Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 March 28 to April 3, 2002 United We Stand Vol. 113. No. 13 ie DALLAS POST 50 Cents SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS SPORTS Delaney, Katyl named MVPs at Wyoming Seminary. Pg 9. SCHOOL Asyson Piatt is Student of the Quarter. Pg 11. COMMUNITY Pre-Easter donation made to food bank. Pg 8. Dallas Rotary marks 75 years service By M. B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent Did you know that the “Old Shoe” was bronzed courtesy of the Dallas Rotary Club? Or that each year a represen- tative of Dallas Rotary, usually the president, is on hand to present that trophy to the win- ner of the annual Dallas versus Lake-Lehman football game? Were you aware that Rotary International has halted civil wars in Africa long enough to inoculate the people against po- lio as part of Polio Plus, a Ro- tary program whose goal is to wipe out the disease worldwide by 2005? Closer to home, the Dallas Rotary provides a Christmas shopping spree each year to 30 children, 15 from each Dallas and Lake-lLehman school dis- tricts. The children start the day with a free breakfast at Mc- Donald's in Shavertown and proceed to the BonTon in Wyoming. There they can pur- chase winter necessities like coats and hats for a greatly dis- _ are treated to a party at BonTon complete with Santa Claus and counted charge that is paid for by Rotary. Then, the children snacks. “We presented awards iis year to McDonald's and BonTon in appreciation of their support of this program for over 20 years,” said Jerry Reisch, presi- dent of the club. The recogni- tion ceremony was only one part of the festivities at the 75th Anniversary Rotary Charter ‘See ROTARY, pg 5 Student exchange started here By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent One of the most widely recognized programs of the Rotary International Club is the Youth Exchange Program that was started by the late Dr. Les Jordan of Dallas. As president of the Dallas Rotary in 1957, he set out to do something new and exciting. It took a few years of research, committee work and general promotion of his plan but in 1959, Jordan's program was adopted as the first district level youth exchange program in Rotary International. It is still ac- tive in many parts of the world. “My mother (Ann Jordan of Dallas) was very instrumental See EXCHANGE, pg 5 Spencer Martin (left) wid om Alexander are two of the longest serving Rotarians. They Joined Rotary in the 1950s. Both are Paul Harris Fellows and have served as the club's president. i ( J Supervisors admit to discussing men before meeting BY TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — The appoint- ment of two township Supervisors last week may have been performed illegally. According to the Pennsylvania Sun- shine Act, agencies must hold all dis- cussions for the appointment of a Su- pervisor in a public forum. Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Sabol said Tuesday he, Supervi- sor J. Carl Goodwin and township solicitor Benjamin Jones III met a week earlier and discussed the selec- tions of John Versari and Cornelius Allen to fill two vacancies on the board. “(Versari and Allan) were aware a: couple of days, maybe a week, before the emergency Supervisors meeting (that they were going to be appointed Supervisors),” said Sabol. “We dis- cussed it at a meeting with our solici- tor.” But Goodwin, contacted the same day, said Versari and Allen were un- aware of their appointments until the advertised March 22 emergency meetings, and that information pro- Appointment of SUpervisors may ‘have been illegal vided to The Dallas Post which sup- ported Sabol’'s comments was incor- rect. “The men were made aware that evening,” said Goodwin. “We reviewed all the applications, and did not make any decisions before (the meet- ing).” Jones said there was a meeting Sunday, March 17 between himself, Sabol and Goodwin, but the meeting was only to advise the Supervisors as to how to go about appointing a third member. Jones said that on Tuesday, March 19, he gave Township Manager Kathy Sebastian an agenda and letter of no- tice for both emergency meetings for her to format properly. He said he was contacted on the afternoon of March 21 by a Supervisor to check that both Versari and Allen were qualified voters of Kingston Town- ship, which he did Friday, March 22 prior to the meetings. The board held back-to-back spe- cial meetings later that night, and appointed both men to fill vacancies on the board. “Nowhere in the code or in the sec- ond class township code does it say that the Supervisors must accept ap- plications, resumes or letters of rec- ommendation for appointments,” said