REL:
Adhd
BOX 336,
BRIGHTON,
VOL. 87 NO. 23
J
Bicentennial Wagon Train to Valley
Forge put township officials in an
embarrassing spot, according to
Judith Dawe. chairperson for the
Lehman Township Bicentennial
Council. ;
The train, consisting of some 24
wagons from the Central-Great Lakes
unit, scheduled three stops in the area
in addition to the surprise visit Sunday
to the horse show grounds.
Food and adequate facilities for the
latter-day pioneers were unavailable
at the showgrounds and Ms. Dawes
voiced both public apology and
personal complaint. Wagon train
personnel dined on raisins, pretzels,
peanut butter and jelly as a result.
In a letter dated June 27. sent to
National Wagon-master K eith Krewes
and area media. Ms. Dawes stated:
‘We originally volunteered the use
feed and shelter people on the wagon
train. Up until June 1st, we thought
our offer had been accepted.
“During the next 26 days, we
8
festivities.
received no word about the train's
intention to make a rest stop in
Lehman. To all inquires we were told
that Luzerne County was handling the
entire affair and we were to stay out!
“Why did politics,” she continued,
have to mar our happy birthday?”
Lehman Township, apparently, was
caught empty-handed. The train
pulled up to the horse show grounds at
noon, June 27, after staying the night
at Rickett’s Glen, as scheduled. The
council found itself in the rather
uncomfortable position of a host who
suddenly ran out of hoers d’ouerves.
According to another spokesman for
the Lehman Bicentennial Council, Ms.
Dawes first caught wind of the wagon
train in January, and immediately
offered horse show facilities for the
troupe of trailblazers. A meeting later
in the month with train
representatives in Allentown was,
however, cancelled and Lehman
Township officials were left in the
dark. :
In May, a public notice from
Luzerne County slated Kirby Park as
the wagon rendevous for June 27, and
Ms. Dawes sought confirmation of the
Lehman offer. Phone calls to the Back
Mountain Bicentennial Council and
the director of Kirby Park brought no
new information concerning the,
siutation. Area hospitality was,
according to Ms. Dawes, solely in the
hands of the Luzerne County
Commission for the Bicentennial.
“We wanted to provide showers and
hot meals for the travellers,” said an
official of the Lehman council, ‘but
we were unable to do so on such short
notice. We want to apologize to the
people of the Bicentennial Wagon
Train for our apparent lack of
hospitality.”
However the unexpected decision to
stop at Lehman was, according to the
Luzerne County Commission, entirely
out of their jurisdiction.
“It’s to be clearly pointed out,” said
Howard Fedrick, spokesman for the
commission, ‘that the County
Bicentennial Commission has - had’
much sympathy for Lehman
township. When it comes down to it
all, the decision was not ours.”
~ The route scheduled for the wagon
As’ the nation’s birthdate
approaches and America feels the full
weight of 200 years pressing on her
shoulders, the Bicentennial Wagon
Train nears Valley Forge on wheels
providing the sound of history.
A pilgrimage is about to end, and
with it a journey across the pages of
our past. Trains of authentic covered
wagons, one from each state, are
crossing America on the same historic
trails and wagon routes that once
teemed with settlers in a nation’s
adolescence.
Sponsored by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, the Pilgrimage has
provided each of the 50 states with a
Conestoga Wagon or Prairie
Schooner, arranging for a teamster
4, and horses for each wagon. From
river valleys of Ohio and the
Mississippi, a stream of men, women
+ and children have returned east to
seek their origins.
Some have travelled along and far.
Patricia and Thomas Keen of Walla
Walla, Wash., have the historic
distinction of covering the longest
distance in the east-ward trek, in a
wagon fashioned by their own hands.
They began June 6, 1975, and will join
with other latter-day pioneers July
fourth.
Others wear the mantle of age. Mr.
and Mrs. Andy Erickson of Badger,
Minn., are the train’s oldest couple,
as they travel across the state with the
Rickett’s Glen last Saturday, with his
wife who is a mere 69 years of age.
The Central-Great Lakes unit stopped
in the area this past weekend, as they
continue to their July destination.
The pilgrimage began last June, the
first wagons heading out from Blaine,
Wash. By fall, wagons from nine
northwestern states were on the
Oregon, Mormon and Lewis and
Clark trails, pointing their teams
towards winter layovers in Wyoming
and the Dakotas.
