DELAWARE STATE FAIR NAMES ALL-STAR YOUTH ... program sponsored by Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

HARRINGTON, DE - June 10, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IMPORTANT: We invite members of the media to attend our Stockholder's/Board of Director's Meeting on June 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Centre Ice Rink on the Delaware State Fairgrounds. A media reception will commence in the lobby area after each All-Star Youth winner has been introduced to the Board.

When thinking of the Delaware State Fair, one may consider the blue ribbons distributed to exhibitors deemed the “best” in their class—the same holds true with those chosen for the Fair’s “All-Star Youth” program, supported by Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. Since 2001, the Delaware State Fair has annually selected ten deserving adolescents to be named as “All-Star Youth”—one for each day of the Fair.

The program was created as a way to showcase outstanding Delaware youth. According to the Fair’s public relations and marketing director, Tricia Southard, “We are truly proud of these young Delawareans for the content of their character as much as for their accomplishments. Each one represents the very best of Delaware youth.” According to Southard, each individual is age 20 or younger and is a resident of Delaware. Each youth selected receives special recognition during his or her day at the Fair complete with a ride at the head of the Fair’s nightly parade.

The 2005 All-Star Youth are:

July 21, 2005: Jennifer Crouse. Jennifer is the daughter of Doug & Karen Crouse, is 16 and in September will be a starting her senior year at Lake Forest High School. Jennifer exemplifies the word “VOLUNTEER”. During her high school years Jennifer has demonstrated not just volunteerism but plays a strong leadership role - she has been a Class Officer and will be Treasurer in her senior year, is a member of the Business Professionals Association and is currently the State President for BPA, President of the Student Council, the school newspaper, works at the school bookstore, is the Boy’s Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball and Baseball Manager and Boy’s Varsity Football Manager, is Assistant to the Athletic Director, is a member of the Student Athletic Training Team, a member of FFA, and a member of FCCLA and on top of all of these responsibilities is an Honor Roll student. As far as in her community, Jennifer volunteers over 500 hours a year in various capacities – such as reading to blind elderly women, participating in various food drives, providing day care assistance when needed, working at Kid’s Fest, is a 4-H Counselor, participated in the Adopt-A-Family program, worked in the children’s booth at the Milford Hospital Fair, has face painted many young faces at various local events, planted beach grass, worked at the Kent County Horse Show, beach clean-up, and the list goes on and on. With her busy schedule she continues to maintain excellent grades in school. Jennifer doesn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand whenever and where ever needed. Thank you Jennifer for your enthusiasm, for your involvement and commitment to making your school and community a better place!

July 22, 2005: Kayla Martell. Kayla is the daughter of Ron & Rhonda Martell, is 16 and is currently attending Dover High School, where she is and Honor Roll student and will be graduating a full year early. Kayla is another one who epitomizes the word “VOLUNTEER”. Kayla is the State of Delaware winner, at the high school level, of the 2005 Prudential Spirit of Community Award Program (this was out of approximately 20,000 applications submitted by youth volunteers). Along with a number of awards Kayla received, she enjoyed an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C., where she attended the 10th annual award ceremony. She had the opportunity to meet and talk with Retired General and former Secretary of State - Colin Powell. Kayla could not believe she was being honored for service that she chooses and loves to do. Kayla has dedicated more then 2,000 hours of community service over the past 5 years to training ‘at-risk youth’ and others about the hazards of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. This was a heart-felt mission by Kayla driven by the loss of a fellow student who died of a drug-overdose in 6th grade. After becoming a certified peer educator Kayla began her work in educating young people about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. She has also been instrumental in developing a Youth Advisory Council to work on drug, alcohol and tobacco prevention programs within her community. Kayla has been a strong advocate of these programs as demonstrated by her efforts in searching for financial grants to support the programs, giving speeches, writing articles and much more. Approximately 100 people have been trained to follow in her footsteps so the program will continue to grow. This is not the only volunteer work Kayla in involved in. Kayla was instrumental in writing the grant for the funds needed to support the Calvary United Methodist soup kitchen, for 4-H throughout the state, she is a tutor within her school, and teaches dancing at the Dover Air Force Base after school. Kayla will be attending PACE University in New York City to study journalism and hopes to start a similar program there. Congratulations Kayla and thank you for your dedication to this most worthy cause.

