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1889 | Be Ro
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page 12
Vol. 100 No. 13
"A Centennial Edition"
Dallas, PA Wednesday, April 5, 1989
35 Cents
*Fire chiefs support CommCenter policy
In response to the recent con-
troversy over service from the Back
Mountain Communications Cen-
ter, all nine chiefs of fire depart-
ments that belong to the center
have released a statement in favor
of the center's policy of serving
only paying members.
The policy became an issue af-
ter an incident March 7 at Harveys
Lake. In that case, Judy Davis of
Harveys Lake was trapped in her
car after it ran off the road and
plunged into the lake. When the
Harveys Lake fire department at-
tempted to call for assistance on
the radio, its calls were ignored
because the department is not a
member of the CommCenter. Non-
members must call the center only
on the telephone, since the ex-
pense of new radio equipment was
the reason paying memberships
were instituted.
Jack Dodson, spokesperson for
the group of fire chiefs, said Mon-
day that the CommCenter is nec-
essary if area firefighters are to
provide the best possible service to
residents. “When one person can
answer the phone and dispatch
eight fire companies, it's abig asset
to the people we serve,” Dodson
said.
In addition to the nine fire
companies that belong to the Back
Mountain center, Dodson said
three other area departments -
COMPLETE TEXT OF THE
CHIEFS' STATEMENT ON PAGE 3
Northmoreland, Noxen and Mount
Zion - belong to the Wyoming
County Communications Center.
Only the Harveys Lake and Fran-
klin Township fire companies be-
long to neither.
Dodson explained that the fire
phone system formerly in use here
had been adequate in its time, but
he thinks it is now obselete. He
also said that when the 911 emer-
gency system arrives, all depart-
ments will have to be centrally
dispatched.
Harveys Lake fire chief John
Martinson has said in the past
that the expense of changing over
to the CommCenter system was
one factor in his department's.
decision not to join when it was
formed two years ago. He also
stated last week that he and his
members are satisfied with their
present fire phone system.
Dodson acknowledeged Monday
that there could be costs above the
$1,500 annual membership, such
as replacement of paging equip-
ment. But he said most equip-
ment must be replaced every few
years, anyway.
Franklin Twp. chief:
"There is no
By RONALD BARTIZEK
Post Staff
According to Franklin
Township fire chief Robert
Appleby, the discussion about
the Back ‘Mountain
Communication Center's policy
of serving only paying members
has missed the point.
“How do you put a price on a
person's life?” Appleby asked
rhetorically Monday night.
“There is no price.”
Appleby says he and other
price on life”
non-member departments
understand and have no quarrel
with the center's policy as it
relates to dispatching their own
equipment. “We are not asking
the Comm Center to dispatch
our fire trucks or ambulances,”
he said. “We know we don't pay
for that and we don’t deserve
service.”
But Appleby says there is a
difference between asking for
dispatch of his own equipment
See LIFE, pg 3
Published The Dallas Post for 32 years
DALLAS POST HOME-The original Dallas Post home on Lehman
Avenue was built by Howard Risley years before his death in 1962.
The building was attractively designed by Risley for the comfort of
Last chance to register to
Polling places listed
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Writer
Back Mountain residents, who
are not registered but desire to
vote in the May 16 primaries may
still do so until April 17, at the
Luzerne County Courthouse An-
nexon River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Persons who are unable to go to
the courthouse register may ob-
tain registration forms from Dallas
Township tax collector Leonard
‘Pooch’ Kozick; Dallas Borough tax
collector Thomas Reese, Main
Street, Dallas; Sen. Charles
Lemmond's office, Kingston or
Harveys Lake walk helps fight MS
Back Mountain residents will
have a chance to get some exercise
while raising money to help fight a
disabling disease Sunday. The
“Super Cities Walk Against Mul-
tiple Sclerosis”, one of 20 to be held
nationwide, will take walkers on a
15 mile hike around Harveys Lake.
The walk, which already has
about 500 participants signed up,
will start at College Misericordia.
Registration will be held in the
parking lot near the tennis courts
starting at 8:00 a.m. according to
Beverly Vespico, spokesperson for
the local Multiple Sclerosis Society
chapter. Walkers can register until
10 a.m. and start out as soon as
they've signed up.
Ms. Vespico said the walk should
take from five to six hours. At the
midway point at Sandy Beach,
there will be a beach party and
lunch, and both the Dallas and
Lake-Lehman cheerleaders will be
located along the route to encour-
age the walkers on.
The society hopes the event will
raise $50, to be used in the
fight again dip Sclerosis, a
chronic and often disabling dis-
ease of the central nervous sys-
tem, brain and optic nerves. There
is no known cause or cure for the
disease, and the walk is expected
to raise funds for research and to
provide services to local persons
affected by it.
Walkers will raise money by
finding a sponsor to pledge $1.00
for each mile walked. In addition
to local participants, residents of
Wilkes-Barre and Scranton will
arrive by bus to take part. For
more information about the event,
call the Multiple Sclerosis Society
office at 824-7411.
his employees and the Siders who visited the BUSINESS. Later a a
large room was added to the back for the transition to offset
printing. (James Kozemchak, Sr. Photo)
vote in primaries April 17
Representative Scott Dietterick's
office, Kingston. After filling in the
necessary informationthey should
be mailed to the registration office
whose address is on the form.
Those offices up for grabs in this
year's primary include those seek-
ing nomination to the county row
offices (excluding county commis-
sioners), as well as offices of tax
collector, mayor, council members,
supervi , auditor, judge of elec-
tion andSchoal director.
