Joe Palooka restoration begins – Standard Speaker

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Balant construction workers Charlie Howell (left) and Shawn Joyce jackhammer away at the base of the Joe Palooka monument during a renovation process Tuesday morning on Route 309 in Hanover Township.Mark Morancv09palookap2

The Joe Palooka MonumentMark Morancv09palookap3

Members of the Home Builders Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania began work Tuesday to restore the historic Joe Palooka monument on state Route 309 in Hanover Twp.

The monument was created by a group of Wyoming Valley residents to honor Wilkes-Barre native and cartoonist Ham Fisher and Joe Palooka, a comic strip character.

Fisher created the comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion in 1921 and it debuted in 1930. At its peak, 900 newspapers carried the comic strip.

Balent Construction provided machinery and labor to remove the deteriorating foundation at the monument and will form a new base with new concrete provided by Oley Industries in West Wyoming.

When the work is complete, the Home Builders Association and the original organizers will rededicate the monument.

A bronze plaque honoring Fisher was in another location on the highway, but it was pried from its base and stolen.

David DeCosmo, Sam Greenberg, Fred Ney and the late John Cicero, with the aid of the Sunday Independent a Wilkes-Barre newspaper that ceased publication in 1993 and its publisher, Tom Heffernan, initiated a community-wide fundraiser to replace the monument on Joe Palooka Mountain in 1976.

More than 150 contributions were received for a total of $1,750 and the bronze plaque was replaced with the solid granite monument that now stands on the site.

Any group or business interested in beautifying the surrounding landscape or providing assistance to this project can call the Home Builders Association at 570-287-3331.

DENISE ALLABAUGH

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Joe Palooka restoration begins - Standard Speaker