July 23, 2005: Greg Sweeney. Greg is the son of Kathy Canavan and John Sweeney, is 17 and is a recent graduate of the Charter School of Wilmington. Greg is a member of Boy Scout Troop 342 in Wilmington and is an Eagle Scout, Class of 2003. When he was 12 he started a Cub Scout Pack for homeless boys ages 7 – 11 who live in shelters in Wilmington. Cub Scout Pack 506 is now in its 5th year and is the only Cub Scout Pack for homeless boys on the East Coast. Four years ago, Greg searched out and found a sponsor – The Ministry of Caring. He spent countless hours organizing the Pack, he worked to find volunteer leaders, he made phone calls, posters, advertised, met with Scout officials and met with shelter directors. Greg encountered many obstacles along the way with leaders quitting because of the instability of the life of young boys’ living in shelters (no contact phone numbers, transportation issues, etc). This did not discourage him – it only made him work harder at making this Pack successful. He contacted the YMCA Homelife Shelter and the Salvation Army shelter for their assistance so the boys would be able to continue in scouting. Greg, along with help from 2 other Scouts – Jon Mahler and Shawn Tucker, took on the tasks of working directly with the boys – teaching them things like tying knots, how to properly handle and carry the United States flag, they learned how to use tools, and taught them cursive to sign thank you letters. They took the scouts to play one-on-one basketball with the University of Delaware team, took them to a concert, they met a boxer who fought Mike Tyson, help provide State Testing tutoring, and managed to get the cubs to summer camp. Greg received such appreciation from the mother’s of these young Cub Scouts; however there were still issues with transportation. Finally after many phone calls and 3 years of a very slim budget ($500 a year), Greg’s prayers were answered. A call from the Lynn & Foster Friess Family Foundation representative has now provided funds for transportation on a regular basis. Greg received additional funding from former Insurance Commissioner, Donna Lee Williams. Success breeds success – 2 new scout leaders and 2 new boys have joined Pack 506 along with one of the original leaders has returned. Pack 506 is going strong as 7 Scouts (out of the 16) advanced into a local Boy Scout Troop. Thank you Greg for caring about these homeless boys, for the commitment you made, for your dedication to helping these young boys through the Scouting program and for making their lives better.

July 24, 2005: Andrew Feeley. Andrew is the son of Jim & Barbara Feeley from Newark, is 16 and attends the Delaware Military Academy – he will be starting his junior year in September. How many buglers do you think there are in the United States? There are about 3,000 – and Andrew Feeley is one of them. Andrew has been recognized as a Volunteer Youth of the Year by the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal organization for Lutherans. Thrivent Financial is a Fortune 500 company and the this year honored youth in an effort to encourage their participation and commitment to their community. This is not a problem for Andrew, as a bugler, he is very committed to playing taps at veteran’s memorial services, Flag Day or when ever asked. Andrew has just reached a milestone in his bugling career – he played his 50th event – congratulations Andrew. A true sense of duty and honor, as well as giving to his community, is demonstrated by Andrew. He is a chief petty-officer in the Navy Junior ROTC program at the Delaware Military Academy where he is an Honor Roll student. He also volunteered to help flood victims in Glenville in September 2003 and has donated 120 hours of service (including janitorial) to his school. Congratulations Andrew but more important – Thank you for giving of your time to those fallen heroes in the various branches of our military.

