4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 23, 1993 The Dallas Post An intellegent vote to complete school year - Now, how about 200 days? The state Legislature has done the right thing in passing a bill that allows school districts to lengthen the school day and hold Saturday classes to make up for time lost to this winter's severe weather. In a heartening display of common sense, both the House and Senate passed the measure unanimously before sending it to Governor Casey. ‘Now it’s up to local districts to decide what combination of measures to take in order to meet the required instruction time. Even more vital than the practical matter of completing this school year, the Legislature's action reinforces the importance of education in the minds of students and parents. As this vote shows, education is not something to be taken lightly, or put off because it becomes inconvenient. It is a commitment to our young people and to our society in an age when standards seem to be falling all around us. The last thing we needed in this climate was a signal from our leaders that summer vacations are more important than school. Since the Legislature has shown such a startling ability to rise to the occasion, perhaps they can go even further. How about lenghthening the school year to 200 days, as it is in some other states, so that our graduates can better compete for college admissions and careers? The short answer to that suggestion is no, given the intransigence of the teachers’ unions on so many other issues. But teachers are a minority of the voting population, and our legislators surely could muster the necessary courage if they thought the general population favored a change. Form cards aren't treated like letters We have recently received several form postcards with a generic message opposed to President Clinton's proposed . health care reforms. They have come from members of the | Seniors Coalition, which claims to have a membership of two ' million and, judging by its phone number, is headquartered in . suburban Washington D.C. This isn’t the first time we've been deluged with material from this outfit and/or its members, but we hope it's the last. The well-intentioned individuals who sent these cards need to know that form letters don't get the attention of newspapers, even when they arrive in quantity. We strive to fill the Post's editorial and opinion pages with a variety of material, but each must be the original work of the author. We welcome submissions from anyone with an opinion about issues of contemporary interest. If one of the folks who signed and sent a postcard wishes to write a column or letter opposing the President’s health reform plan, please do so. But be specific about your likes and dislikes, and keep it relevant to our readers’ lives. Most of all, save yourself the 19¢ (some incorrectly put 29¢ stamps on), and the trouble of mailing form cards to us. . Instead, send your personal opinion. ‘Hats off to 'Pennies' crew Last week's issue featured a story about the “Pennies for . Periodicals” drive at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. The “new project was devised to fund the cost of the library's - magazine subscriptions. The library keeps about 150 maga- - zines on the shelf, at an annual cost of $3,000. That's not small ~ change, but neither is the money that was collected during ~ February. Most of us tend to associate libraries with books, forgetting - the newspapers, magazines and tapes that also are in the ~ collection. We also forget that not everyone can afford to ~ subscribe to periodicals or buy books, but the library offers an - equal opportunity for intellectual stimulation to everyone in the community. All of the material comes together through the efforts of the library's staff and volunteers. Our hats are off to them. Do you agree? Disagree? Editorials are the opinion of the management of The Dallas Post. We welcome your opinion on contemporary issues in the form of letters to the editor. If you don't write, the community may never hear a contrasting point of view. Send letters to: The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612. Please include your name, address and a daytime phone number so that we may verify authenticity. We donot publish anonymous letters, but will consider withholding the name in exceptional circumstances. We reserve the right to edit for length and grammar. The Dallas Post Published Weekly by Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 Telephone: 717-675-5211 Ronald A. Bartizek Charlotte E. Bartizek Editor and Publisher Associate Publisher Peggy Young Grace R. Dove Advertising Acct. Exec. Reporter Paul Rismiller Production Manager Olga Kostrobala : Classified/typesettin Jill Urbanas YP g ! Office Manager MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION AND THE PENNSYLVANIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER'S ASSOCIATION — — \ WELL, 1 GUESS 74 THEY FORGIVE You bi TOR THAT WINDSHIELD Sin | INCIDENT LAST YEAR. | Letter Belated best wishes to Mrs. Louise Brown Editor, I was delighted to read about Mrs. Louise Brown. I have often wondered how she was and where she was. : She forgot to tell you of her association with the Fine Arts Fiesta. I was program chairman for several years and it was my pleasure to call her each year to schedule her demonstration of rug hooking. She was always eager to help and a joy to work with. Cheers to you Mrs. Brown for a life well spent. You look terrific! Sylvia A. Hughes Dallas As | was saying... Five 'secret' language rules for success By JACK HILSHER The funniest writer on this planet - alive or dead - has to be Dave Barry. I met him once at a bookstore author's day and told him I enjoyed reading his column. His reply, “So do I!" Mr. Barry sometimes writes about “Mr. Language Person,” a title I wish were mine beause that is what I want to be today, especially for all my younger readers. Boys and girls, I am going to give you five very important secret “language rules” which will guar- antee that you will (a) be hired at your job interview or (b) will be promoted if already hired. I call these rules “secret” because obvi- ously your teachers are keeping them from you. So are your par- ents, although they are as guilty asyou probably in breaking them. Let's get started: ...LANGUAGE RULE NO. 1. STOP USING DOUBLE NEGATIVES Example: “I don't have nothing to wear. Not having “nothing” means you must have “some- thing,” and therefore your mean- ing has cancelled itself out. In other words, you are no longer saying what you mean if you use double negatives and you will always sound like an illiterate boob. (Sorry, but it's true.) Be- sides, no one hires a double nega- tive-user unless they only need someone to run errands. ..LANGUAGE RULENO. 2. STOP USING THE WORD “LIKE” Example: “Like, I got up this morning, and, like, I had this" headache, and, like, I took these pills, and they hey, like work.” Even if you like something, stop using the word entirely so you'll get out of the habit and stop sounding like a Valley Girl. «LANGUAGE RULENO. 3. STOP USING “RIGHT” AS A QUES- TION : Example: “I had this head- ache, right? So I took these pills, right?” No, it's not right. Your listener has no knowledge of your headache or whether you took the pills or not, so why are you ask- ing? Take my word for it and stop saying “Right?” all the time. Remember, running errands is very boring. ..LANGUAGERULENO. 4. STOP ALL THOSE “YOU-KNOWS" James Thurber once said that he “deplored the spreading blight of “you-knows" afflicting the spo- ken word in the U.S. It moved like arainstorm through the language and he “trembled at its increasing garbling of meaning, ruining of rhythm and drumming on hap: , less ears. America's galloping il- literacy is bloating the language.” Thurber counted 34 “you-knows” in one five-minute phone conver- sation. ...LANGUAGE RULE NO. 5. USE “SAID” INSTEAD OF “GO”. Please! The worst is last: listen to yourself say this and you'll stop all by yourself. “I go, what did you have for lunch?” And she goes, “A hot dog.” So go, “Gee you must be hungry.” She goes, “Yes.” Are you following this? “Go” means to “go” somewhere and had nothing whatsoever to do with what some- one “said.” So please use “go” as it should be used or you'll run errands for sure. Well, you .know, I don't, like, have nothing more to say,. right? Reporter's notebook 'Pappy Gordon,’ Back Mountain's guardian By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff The Back Mountain has lost a good friend, a man who came very close to being its guardian angel - James “Pappy” Gordon. I first met Pappy four years ago when I was a novice reporter working for another newspaper. I had to interview him for a story about the Back Mountain Fire Police and his many years' work with the Junior Firefighters, which he had helped found. Understandably nervous (this was maybe my second or third feature) I found Pappy very per- sonable and easy to talk to. Reminiscing about the many young firefighters he had trained, he was proud of the special situ- ations he had set up for fire schools and the innovative firefighting techniques which he had devised. He truly loved his community and took pride in more than 50 years in its service. I called him by the affectionate nickname, “Pappy,” given him by area residents, because he re- minded me of my father, a person who always had time to help someone else just for the enjoy- ment of brightening their day. After that first interview I made it a point to look for the familiar white-caped figure in the fire po- lice hardhat directing traffic when- ever | had to cover a fire or acci- dent. Pappy always recongnized my car and helped me out. “Pull off the road in here, Gra- cie, and you'll be okay,” he would say, telling me how close I was allowed to go and anything else that he knew about the situation, while continuing to direct traffic and patiently help frustrated motorists unsure of where they were going. Thanks to Pappy Gordon, I quickly learned how not to get in the way of emergency service personnel and what not to do at a fire or accident scene. One of the worst days of Pappy's life came when he had to remove himself from the Back Mountain Fire Police active duty list when illness got the better of him. Like the old fire horse whom he compared himself to, he didn't want to stop responding to the fire whistle. But Pappy Gordon's example of unselfish service to his com- munity went beyond the fire serv- ice. Everyone | asked for remem- berances about him mentioned some special kindness done for them. The last time I spoke with him about a month ago, he told me of his countless hours plowing snow for his township and his neigh- bors. Because some Kingston Town- ship streets were too narrow for the municipal trucks to maneu- ver through, he used his own truck to clear them of snow, usually making a pass by the Trucksville fire hall to make sure that the fire engines also had a clear path from their garage. If he saw someone having trouble shoveling out their