Citizenship award

When he retired 21 years ago, Emerson Musser knew he didn't want to take it easy.

The Hometown resident has since maintained an active schedule of volunteering his time to help others.

Whether he is keeping track of finances for the Hometown Fire Company, delivering meals to shut-ins or helping out at the hospital, Musser has lived up to the ideals of the civic advancement of his community.

His efforts are mostly behind the scenes and have been largely unsung, until now, as the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce has selected Musser as the recipient of its 47th Annual Citizenship Award.

The award will be presented to Musser at the 60th Annual Tamaqua Area Community Dinner, sponsored by the chamber and TIDE (Tamaqua Industrial Development Enterprises). The dinner will be held on Wednesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Tamaqua Community Center.

The award is open to all residents of the Tamaqua Area School District, 18 years of age or older. The recipient is selected by a special committee from nominations submitted by various fraternal, social, religious or civic organizations, as well as from individual residents of the area.

The selection is based on the voluntary contributions to the civic advancement of the Tamaqua area and the well-being of its citizens.

"I'm very pleased and honored," said Musser following the announcement of the award. "With some of the people who have gotten this award, I'm amazed that I am one of them. It's a big honor for me."

Musser, who turns 80 on April 23, was born in Reading and is a native of Emmaus. A 1948 graduate of Emmaus High School, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1948-1952 and was a veteran of the Korean War.

After leaving the military, Musser began working for the Sun Oil Company at its Allentown Terminal. He came to the Tamaqua area in 1958 because of a job opening.

"I was told there was a job at the Tamaqua Terminal if I wanted it," he recalled.

Three months prior to moving to the area to work at the Tamaqua Terminal in Taggartsville, he married his wife, Joyce. The Mussers have two daughters, JoAnn Santizo of Wheaton, Ill., and Linda of Greenwich, Conn., as well as four grandchildren.

Musser worked for Sun Oil for 37 years, 27 of them as a truck driver. His last five years were spent as a terminal man before he retired in 1989.

He has been busy since then.

"My idea was not to be a couch potato when I retired," he related. "When volunteer opportunities came along, I started to get involved."

Musser has been a member of the Hometown Fire Company since 1959. He had belonged to a fire company when he lived in Emmaus. With the Hometown company, he has served as a past president and vice chairman, and he currently is the financial secretary, a position he has held since 1991. He can be found pitching in wherever needed, including coordinating the company's breakfast fundraisers.

"The fire company evolved into something much more than I imagined," he noted. "It takes thousands of dollars to keep the building and equipment going. We have to do all these things because you have to keep the building open.

"Right now, it's looking pretty good. We have a good crew, a lot of work has been done on the hall, and we're doing well."

Musser has been involved with Tamaqua Area Meals on Wheels since the 1990s.

"It was mentioned to me, and I thought I'd give it a try," he said.

He recalled the program operating out of the former Presbyterian Church on West Broad Street in Tamaqua when he started.

In addition to helping out with the meal delivery, he joined the Meals on Wheel's board of directors, eventually serving as its president.

Musser has also been involved as a volunteer at St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital, Coaldale. In 2008, he received the President's Call to Service Award after logging over 4,000 hours of volunteer service over his lifetime.

At St. Luke's Miners, Musser works in the pharmacy, delivering medications to the hospital floors, where it is distributed to the patients by the staff.

"I've been working out of the pharmacy for a number of years, helping deliver the meds to the different floors. It's a lot of leg work," Musser said. He continues to work at the hospital from 8 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Thursdays.

"Emerson is a shining example of the volunteers we are fortunate to have at St. Luke's," said Micah Gursky, development director for St. Luke's Miners. "We're fortunate to have a volunteer who is so committed to giving back and helping people."

For more information on the Chamber/TIDE Dinner, contact the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce at (570) 668-1880 or e-mail tamaquachamber@verizon.net.