July 25, 2005: Nicholas Perkowski. Nicholas is the son of Steven and Stephanie Perkowski of Dover, is 13 and in September will be starting his freshman year at Poly Tech High School. While attending Central Middle School in Dover, Nicholas was an Honor Roll student. Here we have another entrepreneur . . . as it takes a keen mind and business savvy to turn a good idea into a profitable business. At the ripe old age of 9, Nicholas had a pretty good lawn care business going. So at the much older age of 13 he turned his attention to the stock market and became John Deere’s youngest stockholder. As Nicholas is quoted saying “I already owned a John Deere, now I own a piece of John Deere” - from his first share to now owning 6 shares in John Deere and New Holland. Nicholas purchased his first John Deere from Taylor and Messick Farm Machinery right here in Harrington and his loyalty to this brand name grew as he added more John Deere equipment to his business inventory. His mother, father and sister Danielle are very supportive of his business venture however, Nicholas credits his father with pushing him to follow his dreams and reach his goals. Mr. Perkowski has tried to instill in Nicholas that you have to go out and work for what you want – it’s not just going to be given to you. Nicholas continues to learn the ups and downs of running a business and how to interact with people of all walks of life. Earlier this year Nicholas had the opportunity to attend the John Deere Stockholder’s convention at the corporate office in Moline, Illinois. Congratulations Nicholas on all you have accomplished so far and good luck with your business and in the stock market!

July 26, 2005: Ryan Albert. Ryan is the son of Mark & Donna Albert from Greenwood, he is 16 and is a sophomore at Milford High School. Ryan was selected to represent the Milford Boys and Girls Club in the 2005 Delaware Youth of the Year competition. Ryan was a member of the Milford Boys and Girls Club back in 1997 and when he returned in September of 2004 it was as a staff member. According to Director Maria Edgerton, he is an outstanding mentor to the youth; he gets along well with the youth and the staff, and is overall – just a good kid. Ryan works at the club in the evening – 5 days a week. His duties include mentoring the kids, running the arts & crafts program, and running the anti-tobacco program. He is quoted as saying “I was once getting the help and now I’m the one giving the help”. He has been innovative with creating several programs for the center, especially for the anti-tobacco campaigns to help teach young people about the dangers of tobacco. Following graduation, Ryan hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Delaware State Trooper – continuing his efforts to help the community. Congratulations Ryan and thank you for your continued commitment to the community! Please know that what you do will make a difference in a young person’s life.

July 27, 2005: Brandon Morris. Brandon is the son of Wayne & Dee Fields of Wyoming, is 16 and currently attends Poly Tech High School, starting his senior year in September. Words that would best describe Brandon would be: energetic – entrepreneur – funny - gets along with people of all ages – gentle and caring. At the young age of 14 Brandon started his own business: Morris’ Design and Graphics (M.D.G.) – which supplies vinyl graphics to customers not only in Delaware but throughout Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. He is an avid go-kart driver for Team Morris POWER Racing Engines. Winning such events as the Junior II in Kersaw, South Carolina, the Junior III Track Champion at Kitts Hummock, Delaware, the Dirt Division Junior III Champion at Delmar, Milford’s Grand Prix Animal Class winner and Brandon finished 7th in the nation in 2 classes in the Gold Cup Sprint Series as a rookie driver. Brandon is the only driver in the history of Fairlane Acres Speedway at Kitts Hummock to win at least one feature in all 6 adult classes. Brandon stays focused on whatever he is doing – racing – working in his business or in school as he maintains an honor roll status. His uncanny respect for people of all ages is his shining light and it is returned by everyone he meets. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments and keep racing for those dreams!

