L The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 DALLAS PosT _ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Dallas, Pennsylvania October 4 to October 10, 2001 SPORTS Jerry Ogurkis bags a big buck with bow and arrow. Pg 9. COMMUNITY Trucksville UMC gears up for annual chicken barbecue. Pg 7. SCHOOL Lake-Lehman students raise funds to fight cystic fibrosis. Pg-11. Students rally around Red, White and Blue By JOHN GILLIGAN Special to The Dallas Post at odds over wages J Pay is 15% behind others, cops say; township offers 3% » DALLAS - Students in the Gifted Program at Dallas High School recently decided to do some- | thing very visible to show their American Pride: they hung up a big sign. The giant red, white and blue banner reads “United We Stand.” Mr. Scott Saba, Dallas, and Mr. Matthew Stretanski, Kingston, both teachers at Dallas, hung the sign across the front of the building, where it dramati- cally displays the resolve of the student body in the face of the current national crisis. By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff DALLAS TWP. - Fear of losing their police force prompted Dallas Township residents to turn out for the township supervisors’ meeting Tuesday night. More than 30 residents attended the October 2 Dallas Township Board of Supervisors meeting. Taxpayers wanted answers to rumors circulating about the police contract negotiations. “There's a rumor circulating that as a result of the negotiations between the police and your committee, that the statement has been made in a threatening manner that the police force is going to be disbanded in December. We want to know if there is any truth to that?” asked Richard Buttorff, of Up- per Demunds Rd. There is no intention of disbanding the police force, replied Frank Wagner, township supervisor. In May the township and the police officers be- gan negotiations regarding a new contract. At the first meeting the township proposed a pay cut for the officers. Then at the second meeting township supervisors offered a 3 percent salary increase. By the third meeting the police officers hired an attorney and requested arbitration. “There is no sense of even talking because it's going to arbitration and whatever the arbitrators give them that’s what it’s going to 'be,” said Philip Walter, township supervisor. The sticking point in the contract is health care benefits and salary increases. Under the current See UNITED, pg 8 re Daughter to take council seat of beloved ‘Billy’ Bert: mmr 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar Classified Crossword Editorials Obituaries School “As a class we were as upset as everyone else ® about the terrorist attacks,” said Mrs. Susan Kotch of Mountaintop, a teacher at Dallas, “We wanted to do something positive, so we decided to make a sign.” Mrs. Kotch and Mr. Stretanski jointly teach the Gifted Seminar at DHS. With the support of principal Frank Galicki, the students set out to do something for themselves and the school. The focus of this year's Gifted Seminar is “Service Learning,” and this project qualifies as a service to ; the morale of the “I think that @ school. : 2 “I painted the letters,” everyone 1s said Sylena Marmo, a : : sophomore. She and the united, in other members of this their OL quarter's Gifted Semi- 9” st : a \ ) % "nar (a half credit course way. Bea] ol a : { “ ’ . offered to qualified stu- Erin Swe i * : = Bae ; wd They re paid ; swepston ‘ a 5 i : dents four times a year) Co ; ! a fair share painted the two-foot DHS junior > letters on the huge or they can banner. Also working on the project were Jacob : ocd 7 Kovalchik, Michele Luksh, Ryan Morgan, Chris be rep laced. Mounce, Samantha Spaciano and Megan Vodzak. Frank Wagner Ms. Clair Morris, the art teacher at DHS, donated Township supervisor all supplies needed for the dramatic display. “It was a good way for the students to express themselves,” said Stretanski. “It took a lot of hard work, creativity. It was a group effort; they worked off of one another. I think it helped them cope.” “I think it's a great display of patriotic spirit,” said Saba. » The students and faculty at Dallas have all been touched by the events of September 11. The attack and its effects have been the main topic of conversation in the halls and classrooms for the last few weeks. Many of their spirits have been lifted by the display. : POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK Tuesday’s warm sunshine lit up the dam at the Huntsville Reservoir, perhaps for one of the last times this year. Water flowed gently out of the sluiceway, as, unlike in some years, the reservoir was filled to capacity. See UNITED, pg 8 ° By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff “My father was the type of a man that found out someone needed something,” Barnes said, and he would do whatever he could for that person. ; “He didn’t become known as having been the person who had done that for them. He wanted nothing in return,” she said. “His satisfaction was the hap- piness that he knew he helped some- one.” “I just hope in my life- time I can be a quarter of what my dad was.” Barbara Barnes Dallas DALLAS BOROUGH - On August 23, the Back Mountain Community lost a model citizen, a compassionate leader, but most of all, a friend. William ‘Billy’ Berti was born on June 11, 1934, in Swoyersville. At age 11 his family moved to the only place he CALL 675-5211 y POST PHOTO/HEATHER B. JONES Barbara Barnes will fill her father’s Dallas Borough Council seat for the next two years. She is shown holding a photo of her father and mother. would ever want to call home, Dallas Borough. His father, Norti, was a con- ductor for the Jersey Central Railroad and owner of the hauling company Berti and Son. Berti grew up in a time when stu- dents left school during the day to work for their parents. As a young man he would haul the ashes, garbage and coal when his father had to go to his other job. When his father passed away unex- pectedly, Berti stepped in and took over the family business. Even though he gave up going to college, Berti never re- gretted it. He was a garbage man. He loved being a garbage man. And he was a proud garbage man. “I work with people who would say, your father gave my son a ride on the garbage truck. Their children wanted to grow up and become what my father was, which was a garbage man. And to some people that wasn’t the most glori- fied job in the world, but to my father, it didn't matter,” said Barbara Barnes, Berti’'s only child. Her father was not only a successful businessman but a caring man, she said. Running so that 100 years +3 for David Evans others may live By SANDY PEOPLES By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent DALLAS - David Evans has lived in Dallas for 67 years, a lifetime for many people. But he is a big exception to his generation, having been Post Correspondent SHAVERTOWN - They use their love of exercise as a way to help raise money for a great cause. Dawn Leas, Doreen Dickinson, and their coach, Lauran Hall, all of Shavertown, are part of the “Team In Training” program ollars annually for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of @ which raises millions o born September 27, 1898 in Scranton. With several members of his family in attendance, he celebrated his 103rd birthday last Thursday at the Meadows Nursing Center in Dallas. Evans has been a resident of Dallas and a member of the Dallas United Methodist Church since 1934. He is the son of the late Henry details of her father’s life. “My parents had two children, my and Jennie Evans, and husband of the late Ruth Pembridge Evans. He had one brother and one sister. He has two children, three grandchil- dren and six great grandchildren. All of his family live in Dallas. His daughter, Margie (Mrs. Robert Brown), proudly tells some of the See 103, pg 3 He learned early on from his father that people are what really matter in this life. “I never knew my father to dislike anyone,” Barnes said: “He just cared so much for people. I could never be jeal- ous, because to know that someone ad- mired my father that much meant the world to me.” Berti used his gift to serve the people he cared about so much by serving his community. He served on the Dallas Bough Council for over three decades. See BERTI, pg 3 POST PHOTO/SANDY PEOPLES David Evans celebrated his 103rd birth- day last week. FOR-HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dalpost@ epix.net Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post P.O. Box 366, Dallas, PA 18612-0366
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers