U’town student honored for community service
(Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of 10 stories.)
For baseball fanatic Dante O’Connell , the all-American pastime has cultivated more than just a love for the game. It also inspired a commitment to community service.
The Uniontown High School senior grew up playing the sport in Bailey Park, which was once a thriving city park in the heart of the city. But over the years crumbling dugouts, rusted fences and broken bleachers stood in place of what was once a legendary field for Uniontown’s great baseball tradition.
In 2008, O’Connell and a group of other Uniontown High School students began the Bailey Park Baseball Project in hopes of restoring life to the field.
Now a senior graduating at the top of his class with a 4.4 grade-point average, O’Connell will finally see his hard work come to fruition with the return of high school baseball to Bailey Park.
“Over the past four years I have worked with three recruited friends, city works and elected officials to achieve the ultimate goal of reviving something we all loved and lived for — baseball,” said O’Connell, the son of Dan and Paula O’Connell. “It took many more phone calls and attendance at dozens of city council meetings to finally get the ball rolling.”
O’Connell hopes to return home after attending college at Brown University to improve living conditions in Fayette County.
“I am confident that when I return to Uniontown, I will be fully prepared to elevate the quality of life here by working with children through public recreation,” said O’Connell. “My work with Bailey Park, Uniontown High School’s National Honor Society, community service projects and my church have all reinforced my sense of community and inspired me to spend time helping others.”
For his involvement in community service, O’Connell has been awarded the Fayette County Community All-Star Award. He’s among 10 local students being honored for putting forth an extra effort to make a difference in their communities.
Participants include Albert Gallatin, Brownsville Area, Frazier, Connellsville Area, Geibel, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown Area high schools, along with Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Laurel Business Institute and the Pennsylvania Institute of Health and Technology.
Each school selects its own award winner based on the student’s community service endeavors over the last three years. Students must have a minimum 3.25 grade-point average.
Under the program’s guidelines, a $500 check will be sent to Brown University for O’Connell. The students can also receive a matching grant from the Community Foundation of Fayette County, depending on certain requirements.
The students will be honored at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Uniontown. The guest speaker will be Mark Skoric, president and CEO of Upper Room Inc. Ben Wright will be the master of ceremonies.
Sponsors include HeraldStandard.com, Joe Hardy, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Dave and Linda Meredith, Community Foundation of Fayette County, Paul and Shelly Songer, Uniontown Rotary, Abby’s Gold and Gems, Russell Blaho, Coldwell Banker, Laurel Ridge Realty, Dan Evans, Hartsek’s Catering, Jim and Libby Gismondi, Kisiel and Associates PC, James Saul, Sepic Orthodontics, Martha Brownfield, Larry and Carol George, Leda Gismondi, Jeanne Moore, Debbie and Tim Seeger, Slavik’s Inc., Ben and Barbara Wright, the Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus Alumni Society, Cher-O-Kee Recycling, Upper Room Inc., United Bank and Jes Hutson.
Members of the Scholarship Committee are Katie Semans, Paul Bortz Jr., Cindy Digga, John Evans, Leda Gismondi, Dave Meredith, Jim Saul, Skoric and Hutson. They will select a captain who will receive an extra $100.
This is the ninth year for the program, which was started in 2004.