BOX 336
BRIGHTON, Ia
BeBA0
Wednesday,
July 11, 1984
25 Cents
Storr
Damage
may reach
millions
By WALLY KOCHER
Staff Correspondent
and DOTTY MARTIN
Associate Editor
head in near disbelief and recalled
the almost unbelievable events that
last Friday evening.
“It was definitely the largest
disaster ever to hit the Harveys
Lake area,” said Boice, a Harveys
Lake councilman. The disaster
Boice spoke of was a tornado which
ripped through parts of Sweet
Valley and the Sunset section of
Harveys Lake Friday evening at
approximately 6:10 p.m.
The twister, which has been
called a tornado in the Sweet J alley
area and a downburst in the Har-
veys Lake area, was reported to
have lasted only approximately five
to 10 minutes, yet left over 60 area
homes damaged in its wake.
“Cost estimates for the damage
right now total around $160,000,”
said Boice early Saturday after-
noon. ‘‘However, that’s just the
surface “damage. We estimate that
®
r, the costs will rise to somewhere
between 1.5 and 2 million dollars.”
Many homes on Annabelle Avenue
were among those damaged, includ-
ing two cottages owned by the
Harveys Lake American Legion
Post 967 which were among the
most seriously damaged. According
to Art Gossart, president of the
Harveys Lake American Legion
Home Association, the cottages are
rented out for vacation purposes.
plans of the American Legion were
to move the cottages across the
highway and construct a new
Legion home on the property where
Auction goods
weekend.
Cruisers crushed
One : unoccupied cottage was
moved from its foundation, while
the roof and all’ four walls of the
other, which had six occupants at
the time of the storm, were com-
pletely blown away.
The demolished cottage was being
rented at the time by Mrs. Gertrude
Zipovski, her daughter, Julia Farn-
sworth and four children. The White
Haven residents had spent the
Fourth of July week vacationing at
the lake and had planned to return
home Saturday morning.
Although all six people were
transported by ambulance to
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, the
most serious injury to any of them
was a minor cut on one young boy’s
finger.
“We were sitting in the front
room when the storm struck” sais
Mes. Zipovski. “Oue of ile DOYs
opened the front door, and when we
saw what was going on we quickly
tried to close it, and it took all of us
to do that! The next thing I remem-
ber was that the kids were flying
through the air along with every-
thing else. I was grabbing them
from mid-air.
“After everything was over,” she
continued, ‘‘we found Charlie under
a dresser. Other than a couple of
scrapes and bruises, we weren't
hurt, though. We’re very lucky.”
Mrs. Zipovski, along with other
members of her family, returned to
the site of destruction later Satur-
day afternoon to reclaim what they
could from the ruins.
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
PLE Library Auction
By WALLY KOCHER
Staff Correspondent
What do Wilbar the Chicken,
Manny Gordon, stuffed animals,
and all sorts of toys have in
common? They were all at the Back
Mountain Library’s Children’s Auc-
tion last Saturday.
During the Children’s Auction,
many area youngsters were then to
bid on items suited for their age
category. There were Knight Rider
cars, miniature golf passes, and
Sesame Street action toys, just to
name a few.
For some kids, it was their first
time to the auction, but for others,
the auction has become a tradition.
Paul Donlin, of Dallas, was enjoy-
ing the children’s auction along with
his children, Kim and Paul Jr.
‘‘We usually spend the whole
weekend here,” he said. ‘In fact,
we were here Friday night when it
began to rain, and we stuck it out
until they temporarily called off the
auction. We’re diehards. This will
be our ninth or 10th year at the
auction.”
Although the Domlin kids weren’t
too successful at buying anything
during this year’s auction, they
have an impressive list of items
they’ve gotten from past auctions.
“About three years ago,” contin-
ued Mr. Donlin, “we got a computer
here. We’ve aiso gotten things like
bikes and antiques.”
Marsha Sickler, 10, and Kim
Rifenberry, 5, have been to the
auction twice before. This year they
brought along their one and a half
year old cousin, Jennifer Kline, to
“break her in.”
“We like to come here,” said
Kim. “My favorite booth here is the
ice cream booth.”
Marsha was quick to agree with
her cousin, but also added that she
was looking for a nice stuffed oy to
purchase at the auction.
(808 CHILDREN, page 8)
J
“We came away with only the
clothes on our back,” said Mrs.
Zipovski. “The Red Cross has put us
up in a motel in Wilkes-Barre.
That's where we’ll be staying for a
little while, I guess.”
