Three inducted into SV Wall of Fame
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL PHOTO - John Guers, class of '04, speaks at the Shenandoah Valley commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 31, 2019.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
SHENANDOAH – Three distinguished Shenandoah Valley alumni were recognized during Friday’s commencement ceremonies, where they were inducted into the school’s Wall of Fame and had the opportunity to speak to the graduates.
According to Andy Ulicny, chair of the Wall of Fame committee, the tradition of having Wall of Fame inductees speak at graduation dates back to 1998.
Then, he said, “We eliminated the guest speaker, and it was a move for the better. Instead, we choose to hear from our own. We hear from those who are among the very best of Shenandoah graduates.”
That year, he said, the Wall of Fame began.
This year’s inductees were John Guers, class of ’04, Dave Halushack, class of ’71, and David Raibeck, class of ’07.
Guers, an East Stroudsburg graduate, was first. He emphasized the importance of showing gratitude to those who’ve helped the graduates throughout their life.
“I do want to give you one piece of advice,” Guers said. “I thought back to my graduation day, 15 years ago, and I thought ‘What would be a useful piece of advice for me on that day?’ I came up with an answer, but then I thought to myself, ‘That no longer fits the kind of advice you need.'”
“You grew up in a social media generation. Selfies, Instagram, filters, you can make life appear perfect in any moment,” said Guers. “Life isn’t perfect. It’s not even close, but that’s what makes life worth living. You’re going to leave Shenandoah Valley, and you all will fail at some point. You’ll all go through some rough patches from time to time, but it’s how you will respond that will dictate your success in life.”
Halushack followed. He head’s a bakery broker based in Minersville, founded in Shenandoah originally, and representing thirty-five major bakeries.
“To the graduates, there’s going to be a lot of twists and turns in the course your lives,” said Halushack. “If you’re going to college, it’s a wonderful opportunity — take it and go with it — but if you’re not going to college, learn a trade. Once you learn that trade, you may have a chance at becoming an entrepreneur in that field. Being an entrepreneur can be very fulfilling and can be financially rewarding.”
The inductions concluded with Raibeck, a propulsion test supervisor with Virgin Galactic. He compared life to competition handgun shooting, which he says is a “personification of life, its goals, and the challenges along the way.”
“The best score doesn’t come from blazing a course, haphazardly blasting targets and not looking back. A winning score comes from carefully planning your movements, accurately lining up the target and executing each shot with precise confidence,” said Raibeck. “There is no such thing as luck. Luck is simply when preparation meets opportunity, and you all know the cliche, you miss all the shots you don’t take.”
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