Barbush had community spirit
In this file photo taken December, 2006, Steve Barbush, longtime leader of the Fairbank Community Christmas Tree Club, carries the red lights that will be put on the annual Christmas tree in Fairbank.
Barbush
?Stephen 鈥淗acksaw鈥� Barbush Jr. of Fairbank collected donations to buy fruit baskets for widows, led a group of volunteers who decorated the town for Christmas for more than 40 years and hosted daily pinochle games for a group of buddies at his gas station.
He was 83 years old when he died in Uniontown Hospital on June 23.
鈥淗e was proud of what he did for the community,鈥� said his wife of 54 years Lenora Barbush.
鈥淗e was friendly and popular. He really enjoyed what he did,鈥� said Al Apicella of Fairbank, a regular at the pinochle table. He refers to his longtime friend as 鈥淗ack.鈥�
What Hack might have been best known for is organizing the set up and decorating of a Christmas tree in the center of town.
The first tree went up in 1964 and the tradition continued through last Christmas. However, wind blew down last year鈥檚 tree and it wasn鈥檛 replaced.
Initially, Hack asked people to donate trees. As the tradition grew, people would call him to offer trees, Apicella said.
On the day he died, someone called to donate a tree, Barbush said.
Hack and Joe Ciarrocchi, owner of Joe鈥檚 Body Shop in neighboring Filbert, were in charge of the tree, Apicella said. Ciarrocchi used a flatbed tow truck to haul the three to Fairbank and deployed an elevated platform to decorate it.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking 30 to 40 foot trees. They had nice trees,鈥� said Clark Dearth, a friend who donated to Hack鈥檚 efforts and the owner of the Dearth Funeral Home in New Salem where Hack鈥檚 funeral services were held. 鈥淪teve was behind the whole thing.鈥�
The popularity of the tree led Hack and his buddies to collect donations to decorate utility poles with lights and bells. Another local auto shop owner volunteered his cherry picker truck to decorate the poles. As that tradition caught on, increased donations allowed them to decorate more and more poles, Apicella said.
The Filbert playground was another project undertaken by volunteers led by Hack. They collected donations for playground equipment, a basketball court and fencing around the ball field.
鈥淢ost of the work was done by volunteers in the community,鈥� Apicella said. 鈥淗e鈥檇 get people to bring equipment down when necessary.鈥�
Hack took it upon himself to ask businesses for donations he would use to buy fruit baskets that he would give to widows, he said.
鈥淗e鈥檇 take them to widows in Fairbank every Christmas,鈥� Dearth said. 鈥淗e was really active.鈥�
He was also easy to find and recognize.
The Barbush Amoco Station, which Hack opened in 1952, the year he returned home from his service in the Army in the Korean war, was his home away from home and a place for friends to socialize.
鈥淭hat was the gathering point in Fairbank,鈥� Apicella said. 鈥淗ack鈥檚 place was a place for all to gather. Since 1952, we played pinochle there every day.鈥�
In the summer, he would set up a table or two with umbrellas outside for the pinochle circle. Sometimes he and his buddies played checkers and, if he wasn鈥檛 busy, he would set up a ping pong table in his garage bay.
People who moved out of Fairbank would stop by the gas station to talk to the guys whenever they returned for visits, Apicella said.
Some people wouldn鈥檛 recognize Hack if he wasn鈥檛 wearing his nostalgic Amoco hat, but he seemed to wear it all the time, he said.
鈥淭hat Amoco hat, he was never without it,鈥� Barbush said.
Closing the station in 2002 was difficult for Hack.
鈥淲hen he closed it, he just lost part of his life. The station was his enjoyment and his life,鈥� Apicella said. 鈥淚 really miss it and I know Hack did too. It was nothing to see four old guys playing cards under an umbrella at the gas station.鈥�
鈥淚t was like a hangout in Fairbank,鈥� Dearth said.
Hack鈥檚 friendly nature didn鈥檛 escape the senses of local wildlife.
A turtle would crawl more than 100 yards through a drain pipe from Dunlap Creek to an opening at the gas station where Hack would feed it, Apicella said.
Hack put a spot of red paint on its shell so he could recognize it and he looked for it every day. The turtle made regular visits during summers for at least five years.
鈥淚 think the only reason it stopped is because it got too big to fit through the pipe,鈥� Apicella said.
Hack also was active in politics and was proud of a collection of hundreds of beer cans.
Apicella and Dearth said when they and others would travel, they always remembered to bring a can back for Hack.
鈥淏ut guess who had to dust them?鈥� Barbush asked rhetorically.