a possibility I could get offered a position if there’s a job opening. I have been toying with anything though. As of right now, I’m just rolling with it.

EF: But you’re happy with the decision you made to take the job at Disney?

AB: I’m absolutely happy to be here. I could hop down to Disneyland any day, and it’s a work environment that I think everyone dreams of. I think what I love about publicity is that at Disney, it’s more of a female-dominated field. So I think being around these powerful, goal-oriented women is so inspiring. I can’t believe this is my life.

***

John Glinsky worked as prep cook at a signature restaurant at Disney World in Florida last year as part of an externship program. He will be returning to work at a different restaurant this month.

John Glinsky worked as prep cook at a signature restaurant at Disney World in Florida last year as part of an externship program. He will be returning to work at a different restaurant this month. (Photo Credit: John Glinsky)

Emily Fedor: What attracted you to Disney World and made you want to get a job there?

John Glinsky: My family goes to Disney for vacations, so Disney is a big part of my life in general. I wanted to work at Disney so I can continue a family tradition my grandparents started the tradition of going to Disney every year. I was just thinking how awesome it would be to work at Disney and take my future child there and be like “Hey, I worked at this place.”

EF: How was the transition of moving to Florida?

JG: We drove—well, my dad drove—down to Disney straight through without stopping. I would never recommend that to anyone. I’d never been away from home, but it was one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. It was like I was meant to be there. It was scary to go down, but I was more excited than anything.

EF: What kind of work did you do while you were in Disney?

JG: I worked at the Flying Fish Cafe, a signature restaurant in Walt Disney World. It was ranked the fourth best restaurant in Disney at the time. I was mostly a prep cook there. Usually my shift was 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and throughout that time, I would prep for that night cooking wise. It would be a fresh prep every day, which I enjoyed.

EF: You’ve been to Disney quite a few times before working there. How was being an employee versus a tourist?

JG: I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil the magic. There were just moments when I was walking backstage—they use theatre terms like backstage, audience, costumes—and I’d be walking with Woody. But then you’d see another Woody switching out with him. It’s actually really funny.

EF: Do you have a favorite memory from your time there?

11793825_1162726637076590_2094187314_o

John Glinsky’s place of employment, the Flying Fish Cafe, was ranked the fourth best restaurant in Disney. (Photo Credit: John Glinsky)

JG: When I started doing prep work, I almost got transferred to a different location because I couldn’t keep up. But one of the head chefs named James said he would take me under his wing, and he just brought me to a whole different level. I had talked to him about buying a new knife. And when I was leaving on my second last day, he gave me his first knife that he ever bought.

EF: What was the biggest difference between Florida and Dunmore?

JG: There’s more diversity there, and a lot of the people didn’t speak English. But that’s why I like food so much, because language barriers don’t matter. It’s a language in itself.

EF: Now you’re going back to work at Disney. Tell me about that.

JG: I applied back and they greeted me with open arms. They wanted to put me at Victoria & Albert’s which is the number one restaurant in Disney, but there weren’t any openings until November. So I’m working at Artist’s Point in Wilderness Lodge. It’ll be a good experience.

EF: Pick three words to describe your time working at Disney.

JG: Magical, extraordinary, and humbling. Seeing what people go through to make the magic was really humbling.  My tier in the totem pole was giving them a meal they’d never forget. That’s the whole reason I do what I do. I want to be a chef because it makes people happy.

Just a Thought…

Posted on by
Reply

By Maureen Hart – Editor

It’s June—the month to honor graduates and fathers and bridal couples. It’s got me thinking about my father and how he deeply influenced my life. If I had to name the people who have made a difference in my life and made me into who I am, my dad would top the list.

James Klaproth was a member of the Greatest Generation, and that should tell the story. He taught us about values, dedication, hard work, the importance of family, friendship, love of country, and sheer optimism. (How did people who came out of the Depression and World War II maintain that optimism?)

Even today, as a senior citizen—in fact I am older than my father when he died—I sometimes gauge what I am doing or deciding by what my father would think. That’s not a bad thing. It’s not like I’m trying to please somebody—it’s a matter of trying to do the right thing.

Dad told us how his mother managed to raise six children in the 30’s and 40’s, when people struggled for every penny and every bit of food on the table. He made it sound like fun. He remembered all the good things—he was grateful for everything they had and figured they were better off than most people.

Dad told us stories about his experiences in the Navy in World War II. He even made it sound funny—like the time the tender from his supply ship hit a big battleship in the harbor. Before the little boat could even pull away, the Seabees were over the side of the big ship making repairs. He was in Japan during the occupation after the war, and he came away imbued with an appreciation of that country’s amazing culture. This taught me not to hold grudges, to find the best in people and situations.

When the time came, he encouraged me to go to college and be all that I could be. His college experience had been affected by the war. He studied engineering for a time at Lehigh and at George Tech, and when the war was over, he used the GI Bill to attend Wilkes University, which became my alma mater. In fact, I was born on a day when my father was taking mid-terms at Wilkes. Although she knew she was in labor, my mother kept it to herself and hurried him out of the door so he wouldn’t miss his exam. When my turn came, my dad wanted me to live on campus and have a typical college career. That was a gift.

I have been so influenced by him. I favor the old World War II songs (I’ll Be Seeing You, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square) that he would play to us on the organ.  He, not my mother, took the time to teach me cook.

He appreciated my every accomplishment, overlooked my deficiencies and gave me that greatest of all parental gifts—unconditional love.

He also gave me memories.: One Christmas when he made a beautiful castle out of sugar cubes, with shiny turrets (Christmas spire ornaments) covered in glitter. The times he packed us up in the car for a day at a local state park, giving a chance for sunshine, swimming, picnicking. The times he made us penuche (a kind of fudge) or what he called “Buffalo potatoes” (sliced potatoes fried on a griddle) or taught us card games, including one grotesquely named  “Blood and Guts” which my brother and I play to this day.

He took time for Monopoly and Scrabble, for watching TV with us, for making popcorn, and listening to our woes. He mowed the lawn and took out the garbage and made us cocoa and made life seem grand for we five children.

If it sounds like Ozzie and Harriet, it was and it wasn’t. There were challenges. My brother and sister are mentally challenged. Another sister suffered from clinical depression, and my parent’s marriage was strained by my mother’s unhappiness with a woman’s role in the 50’s and early 60’s. She wanted to be something glamorous, a stewardess (it was glamorous back then), an actress, a detective—anything more than what she was. She was just as dissatisfied with life as my father was exuberant about it.

He showed us the joy of simple things. He taught us the value of hard work tempered by lots of play. He taught us to shoulder on, even when things are tough. (My parents divorced. It was a major blow to this whole-hearted family man.) But he never complained. Not once. I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anyone else’s. I wouldn’t trade my father for anyone else’s, not even a little bit. I remain eternally grateful for his love and his lessons. Rest in peace, Daddy, and know that you did a great job.