The story begins at 8:02 a.m., New Year’s Day, 2008.
The mother is given a dozen red roses and a $50 gift certificate. The father is given a $50 gift certificate. The baby receives a $200 savings bond. Why receive gifts? The baby was the first baby born in Blair County in 2008. This baby is DiVentura.
Aside from being off school, his birthday led to him meeting not one, but two United States presidents. DiVentura was held by Barack Obama and had a newspaper article about him signed by Jimmy Carter.
“I forgot it [the newspaper] existed until Mrs. Vanish said something about it,” DiVentura said. “My pap is the one who got it, and it was down in Sinking Valley. It was signed ‘Jimmy Carter’ as opposed to ‘President Carter ‘and has a photo of me on the front page.”
For DiVentura, being held by Obama has a different meaning now that he’s older.
“The older I’ve gotten, the more cool it becomes,” DiVentura said. “Not everyone meets presidents, especially when they are young. So to have that photo is cool.”
President Obama was in Altoona, Pa., during the spring of 2008. He went to the bowling alley DiVentura’s family owns.
DiVentura’s mother, Shena Long, remembers the story well.
“Obama was campaigning during the 2008 year, and he was making his rounds and randomly just showed up at the bowling alley,” Long said. “Noah would be down there with his dad and granddad.… It was definitely an experience and a little bizarre. It happened so fast. He came in and was bowling and talking with everybody and just scoops him up and holds him.”
Obama didn’t just come in, take photos and leave. He took the time to talk with Long about DiVentura.
“He had a casual conversation and asked his name and how old he was,” Long said. “He tickled him to make him giggle. He was just more interested in who we were at that time than campaigning.”
Obama coming to Altoona in 2008 didn’t change the way Long voted during the election.
“At that point in time, I already had it in my mind that I would vote for Obama,” Long said. “He was the same person you saw on TV as he was in person.”
Although DiVentura finds his opportunity “cool,” it isn’t something he brings up often.
“I feel like that’s a weird icebreaker. I don’t talk to a bunch of new people, so it’s kind of just whatever your friends know,” DiVentura said.
Why was Obama in Altoona? According to a New York Times article published in March 2008, “In search of a friendly crowd and really good photo ops, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Robert Casey rolled into Pleasant Valley Lanes here to cheers from patrons, report our faithful press pool reporters.”
Long believes that Obama coming to Altoona was a good choice.
“It was just a really good opportunity to come into a very small town at the time,” Long said. “Altoona was just a hole in the wall.… I think it helped encourage small companies and family owned businesses to open their doors.”
For many, being born on the first day of the year may seem like any other day. But for junior Noah DiVentura, his birthday opened up a world of opportunity.
“It’s cool. I get off from school…I wouldn’t like it if it was all about my birthday. I like that it is about New Year’s too,” DiVentura said.
DiVentura was born on New Year’s Day, but he wasn’t the only one. Junior Aiden Fox was also born on Jan. 1, 2008.
“It is weird and it’s different,” Fox said. “I feel like I wait a very long time for my birthday, but it is good because it is seven days after Christmas, so I get two [sets] of presents.”
