6 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, September 13, 2001 EDITORIAL We must retaliate, and prepare for new reality This week's heinous assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is a tragic reminder that the United States is not immune from attacks that have become common in much of the world. Our relative geographic isolation has protected Americans from the drumbeat of suicide bombers, snipers and radicals who have terror- ized the Middle East, Europe and South America in re- cent decades. Ironically, the worst terror act here before this — the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City — was perpetrated by a U.S. citizen, not a foreign terrorist. An abundance of highly visible targets pepper the Unit- ed States, and they are made only more desirable to ter- rorists by our position as the world’s only true superpow- er. We are made yet more vulnerable by our logical and compassionate tendencies, which can’t account for people who regard the destruction of innocent life as meaning- less in their pursuit of a ticket to heaven. We rightly re- gard that mindset as the most despicable anyone could imagine. But now we must confront it. This incident and others like it underscore the in- escapable truth that terrorism has become a fact of life even for the most powerful nation in history. But our power hasn't always been accompanied by wisdom, at least not in dealing with madmen who enlist zealous fol- lowers willing to be blown to bits for their lunatic cause. The sad fact is that our good fortune over the years has bred a complacency that allowed hijackers to board four airplanes taking off from three different airports in or near our most important centers of government and com- merce. Once airborne, they could use weapons as crude as pocket knives to turn these utilitarian vehicles into fly- ing bombs of immense proportions. We must give no quarter to the perpetrators of this out- rage, and every American should support action against the fiends who commit such acts, those who support them and those who harbor them. We need to make an equal effort to protect ourselves, particularly at the points of greatest vulnerability, such as airports. It is now obvi- ous that our security cannot be taken for granted just be- cause it can’t happen here. It has. Publisher's Notebook I recently attended one of the "country fairs" held this time of year, and came away with some distinct impres- sions. First among them is a suspicion that these are not our grandfathers' country fairs; you know, the ones where stoic farmers brought their prize livestock to show and their most powerful tractor to pull against the best in the county. Instead of a display of agricultural excellence I saw the fat lady, the tattooed man, the rat-tail man, and members of both sexes covered with jewelry from head to foot and every place in between. And that was just the people walking around; I can only imagine what lurked behind the thin facade of the freak show. (Oops! I'm prob- ably not supposed to use that terminology. How about, "Display of uniquely proportioned examples of human physiology?) It's not that there's anything wrong with a carnival, just that I'd prefer to call a spade a spade, and not a shovel- shaped card identification. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned (hold your snickering, please), but fairs used to showcase the most wholesome aspects of American life, and our ability to adapt Mother Nature's gifts for our benefit. Some of those displays continue, but more and more they are shifted to the back of the fairgrounds as prime real estate is given over to spinning, spiraling rides accompa- nied by ear-splitting music. Unlike a perfectly shaped zucchini or prize-winning guernsey, this is not an im- provement of the species, even if it is a lot of fun. Perhaps I'm just partial to real country fairs, having spent some time grooming and training heifers for show- ing, and sleeping in the barn to keep them company far from home. I think that experience beats wandering aim- lessly around the rides and gobbling down fatty fair food. But, then again, I'm just pretty old-fashioned, I guess. J i i ph 3 Hey, this fair things pretty neat, and the food’s great! Photo by Heather B. Jones. & LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A heartfelt thanks for support of Luzerne County Fair Editor; On behalf of The Luzerne County Fair Committee we would like to say from the foun- dation of our hearts thank you to all of you who attended and {0 every ' volunteer : -of .the Luzerne County Fair. To the public, thank you for coming. We hope you had a good time and really enjoyed yourself and our new pavilion for your eating pleasure; also our new small animal barn. We hope to see you back next year. To our volunteers who work year round, thank you for giv- ing so much of your time. To over 500 volunteers who work before and during the fair, you are the spirit and the hub of our being. Without you we could not do this great event. No matter how much we say thank you to all our volunteers, it will never be enough. To our vendors, we hope our fair was lucrative for you and we will see you again next year and in the upcoming years. To our local entertainment, your contribution was top rate as always. We enjoy showing your unique talents at the fair. You filled our new Community Stage with an abundance of tal- ents. We know there is a great deal of talent in Northeast Pennsylvania and you have proved this time and again. To the livestock people, the barns looked great and were filled to capacity. You have done a capital task once again. We really appreciate this, espe- cially with all difficulties family farmers have this day and age. To our service clubs and non profit organizations, thank you for being there. We know you have worked hard and hope everything went for the best for your organizations. To the media, you outdid yourself with everything. You made it great, especially open- ing night, when we were thrilled to have so many people on the 8 grounds. Thank you to all of you and your efforts on behalf of the Luzerne County Fair. To all who participated in The Luzerne County Fair each of you are special in the fair com- mittees minds and heart. We hope to see you next year for our 40th fair, September 4-8, 2002. Donna Cupinski 2001 Fair Chairman Susan Stephens Public Relations Director What's on the Horizon? O)VAN 11001 u [0)'4T0]0! Are you opinionated? The Dallas Post is always