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@ Vol. 97, No. 31
25 Cents
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staft Correspondent
Following a month’s vacation
from board meetings, Lake-Lehman
School Board was scheduled to hold
its August meeting last night at the
Lake-Noxen Elementary School.
j Despite the refusal of administra-
tors and members. of the school
board to comment on the reappoint-
ment of Rodger Bearde to the posi-
tion ‘of athletic director, it was
learned from outside sources that
Bearde’s reappointment was on the
agenda and it was anticipated that
he would be named to the position
by a narrow majority.
Members of the Lake-Lehman
Education Association and taxpay-
ers of the district expected that
Bearde’s appointment would be
made.
The motion to table Bearde’s
appointment was approved by a 5-4
vote at the June meeting and a
motion was also approved to adver-
tise the position in local newspa-
pers.
All applicants, who applied for the
position with the exception of John
Howe of Dallas, withdrew when
they learned the position was part-
time. Following his interview with
the Lake-Lehman Personnel Com-
mittee, Howe told Dallas Post per-
sonnel that when he applied for the
posion, he thought it was a full time
position. He also stated that at the
time he was not aware of the
political undercurrent and did not
want to become involved in the
political friction.
Howe said that he did not know
Bearde personally, but that he
learned through conversations with
persons who knew Bearde that
Bearde was a well-qualified and
highly-respected individual.
Repeated attempts to contact
Rodger Bearde since the June meet-
ing have been successful.
Dallas Senior High School has a
new band director, Steven Saive,
who has already been whole-heart-
edly accepted by the band members
and the majority of the band spon-
® sors, despite many having to change
vw their vacation plans.
Saive, a native of Altoona, is a
recent graduate of Indiana Univer-
sity-of Pennsylvania. and, -although
- this is his first position "as high
® school band director, he assumed
the position prepared to pick up
where former director, David Benn,
left off.
Saive immediately called practice
when he arrived in the district and,
soon after, scheduled band camp for
the week of August 4 and the week
of August 18, so the 45 band musi-
cians and the 44 auxiliary members
would have their field show ready
prior to their first appearance at the
August 30 football game.
“I had an idea for a field show
before I came here,‘ said Saive,
“And a classmate and friend of
mine, Gary Ziek, had been working
on it. I had to wait until I knew how
many students I had to work with
before it could be finalized so Gary
_ was here to help me during the first
@ week of band camp.
“These kids are great. They are
very coachable and they pick up the
moves very quickly. They have a lot
of experience.”
Saive explained that the band will
be in Group 1 this year instead of
*. Group 2. Grouping is determined by
the number of actual playing mem-
bers and since Saive started with 49
members, which barely made
i Group 2, he moved four to the Color
Guard and went to Group 1.
“Group 2 ranges from over 45 to
65 members so we would be a very
low group 2. This way the band is a
high Group 1,” explained Saive.
His goal this season is to maintain
Job Corps workers
the excellent performance of the
band as it has been during the past
several years and to surpass past
performances.
The music Saive plans to use in
this season’s field show includes
‘Espana’, ‘La Bamba’, a drum solo;
‘Basin Street Blues’, a concert
number featuring the auxiliary
members; and ‘God Bless Amer-
ica’, as a closing number.
Saive said that the band parents
have been very supportive (even
found him an apartment), and he js
looking forward to an interesting
year.
“I did my student teaching at
Altoona but this is my first position.
It will be a challenge, but one I am
sure I can meet,” said Saive.
— CHARLOT M. DENMON
Learning — the hard way
society.
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Statf Correspondent
The encampment of teepees and covered
wagons on land adjacent to the Dallas Interme-
diate School last Wednesday was not a group of
Pioneer Scouts nor other such organization. It
was a Vision Quest Wagon Train, a national
program for the rehabilitation of first time
juvenile offenders.
The 11 wagons, each drawn by a pair of mules
and the dozen or more mustangs ridden by the
leaders of the wagon train, were one of a
number of such trains which travel across
various areas of the United States in the Vision
Quest program.
Vision Quest is an alternative program to
confining first time juvenile offenders to prison,
initiated more than 14 years ago. The Wagon
Train idea was started in 1976 with the purpose
of teaching the juveniles responsibility while
traveling across the country throughout the time
they are placed in the Vision Quest program.
Under the supervision of Wagon Masters
Glenn Davis and Richard Zasa, the Wagon Train
camped at Dallas last Wednesday night as it
was making its way back from West Palm
Beach, Florida, hoping to travel as far as
Vermont before cold weather. A year ago, the
train left from Kalamazoo, Mich. for Florida.
The caravan of wagons includes 62 boys and
girls and 38 staff members. They travel for five
days and rest for two and usually cover from 12
to 20 miles per day depending on conditions. The
juveniles construct the teepees in which they
live and attend classes, make camp, prepare the
meals and do all other chores relating to the
camp and the travel. Included with the wagon
train is a semi-kitchen equipped with refrigera-
tor, stove and other necessary appliances.
The juveniles attend classes four hours each
day in order to obtain their G.E.D. and receive
their high school diploma. They are ready to re-
enter society when they have successfully com-
pleted Wilderness Camping, Wagon Train pro-
gram and obtained their G.E.D. At the end of
that time it is determined by the Vision Quest
administrative officials whether they have
changed their attitude toward society.
