by © SI=EAVAIN CRE | =Ne10\V, [\V, [S\N REI =ISHO Si lo |S BVA NH WANST CR Wa (EMS eV AWW ES 0] 5 [0/0] BI IS] E21 [0 BS Wednesday, December 1, 1993 Vol. 104 No. 48 Dallas, Pennsylvania The Dallas Mountaineers pounded a favored Wyoming Area football team 28-9 Saturday, to take the District 2, AA crown. District Champs! POST PHOTO/GENE MULKERIN Next stop: Hershey for a state semi-final match with Bermudian Springs. More photos, story on page 11. By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Remember Dad's stories of “the good old days,” when he walked miles through all kinds of weather to attend class in a neighborhood one-room school house? In addition to studying the three R's, writing on real slate and sit- ting in neat rows of wood and wrought-iron desks bolted to the floor, boys dipped girls’ braids intoinkwells when Teacher wasn’t looking. Once the backbone of the rural Back Mountain's educational system, one-room school houses “Our school was modern — we had a crock with a spigot in the bottom.” Mrs. Dorothy Steele Meeker were found in many area munici- palities. Some live on only in faded photographs, while others are still around, either standing vacant or finding a new lease on life as small homes. It turns out that the good old days didn’t end so long ago. Lake- Lehman School District closed the last of its venerable one-room school houses only 40 years ago. For several months in 1953, Lake-Noxen principal Robert Kunkle attended first grade in the Hook Elementary School in Ross Township, one of Lake-Lehman's last one-room schools. “It was typical of its kind, with all eight grades in one room with one teacher,” Kunkle reminisced. “Only three of us were in first grade. There were eight rows of * One-room schools now only a memory seats, with each grade occupying one row. Our teacher was Mrs. LaBar.” Hook School, which housed 30 students, was later torn down. It stood on Main Road next toa farm tractor dealership which now houses an antique shop. When the new, modern Ross Township Elementary School was completed at Christmastime, several area one-room schools were consolidated. Kunkle's class, along with many others, were transferred there. Although Mrs. See SCHOOLS, pg 10 Santa makes a startling discovery on Christmas Eve By GEORGE BAILEY Special to The Post It was a perfect day at the North Pole the day before Christmas. Snow blew nearly sideways across the windows of Santa's house. The panes were frosted like so many cakes. The thermometer hadn't gone as high as zero in two weeks. Santa arose from his bed early that day, as had been his habit for thousands of years. The only day of the year that was busier than the day before Christmas was Christmas itself. Before his day was done, Santa knew he would have to inspect tens of thousands of toys and gifts, taste hundreds of goodies, check a pile of lists that nearly reached to the ceiling of his work- shop and spend hours helping his army of elves to load his sleigh. Besides all that, there were the usual chores to take care of. He pulled on his long johns and cov- ered them with his heavy, fur- lined red suit. He topped his flow- ing white hair with his pointed cap, donned his thick leather boots, combed out his beard, and strode through the waist-deep snow to the stable, a bag of rein- deer feed over his shoulder. It was Santa's habit to feed his eight tiny reindeer and Rudolph before he had his own morning meal. He could wait, but he knew a bowl of reindeer feed was the high point of their day. “Here you go, Dasher,” Santa Gp cooed, rubbing a gloved hand over the bridge of the nose of the first magical reindeer and pouring a generous portion of deluxe food into his bowl. “Now Dancer,” he said, as the next deer poked his nose into his pocket to see if there were any extra goodies today. Santa moved briskly down the line of spotless stalls, pouring large amounts of reindeer feed - which included such delicacies as pine- apple, fig, candied cherries and apples. Comet, then Cupid, then Donner and Blitzen got their breakfasts and dug in gratefully. Prancer, who always ate too fast, and Vixen, who ate slowly and almost delicately, happily began their meal. As he came to the southern end of the stable, Santa stopped, looked and stood dumbfounded. There, he saw a spacious stall, filled with warm, comfortable hay that no one had slept on. Hanging on a hook in the corner was a large bottle of glass polish. Santa turned and dashed at top speed from the stable. He fairly glided over the deep snow as he zoomed toward the house with its gingerbread decorations. Santa was