Local News
Related Photos
-
MedStar team members (from left) Dale Makin, Vince Alianiello and Storm Nagle stand in front of the MedStar helicopter on the helipad at Memorial Medical Center along Franklin Street in Johnstown. Dave Lloyd
Discussion
Persons of the Week: MedStar team staging benefit motorcycle ride
Conemaugh Health System’s MedStar team is always taking off somewhere to help during an emergency.
Even when not on duty, the 18-member team believes it’s their obligation to help people.
Responding to emergencies as a volunteer with a fire company or ambulance service is second nature to them.
And every summer, the team organizes a motorcycle ride to benefit someone in the community.
This year’s event will be held Saturday, with the proceeds going toward the medical expenses for Tony Sebetich, who is ill.
Sebetich also has committed himself to serving others by serving as assistant chief of the Ebensburg Borough Police Department, as a member of the Dauntless Fire Company and as an emergency medical technician.
The event starts at Greenhouse Park, located near Tire Hill, with registration at 11:30 a.m. The ride begins at 1 p.m. and will take participants through Johnstown to Ebensburg and Nanty Glo before heading to the area of Yellow Creek State Park. Riders then will go to Seward and Ligonier before heading back to Greenhouse Park.
The 100-mile-long trip includes a stop at the Nanty Glo fire hall for food and refreshments.
The event costs $15 a rider or $20 for a rider and a passenger.
Storm Nagle, prehospital operations manager and member of MedStar, said during emergencies, the MedStar team is always taking care of people.
“We all are very community-minded and this (event) is just another way to take care of individuals in our community,” she said.
The event, in its sixth year, raises about $1,500 each year, she said.
Past beneficiaries include the family of a man who died in a motorcycle accident while participating in a charity motorcycle event and a family who needed help with funeral expenses for a loved one.
Nagle said the man they are holding the event for this year has touched the lives of many people, including the MedStar team, through his service in law enforcement and emergency services.
All the members of MedStar, many of whom are motorcyclists, work hard to make the event a success each year, she said.
The hospital supports the team’s effort, she said.
Nagle, a registered nurse, said the MedStar team is thankful for all the support from the riders plus businesses and individuals who make donations for the event.
“I’ve lived in this area all of my life,” she said. “One thing about Johnstown is that everybody pitches in to help others.”
Dale Makin, MedStar member, said it’s rewarding to be involved with the event.
“It’s important for us because every day, we take care of people at work as paramedics and nurses with the MedStar team,” the paramedic said.
“Once a year, we like to get together and give back to the community and to help someone who needs assistance.”
Vince Alianiello, MedStar member and a paramedic, said the team is committed to the event.
“It’s an extension of the service we provide to people all the time,” Alianiello said. “It’s another form of helping people.”
For their efforts with the event, Nagle, of Richland Township; Makin, Ebensburg; and Alianiello, Johnstown, are the Persons of the Week.
Amy Bradley, spokeswoman for Conemaugh Health System, said the MedStar team always does a great job with the event.
“They are a very giving group and look for ways to help out the community and those in need of assistance,” she said. “We are lucky to have such a great group of employees.”
Nagle said people wishing to donate to the event can do so by calling her at 534-9063.
- Local News
-
-
NEW - Dinner raises $1.2 million for Murtha foundation
More than 300 lawmakers, military officials and business leaders gathered Wednesday night to pay tribute to the memory of the late John P. Murtha.
The event – “A Night To Remember and Celebrate” – raised $1.2 million for the John P. Murtha Foundation and the John P. Murtha Center for Public Service, to be developed on the Pitt-Johnstown campus. -
Helper guilty of fraud
A Cambria County jury took only an hour Wednesday to find a part-time handyman/caregiver guilty on all counts for misappropriating $668,518 from 2000 to early 2008 from an elderly woman who thought of him like a son.
-
Youth freed in stabbing
A 15-year-old boy accused of stabbing another youth in a dispute over money was expected to be released from jail Wednesday, and the case likely will be heard in juvenile court.
-
Health reform is here to stay, government official declares
Health-care reform is not going anywhere, a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a lunchtime business meeting Wednesday.
-
Officer charged with assault to be assessed
A Windber police corporal suspended after he was accused of assaulting a woman will be assessed by a batterers intervention group, authorities said.
-
Camp PARC offers fantasy, adventure
Camp PARC counselors and campers joined together to play instruments and sing songs Wednesday, embodying the emotion behind the camp with the song lyrics: “It starts in the heart.”
-
In brief: Free dinner planned at Windber church
A free community dinner will be served from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Windber Calvary United Methodist Church, 1800 Stockholm Ave.
-
Critz seeks attendance at ARMTech showcase
U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, is urging western Pennsylvania businesses to participate in the 12th annual ARMTech Showcase of Industry and Technology that will be held Aug. 18-20 in Kittanning, Armstrong County.
- UPDATE Jury begins deliberations in Solensky trial
- District Deaths July 29, 2010
- More Local News Headlines
-
NEW - Dinner raises $1.2 million for Murtha foundation