July 28, 2005: Stephanie Ewell. Stephanie is the daughter of Gary & Loretta Ewell from Millsboro, is 17 and will be a senior at Sussex Central High School starting in September. The United States Achievement Academy has recognized Stephanie as a National Award Winner in History and Government. This award is a prestigious honor very few students can ever hope to attain. In fact the academy recognizes fewer then 10% of all American high school students. Stephanie will appear in the United States Achievement Academy Official Yearbook, which is published nationally. Stephanie was nominated by her Advanced Placement History teacher – Mr. Tom Murphy. The selection criteria is based on the student’s academic performance, interest and aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation to learn and improve, citizenship, overall attitude, dependability and cooperative spirit, along with a recommendation from a teacher. Stephanie is ranked in the top 10% of her class of 256. As a high honor roll student she is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also a member of “Who’s Who” Among American High School students for the second year. Stephanie is a member of the “People to People” program founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower. This program is dedicated to enhancing the cultural communication and education throughout communities around the world. Stephanie was the 2004 Youth Ambassador, spending time in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. She is the 2005 Youth Ambassador and will be traveling to France, Italy and Malta this summer in an effort to promote the values of the program. Stephanie has also participated in dance for 12 years and is an active member of the Girl’s Varsity Soccer Team. Recognizing and supporting our youth is more important today then ever before in America’s history. This is truly a great honor – Congratulations Stephanie!

July 29, 2005: Julie Macklin. Julie is the daughter of Greg & Kathy Macklin of Georgetown, is 18 and is a recent graduate of Sussex Central High School, where she was also an Honor Roll student. If you want to find Julie the first place you should look is at the pool – she is always in the water. Julie was a member of the Sussex Central swim team and the Mid-Delmarva YMCA swim team. And we’re not just talking your average swimmer. Julie finished in the top 10 in state meets, competed in the YMCA Nationals three times and placed in the top 40 in the country. Julie also holds 8 of the 11 swimming records held by Sussex Central and this year finished 2nd in the State meetings in the 50 meter freestyle. However a few years ago Julie thought her swimming days were over. In an effort to battle scoliosis, the doctor’s fused 2 of her vertebrae and put rods in her back. They told her they did not think she would be able to swim again and if she did it certainly would not be at the level she was. Julie’s love of swimming, her perseverance and dedication to her team helped prove the doctor’s wrong. Just 6 months after her surgery she started competing again. Coach Bob George knew Julie was not a quitter so he was not surprised by her comeback. Everyone knows that Julie has a strong work ethic – everything she does she puts so much effort into. Julie was so impressed with the nursing staff that helped her during her recovery she has decided that she would like to become a nurse. According to her teachers Julie is a perfect match for nursing – she is gentle and quiet and has a way about her to help calm people down. Julie leads by example. Congratulations Julie – good luck at Salisbury University and keep on swimming!

July 30, 2005: Josh Lukaszewicz. Josh is the son of Jacqueline and Mark Lukaszewicz, is 13 and attends Our Lady of Fatima, where he is also an Alter Server. If you look at Josh he looks like the typical teenager, loves computers and playing Play station. Josh also loves to ice skate and is a member of the youth ice hockey team at the University of Delaware. Hanging around with Josh you will notice that his diet is very different from the average teenager – things like Jell-O, plain turkey sandwiches, and unsweetened applesauce – okay so maybe he likes that stuff! Not quite – Josh has been battling Crohn’s disease since he was 2 years old. Crohn’s disease is a debilitating disease of the intestines. Josh has become all too familiar with taking 82 pills a week, intravenous infusions, stomach cramps, doctor appointments, colonoscopies and much more. Josh has shared good times with kindred spirits at Camp Guts & Glory and has matured beyond his years. Taking a closer look you will see that Josh reflects a sure-footed self-knowledge – something learned the hard way over the years. Josh was named Captain of his soccer team however a recent medical setback has allowed him, along with support from his parents, to redirect his energy to other interests. Josh always wanted to learn how to play the drums so guess what – drums it is! Along with mastering the art of putting together jigsaw puzzles Josh will be able to keep himself busy this summer! Has any of this slowed Josh down – not a bit. Like the Eveready Battery – Josh keeps on going! His perseverance in the face of overwhelming challenges and obstacles is remarkable. Josh is hopeful that the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America will develop a cure so that in the near future he will be able to enjoy life in a slightly different manner – eating pizza, salad, popcorn, and other stuff. Josh has just recently been named the 2006 Ambassador for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation – this makes Josh the youngest and the first male to hold this position. Josh is always willing to help others first and himself last – hang in their Josh and good luck with all of your challenges – we will certainly keep you in our prayers.###