drive- way, he'd stop, motion them out of the way and clear it in one pass, then drive away like the Lone Ranger, without letting them know who he was. If necessary, he got up as early as 4:40 a.m. Sunday mornings to plow the parking lot of the Trucksville United Methodist Church for Sunday services. “Foralong time the pastor never knew I was the plow driver,” he “had told me. To me, that was typical Pappy Gordon - helping anyone he found in need without calling attention to himself. At the end of that last inter- view, we shook hands and he once again told me to call him if I needed any more help. Looking death in the face, his first thoughts were for others, not himself. That's the other lesson which he taught me: the survival of our communities depends on dedi- cated volunteers, not only fire and ambulance personnel, but also the “regular good Joes" who help their neighbors without any thought of reward. ; This spirit of cooperation and unselfish sharing has always typified the Back Mountain. Pappy Gordon epitomized that spirit. I'm sure that Heaven has a special place for the Pappy Gor- dons of the world, the guardian angels who never can do enough for their communities and neigh- bors. His genuine love for his fel- low man and his community cer- tainly brought a small piece of Heaven to the Back Mountain. Pappy Gordon's shoes will be extremely difficult to fill. Possibly, if we all emulate him and commit many random acts of kindness, we might make a start. We owe it to him. Only yesterday 60 Years Ago - Mar. 30, 1934 MOTORISTS MUST HAVE CARS INSPECTED Sounding a general call for inspection of motor vehicles, the Bureau of Highway Patrol and Safety today reminded owners of more than 1 million motor ve- hicles that they have only two days in which to have their cars put in sound running condition. The annual Easter Egg Hunt of the Greater Dallas Rotary Club will be held March 31 at the King- ston Township High School grounds, instead of Fernbrook Park as originally planned. Formal opening of the Subur- ban Inn will be held March 31. During the opening day friends and customers will have the op- portunity to inspect the facilities. A special chicken dinner will be served all day for 65 cents. 50 Years Ago - Mar. 24, 1944 K.T. PREPARING BOYS FOR THE SERVICE The four page pamphlet “Red Cross At His Side,” which is being distributed nationally during the Red Cross drive, contains an excellent front page picture of Harry Lee Smith, former advertis- ing manager of The Dallas Post and now a Red Cross Field Direc- tor in foreign service. ria] Kingston Township High School is making sure its boys will be ready when they enter the serv- ice. Boys who cannot swim are sent every Tuesday to the Wilkes- Barre Y.M.C.A. to take swimming lessons, sponsored by the ‘Red Cross. : You could get- Fresh ground beef, 25¢ 1b.; Pork loins, 25¢ Ib.; grapefruit juice, 46-oz. can, 29¢; Virgnia Lee Layer Cakes, 31¢ ea. Supreme bread, 2 Ig. lvs. 17¢. 40 Years Ago - Mar. 26, 1954 DALLAS 5&10 IS SOLD John E. Williams of Forty Fort, has purchased Dallas 5¢, 10¢ and $1 Store from James Sick and will take possession on Mon- day. Williams, his wife, Frances and their 9-year old son Richard expect to move here shortly and occupy the apartments over the store. : With four major candidates seeking the Republican nomina- tion in the Congressional and Legislative contests at the spring Primary Election, the Back Moun- tain Region is due for a political awakening. Candidates are New- ell Wood, Harveys Lake; Harold Flack and Edward Morgan, Goss Manor, for State Senator and Martin Walsh, Fernbrook . for Congress. - ad 30 Years Ago - Mar. 26, 1964 - FIRE DAMAGES AREA LAUNDROMAT Te Dallas Rotary Club will partiei- pate in the 1964 Rotary program at New York's World Fair when * they hold their weekly meeting in the shadow of the Unisphere on June 20. i Work began on several section of Memorial Highway this week, after a lapse of two months. Excavation continues above, the road in the 2/3-mile section be- tween the big bend and Harter's | Dairy. Howard Daubenspeck, job superintendent, estimates -the whole project, which entails 4.1 miles of construction and refin- ishing, would be finished by late August or early September of this year. 3 Following a fire around mid- night Friday night at Shavertown Laundry Center, Chief William Frederick ordered an inspection ofall boiler rooms in the shopping center. The Laundromat fire, if not reported could have set off a destructive blaze in the Shaver- town Shopping Center. 20 Years Ago - Mar. 28, 1974 | BURGLARS HIT AREA A rash of burglaries continued to harass Back Mountain police over the weekend with restau- rants and a school the main tar- gets. No arrests have been made. Morgus Convalescent Home at Harveys Lake will close in two months, victim of strict new state laws designed to better protect the elderly from the rages of nurs- ing home fires. The Morgus home would require extensive altera- tions that owner Andy Morgus has decided to close the home rather than make the necessary changes. ‘i With severe predictions that large areas of Luzerne County will be ravaged this season by the gypsy moth, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resource: has begun extensive programs to destroy the tree kill- ing insect. You could get - Cube steak, $1.48 lb.; fresh eggs, 68¢ doz.; seedless grapefruit, 5 1b. bag 79¢; Fab laundry detergent 84 oz. pkg., $1.19; chuck roast, $1.18 1b. ; ® » 4 = A >» |
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers