The Home Page Network

It’s time once again to take a look at what happened the past week. The Weekly Highlights are a great way to catch up, but don’t forget that you can always watch the full stories from either our front page or the archives section.

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PANTHERS CLAIM FIRST PLAYOFF VICTORY!

The Wellsboro Varsity Football team’s season came to an end as they fell 36-26 to North Penn in the first round of District IV Class A playoffs on Friday, November 7. The Hornets end the 2014 season with a record of 8-3 (3-2 NTL Division 1), while North Penn will face South Williamsport for the District IV Class A championship next week. Wellsboro has enjoyed their first back-to-back winning seasons since the team finished 9-2 and 6-3 in 1995 and 1996 under former head coach Russ Manney. Hildebrand credits his seniors for this accomplishment and for turning the program around from a one or two win team every year.

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HONOR VETS & FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT!

Our Home Page staff and family of advertisers want to thank all of our veterans today. In the studio today we are honored to have the main speaker for the event, Master Sergeant Clare R. Emery, invite us all to come to honor veterans. If you are not able to attend the service, we hope you contact a veteran that you know and thank them for their service. Also on today’s feature – an interview with Maria Millar, violinist/composer for Sonic Escape. The musical trio will be appearing in concert for the Wellsboro Community Concert Association this Friday night at 7:30 in the Wellsboro High School Auditorium. To learn more about each member of SonicEscape, you can visit their website at www.sonicescapemusic.com.

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HONOR OUR GUARDIANS OF LIBERTY

Yesterday morning we enjoyed watching children honor our veterans during a Veterans Day Service at the Don Gill Elementary School. Principal Steve Adams opened the event by explaining Armistice Day and how it became a legal federal holiday called Veterans Day. It all started when the 4th grade class sang the National Anthem. Then Mr. Adams introduced fourteen veterans and they each shared about their military service. The guest veterans were James Mack, Henry Topf, Dr. Bair, Luc Pecynski, Teddy Whitten, Frank Levindoski, Eddie Calhan, Roger Bunn, Gene Clark, Ed Wilson, Stanley Pargells, Tim Cleveland, Eldon Cummings and Robert Spencer. The observance of Veterans Day continued with a service on the Green at 11:00am. An invocation for the service was demonstrated by Calvin Cobb, Chaplain of the VFW Post 4907. The Wellsboro Men Chorus performed a number of patriotic songs for the service. Master Sergeant Clare R. Emery spoke about three women veterans from World War 2 (including Emma Shaw, who attended the event). Sergeant Emery reflected on the day and its meaning and the honoring of all veterans who have helped to protect our country. The service ended with the Tioga County Honor Guard presenting a rifle salute followed by taps played by Stanley Parsells.

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INTERNATIONAL GAMES DAY!

Are you looking for something fun to do this Saturday? The Green Free Library is hosting an International Games Day event! Home Page had the chance to talk to the coordinator, Michelle Smith and Pop’s Culture owner Julian Stam, to find out what’s happening and what games will be appearing! The American Library Association is sponsoring International Games Day events at libraries around the nation. This is a free community event open to everyone and will be held this Saturday, November 15th from 1-4 pm.

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THE BRIEFING – PHONE SCAM ALERT!

Today on Wellsboro Home Page Chief Jim Bodine alerts our community to be aware of two PHONE SCAMS being perpetrated on our citizens at this time.
The first scam hitting our area right now involves phone scammers who are calling area residents and convincing some that they are behind on their electric bill. The scammers tell the resident that they have crews standing by to shut off their electricity if they don’t make a payment over the phone to bring their account up to date.

The second phone scam that is beginning to show up in our region is the “IRS Scam.” Scammers are calling residents claiming that he or she is a special agent of the IRS and that they are calling to collect back taxes. They are very convincing and at times rather nasty and threatening. They are telling residents that if they fail to make the payment, an IRS Agent will be knocking at the door and taking them away in hand-cuffs.

Unfortunately, there are people in our area that are falling for these scams. The Wellsboro area has a number of senior citizens that can be bamboozled into believing that these calls are legitimate. These calls can be very convincing, threatening, and frightening to certain residents in our community.

Law enforcement authorities have problems finding and arresting these scammers because they are using throw-away phones (like TracFone) to make their calls. Chief Bodine says that the best thing for you to do if you get a threatening call is to hang up on the scammer. Do not talk with them or give them any information. Do not give you name or verify any information that the scammer may have. Say nothing and hang up. You can then call the organization that they are posing as and report the incident. For example, if the scammer says he is from Discover Card, hang up on the scammer and call Discover Card yourself.

Please help our police department by sharing this information with others in our community, especially those who may be vulnerable to such scams.