Two years in, this transplant duo hailing from Geneva, New York admits there’s no better way to explore NEPA than through the eyes of their two young children. That’s so sweet, right? I thought so, too. Then I discovered their unflinching loyalty to both New York and Chicago pizza.

Personal pizza qualms aside, Jon and Janelle Drach, of Mountaintop are “all in” when it comes to NEPA. Jon currently has two years under his belt as the Head Football Coach at Wilkes University. Janelle is coming up on one year as the Executive Director at the Pittston YMCA. For Jon and Janelle, making the move to NEPA was an investment for the whole family. And they see it paying off well into the future.

They’re figuring NEPA out one trail, one community, one quirky festival at a time. We recently met up for a chat at Kingston’s famous AmberDonia Bakery.

How long have you lived in NEPA?

Jon: Two years now… well, a little over two years. We came here with Wilkes. That was a transition for me professionally. And it’s been a great transition for us altogether.

Janelle: Definitely.

What Brought you to NEPA?

Jon: A lot of it was professional opportunity on my end. It was the opportunity to run my own program and kind of do everything for our young family that we’ve always wanted to do. I think it was a growth point for us to take that next step and move forward professionally. It was not only a professional opportunity, but an opportunity to be where it’s only ten minutes to go skiing. And I love to hunt. So, I can run over to Nescopeck and do some hunting in the state game lands. It’s only ten minutes from our house.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

Janelle: I love that it feels like every weekend in NEPA there’s some type of cultural event going on in a community, or some type of holiday event going on. I feel like we’re constantly exploring little boroughs and cities and communities. I think those are fun experiences for our kids and they create fun memories. I swear… our son just remembers every single thing that we do. It’s kind of fun to hear him six months later and he’s like, “remember we went to the Pierogi Festival and we tried the pierogis…” (laughs).

Jon: For me it’s the hunting and outdoor recreation. I’m all about that side of things… Of course.

What’s next for you?

Janelle: So, I’ve been in the area for about two years, and I’ve been working in Downtown Pittston. I’m looking forward to continuing my work with the community, the city and the other partners. I’m excited to see how we can collaborate and make some strides in a short period of time in regard to quality of life and recreational opportunities in the area. I would also love to maybe get more involved in other community organizations. And, of course, we’d love to just keep exploring with our kids and to give them all the experiences that we can while they’re still young here.

Jon: Basically, I hope to continue to grow our name (Wilkes University) on a local and national level. And I want to continue to help people come to NEPA and to see that it is a landing spot not only for college, but also for when they’re done. I think the more we put ourselves out there in the national landscape, the more light it brings to places all over the country to realize what’s going on here – that it is changing and that there are opportunities, and that it is a young, vibrant city that’s growing.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

Jon: I see this area continuing to grow, as we mentioned earlier, as a college town — as a place that is full of life and opportunity for its students and its post-graduates. I hope that we can continue to grow in that way and hopefully bring new and vibrant industry to this the region. Our university is at the forefront of so many areas like environmental research and environmental engineering. I hope we can continue to bring more of that to NEPA and help it grow in ways that it never has before.

Janelle: I liked that. I’ll go with that (laughs). Can I just concur?

Why NEPA?

Janelle: I think it’s just the diversity of opportunities and experiences that we’re able to have here, and to have with a young family. That’s unique. It’s hard for someone to relocate with a young family, and feel so comfortable so quickly. That was always part of our decision making. We did a ton of research and said, you know what, our kids will be happy here, we’ll be happy here. Let’s make this investment.

Jon: For me, it was a combination of everything. It was opportunity matched with right place, right time. And having the opportunity for our family to take a step forward, and to invest in a place that I think is growing. We see it continuing to evolve and continuing to be a part of something bigger and, hopefully, we could put our name on it, and say we had a small piece of that development. We’re excited to watch our young family grow and flourish and to see all of the opportunity they have ahead of them. We’re happy to do all of that in a place that has supported us as a family.