Vol. 95, No. 7
25 Cents
Friends reunited
held captive last week.
Pignapped!
By WALLY KOCHER
Staff Correspondent
{ ) The place is the office of the Director of
Campus Ministries at College Misericordia.
The day is Monday, Feb. 22.
A crime is about to take place. But, it isn’t
a robbery and it isn’t vandalism.
It’s a PIGNAPPING! That's right, a
pignapping.
A sleek, dark figure enters the room,
makes sure no one is around, and quickly
nabs the pig.
Now, this pig isn’t your average porker.
This pig is a Miss Piggy Muppet belonging
to Sister Marie Noel Keller, Director of the
Campus Minstry. The Muppet, which Sister
Noel uses in her teachings, is also the
mascot of the Campus Ministry. |
The Dallas Post was informed of the
horrendous crime shortly after it took place
and this reporter was soon hot on the
pignapper’s trail.
According to Sister Noel, Miss Piggy, who
has her own wardrobe of approximately 10
outfits which have been made by the nuns,
knows the feelings of being held captive.
“It happened before about four years
ago,”’ said Sister Noel, brushing away a
teardrop that had managed to roll down her
ad | right cheek. “I received a ransom note a
wn few days later demanding a yellow lollipop.
Dallas Post/Bill Savage
Margie Lavinio,
Misericordia,
infamous ‘‘Pignapper’’ at College
If 1.didn’t do what the pignappers said, they
Super Bowl VII.”
Sister Noel paid the ransom and the pig
was returned, noticeably shaken up and
under obvious psychological duress, but
none-the-less, in one piece.
“I'd be heartbroken if I ever lost her,”
said Sister Noel. “I’ve had her for the past
seven years and she’s been at Misericordia
for four years.”
Since the time of the pignapping, Sister
Noel did several things to have the porker
returned such as hanging a sign in her
window, asking, ‘‘Where’s the pork?” In
light of the now-famous Wendy’s commer-
cial that asks, ‘“Where’s the beef?”’ the sign
incited several shouts of laughter among
Misericordia students.
Sister Noel confessed that she thought the
person who pignapped Miss Piggy last time
was also responsible for this pignapping.
She believed that Margie Lavinio, a student
at Misericordia and a friend of hers, was the
pig perpetrator.
I set out to locate the suspect.
1 learned that Lavinio is ‘a senior at
Misericordia, majoring in English and His-
tory. Those facts didn’t sound like the
qualifications of a typical pignapper, but it
was my only lead. Well, you can imagine
how shocked I was when I contacted Ms.
Lavinio and she admitted the crime. I had
found my girl.
When asked it the pig was alright, the
culprit replied, “Oh, yes. Right now, she’s
hanging from my dorm ceiling by a ban-
dana.” t
It was obvious to 'me that Lavinio has a
violent attitude toward pigs - something that
may have been brought on by a tragic
childhood drama.
I let this thief know that The Dallas Post
was on her trail and she immediately
agreed to return the pig to its rightful
owner.
When interrogated as to her motive,
Lavinio said, “It was all for the fun of it.
You know - extracurricular activities.”
So, 10 days after the original pignapping,
Lavinio took the pig down from the ceiling
and returned it to Sister Noel.
The women both laughed about the inci-
dent and I had the satisfaction of knowing
that The Dallas Post had once again helped
someone in need.
Lavinio, however, is threatening that Miss
Piggy will “take a walk’ again before she
(Lavinio) graduates - perhaps sometime in
April. The ultimate goal of the pignapper is
to hang the pig from either the flagpole or
the cafeteria ceiling.
Don’t fret, Miss Piggy. As long as The
Dallas Post is here, we’ll keep our eyes on
you! ¢
By JANE C. BOLGER
Staff Correspondent
A. Sheldon Glahn, Chairman,
Disaster Services, announces that a
“Reach Out Into the Community’
disaster meeting was held recently
at the Dallas Area Jr. High School.
The Area Disaster Representative
for the Dallas Area, which is Area
9, is John Wega.
Purpose of the meeting was to
explain and clarify the roles of Red
Cross, Luzerne County EMA (Emer-
Lake;
— Local Disaster
Richard Love;
gency Management Agency) and
the local responsibilities of commu-
nity officials and residents. Also
discussed was the need for a Disas-
ter Preparedness Plan, and the
constant updating of same, not only
at the Red Cross and Luzerne
dé County EMA level but also at the
"local level.
