Vol. 118 No. 49 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 December 9 - 15, 2007 *The DALLAS P 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Participants address grief, one tear at a time GRIEF RELIEF coping with the death of a loved one that strives to offer compassion, encour- agement and support to one another. Meets at 9 a.m. the first Methodist Church, Cream- ery Road. 333-4354. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Claire Mark Gantz, herself a widow, comforts Debbie James during a grief support group at the Center Moreland Methodist Church. Grief Relief offered here By DOTTY MARTIN Editor Editor's note: The names of some of the participants of this story have not been used at their request. Claire Mark Gantz remembers feeling left out when her friends talked about going to a funeral. She didn’t even know what a funeral was. She was 10 years old at the time. Today, Gantz knows all too well what a funeral is. Now 80 years old, she has buried three husbands, an unborn child, her parents who died within 16 days of each other, a sister, two brothers, a very dear friend and her entire Sunday School class. Gantz is a member of Grief Relief, a support A support group for anyone month at the Center Saturday of every month at the Center Moreland United For further information, call comfort. to come back.” Gantz feels she is “a little more past where most people are” in dealing with her grief and attends the group’s meetings to help the others. Sue, whose husband “dropped dead in my kitch- en” six years ago, comes for the same reason — and, she admits, because James, her very good friend, has told her that her presence at the group is a great “I thought I'm a veteran,” Sue said. “So I was going to give my sage advice because I know pain and youre never over it. But there was a lot of crying at the first session and I wasn’t sure I wanted James, a certified lay speaker who doesn’t pretend group for anyone coping with the death of a loved one. Started by Debbie James, the group meets at 9 am. on the first Saturday of every Moreland United Meth- odist Church and strives to offer compassion, en- couragement and sup- port to one another. It is not church-affiliated and is open to anyone of any religion. See GRIEF, Page 7 o PA RAT AE ML SUBMITTED PHOTO Live animals play a big part in the production of “The Gift" at the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly on Carverton Road in Trucksville. Show is a real ‘gift’ Animals play very important role in annual production By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com nimals played a crit- ical role in the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary and Jo- ph presumably rode camels or donkeys as they made their journey from Naza- reth to Bethlehem to register for the census. The time came for Mary to give birth and, since there was no room at the inn, she was forced to deliver in a wooden manger among animals and bales of hay. The story of the birth of Jesus is re-enacted every December at Back Mountain Harvest Assemb- ly in Trucksville in an interesting, realistic way: with actual people and animals. Five performances of this year’s 14th annual free live nativ- ity production of “The Gift” will be held at the church from De- cember 14 through December 16. The performance attracted 13,000 people last year. For years, animals in “The Gift” belonged to church mem- bers and their friends. But be- cause they were farm animals, they were easily scared by noises “We've had some interesting things. Last year somebody opened the gate to let somebody in and they all ran out, all the little goats." LuAnn Letoski Director of "The Gift" “The Gift" at Back Mountain Har- vest Assembly 340 Carverton Road, Trucksville Friday, Dec. 14: 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15: 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16: 6 p.m. and crowds of people. Several years ago, Deacon Bill Lazar (who is now in Florida) saw cam- els at an event in Lancaster. Lazar inquired about renting the ani- mals for “The Gift.” For the fourth year now, animals will be brought to the church from Zoo Shows Company out of Massa- chusetts. Zoo Shows Company brings two camels, a zebu, two or three sheep, a miniature donkey and about 10 goats. Horses are provid- ed by Harteise Horse Farm in Dallas. Although the animals are tame, their actions are unpredict- able. “We've had some interesting things,” said LuAnn Letoski, di- rector of “The Gift.” “Last year somebody opened the gate to let somebody in and they