= Fe 1
Vol.
By PAMELA AARON
Staff Correspondent
In a special meeting conducted bt
the Dallas School Board last
Wednesday, the ninth member of
the board was finally chosen.
John P. Cleary, proprietor of
Cleary Forest Products, was named
‘as a replacement to former board
member Barbara Mead, who
resigned earlier this year.
All candidates who had been nom-
inated at the December 10th school
board meeting had either been
voted down or tied. Specifically, a
deadlock occurred between candi-
dates Jim Richardson, owner of
L.L. Richardson Autos; and Cleary.
At the board meeting, it was
decided that a special meeting
would be held on December 12 to,
hopefully, avoid the necessity of the
decision going to court. If a decision
cannot be made within 30 calendar
days as to a position replacement,
the Luzerne County Judges would
have to choose a suitable candidate.
Wednesday’s meeting commenced
with the vote deadlocked at four
How did the
Christmas
tree begin?
Few things in life are more beau-
tiful or exciting to us than the sight
of a Christmas tree, presents under-
neath, twinkling with lights and
shiny ornaments and strung with
tinsel. What can compare with the
joy of gathering together on Christ-
mas Eve in a room lit only by
Christmas tree light?
But the Christmas tree hasn’t
always been exactly the way we
know it.
The tradition of cutting an ever-
votes each for Richardson and
Cleary. Board President Ernest
Ashbridge expressed exasperation
at this point and remarked, ‘‘We are
hopelessly deadlocked; I can see no
point in. going further.’”’” Board
member Don Jones, however,
responded that he felt the board
should make the decision if it took
them all night, rather than leaving
the decision up to the courts. The
voting them continued.
On the fourth ballot, the name of
Robert Bayer was entered into the
voting and Ellen Nagy, a candidate
who had been named at the Monday
night meeting, was renamed.
On the fourth vote, Ms. Nagy and
Mr. Bayer received two votes each
and Richardson voted four; how-
ever, since the overriding vote
requires five board members to
vote in the affirmative, again there
was no winner.
At that point, Richardson arose
from his seat, visibly annoyed at the
chaos, and declared, “This has gone
on long enough. I can see it’s a
political thing so, before it goes to
court, Id like to withdraw my
name...we’ve jerked around long
“ie home at Christmas began sev-
ral hundred years ago in medieval
JGermany. In those days a ‘‘Para-
24, the feast day of Adam and Eve.
Instead of lights, ornaments and
tinsel though, the tree was deco-
rated only with communion wafers.
Soon, however, the feast of Adam
and Eve and the observance of
Christ’s birth on December 25 were
combined into one holiday -' Christ-
mas. The Paradise tree became a
Christmas tree.
Shortly after, people started deco-
rating their Christmas trees with
cookies and occasionally, candles.
It was now approximately 1500
A.D.
By 1600 A.D., the practice of
decorating evergreen trees at
(See TREE, page 8)
Cast members
enough on this thing as it is.”
With that, the fifth and final
voting showed Cleary to be the
winner, with all eight votes.
Many people applauded Richard-
son for his concern in saving the
school board and district the prob-
lem of carrying a decision into
county court.
Cleary, when questioned as to
what he thought of Richardson’s
actions, said he thought it to be a
noble gesture; then added that he
felt the voting was not a matter of
the people voting for one candidate
against another. In contrast, Cleary
felt, the school board members
were truly committed to the candi:
dates of their choice.
When asked what he stood for, as
a board member, in terms of philos-
ophy and any changes necessary in
the district, Cleary cited four areas
of particular concern for him.
The first area concerns the super-
visory principal and assistant prin-
cipals so the board can be sure of
just what functions the people in
those positions perform. Second is
the DEAL program and its efficacy,
especially the question of who will
monitor it, when there is only one
supervisory principal. Third, he is
concerned about contract decisions,
such as those of non-professional
and professional staff and, lastly,
the new board member believes
sufficient care should be given in
the selection of curriculum director.
When asked what contribution he
might make to the board, Cleary
revealed the most important char-
acteristic he might bring would be
that of an open mind.
Cleary holds a Bachelor’s Degree
in Economics from Hamilton Col-
lege in Clinton, N.Y. He has been an
active participant in budget meet-
ings of the Citizen Advisory Com-
mittee, of which he is a member.
His: four school age children
attend the Dallas public ' schools.
senior high school, is a cheerleader
and plays hockey; Shannon, a ninth
grader at the Junior High, is
involved in basketball, hockey and
cheerleading; Kelly, age 10, is in
fifth grade at the Intermediate level
and, along with her interest in
hockey, plays piano and will accom-
pany the school’s Chritmas pro-
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
The Dallas Intermediate School
Chorus will present a one-act musi-
cal play entitled ‘‘Computerized
Christmas’’ by Jill Gallina this eve-
Dallas Junior High School.
The program depicts Father
Time, portrayed by Sam Gorgone, a
sixth grader, purchasing a com-
puter because he was informed it
would be a time-saving device for
bringing in the holidays.
The program is a delightful musi-
cal with very up-beat music. There
will also be dancers, soloists and 186
chorus members. The program is
being directed by Mrs. Marilyn
O’Connell, music teacher.
D
By JOAN KINGSBURY
Staff Correspondent
Worldwide Marriage Encoun-
ter, an organization dedicated to
make good marriages better, is
hoping legally to establish the
Sunday preceeding Valentines
Day as Worldwide Marriage
Day. Although many major Cath-
olic, Protestant and Jewish con-
gregations throughout our coun-
try have noted this day for the
past several years, only the state
of Louisiana has legally estab-
lished Worldwide Marriage Day
as a holiday.
