L The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 November 1 to November 7, 2001 Dallas, Pennsylvania United We Stand Vol. 112. No. 44 SPORTS Dallas, Lehman to meet in dis- trict soccer playoffs. Pg 9. COMMUNITY Flack family honored for philanthropic work. Pg 7. 50 Cents SCHOOL Gate of Heaven students en- joy “Sock Hop.” Pg 3. JMalak loses B appeal over Junk cars, o SCrap tires By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff JACKSON TWP. - Seventeen months after Raymond Malak Sr. received no- tice he violated zoning ordinances in Jackson Township, the township can now take action against him. The problems began to develop a few years ago at 2162 Chase Road in Jack- son Township, said Jeffrey Malak, township solicitor. Raymond Malak started storing junk vehicles and tires on his 36 acres of agriculturally zoned land. Neighbors complained about the number of vehicles and tires on the property. Raymond Malak received no- tification of the number of zoning ordi- nances he violated. Raymond Malak filed a land use ap- @ ca to the township zoning board in July, 2000 and lost. Then he filed an appeal to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. In an October 23 ruling by Judge Peter Paul Olszewski, Ray- mond Malak lost that appeal also. “This was a big win for Jackson Township,” Jeffrey Malak said. Land use appeals usually don’t take this long, Jeffrey Malak said, but for some reason nothing was done with this case from September, 2000 until May, 2001. The major problem on Raymond Malak’s property is the number of junk vehicle and old tires, Jeffrey Malak said. In the last three years neighbors have noticed that the number of cars” on the property has gone from 10 to over 100. According to the township ordi- nances, property owners are allowed only one unlicensed vehicle. Jeffrey Malak said a strong piece of evidence in the case came from when the zoning board toured the Chase Road property, and zoning board members stopped counting the junk vehicle after 100. ‘See JUNK, pg 8 From teacher - | to grandmther to author By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff DALLAS - When Rosalie Snow Al- bert’s 3-year-old grandson asked her to tell him a story she never imagined that story would be her first children’s book. After retiring from Gate of Heaven School last year Albert, better known as Madame Albert, decided the time was right to be- come an author. She wrote the children’s book “Whitey = Wooly Lamb,” invested part of an inheri- tance she received after her mother Rosalie Snow Albert wrote rr: passed away, and Whitey ao ly became a pub- Lamb” for her lished author. grandson. The idea for “Whitey Wooly Lamb” ®-anc to Albert years ago. She was visit- ing her grandson, Patrick Albert, in Louisiana when he looked at her one morning and said, “Grandmother, tell me a story.” After a few moments, Rosalie started reciting the words which would later make up the pages of her book. For the next three days of her visit with Patrick, he would request to hear the story of Nowhere to hide Dallas tacklers surrounded Lake-Lehman running back Brian Cornia during Saturday's Old Shoe game. Ryan Gryskewicz (8) wrapped up Cornia’s legs as Duane Short (4), Rich Frantz (43) and Ryan Bolton closed in. More photos on pages 9 and 10. Neighbors plan cleanup for elderly resident By HEATHER B. JONES Post Staff DALLAS BOROUGH - When most people look at the deteriorating house on Rice Street they see an eye soar, but for one group in Dallas Borough, they see an opportunity. ~The Rice Street property at a glance is a pit. It is hard to believe anyone calls this structure a home. But for an 85- year-old man, it is the only home he has ever known. Merle Thomas was born and raised in this house, and over the past few years it fell into disrepair. For a group of neighbors, council members and the mayor, they under- stand what this house represents to an old man. In a massive cleanup effort of Thomas's house at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 4, neighbor and friends will demonstrate what living in Dallas Bor- ough is really about. “Basically, we want to make it a com- munity project,” said Timothy Carroll, mayor. When the condition of Thomas's house was brought to the attention of the borough, shocked council members knew something needed to be done POST PHOTO/JIM PHILLIPS about the situation. At a recent council meeting, John Oliver, council member, said, “We can condemn it and let it sit there and rot or we can do what we're doing.” “It's our first intention to help the man keep his home,” Oliver said. Volunteers, 16-years-old and older, will cleanup the outside of Thomas's