Jones. “They were not legally bound to accept them. It was a political de- cision to do so.” See APPOINTMENTS, pg 8 Residents, other candidates try By TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — The Township Board of Supervisors appointed two men to fill vacancies on the board at back-to-back special meetings Friday night. But the selections left many resi- dents questioning the integrity and ethics used in the decision-making process. Residents became angry when new- ly appointed Supervisor John Versari made a motion to appoint Cornelius Allen to become the board's fourth supervisor. Versari, who had been appointed to the position just minutes earlier by board Chairman Paul Sabol and Vice Chairman J. Carl Goodwin, did not have an opportunity to view the list of applicants for the position, causing many residents to question the board as to how he knew who applied. “I don’t think the Board of Supervi- sors did the right thing tonight,” said township resident Ron Viglone. “The supervisors should have - put their personal feelings aside when they ® de the appointments.” Residents tried to question the *t0 question board, are ignored List of applicants. Pg 8 board’s Sabol decision, but ad- journed the meeting before any ques- . tions could be addressed. Kingston Township Solicitor Ben- jamin Jones III said the applications were not a matter of public record earlier in the first meeting. “The purpose of these meetings was to discuss and appoint the supervi- sors,” said Jeffrey Box, who had served as township manager for 12 years, and had applied for one of the vacant positions on the board. “My question to the board is, ‘When was the public meeting held where the supervisors deliberated over the pub- lic appointments?’ ” Versari and Allen were appointed to fill vacancies left on the board after the resignation of Randall Glidden on Feb. 26 and the death of Herbert Hill March 12. A third vacancy, which opened after the death of William Tip- pett March 14, will be advertised and filled within 45 days, said Sabol. Jones said that according to the township's Home Rule Charter, if the supervisors fell to below three mem- See MEETINGS, pg 8 Science guy . . and gals RE = POST PHOTO/JIM PHILLIPS Dallas Elementary School held its sixth annual science fair last week, and students filled the gymnasium with clever exhibits. Shown with one of them, from left: Callie Amadio, Courtney Wagner, Lily Amadio and Marcus Wagner posed by one of the pro- jects. More photos on page 4. Teachers’ attorney blasts board Q Contract dispute will g0 to state fact finder By ELIZABETH ANDERSON Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — John Holland, an attor- ney representing the Lake-Lehman Educa- tional Association (LLEA), said he stands by his words, uttered at the last school board meeting, accusing the board of “bargaining in the media” and “unethical” conduct. Robert Roberts, superintendent of the Lake-Lehman School District, said the board is taking the advice of their attorney on this very complex issue of contract. negotiations and the two parties are obviously far apart. Holland called the action of the board in re- leasing a four-page report specifying details of the ongoing negotiations between the school district and the LLEA “unethical” and emphatically stated the education association had not given the board permission to divulge any information. “They are not supposed to release what the proposals are between the parties,” he said. Prior to the release of the report, at the Feb. 5 meeting, the school board seemed to be in agreement with Holland's statement See TEACHERS, pg 3 BMr Friendship Quilters stitch auction quilt For the last four months, Back Mountain Friendship Quilters have met each Tuesday and Friday morn- ing to sew this year’s Back Mountain Library Auction Raffle quilt. Here they show the end result. The quilt raffle will be held on Sunday evening July 7, the last day of the annual four-day auction. Raffle tickets may be purchased at the library for $1, or by calling Joanne Ennis at 675-0330. The quilt was started in October and was hand sewn by the Back Mountain Friendship Quilters. This is the second year of the event. Last year, over $1,900 was raised for the library. From left: Joanne Ennis, Kiyoko Steuben and Mary Hoyes. Missing from photo is Marion Yablonski. 16 Pages, 2 Sections CalenNdar............coc.ivameess 16 Classified.................. 13-15 Crossword...................... 10 Editonals:............«....i 6 Obituaries............iv.. du. 2 SCHOOL i... iii nin 11 SPOS. coi iiiitnnnisiiviie 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@leader.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