Jim Thorpe's Mauch Chunk Historical Society honored three community developers at a reception attended by about 30 society members at the General Albright Mansion Restaurant on Thursday.

Tom and Betty Lou McBride and Walt Bevilacqua were recognized for, according to president Steve Hlavka, "the work they have done in the community and for our society.""The McBrides have reconditioned buildings and the Carbon County Prison which they turned into a premier tourist attraction in town," he said.Hlavka said, then joked, "Walt Bevilacqua has done a lot of electrical work behind the scenes in the Opera House. A lot of it for gratis. Instead of paying him, we are giving him an award."The McBrides and Bevilacqua were each presented a Restoration/Preservation award from the MCHS and a Meritorious Community Service from the office of Rep. Doyle Heffley, and presented by MCHS vice president Brooke Au Buchon.Tom and Betty Lou McBride were presented their award by Steve Hlavka. Walt Bevilacqua was presented his award by Vince DeGiosio of JTAMs, the music production company that operates the Opera House.Betty Lou told how she and husband Tom came to Jim Thorpe in 1982 when his mother was meeting with the Carbon County commissioners."There were few businesses in downtown Jim Thorpe - the Five and Ten Cent store, Leonardo's News stand, the sporting goods store, the pharmacy, the pizza shop, Dugan's, and a horrible coffee shop in the basement of the hotel," she said. "Everything else was empty or closed."She said that Tom saw that the town had the potential to grow and he was going to help it along. They bought the Eagles building and converted it into the Treasure shop, and installed a large plate glass window looking out onto the street."The Treasure Shop building was ready for the bulldozer when we bought it," Tom said. "When I see an old building I think too bad it's run down. It's fun-bringing back an old building to the way it used to look.""My approach to fixing a building is one day at a time," he continued. "Trying to get contractors that return a phone call is the biggest work. I do what others don't do. I'm the gopher. The cleanup man."Betty Lou explained about how Tom motivated people to fix up their buildings in the downtown area."He leaned on a parking meter by the Treasure Shop," she said. "People went by and he'd say, 'See that cornice work up there, it's going to rust.' They'd go home and fix it."He'd say, 'Wouldn't your building look nice with a certain color on it?' They go home and paint it. A guy said to him, "I wish you would stop talking about the buildings. My wife made me go out and work on it.'"After restoring the Eagles building and renovating it into the Treasure Shop, they bought and turned the Old Jail into a museum and tourist attraction, and renovated the Vathis building, the Moya building, and most recently, the former doll shop adjacent to the Dimmick Memorial Library, which Tom renamed the McBride Building."People talk about government," Tom said, "This wasn't government. It was the people of the town, the business owners, and the building owners that brought this town back."In his award to Walt Bevilacqua, DeGiosio said, "It's been a challenge to get people interested who had otherwise given up on the Mauch Chunk Opera House. There have always been challenges and there have been people that come at the right time and offer their expertise to assist us so we can assist the Mauch Chunk Historical Society to keep going to keep this great building alive. ""Renovating the Opera House was daunting," DeGiosio continued. "We have had electrical problems and Walt noticed them and volunteered his time and expertise. He has been a godsend"Bevilacqua had been coming to shows at the Opera House and noticed that the existing lighting system was inadequate. He designed and installed twelve 1,000-watt flood lights with dimmers.This was the third year in which the Restoration/Preservation award was presented. Previous recipients were: Bruce Conrad, Joan Morykin and Victor Stabin, John Drury and Ed Weller.