pleased to hear from good columnists. If you have what it takes, we guarantee you a regular forum to write whatever you choose. (Unless it’s libelous or tasteless, of course.) If you are the one person in 1,000 who can express ideas clearly and forcefully, send The Post a letter telling why you want to be a colum- nist. Mail it to : The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612, or drop it off at our office at 607 Main Road, Dallas (across from Offset Paperback). Note: This column is the latest in the series of monthly articles written by volunteers of the North Branch Land Trust (contact Linda Thoma at 696-5545), a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of open space in our region. Summer is quickly coming to a close, but if you look in your flower garden chances are that you will see an assortment of col- orful butterflies still finding nec- tar at your plants. Luzerne County is home to a large array of butterflies but until recently there hasn't been an up to date survey of this diversity. That is why a friend, Alan Gregory, and I decided to create an Atlas of the butterflies found in our county. Taking our cue from the Breed- ing Bird Atlas of Pennsylvania compiled in the 80s and the cur- rent Herpetological Atlas of Penn- Luzerne County Butterfly Atlas sylvania, we developed an Atlas for Luzerne County's butterflies. Our goal is to document the dis- tribution and chart the flight pe- riods of all butterfly species oc- curring in the county. The Atlas will also be used to determine population estimates for globally and statewide rare and uncommon butterfly species. The identification of critical habitats that support but- terflies of special concern will also be a primary objective. Such habitats in- clude bogs with cranberries, wet- lands with water and curly dock, fields that support native grasses and fields that have populations of ‘flat-topped aster. This past summer was our first field season and already we are realizing some significant discov- eries. For example, we identified several cranberry bogs that we wanted to visit during the flight period of the Bog Copper, a species listed as imperiled in Pennsylvania. We found Bog Copper's in six of seven sights visited. All except one of these was new to our known locations for Bog Copper in the county. The reason the Bog Copper is considered imperiled is because much of its habitat has been lost to development. One of the sites mentioned in the state is in the middle ‘of an indus- trial park and an- other in Monroe County is in the middle of a housing development. By identifying lo- cations important to rare butterflies, we hope to provide information to de- velopers that will help protect these sites. We were able to do just that at Ricketts Glen State Park this past spring. The park began a logging operation in the winter and was using a field as a staging area for the cut timber. The ‘area happened to be adja- cent to a wet field that is home to Harris' and Baltimore Check- erspots. When we notified offi- cials of PA Department of Con- servation and Natural Resources, they provided the necessary pro- tection to this area of the field, preserving the butterflies habitat and at the same time the logging operation was able to continue using the area for a staging site. We are excited about our ef- forts to date and look forward to many more rewards in the com- ing years of the Atlas. We antici- pate that this project will contin- ue for a minimum of five years and possibly as many as seven. We are also accepting historical V/ data, with documentation, for the ® past five years. Our county is comparatively large and in order to accomplish our goal we are re- lying on a number of volunteers to help us collect data. We will provide the volunteers with a manual giving complete instruc- tions on how to collect and sub- mit this data. If you think that you might be interested in volun- teering your time, even if you just want to document what you find in your backyard, please contact me (Jim Hoyson) by e-mail at birdder@aol.com or Alan Gregory at megb@psu.edu. If you do not have access to e-mail, you may also mail your request for infor- mation to Jim Hoyson in care of this newspaper. Jim Hoyson is an avid natural- ist who lives in Shavertown. The Dallas Post TIMESeLEADER Cogmunity Newspaper Group P.O. BOX 366, DAL 612 « 570-675-5211 Ronald Bartizek Heather B. GENERAL MANAGER eather B. Jones REPORTER Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER Brenda McDonough ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC. Ron and Charlotte Bartizek PUBLISHERS EMERITUS Stephen Peterson PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 1-800-427-8649 Darlene Sorber OFFICE MANAGER OF T(e]N (gle Fall Auction and Craft Show: Craft vendors are being sought for the show on Sunday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are 23, 10'x10' spaces available; the fee is $15 each. The deadline for registering is September 22: first Spaces available for fall craft show come, first served! Contact the li- brary at 675-1182 for more infor- mation. The auction will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Avail- able will be items remaining from the 55th annual auction held in July, plus many newly donated antiques and new and used goods. Among them are two items now on display at the library, a tall multi-use canister and a table, both handpainted by Maryan Daley. There will be refreshments and fall flowers. Mark the date on your calendar! Children's library: Children who completed the summer's An- imal Odyssey reading program are reminded to pick up their cer- tificates and prizes at the library. Board report: A total of 215 children and 155 adults attended the summer programs for read- ers. Circulation statistics for Au- gust include: total circulation, 8,466; books added, 135; new borrowers, 83; and active borrow- ers, 13,970. Mrs. Rudolph attended a work- shop conducted by Judy Free- man, a very lively children's liter- ature consultant. Book Store: Store hours for the fall are; Mondays, 1 to 7 p-m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a good supply o children's books, puzzles and ac- tion comic books. Golf tournament: Call the li- brary if you need last-minute in- formation about the tournament to be held Sept. 17 at the Irem Temple Country Club in Dallas. Entertainment books: Copicsgy of the 2002 edition are available at the library @$25 each.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers