re \ anBL NEWws AOR Loa NATIONAL 6 & ; NEWSPAPER ON 1979-1980 Vol. 90 No. 40 Sunday, Oct. 26, is the date of the Annual Halloween Parade spon- sored by the Dallas Kiwanis Club. The parade is open to any Back Mountain area child or adult. This year the event will take place at 2 p.m. with lineup of contestants and pre-judging to take place between 1:30 and 2 p.m. at the Dallas Township Elementary School grounds on Church Street. There will be four separate categories and all paraders must enter the appropriate group when assembling for the parade. The Dallas Senior High School Marching Band and its associated units will lead the marchers down to Center Hill. Road, turning down Lake Street and to the program site at the Eastern Star Building in center Dallas. All marchers will receive their treat bags at the end of the parade route. Brief festivities at the Eastern Star lot will be highlighted by the awarding of cash prizes to five winners in each category. The four categories are, Prettiest, Funniest, Most Original, and Best Group. This marks the first year in several years that the parade has had the musical services of a local high school unit and it is rumored that the Dallas Senior High units may have a unique twist to their appearance. Local police will provide safety for all marchers, and the Fire and Ambulance units will participate. Kiwanians will provide services at the assembly point and at the disbanding site. Dallas Kiwanis Club has been the long-time sponsor of the Dallas area Halloween Parade and crowds of participants usually top the 300 mark. In the event of inclement weather, the parade and judging will be held in the Dallas Township Elementary School gym at the 2 p.m. parade time. Chairmen of the 1980 community event are Jack Rosser and Sherry Nulton. A special meeting has been called for Thursday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital cafeteria for all members of the Back Mountain Volunteer Ambulance Association Units. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a forum for discussion on the ser- Intensive Care Unit and the con: tinuing service of the unit to area residents. This special meeting, called by the representatives of the Fall Fair, Nesbitt Memorial Hospital, and the Back Mountain Intensive Care Unit, is designed to create an ongoing discussion on the role of the M.I.C.U. and area ambulance services. In announcing this meeting, Ron Stern, Nesbitt: Memorial Hospital administrator, urges ali ambulance personnel to attend the meeting so a comprehensive discussion and exchange of ideas may be obtained. For further information on this meeting please call Stern at 288- 1411, Ext. 4000. Refreshments will be served. by Tom Mooney Parents of some children in the Westmoreland Elementary School in Trucksville are angry about the food their sons and daughters are being served. At the same time, Charles Gar- nett, general manager of Custom Food Management--the firm that operates the Dallas School District's food service-has said that the chief problem is one of communication. The parents, from about six families, ‘have formed an ad hoc committee on what they consider a food ‘‘problem’’ and have indicated that they will hold a meeting sometime soon and that they will consider such options as making ‘“‘surprise visits’ to the school when food is being served to the children. One parent, who asked to remain unnamed, said that with Custom’s ‘‘satellite’’ service program-- preparing food elsewhere and trucking it to Westmoreland-- children are being served food that is sometimes ‘‘cold or overdone.” Said she, ‘‘They’re at the end, and they're getting a bad deal.” Another parent, also requesting anonymity, said that she knows of children who ‘have thrown the food away.” Garnett, however, said this week, “Wherever there's been problems, it’s been because of lack of com- munication and rumors.”’ He ex- plained that he has visited district PTO meetings to explain his company’s policy of providing ‘“class-A lunches’ that reflect and exceed government regulations for quantity and nutrition and that he hopes parents will listen to him openmindedly. He is scheduled to address the Westmoreland PTO at its meeting next Wednesday evening. He also said that he fully supports the idea of a district-wide parents’ food committee, which the district is reported developing, and believes that the committee should be a mechanism for resolving dif- ficulties. A sampling of opinion from teachers, students, and cafeteria employees from throughout the Dallas District this week revealed some complaints about the food-- chiefly in the area of quantity, and secondarily in the area of price. According to Garnett, though, the complaints are not well founded, and he is eager for parents to un- derstand the policies that he is following. The size of portions being served in the lunchrooms has become a sore point with some. “My com- plaint is mainly the amount,’ said teacher Kit Karuza,”” while John Turner, teacher, said that people eating in the cafeterias are ‘‘upset’’ with quantity. Students questioned made similar observations. “For somebody my size it’s kind of small,”’ said one athlete of a typical set of lunch portions, while a non-athlete said that quantity is ‘‘a lot less’’ than it was last year before the ap- pearance of Custom. Otherwise, there were scattered complaints about the quality of the food, with a teacher saying, ‘‘The one meal I had there I wasn’t satisfied with,”” and a student contending that the food is “not as good .as last year.” Garnett, however, was firm in his belief that precise portion control must be maintained as part of his company’s obligation to the district. “We do believe in standardization of portions,” he said, adding that the former policy of allowing workers to give students as much as they wanted has definitely been abandoned. “The object is nutrition,” he continued, ‘‘not to fill the stomach up until 7 o'clock. We meet and exceed state and federal regulations in regard to quantity. It’s our obligation to the school district and the taxpayers to put out the best quality meals at the lowest prices.” Students did praise Custom for having increased the variety of foods available to them, with one saying, “I think people are com- plaining because they're just not used to it.” Cafeteria workers themselves echoed that sentiment. The general consensus of four who were con- tacted was that the food itself was of good quality but that the students were simply accustomed to getting as much as they wanted and must be re-educated to the new rules. Said one, “Our kids are spoiled. They were used to large portions.” Another asserted, ‘‘I think things will fall into place.” All