running so fast he couldn't stop in time. He crashed into the door, bounced off and landed in the snow. He shook his head once to clear it, flung the door open and shouted: “Mother! Call the Royal North Pole Mounted Police! Rudolph has been kidnapped!” Next week: The Investigation Proposed law would slow boats on lake By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Boaters on Harveys Lake will have to travel more slowly be- tween dusk and dawn next year if ~ the Pennsylvania Fish Commis- sion enacts a proposed speed limit for the 658-acre lake. In response to an ordinance establishing a minimum height swell speed after dusk enacted by the borough June 15, 1993, and concern for boaters expressed by the borough council, the Fish Commission has tentatively ap- proved a slow no wake speed limit and will consider making that ora 25 mph speed limit after dusk a law at its April meeting. The borough's speed limit ordi- nance by itself has no teeth as it presently stands, according to assistant police chief Ronald Spock. “We have no power on the water,” he said. “The Fish Com- mission makes and enforces all boating laws.” The council had adopted the ordinance because it was con- cerned about the safety of boat- ers, especially after dusk. “This should have been done years ago,” Spock said. “Maybe ~ some serious accidents could have been prevented.” Spock said that while out in the police patrol boat, he has seen at least six near misses after dark, in which boats lying stationary in the water with no running lights were nearly hit by boats traveling with the throttle wide open. “On some motor boats, the nose picks up out of the water as the boat travels faster,” he said. “This makes it nearly impossible to see other boats, even if they have lights. And it's tough to see people Accidents at Harveys Lake led to earlier laws, pg 10 swimming from their docks at night.” Harveys Lake has been the scene of several serious boating accidents. One in 1983 resulting in the death of four persons and another fatality in 1985 which claimed the life of one person, affected the passage of the state's boating under the influence law. Three other mishaps within six weeks of one another between July 27,1991, and September1, 1991, claimed the life of a Luzerne man and resulted in the prosecution of a boater for homicide by water- craft and the prosecution of three boaters for boating while under the influence. At least one accident, on Sep- tember 1, 1991, in which aspeed- boat rammed the rear of a slower boat, then jumped over it, occcur- red after dark. Before the Fish Commission votes on the regulation’ s final adoption, it wants to review sug- gestions from lake residents and users and could hold a public meeting if the amount of public comment suggests that one is necessary. People wishing to comment, ‘either in support of or against the proposed speed limit at Harveys Lake may write to John F. Sim- mons, Director, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Bu- reau of Boating, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000 be- fore April 4. Help wanted sign is out in Jackson Twp. By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The Jackson Township super- visors are looking for a few good people. Four, to be exact. At their regular work session November 29, the supervisors announced that three vacant positions on the recreation board and one on the municipal author- ity must be filled as soon as pos- sible. Supervisor Walter Glogowski announced that the township is also looking for people to serve on a recycling committee. “The 1990 census says that our population has reached 5,000, which puts us in line for manda- tory curbside recycling,” Glogow- ski said. “We need people to study the types of recycling programs in effect, recycling pickup methods and the types of recyclables which will be picked up. We'll also need to research ways of disposing of the recyclables once they have been collected.” Residents interested in serving on either board or the recycling committee may contact the super- visors or township secretary Henry Zbiek at 675-8371. HW Jackson Twp. will be batty if an Eagle Scout gets the go-ahead to install bat houses. Page 3 HB Dalias Twp. budget jumps by 22%, but no tax increases are planned. Page 3. ME NDE X 18 Pages 2 Sections Calendar............. 18 Classified........ 16-17 Crossword............ 15 Ediionials................ 4 Obituaries. ............ 16 School... iii 9 SPOHS.......ikiw: 11-12 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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