The pioneers began rolling again in
spring, and as the Great Plains
flowered wagons from. every state in
the union resumed their eastern trek
in five caravans across the country.
They heed towards Valley Forge now,
as their final destination: the revered
encampment of Washington’s troops
during the bitter winter of 1777-78.
Traveling with the train is a troupe
of actors, performing a bright and
spiritedly musical at encampments
along the trail created by the
Department of Theatre Arts of the
Pennsylvania State University. A
road show in every sense of the word,
th Wagon Train Show will see its final
performance at the train’s historic
rendezvous.
Rededication scrolls are carried by
each caravan, to be signed by
thousands of Americans who cannot
join the covered wagons on their
journey. They state with simplicity
don Way rn on
Xai iva iby EY
birthday, ‘‘...that we hold these truths
to be self evident, that all men are
created equal...” and will be delivered
at Valley Forge to be preserved.
A souvenir program has been
published by the Bicentennial
Commission of Pennsylvania, with the
support of the North American Trail
Ride Conference. In it, one finds
information concerning the train, its
wagons and its people.
‘‘Questions and Answers’ listed in
the program include:
Q. Why are the Wagons moving
West to East?
A. To bring the country back to its
birthplace, where Americans will
rededicate . themselves to the
principles upon which their nation
was founded.
Q. How many wagons are involved?
A. Officially, 60. There is an
authentic Conestoga Wagon or Prairie
Schooner for each of the 50 states, a
Pennsylvania Conestoga to lead each
of the five main caravans and a chuck
wagon for each caravan. But
privately owned wagons are
welcomed and many are making the
trek.
Q. Where were the wagons built?
A. At Arkansas Village, Jonesboro,
Ark., a Pennsylvania-chartered firm.
Q. How many people are involved in
the Pilgrimage?
A. Literally thousands. Some are
riding with it; others ' are
A Cnntivied on Poce Four)
Motorists who are enthused over the
passage of Pennsylvania’s new
Uniform Motor Vehicle Code because
of revisions in the point system and
granting of amnesty to those whose
licenses have been suspended; may
feel differently after they have
received full information about its
overall provisions.
Dallas Township Police Chief Carl
Miers stated that the new code has
more ‘teeth’ than the former code.
Fines will be higher and points will be
given for 28 different violations
instead of the former 26.
Local police will also be able to use
any equipment approved by the
transportation secretary to make
arrests, with the exception of radar.
Vascar may be used which is even
better than radar, according to Chief
Miers. This provision of the code will
go into effect July 1, 1977.
Most of the new code goes into effect
July 1, 1977. Effective July 1, 1976,
however, five phases of the code are
part of the law.
Granting of amnesty, with certain
exceptions, to drivers whose licenses
have been suspended; a new schedule
of fines and costs; revisions of the
point systems and changes in records
disclosure procedures and salvage
provisions are sections of the law
effective immediately.
PennDOT’s Bureau of Traffic
Safety is in the process of mailing
hungry
train, including stops at Rickett’s
Glen, Kirby Park and Angela Park
near Hazleton, was the doing of Jim
Gallagher, coordinator of the Central-
Great Lakes unit who travels with the
group.
“The decisions were not made at a
county level at all,’ continued
Fedrick, ‘‘and were based on
geographic considerations. Mr.
Gallagher chose the encampment
spots, not the Luzerne commission.”
Fedrick explained that his
organization offered the use of various
sites throughout the county, including
the Lehman show grounds. That
particular site, ‘‘he went on,’ was
perhaps the best equipped in the area,
but it was geographically unsuitable.
Mr. Gallagher decided against it.”
Travelling at an average of four
miles per hour, Fedrick explained, the
wagon train customarily stopped
every four hours for water and
feeding the horses.
“Look at the map,” he continued.
“It was too far to go to Lehman on
Saturday, and too short a drive to
camp overnight Sunday. The wagon-
trainers decided their stops
themselves.”
A spokesman for ‘the Lehman
Township Council called the affair “a
case of passing the buck.”
Wagonmaster Keith ~~ Krewes
remarked that of all the states visited
in the cross-country tour,
“Pennsylvania has been the worst.”
In any event, the Bicentennial
Wagon Train continues to rumble on
its way irregardless of local
difficulties, for a July fourth
rendevous at Valley Forge.