Kingston Township residents do
not vote for tax collector since they
have Home Rule government and
the taxpayer is appointed. There
are three voting places in the town-
ship, southwest district,
Trucksville Fire Hall in the town-
ship municipal building, Carver-
ton Road for residents of that area;
northwest district, Shavertown Fire
Hall, North Main Street, Shaver-
town, for residents of the Shaver-
town area; and northeast district,
Carverton United Methodist
Church, Carverton for residents in
that area of the township.
Dallas Borough is governed by
the mayor and council. In the
borough there are two voting
places, south district, inside the
Back M ain Memorial Library, -
Hunts oad; and north dis-
trict, in the council rooms of the
Dallas Borough Municipal Build-
ing, Main Street, Dallas.
Harveys Lake Borough, also
governed by a mayor and council,
haS only one voting place, the
Harveys Lake Municipal Building,
See VOTE, pg 2
Robert Parrish is new full-time
patrolman in Kingston Twp.
Robert Parrish of Dallas has
been named to a full-time patrol-
man's position in the Kingston
Township police department. He
was appointed by a unanimous
vote of the township's Board of
Supervisors at a special meeting
last Wednesday.
Parrish has been on the force as
a part-time patrolman for the past
nineyears. The full-time job opened
up when Patrolman John Curham
resigned to take a spot on the
Wilkes-Barre police department.
Curham had been on the township
force for 18 months.
Parrish and his wife, Debra, and
their two children Jennifer and
Jeffrey, live on Parrish Street.
‘country newspaper’
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Writer
In this, the 100th Anniversary
Year of The Dallas Post, we can
think of no finer individual to
pay tribute to than the late .
Howard Risley, owner, publisher
and editor of the newspaper for
32 years.
Risley has been referred to by
many since his death in
December, 1962, as the typical
editor.
Since we have been unable to
find anyone who can give us a
true definition of a typical
country newspaper editor, we
have taken it upon ourselves to
portray our own image of
Howard Risley, an image formed
from the descriptions given by
many of those persons who knew
and worked with him over the
years.
Howard Risley was a
gentleman of compassion and
consideration for his fellowman.
He loved the Back Mountain
and became actively involved in
all projects that would make the
area bigger and better. Some
say he was a man born before
his time, who believed in getting
things done and getting them
done right.
Howard Risley - man of conviction and compassion
The generous cooperation of
those who knew Howard Risley
well has helped us in “getting to
know him” now that he is no
longer on this earth.
Pauline Shaver Roth, co-
owner of Roth's Jewelry Store in
Dallas never worked for The
Dallas Post, but knew Risley as
a resident of the Dallas area.
“He was a dedicated
community-minded man,”
Pauline said. “He was among
those who initiated the library
auction; he gave them full use of
his property and encouraged all
of his employees to assist the
volunteers.
When he first purchased the
paper he published a genuine
country issue with the gossipy
local type news about people
which readers in a small town
enjoyed. He also gave a lot of
publicity to school sports and
was always willing to aid young
people,” Pauline concluded.
Robert Bachman of Dallas
was employed by Howard Risley
for many years. He remembers
Risley as a community-minded
man.
Ep
"Perhaps he is best remembered by
many people for riding around
in his red Ford Convertible
with his pet monkey on his shoulder."
Robert Bachman
Long-time Post employee
Risley was extremely
intelligent and very well
educated, and a man with a
great interest in the printed
word. He believed in causes,
and when he believed his idea
was right he had the courage of
his convictions and used the
paper to let his readers know
his stand on an issue.
Risley and his wife, Myra, did
many things to help families
less fortunate than they were.
Many an underprivileged family
never knew where a box of food,
a bag of clothes, or an envelope
of money came from just when
they might need it most.
“He was a trail blazer,”
Bachman said, “He ran a good
newspaper, he had the courage
of his convictions and wrote
controversial editorials
regardless of whether readers
would like it or not.”
Bachman said Risley hired
only local people and was
instrumental in completing a lot
of community projects, one of
which was helping to get the
library auction off the ground.
Through his influence, Risley
succeeded in getting Bachman
interested in working with the
library auction.
See RISLEY, pg 10
Inside The Post
Calendar......14
Classified.....13,14
Editorials....... 4
Obituaries.....2
Police News..2
.
Property Transfers...12
Real Estate.............. 12
Religion....c............... 11
School.....i.......l..8 6
SPOS... 11
Coming up:
BACK MOUNTAIN WATER COMMISSION - Thurs., Apr. 6, 8 PM,
Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg.
DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD - Mon.,
Church St., Dallas
Apr. 10, 8 PM, Administration Bldg.,
JACKSON TWP. MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY - Mon., Apr. 10, 7 PM,
Jackson Twp. Fire Hall
KINGSTON TWP. SUPERVISORS - Wed. Apr. 12, 8 PM, Kingston Twp.
Municipal Bldg.
KINGSTON TWP. PLANNING COMMISSION - Tues., Apr. 11, 8 PM,
Kingston Twp. Municipal Bldg.
LAKE TWP. SUPERVISORS - Sat., Apr. 8, 9 AM, Lake Twp. Municipal
Bldg.
LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL BOARD - Tues., Apr. 11, 8 PM.
LEHMAN TWP. SUPERVISCRS - Mon,, Apr. 10, 8 PM, Lehman Twp.
Municipal Bldg.