Martin Corsano, a summer resi-
dent of Annabelle Ave., reported his
home also suffered damage. A sign
publicizing the Harveys Lake Fire-
man’s Fair, measuring four feet by
eight feet was blown approximately
25 yards from Memorial Highway
toward Corsano’s house. After strik-
ing Corsano’s car and causing
minor damage, the sign proceeded
to crash through Corsano’s front
door, spraying glass in its path.
(See DAMAGE, page 7)
Female
auctioneer
featured
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
Nancy Fremstad of East Dallas
stood inside the Dallas Library Auc-
tion barn Friday evening, anxiously
watching the black sky overhead.
Soon, Nancy would become the first
female auctioneer in the 38-year
history of the Back Mountain
Memorial Library Auction.
“It’s the first time I have ever
done this,’’ said the blond, blue-eyed
auctioneer. “I feel like I have but-
terflies fluttering in my stomach,
but I’m certain I’ll be alright once
we get started.”
Nancy had a long wait because
her turn on the block was delayed
by the severe electrical storm that
hit the Back Mountain area Friday
night. The sudden heavy downpour
chased the early buyers to their
cars or other shelter.
The auction workers rushed to the
barn and stood around waiting for
the heavy rain to stop while Auction
Chairman James Anzalone and his
committee thought about what to
do.
While the auction officials debated
whether or not to call off the auction
for the night, we talked with Nancy
Fremstad.
A native of Valley Forge who
came to the Dallas area two and a
half years ago, Nancy had never
been an auctioneer before. She
became interested in the Library
Auction because she found it so
unique and so different from any-
thing she had ever been to before. It
was the friendliness and cooperation
of the volunteers, they way they
. worked together which amazed her,
she said.
Jerry Frizges, co-chairman of the
auctioneers, asked Nancy to act as
mistress of ceremonies at the Kick-
off Dinner this spring and she
agreed.
(See FEMALE, page 8)
By DOTTY MARTIN
Associate Editor
Was Friday evening’s tornado and
the black skies and heavy rainfall
that went with it scary? You bet it
was!
Although 10-year-old Charles
Farnsworth of White Haven, who
was vacationing with his mother
and his sister in a cottage at Har-
veys Lake that was completely
demolished, said he hardly had time
to get scared, others in the area
who experienced the same storm
displayed much different feelings.
Dottie and Jim Drury, whose
home is located just three lots away
from the demolished cottage on
Annabelle Avenue, were still visibly
shaken nearly two hours after the
twister had left the Sunset area. The
Drurys, along with their daughter,
Lori, were all inside the house when
strange and unusual things began to
happen.
“I had just taken my grandson’s
carriage inside the house from the
front porch when things started to
blow around,” said Mrs. Drury.
“The next thing I knew, the car-
riage was blown through the living-
room and into the kitchen. I remem-
ber my husband going into the
diningroom and trying to close the
windows. Lori and I were trying to
hang onto him and when the whole
thing was over, we all ended up on
the kitchen floor.
“It was terrible,” she added. ‘It
was like you just didn’t know where
to go.”
The Drurys were among the
unfortunate homeowners after
Friday’s storm as the roof on the
front porch of their house folded
back and a railing just about crum-
bled completely during the storm.
The livingroom drapes had come
loose while leaves and branches
from neighborhood trees found a
final resting place in Lori’s bed-
(See SCARY, page 7)
House rocked
This cottage,
in the Sunset
Gina comes home
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
By ANN DEVLIN
Staff Correspondent
Friends and relatives galore gath-
ered Friday evening to welcome
home Gina Major, the new Miss
Pennsylvania, at a homecoming
reception held in her honor at Gus
Genetti’s Motor Inn, Wilkes-Barre.
The event was sponsored by the
Miss Northeastern Pennsylvania
Scholarship Pageant Committee,
headed by Mrs. Bobbie Woronko
Anzalone, as well as by Miss
Major’s family.
Miss Major, a native of the Back
Mountain area and a graduate of
Lake-Lehman High School, won the
Miss Pennsylvania crown about
three weeks ago. She has spent the
past three weeks traveling through-
out Central and Eastern Pennsylv-
nia, appearing in pageants and
other social functions. After a short
stay in this area, Miss Major will
probably not be back here again
until after she participates in the
Miss America pageant in Septem-
ber.
Miss Major was escorted at the
reception by two Marines. She was
also accompanied by her mother,
Virginia Major. Gina’s brother
Mark, a student at Lake-Lehman
and her sister Judy, a graduate of
East Stroudsburg, were also
present.
After speaking at a press confer-
ence for the local media, Gina was
surrounded by fans and admirers at
the celebration. She greeted her
supporters warmly, posed patiently
for photographs and signed auto-
graphs for many little girls who
dream of being in Gina’s shoes
someday.
Miss Major was then honored at
an awards ceremony. with Joe Zone
(See'MISS, page 3)