The Towamensing Elementary School community suffered a shocking loss when its beloved 5th grade teacher, Blaine R. House passed away suddenly on May 7, 2013.

"He made a tremendous impact on our children and us. He had an extremely positive influence on all he came in touch with. We wanted to pay tribute to him," says Kelli Neipert-Costenbader.A group of parents and members of the Towamensing PTO formed a Blaine R. House Memorial Fund committee. They knew he was big into fitness and was always outside during recess, interacting with the students.Will buy itemsfor playgroundThey decided they wanted to purchase playground equipment for Towamensing Elementary and dedicate it in memory of House."We need to raise $4,000," Neipert-Costenbader says.The fund-raisers are called "Raising the House."The first event will be an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from 5-7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Aquashicola Fire Co., 270 Little Gap Road.The next event will be the Raising the House 5k Run/Walk on Saturday, March 15 with registration at the Palmerton Park gazebo.Raising the House plans to make the fundraisers annual events in order to contribute to the Blaine R. House scholarship, which is to be given for the first time to a 2014 graduating Palmerton Area High School senior. It is the hope of the committee to be able to award a scholarship in House's name every year.When his wife, Tammy, learned of the committee and what they wanted to do, she was overwhelmed.Widow is thankfulfor what's occurringTammy said, "I have no words to say, except 'Thank you.' Everyone has been just so wonderful and Mrs. Steigerwalt, Towamensing's principal, has been just phenomenal. She was responsible for getting the school district to close the school the day of the funeral so staff and students could attend. As a teacher myself, I can tell you that was no small feat."House graduated from Lehighton Area High School in 1981 and from Bloomsburg University in 1985. He worked at Palmerton Area High School in the resource room before he began teaching fifth grade at Towamensing Elementary in 1987.House 'lovedbeing a teacher'"Blaine loved being a teacher. I can't tell you how many times he told me that. He always wanted to inspire his students to do the best they absolutely could in whatever area they chose. He loved teaching at Towamensing. He always knew how lucky he was to be teaching at a school like Towamensing," says Tammy, his wife of 22 years.She added, "He loved being outdoors, especially in the woods. He always talked about when we retired, he wanted to 'get out of the city', as he called where we live now, (Allentown) and get a house that overlooked Beltzville Lake."House was the father of two daughters. Caitlin, 21, is a junior at Penn State, University Park. Jillian, 17, is a senior at Parkland Area High School and will be joining Caitlin at Penn State University next fall."Blaine would be so excited to know both of his girls will be PSU graduates. He loved PSU," says Tammy.House was a Palmerton basketball coach for over seven years and was very proud of Palmerton winning the 1993-94 PIAA Division 2 championship, his last year of coaching."Blaine did not like sitting around. He loved adventure and a challenge, especially a physical challenge. Most of his students had to watch the video of his skydiving adventure and his white water rafting trips," she says.Was in trainingwhen he diedHe successfully competed in two Tough Mudder races and was in training for his third race when he passed away.The committee is accepting money or Giant grocery gift cards to help defray the cost of the spaghetti dinner. You can become a corporate sponsor of $100, $250 or $500 level for the 5k Race/Walk, and you can participate in the events.Send registration forms and checks, payable to Towamensing PTO with "Blaine House Fund" in the memo line, to Melanie Burnett, P.O. Box 263, Kunkletown, PA 18058.For information, contact Erin Snyder, 610-248-2648 or visit the website for more information and order forms for the 5K and spaghetti dinner. www.raisingthehouse. com."I want to thank everyone for all their support. I'm sure Blaine's in heaven just blown away by all this," Tammy said.