According to Dallas resident
Sue Hand, the purpose of World-
wide Marriage Encounter is to
teach a married couple a com-
munication technique that they
can use to improve their mar-
riage. A 44 hour work weekend is
used to convent this technique.
Sue notes that, in our area,
| Worldwide Marriage Encounter
riginally started in Spain in the
oman Catholic Church, but now
has spread to Methodist,
Lutheran and other faith expres-
sions. Locally, Fatima Center is
the only place where Worldwide
Marriage Encounter is held. It is
open to people of all faiths. The
program centers only on mar-
riage communication, at no time
is anyone pressured into accept-
ing religious beliefs.
Sue and her husband, Joe,
owners of Sue Hand’s Imagery,
experienced their encounter at
Fatima Center. The Hands are
both Protestant. The couple has
been married for 17 1/2 years
and has one caughter, Heather.
. During a Marriage Encounter
weekend, there are 15 separate
expression, a priest and three
married couples’ give their pres-
entations, while in the Protestant
expressions, three couples, a
minister and his wife give the
presentations. Four basic areas
Helping ‘Hands’
are covered: possessions, death,
sex and God. Following each
presentation, couples are given a
question which they would write
about or discuss privately. At no
time is there group discussion.
members of Worldwide
group, an organization
establish
Worldwide Marriage Day.
This is not a counseling Session -
it is a work weekend.
Couples are taught to express
their feelings; to find out what
feelings are underneath certain
experiences. They are encour-
aged to share these feelings so
that their spouse can understand
how they feel.
“Feelings are neither right or
wrong, they just are” is a phrase
helpful in achieving this commu-
nication.
Worldwide Marriage Encoun-
ter is funded completely by dona-
tions. At the end of the weekend,
couples are given a blank enve-
lope and asked to give what they
can. The donation goes only to
Worldwide Marriage Encounter,
not to any church denomination.
The marriage encounter is
extremely pleasant. The couple
is rejuvinated. Sue says it brings
back that feeling of being ‘madly
beginning of their relationship.
Since Worldwide Marriage
Encounter is dedicated to helping
make marriages more enjoyable
and helping them to last longer,
they hope to find the longest
married couples in the Back
Mountain to be recognized in
February in time for Worldwide
Marriage Day.
Residents of Dallas Township,
Dallas Borough, Kingston Town-
ship, Lehman Township, Jackson
Lake Township,
Franklin Township, and Harveys
Lake Borough — if you know
someone who has been married a
good number of years, call their
name into The Dallas Post at 675-
5211. They could be named the
longest married couple in your
municipality and would be. fea-
gram; and Pat, 7, attends a special
program at Valley West that
accepts students from all districts.
A fifth child, three-year-old Mike, is
waiting his turn to accompany the
Cleary clan to school.
Mrs. Cleary is presently employed
at her husband’s business - a whole-
sale lumber company. She received
a degree in Psychology from SUNY
in Oswego, NY. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Cleary are avid tennis players.
In his junior year of college,
Cleary was sent to Vietnam, after
which he returned to finish his
degree. The family then moved into
the New England area where Cleary
worked in the lumber business of
Lawrence McCoy and Furman.
When the former company decided
to send him to Detroit, Cleary
decided to relocate to Dallas.
Of his move, Cleary recalls that
people told him he would starve,
but, he adds, “I never did.”
The Clearys reside at RD 1 Aster
Rd., in Dallas and Cleary Forest is
located in the Back Mountain Pro-
fessional Building on Route 309 in
Dallas Township.
25 Cents
JOHN P. CLEARY
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
' Statt Correspondent
Lake-Lehman School Board
approved a resolution for a full time
English position and a full time
math position in the senior high
school by a 6-2 vote at its December
board meeting held last Tuesday.
Board members also approved
upgrading a part time guidance
counselor to a full time position.
Voting in favor of the positions were
directors Gilbert Tough, Joseph
“Red’’ Jones, Daniel Hudzik,
Donald Jones, Martin Noon and
Thomas Williams. Bing Wolte and
James Keiper voted against the
resolution.
Keiper based his objection to the
resolution due to the fact that
people were not named to fill the
positions. He said he feared it could
result in the same situation which
occurred in past months over the
hiring of Thomas Williams as an
elementary teacher.
Keiper said if the directors do not
agree on an appointment at a meet-
ing, the administration can appoint
whomever it pleases and, after 90
days, a long-term substitute can
legally claim the position.
This is the situation surrounding
Don t be scared
the appointment of Williams, who
was a long-term substitute in the
fourth grade from September up to
the time Williams was appointed as
a permanent member at the
November meeting.
Wolfe stated he believed all of the
directors should have information
on all applicants before voting on
the positions.
The board also appointed Cheryl
Travis as assistant coach for the
junior high basketball program.
Keiper also objected because of the
cost of two coaches being in charge
of only 26 students. Travis’ salary is
$1,065 which is the same ‘as the
senior high assistant girls’ basket-
ball coach.
Keiper said he did not believe it
necessary to have two coaches in
charge as one teacher handles a
larger number of students in the
classroom every school day.
A three-year contract for Anthony
Marchakitus, assistant to the super-
intendent, was approved by an 8-0
vote of the directors.
Custodian Leslie Sutton’s request,
for a leave of absence without
salary from Nov. 16, 1984 to May 1,
1985, was approved by the board.
Director Edward Mark was
absent from the meeting.
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
fire hall.
School . seenceneseesees
resentations. In the Catholic
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tured jn a story in February.
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