12/ 24
12-24 Is a 10 piece rock orchestra, which calls itself a cover band for the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Their group includes guitars, key boards, drums, vocals, and 2 violins. Everyone in the group is a talented and enthusiastic performer.
But the frosting on the cake at a 12-24 concert is their 6 person support crew. There’s a guitar tech, because all that jumping and dancing on stage can be hard on guitars. There’s a lighting specialist, a couple of audio guys, and 2 stage and production assistants.
The resulting show is fast paced tapestry of light and sound with a Christmas music base. It’s
a classical holiday entertainment experience., Mauch Chunk’s answer to the Rockettes at Radio City in New York.
12-24 is a Hazleton based band. They were formed in 2002 with the goal of creating a “resounding holiday rock orchestra.” They started as a five piece group, and gradually grew their number to 10 pieces.
Jason Santos was one of the band’s founders, he’s still with the band, playing guitar, keyboards, and vocals.
Photos and editor: Cleo Fogal
Printer/publisher: Milan Printing, 1012 North Street, Jim Thorpe, PA
Most of the band members have been with the group for more than 10 years.
There’s no one star of the band. They flow together as a team. Their unifying factor is their love of music and their ability to focus on the details of getting everything right when they’re performing. Drummer Van White says there’s no better feeling than being onstage and part of their music, especially at the Opera House.
12-24 has a six week performance window, from Thanksgiving to New Years. They start practicing for the next Holiday Season in July. Some of the band members take guest slots with other bands. Some of them go back to their day jobs till the next season rolls around
If you missed them at the Opera House this year, put them on your calendar for next year. You won’t regret it!
Dan Hugos
Dan Hugos, one of the founders of JTAMS, the Opera House production company, died in November. He was 68 years old and suffered from an incurable neurological disease.
Dan was a data programmer in New York City in the 90s when he discovered Jim Thorpe on a weekend bicycling trip. He purchased a house
on Race Street, then another on Opera House Square, across the street from the Opera House. He put a photo gallery on the main floor of the house, and lived upstairs.
One night after an exhibition at the gallery Dan was sitting outside with his neighbor, Vince, who he’d hired to play music at the exhibition. The two of them stared at the neglected 110 year old building, and started thinking “what if”.
They organized a couple small concerts, persuaded the Historical Society to give them a long term lease, and they were off. It wasn’t easy. Just about everything about the building needed renovation, starting with the leaky roof. They kept at it, and made it work.
Dan never had children. The Opera House was his passion project. He put his heart and soul into it, and into promoting Jim Thorpe. His illness forced him to retire in spring of 2022.
When he sold his share of JTAMS to his partner Vince he remarked that “it was like having a baby and being forced to put it up for adoption. It was painful, but now someone else gets to raise the baby.”
The Opera House community owes Dan a huge debt of gratitude for all his efforts to make the Opera House work We wish Vince every success in keeping things going.
John Drury
Jim Thorpe lost one of its biggest boosters when John Drury died last summer. Drury was 93. He entertained the crowd by tap dancing at the Mauch Chunk Museum’s 2024 New Years Eve Party.
John grew up in a mostly single parent household in Philadelphia. His grandmother lost everything in a flood when John was 13. His friends think that’s where his passion for historical artifacts started.
John was on the gymnastics team at Temple University, where he studied physical therapy. He did well as a physical therapist, but he was a guy who needed a continuous stream of new challenges.
He started dabbling in real estate in the 60s. First he bought an investment house, then several houses, then an apartment house, then a hotel in Philadelphia. He would buy the properties, renovate them, then flip them and use the money to start a new project.
John came to Carbon County on Boy Scout camping and canoeing trips, got interested in the area, and in the 80s he purchased both the American Hotel, and the building that is now the Mauch Chunk Museum. The Hotel had 22 rooms and needed work. The Museum building had a major hole in the roof, and needed more work.
John developed a reputation as a guy you could give your historical treasures and you knew he’d take good care of them. He gradually developed a collection. The Mauch Chunk Museum opened in the early 90s.
John’s son David was a struggling rock star in southern California around the same time. John persuaded David to come home and run the hotel. They changed the name from the American Hotel to the Inn at Jim Thorpe, added rooms to the main building, purchased a couple smaller buildings, and now have 62 guest rooms. The hotel is in good shape.
The museum has challenges. It takes in entrance money, but when that fell short of expenses John would kick in personal funds. John had a vision for the museum which was reflected in the exhibits.
The person John groomed to head the museum is a Nigerian born artist/ architect named Ibiyanka Alao, “Ibi” for short. Ibi was the winner in a 61 country international art contest put on by the United Nations., and is currently serving as Nigeria’s Art Ambassador, with a mission to promote peace through art. John found Ibi in New York, and persuaded him to come to Jim Thorpe. John sponsored Ibi for about 5 years, allowing him to get established here.
Ibi is working hard on grant eligibility for the museum. If he can finalize affiliations with the Smithsonian Institute it opens the door to a lot of different grants, including Pell grants and the National Science Foundation.
Ibi says there are a lot of rules to follow to maintain grant eligibility. These were rules they didn’t have to worry about when John was the principle source of funding.