Lehman Horse
Show to be
July 2.3.4
The 32nd Annual Lehman Horse
Show, sponsored by the Lehman
Volunteer Fire Company, will begin
Friday, July 2nd with a parade at 6:30
p.m. and children’s classes to follow.
The queen contest will be held at 9
p.m. Admission is free July 2nd.
Mixed classes will be held on
Saturday and Sunday. The show starts
at 9 a.m. both days. ;
Refreshments and games of skill
will be at hand.
Proceeds help support the Lehman
Volunteer Fire Company. i
Little League
All Stars..P. 9
back approximately 25,000 licenses to
motorists presently under suspension.
William H. Sherlock, secretary of
transportation, warned drivers,
however, that they are not allowed to
drive until their impounded license is
in hand. :
Chief Miers explained that under
the new code, Section 6114 prohibits
local police officers or officials of the
state from allowing reporters to take
information from accident reports for
publication. It may be obtained in only
one of two ways--by signature of
parties involved or through a news
release from the police department.
Violation of this by the police carries a
$100 fine.
The Memorial Highway situation
which has long been in question since
the posting of the 40 mile speed limit
has been eased by the new revisions.
Under the old point and suspension
section 1002 bg, if a driver was
arrested he received no points but had
his license suspended. Under the
revised code, violation of the speed
limit means three points and a fine of
$35 plus $2 per mile for each mile over
five miles in excess of the posted
speed limit, plus $10 or $15 prosecution
costs.
This fine also applies to all speeding
violations and if the violation is 31
miles or more over the posted speed
limit, the motorist receives five
points, a hearing and possible 15-day
suspension in addition to the fine.
General provisions of the code not
effective until 1977 include permitting
right hand turn ‘on red lights and
allowing passing a moving vehicle on
the right.
A staggered
Boat parade,
motor vehicle
TWENTY CENTS
1
code
registration system and insertion of
color photographs on drivers’ licenses
are to become effective no later than
July 1, 1978. \
A total ban on studded tires is to
become effective on May 1, 1978.
driving under the influence of liquor
or drugs is a misdemeanor of the third
degree and will carry the same
penalty as under the crimes code’
which is imprisonment of up to one
year and or a fine up to $2,500. ;
Under Section 1018, passing a school
bus carries a fine of $100 and Section
accident carries a fine of $25. ;
Chief Miers explained that under
event of arrest by local police is
divided 50-50 between the local
municipality and the motor license
fund which distributed to all
municipalities throughout the state. If
the arrest is made by the state police,
half of the fine goes to the state and
half to the motor license fund.
Driving without lights to avoid
identification or arrest, speed
contests or drag races. stripping of
motor vehicles have a fine of $200.
Throwing or dumping material from a
vehicle warrants a fine up to $300.
With exception of the fines
explained for speeding, other moving
violation infractions involving passing
red lights or stop signs call for fines of
$25 plus costs. Under the old code. the
fine was $10 plus costs.
Penalties cover violations including
unattended motor vehicle, parking on
private property!’ motorcycles
abreast of each other. signals for
(Continued on Page Four)
fireworks
A two-and-a-half-hour boat parade
and a gigantic fireworks display will
highlight the July 4 Bicentennial
activities at Harveys Lake.
Residents and motorists at Harveys
Lake this weekend will find most of
the docks decorated with Bicentennial
flags and ribbons and, in many cases,
colored lights. Many of the cottages
will also display the American flag
and use flares beginning at sunset.
The traditional Labor Day boat
regatta has been moved to the July 4
weekend to celebrate the nation’s
200th birthday.
The parade of boats, sponsored by
begin circling the lake shortly after
sunset. The sailboats will raise their
sails and the yachtsman will ignite
flares fore and aft on each boat. The
boats will be tied together and pulled
by a large inboard. Other outboards
and inboards will escort the parade
around the lake. :
The boats will form a circle near
Sunset and shortly afterwards, the
Sunset Beach Association will have
the fireworks display expected to be
the largest ever in the Back Mountain
area.
Mrs. Charlotte Williams, chairman
of the Harveys Lake Bicentennial
Commission, reported that numerous
events have been planned for the lake
throughout the season.
Added police and state police will be
on hand to handle the traffic and
Pennsylvania Fish Commission will
have motorboats on the lake to help
control the water traffic.
In addition, all facilities will be open
through the day for July 4 family
picnics.