all ran out, all the little goats. One of the cows years ago was really in love with Joseph. And every time (Jo- seph) would go to sing, she would make these lovey eyes at him.” Letoski, of Kingston, is a mem- ber of the church and a music teacher at State Street Elemen- tary School. She first took part in “The Gift” in 1999. Letoski co-di- rected the production in 2000, be- came director in 2001 and has been director ever since. There are other stories to tell about the animals, particularly the goats, says Letoski. A goat once ran down Carverton Road and another tried to devour a camera. Once, a goat even tried to eat the doll used as baby Jesus. Luckily, cast members were able to get it to stop. Having animals around re- quires some special accommoda- tions. Gravel needs to be laid down for the camels because they have very soft, sensitive padding on the bottoms of their feet and will not step on anything if it feels sharp. The donkeys do not al- ways want to move during the show and will sometimes hee- haw their displeasure. Guido the camel is also known to be temper- amental. Joseph keeps carrots in his pockets to help them behave. At night, the animals from Zoo Shows Company stay inside the semi-trailer in which they travel. The trailer is plugged into a pow- er source at the recreation center to make heat available. The horses from Harteise Horse Farm go home to sleep. The price tag to have live ani- mals is not cheap. Letoski says the cost is around $5,000. “It’s worth it because theyre re- ally beautiful,” she said. Though she did not say how much money it costs to put on the entire production, Letoski says it See GIFT, Page 3 V Inside The Post Flag football, Page 10 18 Pages, 1 Section CHUGH cicitiniiiioiininss 6 Community .......... 2.3,5,6 ODIUBFIES cove rericnrinrarnns 5 SCHOO ....ocoeipenrsinss 2.7.8.9 SPOFLS cis imsisiiammasiiininni 1011 v How To Reach Us News: 970-7440 news@mydallaspost.com 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 Advertising: 831-7303 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 There are By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Meeting old friends and cele- brating family occasions in the Back Mountain is becoming eas- ier. Three new restaurants, two in Dallas and one in Shavertown, are offering different kinds of cui- sine. CuVenee Restaurant and Bar opened December 1 and Thirty- One Lake has a tentative opening date of December 11. A third eat- ery, a hibachi and sushi bar, is moving into the Back Mountain Shopping Center. Bill Kammerer recently quit his job as food and beverage man- ager at the Westmoreland Club to start a family with his wife, Chris- tine Mazza-Kammerer. When the site of the former Black Duck Grille in the Dallas Shopping Center became available, he was new places to eat in asked to look at the space by a friend. The couple went to take a peak at it in mid-September, and before they knew it, they were the new owners of CuVenee Res- taurant and Bar. “We stopped by to see it and just fell in love with it and jumped on it,” Bill said. “Yeah, that’s basi- cally it,” added Christine. “We had no intention of buying a res- taurant at all.” CuVenee is named after a Cru- venet, a French system that al- lows wine to be on tap by pump- ing nitrogen into it to assure freshness and controlled temper- ature. The Kammerers Ameri- canized the name Cruvenet and are calling their restaurant CuVe- nee. CuVenee has three Cruvenet units, allowing for 12 wines, eight red and four white, to be kept on tap. Bill has been working in the Ww CuVenee Restaurant and Bar: Dallas Shopping Center, Dallas. Open Monday through Friday for lunch, and Monday through Sat- urday for dinner. Half-priced drinks will be offered from 5to 7 p.m. on weekdays. CuVenee is all non-smoking and casual dress is acceptable. Reservations are recommended. Thirty-One Lake Street: 31 Lake Street, Dallas. Open from 5 to 10 p.m. daily for dinner. The bar will be open 4 p.m. to close daily. Casual attire is acceptable and reservations are recommended. fine dining restaurant since he was 13 years old. Aside from his position at the Westmoreland Club, he has worked as a waiter at Greco's, Wyoming Valley Coun- See EAT, Page © the Back Mountain S. JOHN WILKIN/THE TIMES LEADER CuVenee Restaurant and Bar in the Dallas Shopping Center is equipped with a cruvenet system that allows wine to be poured through a nitrogen-fed tap system. The nitrogen system prevents opened wines from changing flavor through oxidation.
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