Vol. 99, No. NET FOX 3, ( Ble Ts HTN, I5 Sa?” Mii BIND Toy £20} : _...AND NO ONE SHALL ENTER ly Pictured above is the PA Fish Commission Boat Launch Access Area at Sandy Beach, Harveys Lake. Harveys Lake Borough Council maintains the Fish “Commission is in violation of local ordinances, thereby necessitating the closing of the heavily: used launch site. (Linda Shurmaitis Photo) Local youth clean up mess BY CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer _Dallas Borough Recreation ter, which has been the target of vandalism the past several weeks, has. been cleaned up' and restored by a group of borough vi allas Borough councilman Russ ‘Eyet, chairman of the recreation center received a pleasait surprise late Monday afternoon when he visited the center and discovered at least a dozen neighborhood boys ‘BY BONNIE DOMBROSKI Siaff Writer Soon the countryside will be glowing with the fresh colors of spring flowers. But only if the hardy little plants can force their shoots up through the blanket of roadside litter that has accumu- lated over the winter months. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is again working to make the area litter-free by head- ing up the annual “KEEP AMER- ICA BEAUTIFUL” campaign. On Saturday, April 23, thousands & local volunteers will be out in 9 fource, highways, roadsides, parks and scenic areas of PennDOT’s six county Northeastern Pennsylvania District. PennDOT District Engineer Charies M. Mattei said, ‘‘Once again, our emphasis is on educat- ing our young residents. We feel that it’s much easier to teach school children good habits than aduits who have been littering for vears. We hope to see all our local school kids get involved in the campaign, and expect that they will learn positive anti-littering habits in the process.” clearing litter from, and girls cleaning up the play- ground. Eyet told The Dallas Post that a minimum of eight and at least 12 boys and girls worked from 2 to 7 p.m. after discussing the vandalism’ done by three or four youths and decided to do something about it. The boys and girls, who came out Monday are among these using. the. rec center throughout the,summer, and they donot wait {0 See the center closed. They brought their own ‘equip: . ment including rakes, hoes, shov- els, wheelbarrows, ‘brooms and Mattei said that the educational programs for youngsters include school visits by PennDOT person- nel, video and slide presentations and informational publications. Everyone participating in the campaign receives an official “Trash Clan’ membership patch, an orange safety vest, coloring books and other anti-litter materi- als. For further information about registration, call Jim Munley at 826-5406. A Shavertown man and his father began their clean-up effort on Friday, April 1. Stan Rusiloski and his dad, Ben Rusiloski, Sr. both live along Chase Road in Jackson Township. Every spring they pick up the trash which detracts from the beauty of the rural area where their homes are located. This year, other items. They cleaned all the broken glass from the tennis and basketball courts, picked up all the debris, swept the entire tennis court, cleaned and trimmed the grass area, and scraped the chipped paint from the hailuing. The majority of the young volun .feersiiere residents of the neighbor- "hood, ‘who "without ‘any request from council or other adults, got together and decided to demon- strate to the public that the major- ity of boys and girls are responsi- ble young adults. Litter mars the beauty of Back Mt opposed to bottles? Stan thinks that is due to the fact that people can collect aluminum cans, turn them in, and receive 25 cents a pound for it. The price paid for ‘glass is considerably lower, ata penny a pound. Even with his whole truck- load, Stan would only get between $5.00 and $7.00. Not much reward for five hours of back- Preskimg work. Stan told The Post that the bot- tles appeared to have been tossed from car windows, as there were never bunches of the same type of bottle together. People are not dumping bottles instead of having to pay for garbage removal, but are merely careless and inconsider- ate. Stan figured that 1500 bottles in Stan contacted Jim Munley and ” 500 feet means three bottles every became part of the “KEEP AMER- ICA BEAUTIFUL” campaign. It took the two men each two and a half hours of work to clean up a 500 foot section of the road. When they were done, they had accumu- lated five trash bags of litter, 12 aluminum cans, and 1500 glass bot- tles. That’s enough bottles to fill up the back of Stan’s pick-up truck. The trash consisted mostly of fast-food containers. And the reason there were so few cans as foot along the roadway. When it is presented that way, people can get an idea of just how severe the problem is. The Rusiloskis would like to issue a challenge to any interested group or individual to see if anyone can assemble a larger trash mountain than theirs. The dividends received in the process would include cleaner areas throughout the state and pride in our efforts to help “KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL.” Legal battle will ensue Harveys Lake officials rope off commission access area BY DEBBY HIGGINS Post Editor On Saturday morning, April 2 Harveys