TRR photo by Krista Gromalski Steve McKean, of McKean Custom Homes, is in charge of the scholarship funds raised by the Pike Home Show to assist local students pursuing careers in the building industry.

The latest
in home improvements

By KRISTA GROMALSKI

PIKE COUNTY — With spring officially begun, the Pike County Builders Association (PCBA) is anticipating the upcoming home building and remodeling season with its annual Home Show Friday, March 23 to Sunday, March 25, at the Best Western Inn at Hunt’s Landing, in Matamoras.

Approximately 40 vendors of building-related products and services will gather for the three-day festival that will include everything from bathroom fixtures to financing and rubber-based wall sealant to soft hot tubs. The event is the “one time each year when informed homeowners [can] see what is new in home ideas,” according to the PCBA.

Exhibit hours are 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission to the show is $2 for adults, and free of charge to children under 16. A portion of the admission proceeds will go to the PCBA scholarship funds at the Delaware Valley (DV) and Wallenpaupack High Schools, according to Steve McKean of the PCBA and McKean Custom Homes.

McKean, who has been involved with the show for 12 years, said the Home Show funds four scholarships, two at each school, for students pursuing careers in the building trade, “whether they go to college to become an architect or whether they go to a vo-tech school.”

One scholarship at each school, he said, comes in the form of tools. “If they’re going to graduate from high school and start right into the building industry, we give tools with funds from home show,” McKean said.

	TRR photo by Krista Gromalski Theresa Ann Rossano is an eight-year member of the Pike County Home Show Committee.

For the past several years, the show has also provided a $1,000 scholarship to a student at DV and Wallenpaupack continuing his or her education, McKean said.

The 2001 Home Show line-up features many new vendors, according to McKean. “The majority of vendors return each year,” said Theresa Ann Rossano of the Pike County Home Show Committee. “We usually get a good turnout.”

The newest inclusion, she said, is Panache Design Center of Honesdale, who provide interior design and furniture.

Rosanno said a highlight of the show for many homeowners is the remodellers, who attract “people who want to put additions on.”

All builders in the show, according to Rossano, must be a member of the PCBA or another organization involved in the Contractor Quality Commitment (CQC) Program, developed by the Pennsylvania Builders Association “to guide customers to contractors who have agreed to abide by a number of voluntary standards and practices.”

Visitors to the Home Show can become eligible to win a new gas fireplace donated by Mariotti Lumber in Old Forge. The cost for raffle tickets is $1 each. McKean said the fireplace comes uninstalled.

For more information about the Pike Home Show, call 570/296-5500.