The museum building includes a ballroom which the Inn at Jim Thorpe rents for events, there is also an upstairs which is not currently open to the public, and a bell tower. Ibi is a licensed architect, and has a lot of plans for maximizing spaces in the building.
It’ll be interesting to see what it looks like in 5 years.
Member News
Next springs member party is going to be a chartered train to Pottsville! We’ll have free parking at the train’s lot in Nesquehoning, board the train at 9 am, ride an hour and a half to Pottsville, have roughly 4 hours to tour the Yuengling Brewery, The Yuengling mansion, a car museum, a bakery, several shops and restaurants, or just find a bench and sit in the sun. The train will take us back to Nesqhehoning by 5 pm.
We’ll have 2 train cars, which seat a maximum of 120 people. Members will have first chance at tickets, it we don’t sell out to members we’ll open it to the public. Cost for the tickets will be $60 for members, $75 for non members.
Members should watch their emails in early February for details on booking the tickets.
In spring of ’25 we had a meeting at the Mauch Chunk Ballroom, where Jay Smar put on a program with coal mining songs and stories. In fall of 25 we did Opera House tours,
a pizza party, and watched “The Molly Macguires” movie, which was a major motion picture set in the time the Opera House was being constructed, and filmed in and around Jim Thorpe.
There’s a Silly Goose running amok on Jim Thorpe’s Broadway and it’s making lots of people smile.
Nate Treichler opened the Silly Goose novelty store on National Goose Day, September 29, 2024, taking over space that had housed Mulligan Gifts.. He sells t-shirts, cards, stickers, socks, magnets, rubber ducks, and other random treasures, most of which have funny sayings on them.
Nate grew up in Northampton, and loved coming to Jim Thorpe on Boy Scout excursions. He always wanted to own a store, and felt that Jim Thorpe had the best potential for foot traffic in the area.
Nate studied business management at Bloomsburg University. He started a greeting card business while in school, calling it Sleazy Greetings. Most of his cards have a pg rating. Then he got into t shirts and other imprinted products. All of his products are US made.
Pete Davis
He used the profits from Sleazy Greetings to start The Silly Goose. He chose the name because his products are silly, and because his mother called him a Silly Goose while he was growing up.
Nate aims to have a light and airy atmosphere in his store. Each customer is rewarded with a card that gives them a Silly Goose Club Membership, and a License to be Silly.
Nate understands that for his business to be successful Jim Thorpe needs to be busy. So he does periodic videos which he posts to social media, giving people details on what to do where to park, and how to get around town. He mentions his store, but doesn’t dwell on it. His first video got 2.2 million views on Tick Tok. That established his fan base, and his later videos have had 30 thousand views. His videos are unscripted and chatty, recorded on cell phones with basic audio equipment, with a catchy music underscore.
He now gets recognized by random fans while out running errands, and says he’s careful to always shower and doesn’t leave his house in sweatpants any more.
Things seem to be going well for Nate and the Silly Goose. There may be more stores in his future.
Peter Davis, the friendly driver of the Opera House shuttle, has been a driver for a long time.
Pete retired to Jim Thorpe after a career as a tree surgeon about 5 years ago. He drove trucks and tree chipper trailers for years, often backing them down driveways, and did a stint as a Paratransit Van Driver for Montgomery County. That job had him delivering kids to schools and seniors to senior centers. He’s had multiple classes both in driving and in assisting handicapped passengers.
Pete drove a truck and camper trailer to music festivals with his family while his kids were growing up. He volunteered at festivals and was often asked to park other people’s campers.
Peter became friends with Historical Society Membership Chair Kathy Lear while working festivals, and Kathy became his connection to volunteering at the Opera House when he moved here.
Pete volunteered for a while, and 3 years ago was asked to take over the job of driving the shuttle. He loves his job.
Pete enjoys meeting the guests and feels like his service is important. Many of his riders couldn’t manage the quarter mile trek from the county parking lot up the hill to the Opera House. He says the drive feels like being in a video game, with so many tourists doing unpredictable things on the street.
Pete decided to wear a sport coat to work one day, and got such a big reaction that he added a tie the next time he worked, and has been coming up with unusual outfits for every day since then. He won an award for most original costume at the Grand Slambovian Ball this Halloween.
You can find Pete at the entrance to the Carbon County Parking Lot an hour before any show at the Opera House. He reverses the route when the shows are over. The van is a 15 passenger,
so people might need to wait for a second trip . The shuttle service is free, but tips are appreciated.
The Mauch Chunk Opera House will soon be dedicated to the memory of Attorney Pasco L Schiavo, who was a major donor to the Luzerne Charitable Foundation.
The foundation is setting up an endowment for the theater, which means the money is invested, giving the theater a yearly dividend.
Schiavo was a successful lawyer, real estate developer, and philanthropist who grew up in Hazleton. He had no children, and wanted to share his good fortune with his community.
The foundation has already invested heavily in the Opera House, financing backstage renovations, new heaters, a remodeled men’s restroom, railings on the balcony steps, and the ceiling reconstruction. The endowment will be an ongoing source of income that will pay dividends every year.
Anyone who wishes to add to the endowment, which would increase the yearly dividend, can do so by contacting the Luzerne Foundation and asking for the Mauch Chunk Opera House fund.
