Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 February 21 to February 27, 2002 United We Stand i I RR Bat > J p>) : { = Vol. 113. No. 8 50 Cents COMMUNITY Family, church members help Matilda Croom celebrate 90th birthday. Pg 3. SPORTS Dallas Youth Basketball leagues begin playoffs. Pg 9. SCHOOL Reading if FUNdamental at Lehman-Jackson. Pg. 11. & Cheerleaders balance active lives d Courtney Coletti wins $2000 scholarship at NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii By ELIZABETH ANDERSON Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — Courtney Coletti came home from a week in Hawaii with more than just a sunburn, a grass skirt and a lei. The Lake-Lehman High School senior cheerleader scored a $2,000 scholar- ship check and placed second in the National Scholarship Invitational in Honolulu, attended by more than 400 cheerleaders from all over the United States and Canada. Coletti, unable to attend the awards ceremony because of sun poisoning she acquired the day be- fore — she swears she wore sunblock — learned of her victory second-hand from fellow cheerleaders and had a hard time believing her good fortune. “She’s still pretty shocked that she came in second,” said her mother, Pam, who accompanied Coletti to Hawaii, along with her sister and cousin. “She had a good, good routine.” Participants in the cheerleading event, held in conjunction with the NFL Pro Bowl for the last five years, were selected from the previous year’s At- lantic Cheer & Dance Championship in Philadelphia. Of the seven Lake- Lehman Competition Squad cheerlead- ers who qualified to attend the National Scholarship Invitational, only Coletti and co-captain Shelly Wentzel made the trin to Hawaii. The aht day/seven night trip to Hawaii was a whirlwind of practice, competitions, luaus, beach parties, tours of Pearl Harbor and visits to vol- canoes. The girls performed at the Pro Bowl pre-game and half time shows, doing their routines while Jessica See CHEERLEADERS, pg 8 POST PHOTO/ELIZABETH ANDERSON Co-captain Shelly Wentzel (front) and the competition squad practice the new routine for the Battle out the Capital. From left behind at top, Amy Hartman, Kim Hartman, Dana Colfax. By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent Pillarelles celebrate 60 years of marriage sary. DALLAS - Andy and Edith Pillarella met in a rowboat when they were teenagers. They fell in love and have been together ever since. Today they are celebrating their 60th wedding anniver- They recently reminisced about the day they met and the lives they have lived together. “We were both born and raised on Staten Is- land,” said Mrs. Pillarella. “A local Christian youth group went on an excursion on the Hud- son River. We had to take rowboats to get to the larger tour boat. The only seat left in the last rowboat was next to where Andy was sitting, and the rest, as they say, is history.” Seven years later, they were married in the Olivet Pres- byterian Church on Staten Island by her father, who was the founding pastor of that church. They were married two months after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, and that single histor- ical event set the tone for the rest of their lives. Rev. Pillarella left his job driving a bakery truck and became an MP in the Air Force in 1943. He served 38 months in England, France, Belgium Church in Dallas. and Germany. POST PHOTO/SANDY PEOPLES Rev. Andrew and Edith Pillarella have been married for 60 years. They were instrumental in the formation and growth of Trinity Prebyterian “While I was in Germany, I had an experience that helped me decide what my life's work would be,” he said. “One morning after breakfast, I saw a little boy going through the garbage to find See PILLARELLAS, pg 4 BY TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — Numer- ous residents turned out to air their concerns over a rash of burglaries in the borough and surrounding areas during the past few months at Tuesday's borough council meeting. “It seems these people are taking money and guns,” said Harveys Lake mayor Rick Boice. “There have been daylight break-ins as well as evening break-ins.” Boice said the borough has added police patrols, and there are suspects currently being in- vestigated by the police depart- ment. “All I can say is if you leave your house, then don’t leave it unlocked whether it is daytime or nighttime,” said Boice. “I hope this is resolved real soon.” Borough council member and Dallas man stabbed outside home DALLAS TWP. — A 43-year- old township man taking out his trash was stabbed by a masked man Tuesday night, police said. Police said Steven Greenberg, of 165 Church St., was found by his