Homegrown with the opportunity to fly around the world, the Honorable Mayor Deborah A. Bargo chose to return to her hometown of Lewistown Borough, PA and left Washington, D.C. to begin her lifelong career of service.  Telecom Pioneer Life Member and more recently, Mayor, as of December 2007, Debbie grew up in the family home just blocks away from her present home and within walking distance to her Mayoral seat in the Municipal Building.  Debbie’s caring spirit of community began in her childhood as a sister in a family of 4 girls.  She remembers ice-skating as a family and lots of sports participation especially in softball and basketball.  Her Dad, Charles Butler, was a Phillies Farm Team pitcher in 1941, leaving the team to serve in the military.  He was a Lewistown Municipal policeman, retiring in 1984.  Her Mom, Julia worked in the Lewistown High School cafeteria during the sixties.  With both of her parents as role models, serving the public was no stranger to Debbie as she thought of careers.  Intending to be a flight attendant, she graduated from airline school in Hartford, Connecticut, but, instead accepted a position with the Department of Navy in Washington, D.C. before returning home to marry and took on a career with Bell Telephone.  She started in the Lewistown office and finished her career in State College as a Service Representative and a Trainer in the Business Office for 27 years before an early retirement in 1996 when her office was closed.  While at Bell, Debbie was President of the Pioneer Seven Mountains Club in the late 1980’s.  She kept involved with Pioneer programs such as Adopt a Highway, picking up litter for a 2-mile stretch along Seven Mountains, delivered dictionaries to schools, where she once remembers donning a Raggedy Ann costume as an added draw for the children.  At Christmas time, Debbie participated in the Adopt A Family program.   Especially memorable was the time they delivered a 40 lb (Forty Pound!) turkey to a family who had 14 adopted handicapped children. “It was amazing to see the kids and wheelchairs everywhere”, she recalls.  But the soft spot of her heart is in the Annual Pioneer Sports Jamboree, which she has helped with for 26 out of 28 years.  Pioneers have been serving up a weekend of fun for blind and wheelchair bound kids as they host games, food and a DJ party for upwards of 20-40 kids and their families for this 3-day event at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, PA.

After early retirement, Debbie wanted to make a difference at home in Lewistown.  She ran and was elected to serve on Borough Council for seven years.  She was the only woman on the 7-member board.  It was at the time the former Mayor was called to an out of town teaching position that he asked Debbie to be a reference for him that led to her being asked if she would serve to finish his mayoral term.  She finished the term and ran again to be elected as the 1^st Woman mayor. Who Knew?  Now with 2 ½ years under her belt, Debbie has performed many mayoral duties.  One of her stellar accomplishments has been in performing145 weddings- as of today’s count.  Word spreads throughout and the happy couples call for a wedding date to her great anticipation.  The previous administration’s record was eleven weddings.  Debbie grins at remembering all the wedding days and the varied themes from the most elegant to the most casual.  A wedding book with pictures and newspaper clippings sits on her desk.  She recalls a gold and ivory formal at the Reynolds’s Mansion in Bellefonte, PA and the wedding held at the Kish Creek Fishing Derby in Reedsville, PA with a fishing crewel holding the bride’s bouquet.  Six military couples married at the historic Stone Arch Bridge as soldiers from the Striker Brigade prepared to deploy to Iraq. Looking very much the part in her black robe, Debbie officiates everywhere she is called to serve and even has a decorated altar set up in her office.

You can see Debbie Bargo connecting with people at the turn of her head.  Her smile shines and her eyes beam, drawing you in with the warmth of her authenticity.  The Mayor is proud of her town with unity in the Borough Hall.  As we pass through the offices the staff shouts out, “We love her!”  And her husband, Barry Bargo, likes being called the first dude.   Their children are grown with families of their own.  With a population of 9,000, the borough boasts a feel of community.  We get waves as we drive around town.  Generations of cohesiveness line the streets for the Winter Ice Festival, Christmas Parade and Pancake Fest.  Her first official duty was to oversee the New Year’s Eve celebration of the Great Chip Drop (Hartley’s Chips).  There is the River Fest in July with a Raft Regatta (38 floats last year), River Fest Idol, a community band, and summer movies on the Square with an outdoor popcorn machine and everyone brings their own folding chairs, kids and grands.  It is a town of many churches and neighbors.  The 3 Volunteer Fire companies hold a 3- minute response time record.  And with a new police department soon to be in effect, the Lewistown High School art department will be commissioned to have students design the new police badges.  This July, a mural unveiling will commemorate WWI to the current Iraqi conflict and will be celebrated in beautiful Victory Park, along the playful Juniata River.  It is a busy schedule, hectic at best, but Debbie loves every minute of it.  And as for flying?  Well, she did get to actually fly a plane for the first time in October 2009.