ae » @® Vol. . 108 No. 52 The Back Mountain's Dallas, Pennsylvania Letters to Santa show freshness, innocence The following letters to Santa were provided by elementary school teachers in Dallas and Lak- Lehman schools Ross Elementary K-1 Dear Santa, Lave, Sarah Fawze (See pg 7) Dear Santa, 9 ctant o. Been, fo, Clirintinees, Love, Shawn Scott Santa's shop spotted at North Pole Former BMT resident Paul Gregory says he' seen it, full of gifts oe) By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff NORTH POLE - The home of Santa Claus has been discovered. Earlier this week, Dallas Post spe- cial correspondent Paul Gregory confirmed that Santa’s house is indeed at the North Pole. The house is large, well lit and contains manv. manv gifts. Rein- deer can be seen feeding in the side yard right next to the huge sign that reads, “Santa’s House Gift Shop.” " "Gregory, 28, who is originally from Trucksville, moved to Alaska 10 years ago with the Air Force and fell in love with the Alaskan way of life. “I love the winter here,” said Gregory who is an actual moun- taineer for fun. He was a Dallas Mountaineer for only one year before moving to Benton to finish high school. Gregory's mailing address is North Pole, Alaska, which is ap- proximately 15 miles south of Fairbanks. “They were trying to get a toy company to move here,” ‘he explained as the reason for the town’s name. He doesn’t remem- ber the town’s original name. -In an effort to keep up with what's going on at home, Gregory has maintained a subscription to The Dallas Post for the last few years. “I just like to hear news from back home. It’s mostly my friend's kids whose names I rec- ognize. Every once in a while I See NORTH POLE, pg 10 Found in yard, 1935 class ring Is long-distance gift By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff ‘Ross Elementary K-2 Dear Santa, J want a ball fer Christmas. Love, Katlin Mininger Dear Santa, J want a Giga pet for Christmas. Love, Jessica Letteer Dear Santa, J want a bear for Christmas. Love, Shawni Scott Robbie Coscia of Shavertown told Santa what is on his Christmas list when the Jolly Old Elf visited the Trucksville Fire Hall Saturday (top photo). At right, Matthew Ralph tried his hand on one of the fire trucks. Santa also made stops at Commonwealth Telephone and the Daddow-lsaacs American Legion Post. Photos on pages 2, 3 and 10. ] Dear Santa, J want a Giga pet for Christmas Love, Joshua Pearson Dear Santa, J want a giga pet for Christmas. Lave, Justin Fossage Dear Santa, J want a tuck for Christmas. Love, Daniel Rood Dear Santa, J want a game for Christmas. Love, Angel Milazzo POST PHOTOS/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK TRUCKSVILLE - When one of Bernard Jones's little granddaughters found a class ring in his front yard on Rice St., he knew he wanted to return it to its rightful owner. He didn’t know it would take 10 years: Last week both Jones and Virginia Turney, the former Virginia Wells of Trucksville, got a nice surprise in time for Christmas. After 10 years of searching, Jones attained Turney’s address in Cali- fornia and sent her back the Kingston Twp. High School class ring from 1935. Jones now has a 10 year weight off his shoulders and is thrilled to know Turney finally got her ring back. “I thought it was great since I was trying for such alongtime to getit back toher,” he said. “I had no way to know where she was. I just happened to hit it lucky.” Whether it was luck or intuition, Jones had a feeling about an older woman he knew to live in Trucksville when he saw her at the grocery store. See RING, pg 10 Bernard Jones stood in the yard where he found a 1935 class ring belonging to the former Virginia Wells. Ross Elementary 1st grade Dear Santa and Mrs. Claws, Flow axe the reindeer? J was good. Jasbua Bucheer Dear Santa Claws, How is Mrs. Claws? J. love you. Dear Santa Claws, Fow is, Mrs. Claws? Umy Wagner SIS BVA CHE =NeIOL\VI\VISINIRRI=SH OT mi No | =8 BVA HWA. WAN =H MS pe [VANES os [00] MBI ISH f= [OR ES Af ) Dee. M07 o0¢ i i Dear Santa Claus, J want a bite. Fow is Mus. Claws? Dear Santa Claws, Flow is. Mrs. Claus and the rein- deer and elves? J was geod. J love Santa Claus. Love, Douglas, Continued on page 6 Niskey is man on a mission against injuries from burns By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff BACK MOUNTAIN - Jay Niskey, 59, would love to hear that the local burn unit closed down due to a lack of patients. But, until that dream is realized he works with The Burn Prevention Foun- dation (BPF) as its chairman on the board of directors to help edu- cate people on prevention. The Dallas resident experienced a grease burn 20 years ago during a kitchen fire in his church. One arm, a hand and the side of his face were burned. “I was treated very well. There is little scarring,” he said of his treatment. “I have never forgotten the excruciating pain or the remarkable caring that medical people provided me dur- ing this most painful period of my life. It doesn’t have to be this way .. there are ways to educate chil- dren and the public to eliminate the unintentional incidents that result in severe burns,” he wrote in a BPF flyer. Niskey said the majority of burns occur with infants, tod- dlers, elementary-age children and senior citizens. Scaldings with hot liquid, hot pans, grease, chemical burns and fires are the most common ways people are burned. The 15-year- old organization serves 20 coun- ties in Northeast Pennsylvania. BPF offices are in Allentown and it is associated with many burn units including the Lehigh Valley Hospital, where severe cases are treated. Dan Dillard, BPF executive di- rector, said between 120 and 130 devastating burn injuries are treated at Lehigh Valley Hospital every year. He estimates that one JAY NISKEY See NISKEY, pg 2 Margo Aideais ond Grade Westmoreland Elementary 16 years steady, taxes rise 50% in '98 By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff DALLAS TWP. - After 16 years at six mills, taxes in Dallas Town- ship will increase to nine mills in 1998. The board of supervisors unanimously voted in the $1.5 million budget atits regular meet- ing Dec. 16. “The increase is for the police department and road work. Gen- eral expenses have gone up, ev- erything has gone up,” said Glen Howell, treasurer. “A good por- tion will go for a new roof on the municipal building and for town- ship vehicles.” Howell said town- ship employees will put the new © roof on themselves. The general fund is $1.4 mil- lion with the highway aid fund adding $125,000 to the total. Approximately $300,000 of the general fund was left over from this year. In other business, the supervi- sors announced that, due to snow removal, there is no parking be- tween 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. through April on all streets within the town- ship . Obituaries.........i....... 16 SCHOOL. ...oi.c ilies 14 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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