property. There are leaves, down trees and debris to be cleaned up. Also a sec- tion of the structure will be torn down. Due to the nature of the work, volun- See CLEANUP, pg 8 Food bank seeks help in restocking shelves By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent TRUCKSVILLE - “When youre making a list and checking it twice, we hope that you'll remember to add the less fortunate in our area to your holiday notes,” said Pastor Chuck Naugle, man- ager of the Back Mountain Food Bank. “We need your help to provide food for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for more than 120 households this year. We have added 38 more families since ‘last year. Many of these families have small children. Others are seniors who. have to make difficult decisions every day about the cost of medicine, food b 7 . 0 and fuel.” Even though, for the most part, the Back Mountain is an affluent community, there are times when people can be one paycheck away from “One woman who came by for help recently had lost her husband through divorce, had injured herself at work, and couldn’t work,” said Bar- bara DeBellis, food bank co- ordinator. “She came to us in tears because, for the first time in her life, she had to ask total strangers for help to feed her children.” “We have noticed since September 11 that some peo- ple seem tao come to us with an increased sense of ur- gency,” said Pastor Naugle. “lI think the events of that tragic day have shaken their world to the very core. Their usual worries about winter coming and jobs being elimi- nated seem overshadowed by the larger event. They are POST PHOTO/SANDY PEOPLES Pastor Chuck Naugle, food bank manager, and Barbara De- Bellis, food bank coordinator, pose with food collected for the Back Mountain Food Bank. worried on many levels.” The demographics of those served by the Back Mountain Food Bank are: 31 senior citizens, 56 families consist- @Vhitey. Dirty and Mud-cakes Wooly Lamb. “I never knew the story until we went there,” Albert said. One day when she finished telling See AUTHOR, pg 8 | disaster. They may have lost their job, or become ill, or both. Many families depend on the food bank for longer - periods of time than they thought they would have to. They have fallen on hard times, and not just in the short run. Others have found themselves in a new category called the working poor. They work every day, but just can’t make ends meet. ing of 122 children, and 162 adults without children. The men and women are equal in See FOOD BANK, pg 8 Dallas High seeks vets who missed opportunity to graduate Dallas High School is making plans for a special Veteran's Day Program to be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, November 9 at the school. Frank Galicki, princi- pal, is currently looking for any local veterans of World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War who were un- .able to graduate from high school due to their service in the armed forces. According to a representative of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a law enacted in June 2001, allows school boards to grant a high school diploma to honorably discharged WWII veter- ans, both living and dead. Any such qualified veteran or family member of a qualified veteran is asked to contact Galicki at Dallas High School as soon as possible. Those who qualify will re- ceive a high school diploma at the Vet- eran’s Day program. Keith Martin, senior news anchor for WBRE-TV 28, is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the program. Martin, who served in the Army for two and one-half years, including a tour of combat in Vietnam and Cambodia, is a Colonel in the PA Army National Guard. He is the commander of the 55th Armored Brigade. The program will feature a flag-fold- ing ceremony by members of the Ma- rine Corps. In addition, a member of the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is scheduled to be a hand to receive a check representing a relief donation from the student body for the September 11 tragedy. Students will also participate through special readings and patriotic songs. “There will be a little bit of everything and a lot of red, white and blue,” said Dallas history teacher Maryann Storz, who is helping to coor- dinate the events. by M.B. Gilligan 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar..........c.cciicvivenis 16 Classified. .....\....ceis 12-15 Crossword.............. i 10 Editorials. .......i. sive. 6 Obituaries........i. icine. 2 School........- ER RAT 3 SPOS. iisinlin assis 9-10 CALL 675-5211 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
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