Lake Borough council- members roped off the entrance to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission Boat Launch Access Area near Sandy Beach. The Borough council maintains it has the right to close the area because the Fish Commis- sion is in violation of local ordi- " nances. According to borough zoning offi- cer Ron DeBalko, the area was closed because it presents a health hazard to the community. But the health hazard has existed long before Saturday’s actions by the borough. Rick Boice, Harveys Lake Coun- cil member, told The Dallas Post, the problem has existed since 1977. “Our records on file indicate dia- logue concerning this matter has been exchanged between the two bodies since 1977,” Boice said. “Harveys Lake has been under the impression we have always needed some type of facilities at the launch access area to serve the public.” The crux of the problem lies in the reluctance of the Fish Commis- sion to upkeep lavatory facilities on the site. Boice said the commission will not erect permanent, year- round facilities because they say it’s up to the borough to maintain and service the lavatories. The councilmember said the com- mission was willing to pay the borough $1000 per year toward the upkeep costs. But Boice says the issue is more involved than just paying the bills. “If the borough accepts the com- mission’s offer, we would be liable to get insurance coverage for he J lavatory facilities,” Boice told The “but, our insurance carrier = | cannot insure the structure because Post. the borough would not own it.”’ The ‘‘Catch-22”’ situation has been brewing since the late '70s when the Department of Environ- mental Resources mandated public sewers for the Harveys Lake com- munity. At that time, the commission provided outhouses at the site in 1984 because outhouses were in violation which were removed of local ordinances. In 1986, the Harveys Lake Protec- He tive Agency provided portable toi- lets at the launch area but they, too, were removed because those facilities are only legal in the bor- ough as temporary conveniences at SEE FISH, p - 3 Von i i 3 r TE § as . BY BONNIE DOMBROSKI Staff Writer Dinosaur, according to The American Heritage Dictionary, is any of the various extinct, often gigantic, reptiles of the order Saurischia and Orniths- chia, that existed during the Mesozoic era. The name dino- saur is derived from two Greek words meaning ‘‘monstrous’’ and ‘‘lizard’’. Sound scary? Well, millions of children nationwide don’t think so. Their love of these creatures is the reason behind the new dinosaur age! Sn Dinosaurs can be found almost anywhere, from the food our children eat, to the sheets on their beds, to the clothes they prefer to wear, to their favorite toys and books. Mike Dzanko, manager of Valentine's Toys in Dallas, says all kids go through a phase where they seem to like dino- saurs. But they have become really popular the last two years. ‘‘People are still dinosaur- crazy,” said Dzanko. “Every- GIGANTIC BEASTS ON THE PROWL — With names that are hardly pronounceable, dinosaurs have become the fascinating fancy for many area children. From bibs to posi in a can; dinosaurs are once more stalking the earth! (Linda Shurmaitis Photo) Dinosaurs popularity still a mystery saurs sells well.” Valentine's has an assortment of toys including kits and models, games, stuffed animals, cards, and other ways to play with dinosaurs and learn about them. Gertrude Hawk Chocolate Candy Shop carried a chocolate dinosaur at Christmas and again at Easter. It was one of the more popular items, with the larger molds selling out fast. At Gate of Heaven School, Mrs. Grove’s first grade class was given a dinosaur after a promise from the Dinosaur Fairy. Since Mrs. Grove didn’t like the dinossaur white, she and the children painted him green. The second grade class at the Dallas Elementary School was given a project to work on at home by teacher Mrs. Klick. After the class studied about dinosaurs in their readers, Mrs. Klick said she was ‘amazed at how many of the children expressed an interest in the subject.”’ As an enrichment activity, the children were to make a plica of one of the he ; school or one of their favorites. from their own books and toys. Doing the project at home gave the children more time to work on it than they would have at school and also created the opportunity for older brothers or sisters and parents to become involved. The artistic | creations of the students are on display in the classroom. Nine-year-old Jeff Ehret is a third grade student at Lake- Lehman Elementary School. Jeff, who has an extensive col- lection of dinosaur books, toys, models, posters, and stuffed animals, says he first became interested in dinoaurs when he was in nursery school. “I think they’re neat because | they're different from animals | around here,” Jeff said. “And | also because they were on the earth even before men were.” In January the Ehret family | took a vacation in Florida. One of the highlights of the trip for | Jeff was a visit to Epcot Center where they saw the dinosaur exhibit. Moving dinosaurs were shown in their prehistoric habi- tat with the accompanyin smells and noises 3 of volcanoe 25 Cents
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