Story by Rick Hiduk
(Exclusive to EndlessMtnLifestyles.com readers)
After seven years as a board member of Mental Health & Intellectual Disabilities Services of Luzerne and Wyoming Counties, Wyoming County commissioner Tom Henry was sworn in this morning as its new chairman.
“I have so many other passions as my job as commissioner, but this is the most uplifting,” Henry said after the private ceremony conducted by Wyoming County president judge Russell Shurtleff in Courtroom 1 at the Wyoming County Courthouse in Tunkhannock. “When we can help someone with a disability, it’s exiting and gratifying.”
According to Henry, voting was contentious, as many board members would have preferred to have a chairman from Luzerne County. But Henry persevered after a second vote.
“I felt that Wyoming County needed better representation,” Henry remarked. “We sometimes slip through the cracks, and I wanted to be sure that we have input.”
He was told that he needed to go to Wilkes-Barre to be sworn in but decided there was no reason that Judge Shurtleff couldn’t handle things closer to home.
In the past, Henry has enjoyed participating in events with local clients at the Dietrich Theater and at the courthouse. But this past year has been different.
Mental Health Awareness Month (March) was celebrated via virtual events, which Henry noted was new to both him and those served by the agency but still a fun way to acknowledge their abilities and personal triumphs.
Congratulations Tom! You’ll do a great job.
Congratulations Tom!looking forward to great things in this field for our area.
Congratulations Tom! Wyoming Countywill be well served with you as chairperson.