BRIGHTON, La
Vol. 93, No. 32
25 Cents
Dallas Post/Rod Kaye
Bob Supey, Lions
Tragedy Averted
oo BOLGER
Ww Statf Correspondent
“My whole life flashed before me,”
‘““Pooch’’ Kozick, 64 Gerald St., Dallas, as she
described the horror of being involved in a near tragic
boating accident on Harveys Lake last Tuesday night.
Arlene and a friend, Michelle Kravitsky, R.D. 2,
Dallas, were sitting in a parked boat owned by
Michael Kravitsky, Michelle’s father, when a second
boat crashed into them.
The operator of the second boat was 17-year-old
James Walsh, 18° Westminister Dr., Orchard View
Terrace, Dallas. The boat is owned by Alex Coveleski
of 1 Hillside Ave., Harveys Lake, who is Walsh’s
employer at the Villa Roma. Walsh, who will be a
senior at Dallas High School this year, stated in a
telephone interview that he was ‘going over to
Hanson’s’’ and had the owner’s permission to use his
boat.
A passenger in his boat, Richard Ritts, age 17, 94
Grandview Ave., New Goss Manor, Dallas, yelled
when he saw the parked boat, at which time Walsh
claims he turned the wheel to try and avoid striking
the other boat.
‘The other kid (Ritts) turned the wheel or they
would have cut us in half” insists Kozick who saw the
Wher boat ‘“‘come up out of the water’ and grabbed
Kravitsky and threw her to the floor of the boat.
“They did stay with us and towed us in” said
Koziek, ‘although as soon us they nit us he screamed
‘you didn’t have your lights on’. They were wrong - the
back lights were still on; but they had ripped off the
front lights. Then he circled around and said ‘I’m
sorry; all I saw was a black thing. Your lights were on
but they blended in with the background.”
Walsh refused to comment on this, stating he would
“not elaborate on the accident” although he did admit
he had towed the other boat in ‘‘using their tow rope
because it was stronger’’ and that it was “tied to the
middle steps since their railing was missing.” When
the boat was pulied into the dock, “There were crowds
of people, and cops and lots of sirens going,” said
Kozick who admitted to still being shaken up the
following day. :
An official investigation of the accident is currently
underway by Harveys Lake Police and the Pennsyl-
vania Fish commission who were also involved in
investigating the tragic boating accident in June in
which four people were killed.
As a result of the first accident, boats are now
strictly required to travel in a counter-clockwisedirec-
tion around the lake.
Kozick claims the boat being driven by Walsh “was
on the wrong side of the lake.”
No charges have been made to date with the
investigation reportedly being centered on testimony
from possible eyewitnesses.
By CHARLOT DENMON
Statf Correspondent
Raymond and Carolyn Scull of
Harveys lake have been operating
their Auto Shine & Car Sales busi-
ness along Rte. 415, adjacent to the is
Harveys Lake Sewer Authority
Building, since 1981. The Sculls
recondition cars and operate a used
car lot.
Since they purchased the more
than 300 acres of land along the
hhighway, the Sculls have cleared
the property of weeds, brush and
other growth, added fill and have
tried to improve their property to
make it adaptable to their business.
The Sculls, however, are worried.
Now that their property has been
paper,
Authority is presently in the process
of condeming that piece of property
where they plan to construct the
road which will go nowhere.
“When we first purchased the
land from the previous owner, it
was so overgrown with brush,
weeds and small trees we couldn’t
even find the garage,” said Mrs.
Scull. “We have very little money
and worked long, hard hours trying
to improve the appearance of the
property and make it possible for us
to operate a business.
“We started with only two used
cars and in two years our business
has grown to the point where we
have between 30 to 40 cars to
recondition and sell from our lot.
Some of these cars are old enough
(See SCULLS, Page 14)
Gabriel Case
By JANE C. BOLGER
Staft Correspindent
An injunction has been served against the Dallas-
School Board, halting the Public ‘Hearing for John
Gabriel scheduled for last evening.
Gabriel, who was District Supervisor of Grounds and
Maintenance, was fired by the Dallas School Board at
its ‘Aug. 8 meeting reportedly because he had been
given poor job evaluations for the past two years. A
motion to have Gabriel reinstated to the job he held
for nine years has also been filed, with a formal
hearing scheduled Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. before the Court
of Common Pleas.
The injunction was granted by Judge Bernard
Podcasy on a motion filed by Atty. Arthur Piccone
who is representing Gabriel. The grounds for the
injunction, according to Atty. Piccone, were that the
Dallas School Board ‘unlawfully fired him...didn’t
follow the School Code specifically Section 514 requir-
ing that notice be given first...and did not specify in
detail what the grounds were for the firing.”
Gabriel was formally fired by school board resolu-
tion but did not receive notice of the firing until the
following day when the charges against him were also
presented.
“The nine paragraph letter of charges claimed only
that he was incompetent and didn’t do the job,”
according to Atty. Piccone, who based part of his
lengthy brief on the basis that there were “no facts”
presented.
