Forty-seven years ago, the Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes hosted their very first twirl-a-thon to benefit the works and mission of St. Joseph\u2019s Center in Dunmore. Now, once again, the culmination of their fundraising efforts will be celebrated at the Viewmont Mall in Dickson City.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s twirl-a-thon will be held Saturday, April 11, from noon to 2 p.m. in the mall\u2019s center court near the former Forever 21.<\/p>\n
The Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes are a baton twirling and gymnastics-based dance group that was founded 77 years ago, also in Dickson City.<\/p>\n
Kathleen Mercatili is their current director, with her mother, Rosemary Yankovich, being the last director and her grandparents, Helen and Roman Pilch, being the group\u2019s founders. Mercatili\u2019s daughter, Kali, is a member of the group as well.<\/p>\n
\u201c(My grandmother) wanted girls to get involved with the local drum and bugle group during holidays, and so she helped found what is today the Twirlettes,\u201d Mercatili said. The group was named after the Pilches\u2019 two children, Rosemary \u2014 Mercatili\u2019s mother \u2014 and Rita.<\/p>\n
The Twirlettes hold classes in Blakely, Throop, Scranton and Daleville.<\/p>\n
Although baton twirling is in their name, the Twirlettes\u2019 repertoire includes various kinds of performance, including ribbon dancing, floor routines and using props to tell the stories of their shows.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s show celebrates the 250th anniversary of America\u2019s founding, and includes red, white and blue costumes and various patriotic songs and dances. They\u2019ve been invited to perform their show at the New York St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade and Philadelphia\u2019s \u201cWelcome America\u201d Salute to Independence parade this July, among other events this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the events and parade and cruise performances are fun, for sure, but the most important thing is the local community,\u201d said Mercatili. \u201cWe always try to make sure that the kids understand just how much we can help the people who need it most here in the Northeast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The biggest of these efforts to help the community is their annual twirl-a-thon, with the beneficiary of their fundraising always being St. Joseph\u2019s Center. The center is a care facility that focuses its efforts on helping children and adults with various disabilities, and is a nonprofit that relies solely on fundraising and public generosity to continue its 126-year-long mission.<\/p>\n
Although the twirl-a-thon is far from the only annual fundraiser helping the center, the group makes it its mission to raise as much money as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell them, especially the little ones, about the challenges that those who are at (St. Joseph\u2019s Center) face,\u201d Mercatili said. \u201cAnd during the twirl-a-thon, they always bring people to the mall, so the twirlers are able to see the faces of those who are being helped by their donations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every year, each Twirlette fundraises by asking friends and family to donate to their individual campaigns. The end of the fundraiser is celebrated with the twirl-a-thon at the Viewmont Mall, although donations are still accepted from the public during this time. The final total is then given to St. Joseph\u2019s. In the past, a check presentation has also been done during WNEP\u2019s annual telethon in July.<\/p>\n
The highest-collecting Twirlette of the group, 12-year-old Alessandra Morelli-Kolatis, is happy that her and the rest of the group\u2019s efforts have a real and tangible effect on St. Joseph\u2019s and the people who take care of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like being able to raise money for people who need it the most, and we get to see where it\u2019s going. During the performance, the residents always look so happy to see us performing,\u201d said Morelli-Kolatis.<\/p>\n
Admission for the Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes 47th annual twirl-a-thon is free. The event is open to the public, with donations accepted.<\/p>\n
Those who can\u2019t make it to the mall but would still like to donate can contact a member of the group, message its Facebook page or call 570-489-1935.<\/p>\n
If you go<\/p>\n
What: Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes 47th annual twirl-a-thon benefiting St. Joseph\u2019s Center<\/p>\n
When: Saturday, April 11, noon to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
Where: Viewmont Mall in Dickson City, in the center court near the former Forever 21.<\/p>\n
How to donate: Donations will be accepted at the event. Those who can\u2019t attend can donate by contacting a member of Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes, messaging their Facebook page or calling 570-489-1935.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forty-seven years ago, the Double \u201cR\u201d Twirlettes hosted their very first twirl-a-thon to benefit the works and mission…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2118,1099,201,3052,28,178,180,179,3104,3053,3054],"class_list":{"0":"post-155079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-blakely","9":"tag-dickson-city","10":"tag-lackawanna-county","11":"tag-midvalley","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-scranton","14":"tag-scranton-headlines","15":"tag-scranton-news","16":"tag-throop","17":"tag-valley-advantage","18":"tag-valley-advantage-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}