The animals used in the wagon trains are
provided by the Bureau of Land Management.
The horses are wild mustangs which have been
broken by their riders. A scout moves approxi-
mately five miles ahead of the train to find
campsites for the group, sites which have
adequate facilities and some sort of cover in the
event of emergency.
The juveniles range in age from 16 to 18 years
and are placed in Vision Quest by approval of
the court. Those juveniles in the wagon train
which traveled through Dallas to Tunkhannock
and then farther north are from the Eastern
region of the United States, including a boy from
the Back Mountain area, one from Reading,
some from Pittsburgh and from Philadelphia.
How do they feel about the program?
The local juvenile, charged with burglary, has
been in Vision Quest for four months. He said
that it is a lot of hard work but he is getting a
new perspective on life. ‘‘It means a lot to have
someone to talk to and discuss your problems,”
he said. ‘It is helping me mentally and physi-
cally. I'm learning to appreciate home.”
The juvenile from Reading was found guilty of
assault and will be eligible for release in a few
months. ‘I would have been in residential now,”
he told us, ‘But I became angry with one of the
staff members and threatened to hit him so now
I am on C.0.A. Believe me, I have learned to
keep my hands to myself. When I get out, I'm
going home, work and buy a car.” He explained
C.0.A. meant ‘Center of Attention’; he had to
stand in the center of the camp in view of
everyone, and all knew the reason, for a
stipulated length of time.
Several others questioned, all guilty of rob-
bery, gave much the same answer. ‘We work
hard, it’s not easy but we have learned to be
responsible citizens and when we are released
we're going to school or to work. We're going
straight.”
All offenders must serve a minimum of 12
months in the program which is divided into
three parts-Wilderness Camping, Wagon Train
and Residential.All juveniles are first time
offenders. There are no second time offenders in
the program.
All of the staff members are college graduates
and most of them are specialists in child care or
related fields. Davis has a degree in criminal
justice. Zasa has been with the program for
about 12% years and carries the title, Senior
Wagon Master.
The national office of Vision Quest, which
originated in Exton, Pa., is in Tuczon, Arizona.
The office in this region of the country is in
Exton.
Despite traveling 12 months of the year from
north to south and back, making and repairing
their own equipment, preparing their meals,
attending classes daily, the juveniles appear to
be achieving the purpose of the program. They
are learning to become responsible citizens and
how to become productive individuals in our
society.
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Despite its high rate of success
nationally, a major concern of the
Job Corps program has been the
continued flow of federal money to
keep the operation afloat.
Due in part to the Gramm-
Rudman bill and the number of cuts
outlined by the Reagan administra-
tion, funding for the Job Corps
program has been a struggle. This
year, eight centers nationwide were
targeted for elimination, but
because of lobbying efforts by house
members those measures were res-
cinded.
The program, which serves as
sort of a last chance opportunity for
90,000 youths annually, has a job-
Workers help
Ray Hillman, chairman of the
Dallas Area Fall Fair Associa-
tion, does not have to be con-
vinced of the importance of the
Red Rock Job Corps Center.
“How much have they met to
us?’ Hillman laughed. ‘‘Huh,
without their help we would prob-
ably have half the excavation
work done and that’s it. Period.”
Instead, what they do have is a
horse barn and two arts and
crafts buildings, each of which-
are approximately 50 x 100 foot
structures, that will be finished
at fairgrounds
Fair opens on September 3. In
addition, the Corps has also
spared the association a bundle
of money in labor costs.
“I would say they have already
saved us about $120,000 in labor
so far,” Hillman said. ‘And they
have been ‘doing excellent, qual-
ity work.”
Last week officials from the
National Association of Home-
builders from Washington came
in to inspect the job and were
-extremely impressed with the
(See WORKERS, page 2)
by the time the Luzerne County
~
placement record of 85-90 per cent
for its graduates as opposed to only
a 2%, per cent drop out rate.
“We have to utilize money where
we see real success,” said Con-
gressman Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanti-
coke. “I don’t see how we can say
that all programs of a certain type
are going to be eliminated. They
should be looked at separately to
see which ones are beneficial and
which are not. There may be Job
Corps centers around the country
that do not measure up, and those
cases ‘operations should be elimi-
nated, but not the program as a
whole.”
In addition to providing youths
with specific job skills, the program
also pumps millions of dollars into
local communities.
At the Job Corps facility at Red
Rock, center director Eric Lerner
says its operation kicks in a hefty
dollar amount annually into the
area.
‘Between’ the services and sup-
plies we purchase locally as well as
staff salaries, the center puts in
approximately $3 million a year into
the local economy,” Lerner, who
W
has been at the center since 1983,
said. “The Corps is like a deficit
reduction program. Instead of
putting these people on welfare
where they just collect and that’s it,
here the money is spent to educate
these people, to provide them with a
trade so they can go out on their
own and make a living. It’s smart
(See JOBS, page 2)
Inside The Post
Births ................. 15
Calendar .............. 16
Commentary ......... 6
Cookbook ............... 4
Obituaries ............12
Sports ................ 3.10