84 Lumber builds a bond with Westmoreland family
Courtesy of 84 Lumber
Autumn Zundel, 13, is following her family’s 4-H tradition.
Courtesy of 84 Lumber
Autumn Zundel shows steers and other animals in competitions.
Courtesy of 84 Lumber
Horses and other animals are among Autumn Zundel’s main interests.
Orlosky
Jarred Frescura was involved in 4-H while growing up in Westmoreland County. That’s how and where he met Dave Zundel and his future spouse, Stacey, and formed a bond with each of them.
“The Zundels have been friends for a really long time,” said Frescura, designer manager for manufacturing at 84 Lumber’s headquarters in North Strabane Township.
That friendship was reinforced several months ago, when the couple’s oldest child, Autumn, 13, experienced a life-threatening health issue. Autumn, a 4-H member as well, was hospitalized for awhile before returning to her New Alexandria farm to recover, as the coronavirus started to gain a presence in Pennsylvania.
To enhance his daughter’s recovery, and to provide her a clear view of the family’s barn and the animals she loved, Dave decided to put an addition onto the house. He and Frescura sketched one, and Frescura asked his employer whether it might be interested in the project. He pitched the idea to Ken Kucera, 84 Lumber’s vice president of manufacturing, who pitched it to the top – Maggie Hardy Knox, the company president, and her husband, Shawn.
“Maggie said, ‘do it,’ and they took things to the stratosphere,” Frescura said. “84 Lumber donated everything, top to bottom: HVAC, labor, all materials, artwork, gym equipment, concrete, landscaping, re-roofing.”
The company began the project, which the Zundels took over once social distancing became paramount. “It took 3 1/2 weeks from dirt to moving in,” Frescura said. “We included a gym area with a treadmill and therapy equipment.
“Autumn needed a quiet place. She has two younger brothers.”
The teen now has a bedroom on the same level as the living room and other rooms, with a clear view of the animals she keeps and shows in competition – steers, hogs and horses.
“84 Lumber was absolutely fantastic,” Stacey Zundel said of the builder, which reached out 55 miles to her Westmoreland County home.
Top physician
A Burgettstown-based doctor has been recognized as one of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Top Physicians Under 40.
Dr. Julie Orlosky, a family medicine practitioner with Cornerstone Care, is among 45 physicians from the state to be so designated, based on her medical skills and expertise. Colleagues nominated the honorees, who were selected by a statewide committee of society members.
Orlosky is a 2000 graduate of Chartiers Houston High School, She graduated in pre-medicine from Pennsylvania State University and from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, before doing her residency at Washington Hospital Residency Program. Orlosky has practiced at Cornerstone Care Community Health Center of Burgettstown for eight years.
Cornerstone Care is a nonprofit network of Federally Qualified Health Centers that serves Southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
Hospital grades
The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit, issues report cards on hospitals related to the quality of care and safety they provide to patients. Grades – the traditional A, B, C, D and F – come out twice annually.
According to a news release fro m the organization, five Allegheny Health Network facilities received an A: West Penn, Jefferson, Forbes, Allegheny Valley and Grove City hospitals; and three AHN hospitals – Canonsburg, Allegheny General and Saint Vincent – got Bs. So did Washington Hospital.
Leapfrog bases the grades on publicly available safety data at more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals.
200,000 hires
Big-box retailer Walmart reported it has hired 200,000 associates nationwide since March 19, and more than 5,400 are in Pennsylvania.
The company said in a news release the intent of hiring was to provide jobs and enhance customer service. Many of these positions, the firm added, will be temporary and serve as a bridge during the pandemic.
Walmart also said it recently gave pay bonuses to associates totaling $6.4 million-plus in Pennsylvania, and $180 million across the United States. This, the company added, followed issuance of $365 million in April bonuses.
GACO webinar
The Government Agency Coordination Office at California University of Pennsylvania is sponsoring a free webinar at 10 a.m. Wednesday: “Navigating the System for Award Management.”
Any entity wanting to do business with the federal government must register in SAM, an official free website of the U.S. government.
Registration will end at cupgaco.ecenterdirect.com/events/390. Registrants will receive information to access the webinar.
For more information, email renee.decker@sru.edu
Let it flow
Amid plans for the phased reopening of the state, Pennsylvania American Water Co. advises building owners and operators to let that water flow from the pipes.
PAWC recommends proper flushing of plumbing before reoccupying buildings, to maintain water quality. Flushing should be done biweekly while a building is closed, if possible, and the weekend before opening.
The company issued these specific recommendations:
- Toilets – Flush at least twice, to help to move fresh water through the plumbing;
- Faucets and showers Run at full flow for at least two minutes;
- Other appliances/apparatus: Flushing at full flow, bringing fresh water into the system. Run water, preferably, until you can smell chlorine. If you have an appliance with a filter, such as a refrigerator or ice maker, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for replacing water filters after flushing ends.