The role of Disaster Nursing Serv-
ices and the need for Immediate
Disaster Damage Assessment, as
well as, how Red Cross Emergency
Needs are met and provided to
disaster victim was also discussed.
Believe it!
Franklin Twp., Firehouse, Orange;
Orange United Methodist Church,
Orange; Prince of Peace Church,
Main St., Dallas.
DALLAS TWP. — Local Disaster
Chairperson, Mrs. Mariellen Fine;
Dallas Area Sr. High School,
Dallas; Dallas Area Jr. High
School, Dallas; Dallas Area Inter-
mediate School, Dallas; Dallas
Twp. Elementary School, Dallas;
Trinity United Methodist Church,
Church St. and Country Club Road,
‘(See DISASTER, page 12)
i An employee at a i ullas service station that prides itself in its
snowplowing service was seen ‘‘shoveling” the station lot last
Wednesday.
* -0-
on A city building supply store advertised gas line anti-freeze and turf
! builder in the same radio commercial one day last week.
-0-
hs A young Dallas woman counted her blessings after vimuing a red
light and being pulled over by a local policeman one day last week.
She drove away without a ticket ny because the officer didn’ t have
his
Danielle Baker.
town residents attended a public
meeting to protest housing develop-
ment on North Lehigh Street, they
are still meeting, still protesting
and still organizing.
The land in question is a wooded
five-acre plot presently owned by
Summit Enterprises, a partnership
between Marcia and Alan Landis,
owners of the nearby Back Moun-
tain Lumber & Coal Co. The land is
bounded by private homes.
Aspect Associates, a subsidiary of
Smith-Miller Associates, has an
option of the land and is seeking to
have it rezoned from R-1 to R-3 to
build 38 apartments. The prospect
of having ‘“a low medium income
project” in their ‘‘quiet neighbor-
hood” is what has the residents
ready, willing and able to do battle.
The group members have hired
Attorney Jerry Schultz to represent
them as he did last week at the
Kingston Township Planning Com-
mission meeting where Schultz
questioned the qualifications for
spot zoning. The attorney’s fees will
be paid by local residents and
anyone else interested in saving the
neighborhood. William Eicke of 29
North Lehigh Street is in charge of
the fund-raising and is supporting
the protest to the point where he cut
short his Florida vacation by a
week in order to attend the meeting.
Eicke was one of 25 residents who
spoke at the meeting.
The voice of the people is also
being heard from Suzy Luke of
Division Street, who has held regu-
lar meetings in her home and Harry
LaBar of Shaver Avenue who helped
(See RESIDENTS, page 12)
Mrs. Clara Grose, 75 Woodlawn
Ave., Dallas, will celebrate her 98th
birthday, on Monday, March 12.
The Lake-Lehman High School
Indoor Color Guard won top honors
at the “Western World’s Round-Up
lamy High School in Sunbury where
they competed against eight other
indoor guards. ’
Those competing finished in the
following order - second place, Cen-
tral Columbia; third, Central Dau-
phin; fourth, Cedar Cliff; fifth, Bel-
fonte; sixth, Hughesville; seventh,
Cocalico; eighth, Warrior Run; and
ninth, Berwick.
The Lake-Lehman Batons placed
second in the same competition with
Belfonte in first place and Steel
City, third; South Williamsport,
The Lake-Lehman Swing Flags
Mrs. Grose, who moved to the
Back Mountain area 42 years ago,
lived alone until just last year. After
suffering a broken leg last Febru-
ary, she went to live with her
daughter, Clare King.
Although doctors told her she
would never walk again after break-
ing her leg, Mrs. Grose now walks
with the aid of a walker.
Mrs. Grose is the mother of 10
children. They are Mrs. DeVoe
Arbegast, Enola, Pa.; Marion Lee,
Dallas; Virginia Beckwith, James-
town, N.Y.; William Moss, Evans
Falls; Helen Hoffman, Fort Lauder-
dale, Fla.; Ms. King; Robert, Forty
Fort; Harry, Iselin, N.J.; Verna
Harvey, Dallas, and Donald, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.
She also has 25 grandchildren, 40
great-grandchildren and 12 great-
great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Grose already has two birth-
day greeting citations from Presi-
dent and Nancy Reagan which she
received in honor of past birthdays.
A family dinner will will be held
fo celebrate Mrs. Grose’s 98th birth-
ay. ;
Inside The Post
Births .................... 2
Calendar ............... 12
Classified .......... 10,11
Obituaries .............. 2
People ................. 5,6
Perspective ............ 4
School ................... 7
Sports .............. 8,9,10
Week in review ....... 2
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