Piccone deplored the fact that Gabriel was ‘fired
first with the hearing scheduled two weeks later,
stating “usually a hearing comes first before a person
is fired - it is commonly referred to as the American
way.” Piccone referred to the fact that the same
Dailas School Board that fired Gabriel would also hear
their case against him as ‘‘the prosecutor also being
the judge which is an unhealthy sort of thing.”
The court hearing to reinstate Gabriel will bring the
whole. affair “back to peg one” according to the
attorney, because until that time ‘‘there is a stay on
any school board hearing.”
Objecting that, by their actions, the Dallas School
Board had ‘blackened a person’s character and
reputation” the attorney expressed the opinion that
the firing of Gabriel by the Dallas School Board had
“not been handled in the proper manner.”
By CHARLOT DENMON
Staff Correspondent
The - nes ewest addition / to’ the
ever-growing: aumber ‘of profes.
sional ard business persons in
the Back Mountain ¢ommunity is
the Back Mountain Shoe Repair
Center recently opened in the
Parker Complex in Shavertown.
John Abraham, resident of
Shavertown for the past two
years, opened his shoe repair
center July 15 in the new build-
ing constructed by Clifford
Parker & Sons on North Main
Street, Shavertown.
According to many residents,
Abraham’s Shoe Repair business
is the first of its kind in the Back
Mountain area in more than 20
years.
Abraham is well qualified for
his new business undertaking for
he is the son of Fred Abraham of
Kingston, well-known shoe
repairman in Kingston for the
past 50 years. John has worked
with his father for the past 10
years. John’s grandfather also
was a shoe repair man (shoe-
maker) for 58 years.
A graduate of Kingston High
School, John attended Penn State
University’s Main Campus where
he received his degree in archi-
tectural design. He worked at
Foster Wheeler until the econ-
omy made layoffs necessary at
the plant. It was then John
decided to go into the business he
knew best.
“It seemed to me to be a good
risk,” said John. ‘People always
need shoes repaired. When the
economy is bad, they buy fewer
shoes but have their old ones
repaired instead. When the econ-
omy is good, they buy more
shoes but still have them
repaired.
“I decided to open in the Back
Mountain because there were no
shoe repairmen back here. 1
figured most people would
patronize someone who really
knew the business. The few
weeks I have been open tend to
make me believe I was right.”
John is married to the former
Cathy Balavage, whose - family
also reside in the Back Mountain.
They have two children, a son,
Chris, and a daughter, Saman-
tha. Chris, 13, likes to assist his
father in the shop and quite often
does so on Saturdays.
John does a wide range of
repairs on all types of shoes and
as an added feature, in the near
future he plans to sell Walkover
and Keith-Highlander dress
shoes, as well as a line of work
shoes and athletic footwear.
A hard worker, John finds
relaxation in playing golf or bil-
liards. He has never been active
in politics, but believes that some
day he might run for local office.
In the meanwhile, he plans to
devote his time to his business
and work at making it grow
bigger and better.
Customers of the Dallas Post
Office are reminded that the post
Dallas resident Corrine Pawl-
ing, who was injured in an acci-
dent July 17 while whitewater
rafting on the Salmon River in
Idaho, was flown to Avoca Air
port Aug. 17 on a chartered
hospital plane and is now a
patient at Community Medical
Center in Scranton.
According to Corrine’s husband
Shepherd, the Pawlings had com-
pleted five days of their six-day
whitewater rafting trip when the
accident occured. Having com-
pleted 80 miles of the 100 mile
trip, they made a planned stop
and proceeded to climb a moun-
tain. About halfway up the moun-
tain, a rock dislodged an
hitting Corrine on top of the
head. She was knocked uncon-
cious by the blow.
A helicopter took Corrine from
the river to a hopsital in Salmon,
Idaho. She was then transferred
to St. Patrick’s Hospital in Mis-
soula, Montana where she began
her recuperation. Following eight
days in a coma, Corrine regained
consciousness. :
According to. Shepherd, her
progress has been miraculous.
Her improvement allowed her to
be flown to CMC to continue
therapy. At CMC, the doctors
will do a complete evaluation of
her condition. Although she still
has a long way to go, Corrine is
walking pretty much on her own,
can feed herself, and is talking
process of relearning certain
skills, but her husband feels that
her former good health and keen
mind will help speed the process.
The family anticipates a 100 per-
cent recovery.
The Pawling family is grateful
to the excellent staff at St. Pat-
rick’s Hospital and to the local
residents who sent 400 cards and
letters, and who offered prayers
on her behalf. Those wishing to
send cards to Corrine can send
them to Room D874 Community
Medical Center, Scranton, Pa.
18510.
The exit, which routes cars from
The local chapter of UNICO
Officers elected were Danny
Terrace area.
downtown Dallas.
president; Jim Perugino, Dallas,
Shavertown, sergeant-at-arms.
the installation.