said they thought the food itself was more than adequate in terms of its quality, with one calling it “pretty good quality food.” According to Garnett, he follows government regulations for “Class- A’ lunches, which involves giving students selections from various food groups. Much difficulty, he said, stems from students not reading or taking home the literature prepared for them, which explains how a full lunch is available at a moderate price, with individual items sold separately at other and higher prices. “The kids didn’t realize the literature and didn’t realize they could buy a whole lunch for 65 cents,” he contended, explaining that lunch subsidies do not extend to the offering of individual menu items. The Westmoreland situation, he added, derives from the problems inherent in shipping food in the trucks and that he is constantly experimenting to try to find the best ways of transporting food while still keeping it hot and palatable. He added that he has recently reduced the hours cafeteria workers put in daily as a cost- saving and efficiency measure. Likewise he stated that Custom Food Management has maintained contracts with the General and Nesbitt Hospitals, gained the Lake-Lehman board of directors appear to be taking quite an interest in the remuneration paid to local school tax collectors. Lake-Lehman board, last Tuesday night, authorized the business manager Ray Bowersox, to prepare a tabulation of what it costs to collect district taxes. It was noted on the agenda that local tax collectors will run for office in the 1981 primary and general elections. If any change in compensation is to be made, it must be made known before they file for re-election, which is February, 1981. The School Board read corres- pondence from the City of Duquesne. Duquesne has asked for help to financially assist in com- plying with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s guidelines regarding renovations to school buildings 50 years old or more. Duquesne asked the Lehman directors to join them in a statewide Pennsylvania School Board’s Association resolution to provide extra subsidies for the older buildings housing classrooms. The letter noted all districts will be confronted with the problem eyentually. Duquesne’s request met with approval by the Lake-Lehman Board. The tax reform resolution empha- sizing structuring school support on income tax rather than real estate is being studied by the state legislature, according to Rep. Fred Shupnik, but he noted its adoption will be ‘‘a long drawn out procedure’. Ray Bowersox, business manager, announced the district may lose its sewage subsidies with $1,500 lost to date. The Lehman Township board of supervisors forwarded a bill in the amount of $500 to the school for police service at school events during the 1979-80 term. Director Ed Mark will attend the annual meeting of the P.S.B.A. and legislative policy meeting to be held in Philadelphia. Philip Lipiski was appointed junior high wrestling coach and Miss Lynn Evans, junior high cheerleading advisor. Michael Lowery and Jean Johnson will share the salary as co-advisors of the newspaper, pending approval of the teachers contract terms. A contract for window draperies for the Lake-Noxen Elementary ‘School was awarded in the amount of $4,167. It was noted $6,000 was budgeted for the item. Board will give one of the work tables from the junior high to the Lehman Methodist Church. Dr. David Preston explained the cafeteria is being remodeled and the church has assisted the district with chairs and choir robes on a regular basis. The draft of a discipline code was presented only to the board, not the public. It has been developed by school officials, parents, PTA members and teachers. It has been revised and criticized many times. It should be eventually approved by the board. In personnel action, a sabbatical leave was granted to Kathryn Gregory. Nancy Cushing was given a one week leave of absence without pay. Special education route 45 was awarded to Peg Sorber, Hunlock Creek, at the daily rate of $16.64. This is a shared cost between Leh- man and Northwest Area. Russ Bus Service was awarded a special education route 35 at a rate of $35 daily. Transportation contracts for the school year were approved as follows for a total of $360,416: Wyoming Valley West School District food contract, and will shortly consider entering the Lake- Lehman District. The financial loss of more than $6,000 in Dallas this past September he attributed to normal startup costs and predicted that the firm would show a substantial profit by the end of the school year. costs Stolarick, $313,000; Emmanuel Bus Lines $28,925; and Lamoreaux, $18,285. Tabled were a number of requests for transportation to private schools such as Wyoming Seminary. Bus service will continue, but board president Angelo De Cesaris said he believes private transporttion, excluding special education, is becoming excessive and an alternative situation should be sought. Vote to table passed 7-1 with Don Jones voting “no” and Arnold Garinger absent. Also, each of the 29 buses will be provided $100 to cover vandalism, noted Director Jones. Preston introduced Mrs. Donna Fedor, president of the Lake- Lehman Junior High P.T.A. He praised her work explaining there are very few PTA’s at the junior high level. Board action was taken to modify the official school calendar by changing the teacher in-service day scheduled for Feb. 13 to Jan. 12. This will permit the district to join with Dallas in presenting Dr. Edward Pino, an outstanding educator-consultant, for both faculties. ! In a joint announcement by five area postmasters, postal patrons are asked to cooperate in assisting mailmen in making mail deliveries on rural routes during the coming winter. The announcement, made jointly by Postmaster Bernard Gawlas of Dallas; Mrs. Anna Rosser of Sweet Valley; John Tosh of Harveys Lake; Armonde Casagrande of Noxen, and Joseph Sperko at the Shavertown branch, was made as follows: “Dear Postal Customer: Since winter is near, this is to remind you that postal regulations regarding delivery of mail on rural routes require customers to keep the ap-, proach to their mailbox cleared of snow. This will permit the rural carrier to drive up to your mailbox to deposit and ‘to collect mail without leaving his vehicle. “The approach to and the exit from the mailbox should be cleared sufficiently on both sides to allow the carrier to drive ahead and not be required to back up his vehicle after delivery.” “Your cooperation in this matter during the winter season will be sincerely apprecited. If you have any questions, please contact us.”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers