Bethlehem Boys Club alumni (from left) John Horvath, Ernie DeAngelis, John Angelucci and Walt Prodding help take care of maintenance issues for the organization, which in turn help keep costs down. (DON FISHER, Allentown Morning Call / October 11, 2008)

When the board of directors at the Bethlehem Boys and Girls need work done around the club, the first thing they ask themselves is, ''Can the alumni take care of it?''

They're not asking themselves, ''Can we get the alumni to cut us a check?''

They're wondering, ''Can we get these guys to actually do the work?''

And usually, whether it's building a table, putting new tiles on the steps or new lights in the gym, they can.
These are the original ''boys'' from back when the club was just the ''Bethlehem Boys Club.'' The group, all in their 70s and 80s, repair whatever needs to be fixed around the club. At a time when the organization is struggling to find funding, they're saving the organization money and setting an example as volunteers.

''I almost wish every organization had a group of guys like these,'' said Gary Martell, the club's executive director. At the same time, he joked, ''I don't want to share them.''

Four of the alumni got together last week for the club's Steak and Burger Dinner, an annual fundraiser at Moravian College. During the cocktail hour, they talked about some of the work they've done and what the club has meant to them.

''Back then, the club was the only thing we had,'' said Walter Proding of Bethlehem Township. He's the unofficial leader of the group, always visiting, Martell said, and seeing if there's anything he can do. Asked about it later, Proding said it's no big deal.

''Don't minimize it,'' said his friend John Angelucci of Bethlehem. ''It's important.''

Angelucci is a charter member of the club, having joined in 1930. Now, he acts as the group's Mr. Fix-It, able to -- as Martell put it -- build or repair anything. Proding, meanwhile, is the electrician. For a club that lost funding from the United Way last year, and is struggling to attract donors, these kind of skills mean a lot.

For example, when the club needed to replace the lights in the basketball court at its north Bethlehem building. Hiring a professional, Martell said, would have cost around $5,000.

''He did it for $400,'' Angelucci said, pointing to Proding, who quickly corrected him -- ''$480.''

There was the room that needed new carpeting. A professional carpet company would have cost the club $2,200; the alumni did it for $300. They built the table in the board room, along with a new set of chairs.

More recently, there was a set of steps in the north Bethlehem club that needed new tiles. It might have cost maybe $1,000 to hire a contractor; Proding realized there were some unused steps at the South Bethlehem Boys and Girls Club. They took the tiles from those stairs and moved them north.

''We robbed Peter to pay Paul,'' Proding said.

''The police are still looking for him,'' quipped Ernie DeAngelis of Bethlehem, another one of the alumni. In the 1960s, DeAngelis and a group of alumni went around the country, basically promoting the idea of alumni associations. Years later, he proudly talks about how the national organization wrote a letter to them when the tour was over, commending their efforts.

They take what the club taught them seriously. John Horvath, who went on to run a hardware store in Bethlehem for 40 years, remembers a friend who didn't want to join the club.

''He went the other route,'' Horvath said, recalling that the friend ultimately went to prison in New Jersey for murder, and later died there. ''He never turned himself around.''

Proding interrupts the conversation to discuss projects at the club. Even though it's a night of celebration, he's focused on work.

''People say, 'Why do you go there every day?''' Proding said. ''It gives me something to do, somebody to be with.'' He paused for a second, smiled, and added, ''It keeps me off the streets.''

tom.coombe@mcall.com

Teacher assistant Alyssa Ashner reads to 4-year-old David Rios of Bethlehem in the newly opened early education center at the Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club in the Marvine-Pembroke neighborhood. (Harry Fisher, Allentown Morning Call / August 28, 2008)

In her hand, Melisse Marrero carried a digital camera. In her heart, she carried hope.

''This is a special moment,'' Marrero, 25, of Bethlehem said. ''This is very important for me.''

With that, Marrero smiled, turned and walked out of the Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club, trusting that she had put her 4-year-old son Wimel on the path to a better life. She left him with preschool teachers.

''My son is very smart but at home he can't learn everything he can learn here, and then he can share what he learns with his friends,'' Marrero said.