ALE IC PAA A ED ED wh SR A A wow Ee fo rE I Green. treet Ne ws Co. Publication i When Vincent Goulstone pulled up to his home two weeks ago, he found that his house had been razed and this gaping hole was all that remained. The Library Auction Needs Your Support!! by Doris Mallin It has been 13 weeks since the Flood of 1972 hit Wyoming Valley. The nights are begin- ning to grow cold and the days, even when the sun is bright, are chilly. The problem now facing many Valley residents in temporary shelters is that of “how to keep warm’. Many residents are living in upstairs rooms of their homes and are still waiting for furnace repairs or installation of new heating facilities. There are campers parked nearby in most cases, and many have heating facilities sufficient enough until colder weather approaches. But these small homes on wheels are hardly large enough to ac- comodate small children on damp or chilly days, and to keep them wrapped in blankets is im- possible. And HUD deadlines which the campers will have to be returned or purchased by the persons who occupy them. Others living in mobile homes have found that some of them lack sufficient heat to overcome the cold that will soon face them when the ‘north wind doth blow.” The State evidently sees the problem as even more drastic. With flood victims occupying: damp houses and inadequately . heated mobile homes, there will probably be a rash of colds and other ailments. Free, mass influenza innoculations are to commence early next month. Tentative plans call for the immunization to be conducted at some 30 strategic sites throughout the Valley. Locations of the sites and time schedules will be released pending final approval of local officials. Some flood victims who have waited as long as 12 weeks for mobile homes now find, upon moving in, that they are not air tight. In more than one in- stance, openings in seams and around windows are large enough to see through. And re- sidents plan to live in these “homes’’ throughout the winter. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Goul- stone and their two small child- ren, upon moving into their mobile home last week, found themselves faced with this pro- blem. The Goulstones waited 12 long weeks after ‘the: flood com-= pletely wiped out their home on Hamilton Avenue, Kingston. He had applied over and over for a mobile home in a trailer park and had heard nothing; finally, after eight weeks had passed, he asked if he could have one moved into his yard behind his former home, which was in a shambles. A week later, he was told that a mobile home unit would be brought to his address the following week. Meanwhile, he approached State Police, HUD representat- ives, Frank O’Connell, private contractors, everyone he The Nice Place to be... thought might help, to have his home razed. The structure was a hazard to the safety of every curious child and every sight- seer in the area. Every day the walls crumbled more and the roof tilted at a lower angle. Two weeks later, he had still seen no sign of a bulldozer and the rubble still remained on his lot, and he was still staying with relatives while waiting for a mobile home. Then everything happened at once. Unknown to Vincent Goul- stone, a crew arrived Sept. 11 and took down what remained of the crumbling structure. When he arrived at the scene the following Friday, there was nothing but a gaping hole in his yard. This is what he had wanted, but he had requested that he be notified, hoping that when the roof was removed, he might salvage a few things from the rubble. Until then, it would have been impossible to enter the ruins. The same Friday, the Goul- stones were notified that they had a mobile home at the Mundy Street Trailer Park, Wilkes-Barre, and also that his SBA loan had been approved. Now Mr. and Mrs. Goulstone, Michelle and Glen Michael are tucked away in a two bedroom trailer (he had applied for three bedrooms), and he is concerned because he ‘can see daylight through the cracks”, and he “can look through from the outside and see the inside of the trailer.” He now has enough money to pay off the mortgage on the Hamilton Avenue home..a home which is no longer there, and he has a clear title to the empty lot; he is faced with the same decision many others have found themselves faced with. Should he rebuild on the same site? Is it safe? Will the spring thaws bring another flood? Or will there be “flood control” Wyoming Valley residents can depend on? And, he wonders whether his small family will be warm enough in their newly- acquired shelter when the nights become longer and cold- er. As of this date, Mr. Goulstone knows one thing for sure..that no matter where he decides to build, he will still have a mort- gage to pay back on the new home, and he will have to pay back the loan which wiped out the mortgage on the home that is ‘‘gone with the flood”. Next door, Lillian Christopher doesn’t face the same problems. Rather, she had decided to vacate her partially restored home in favor of spending the winter with a friend, Gladys Clay in West Wyoming. Her heating system is not fully func- tional, and all of her furniture had to be thrown out. Mrs. Christopher, whose hus- band, Joseph died nine years ago, has just recently become a senior citizen. When the flood hit her home at 528 Hamilton Ave., she fled to the Larksville Church where she stayed until her friend found her. Two weeks ago, her damaged garage was razed and she had a new hot water heater installed. Al- though her home was complete- ly under water, the walls have now dried and most of the plas- ter has held up well. The floors also withstood the water and mud, but will need some re- paint. Mrs. Christopher plans to the winter months, painting and refinishing; and when she feels like staying late to complete a project, she will stay in the small room which has been finished on the second floor. She is in no hurry to buy furni- ture—she just might change her mind about moving back to Hamilton Avenue re ta ee Page 17 hes Sang | a new sign erected after the flood. The building, which had rebuild on the site. The Professional News Media Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania billed its recent meeting a ‘‘guest-appreciation” night, but it was in fact an op- portunity for some 35 members of the area’s news media to gather informally for ‘‘off the record’ chats with Frank Carlucci, President Nixon’s Wyoming Valley, and Scranton Mayor Eugene Peters. Held at the Howard Johnson Motor Inn, Pittston Township, the meeting was preceded by a buffet supper. Get Copy in Early! Attention newspaper cor- respondents, publicity chair- men, organization secretaries! Won’t you help us by getting your newspaper copy into our office early? All columns and publicity about meetings and gatherings should be in the day following the event. : ) Sh b hg > ( Eee ass a esa ona ao ag RR STORES V OUR a NEW andr atu om dtridh Dr aa Sonata GUARANTEED anti-leak ¢ i anti-freeze & SUMMER COOLANT y: HE Sune ONE GALLON NI ANTI- FREEZE 7 ANTI-FREEZE Ahad ridden nds } FREE GASKET $1-88 All Cars Get ready for winter ANTI-FREEZE $ 1 -39 per gallon WRI Regular $4.88 ea, HEAVY DUTY "6-98 HEAVY DUTY MUFFLERS L Ford — Chevy. — Plym. Complete Stock Tailpipe and Exhaust Pipes. FOX HEAD 2-GAL. 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