The awards for collecting phone books in Carbon County were presented on March 4 at the schools that participated in the project. Since the program began in 1996 323,500 phone books were collected. This year 24,123 were added to that number. They add up to 20.3 tons of paper that will not go into landfills.

Towamensing's first place winner was Brayden Kline with 3,214 books. Raegan Nemeth placed second for collecting 2,820 books.Third and fifth places went to Weatherly Elementary with Frank Willis III collecting 1,619 books and Ashley Pleban with 1,370. Weatherly's total for the school was 3,607.Mahoning Elementary had the fourth place winner with Logan Graver collecting 1,543. The school collected a total of 2,502 books.The top collectors in schools other than the top five places were: Jasmine Mooney, Saints Peter and Paul, Lehighton, 835, school total-983; Makayla Nothstein, Shull-David, Lehighton 813, school total-2,718; Sarah Milheim, S.S. Palmer, Palmerton, 731, school total-1,460; Gavin Graver, East Penn, Lehighton, 576, school total-1,418.Mikhayl Conarty, Franklin, Lehighton, 489, school total-1,945; Rachel Wittig, L.B. Morris, Jim Thorpe, 252, school total-864; Marissa Walck, Parkside, Palmerton, 130 school total-573; Victoria Keiper, St. John Neumann, Palmerton, 78, school total-151; Sarah Newton, St. Joseph's Regional Academy, Jim Thorpe, 58, school total-368 and Tanner Gilliar, Penn-Kidder, Jim Thorpe, 42, school total-260.Each of these students received certificates of merit for honorable mention.Duane Dellecker, director of solid waste management for Carbon County, said the books are taken to a 220-cow dairy farm where they are shredded and used for bedding.The benefits of collecting the books are that is more sanitary because most bacteria are eliminated, the paper is four to six time as absorbent as straw, it decomposes faster when placed in a field, it's free for the farmer that uses it and the county does not have to pay to dispose of the books.County commissioners accompanied Dellecker to Towamensing to make the prize presentations. Also in attendance was Barry Scherer, a member of the Palmerton school board.Dellecker asked how many students recycled and most hands went up. He said bringing in the phone books is a method of recycling.Commissioner chair Bill O'Gurek said it was a pleasure to be at Towmensing. He mentioned the wall flag with the word T-E-A-M which stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. The collection was a sample of teamwork.Brayden Kline was the first place winner with 3,214 books. He said his grandmother, Shirley Kline, helped him. O'Gurek said grandmothers are very special to which Brayden agreed.O'Gurek presented him with a plaque, $100 savings bond, an Earth Day tee shirt made with recycled material and a shopping bag, also recycled.The bonds, which went to all five winners, were donated by First National Bank of Palmerton and Jim Thorpe National Bank.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein thanked the school district for "a lot of work to recycle." He presented the same prizes to Raegan Nemeth for the 2,820 books she collected.A plaque was presented to Nicholas Singleton for turning in the oldest book - a 1958 phone book from York.Towamensing's total of books collected was 7,274 which gave an average of 18.23 per student.Principal Christine Steigerwalt thanked the staff and parents. She said she was glad the school collected the most.Dellecker told the students to work hard and maybe "we'll be back next year."He presented a certificate of achievement to school board member Barry Scherer to be shared with the board.