sister near his house with a stab wound to his lower back at about 8:20 p.m. Dallas Town- ship police arrived at about 8:30 p-m. and said they recovered a small amount of cash and bro- ken glass on the ground near Greenberg. Greenberg told police he was stabbed at about 7:30 p.m. by a male about 5 feet 10 inches tall. The man was wearing a dark ski mask, Greenberg said. The at- tack occurred in a dark area on the side of Greenberg's house. Greenberg was treated at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. “He was out cold,” said Dallas Township officer Jeff Fitch, who arrived to find Greenberg bleed- ing from his lower back. Fitch said they canvassed the area and asked people if they saw any suspicious vehicles or activity around Greenberg's home. See STABBING, pg 7 Bid to exempt churches from fees passes first test BY TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — The Kingston Township supervisors took the first step toward pass- ing an ordinance which would waive building fees for churches in the township at their monthly voting session February 13. The supervisors voted 4-1 to pass the first reading of the ordi- nance, which would waive all building filing fees for “institu- tions of purely public charity for the advancement of religion,” with supervisor Randall Glidden casting the lone “no” vote. “Primarily, I feel there were major church-state issues (con- Outbreak of burglaries concerns residents, officials 911 addressing committee chairwoman Betty West said in her report to council that the 911 addressing committee has decided the borough should fall under the Colorado Address System, which would give a number to each residence, and that would be the committee's recommendation to the council. “The committee feels we should keep the Colorado Sys- tem of Addressing,” said West. “That project has already been started, and we feel we should follow through on what has al- ready been set up.” West said there would still be the availability for the pole ref- erence for each home, but each home would now be given a house number. Council President Edward Kel- ly announced the borough's new ambulance, complete with a de- fibrillator had been purchased February 16. Chairman Charles Re- potski (far-right) and Vice-chairman Dr Paul Niezgoda (far-left) pre- sented long-time plan- ning commission mem- bers, Beatrice Ray and William Conyngham, with plaques thanking them for their “devotion of many hours of service to the township.” Ray was first appointed to the planning commission in 1973, with Conyngham coming onboard in 1975. POST PHOTO/ELIZABETH ANDERSON X {& Long-time planners honored By ELIZABETH ANDERSON Post Correspondent JACKSON TWP. - With grants and funds in place and the planner approved, the planning commission is looking forward to starting on a new comprehensive plan for Jack- son Township. The new plan will cost $19,250 and is expected to take 12 months to complete. This will be the first update in 22 years for the township. The planning consultant, Jack Varaly of G and Albert Consulting, reviewed a sample community sur- vey with Monday evening. A community sur- vey, after it is approved by the plan- ning commission and the board of supervisors, will be mailed to the residents of Jackson Township, asking for their opinions and views on various aspects of the township such as roads, municipal services, open spaces and residential and commercial growth. The purpose of the survey is to find out what the commission members See PLANNERS, pg 7 cerning the ordinance involved,” said Glidden. “I know we tend not to look at those sort of things up in this corner of the state, but I think it is something that needs to be followed.” The Church of Latter Day Saints, the Back Mountain Har- vest Assembly and the Trucksville United Methodist Church would have immediately benefitted from the ordinance under its original provisions, which would have returned $2,235 to the Church of Latter Day Saints and $1,360 to the Harvest Assembly, but township solicitor Ben Jones III ruled that refunds would have been illegal. “An ordinance can not work retroactively,” said Jones. “Therefore it is illegal to refund any money already paid to the See CHURCHES, pg 3 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar... ..........ousuniinrs 16 Classified......... Pir 13-15 CroSsSWOord.........sestivsscess 10 EQIlOnials......... .. vvumessi races 6 ODItUAIIBS. i... ives vvnesiviianeins 2 SCROOL. ..ccirieriisicsininmnuunves 11 SPOS... iit 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@leader.net The Dallas Post 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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