L | Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 August 15 to August 21, 2002 United We Stand i by i Vol. 113. No. 33 3 50 Cents SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS SPORTS X-Plosion players win 3 vs.3 contest. Pg 9. COMMUNITY ‘Carnival’ aids fight against diabetes. Pg 8. SCHOOL Dallas El kids beat the market. Pg 12. Dallas SB withholds $55,000 in construction payments BY TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff and renovations. Board member Ernest Ashbridge Jr., who requested that representatives from Reynolds attend the meeting at last week's work session, said monthly payment to the Reynolds, as well as to the project architects, was withheld be- cause of the board's dissatisfaction. The board also heard from approxi- mately 15 residents of New Goss Manor the school’s auditorium have been de- layed at least a month, and are slated for a Sept. 26 and Sept. 12 completion, respectively, instead of August 26 like originally thought. | “The pressure has been on (the con- tractors) all along,” said Merrit. “It will always take more time than we put out there. We always come into unknowns.” Merrit said an uncountable amount along the way” led to the delays in com- pletion, despite constant calls and let- ters written to those contractors. Merrit cited Mesko Glass as one of those contractors, and . the middle school project is a top five project this summer for Reynolds. “This is a top one project for us,” re- sponded board member Tony Barbose. After hearing from the Reynold’s rep- tion Management Inc. approximately ~ $23,000 in payments for the month of June and May, respectively. They also amended a motion to pay contractors for work completed on the project, and elected not to pay A.J. Demor & Son Inc. ($63,483.75), Mesko Glass ($100,395), Miller Brothers Construc- tion Inc. ($242,357.72), Paddock At- lantic ($18,245.70), Monarch painting DALLAS TWP. — School board offi- cials put representatives from Reynolds Construction Management Inc. on the spot August 12, forcing them to explain why the construction and renovation project at the middle school are months behind and won't be ready for the open of the school year. r=] Reynolds spokesman Jeff Merrit told he school board construction of the school’s natatorium and renovations in of days had been lost on the project due to the unearthing of unforeseen prob- lems and “contractors falling down resentatives the board killed motions to pay Foreman Architects/Engineers Inc. about 32,000 and Reynolds Construc- Systems Inc. ($20,227.91) and Sean Byrne Construction ($33,826.50) for services completed in the construction End of an era? Big bash at Hanson’s draws 600, perhaps for the last time By Elizabeth Anderson Post Correspondent HARVEYS LAKE — With the buzz in the air that Hanson's ‘Ballroom, a seemingly eternal fixture of Harveys Lake, would be sold and bulldozed soon, Bob and Becky Aben, Ed Kelly and the Harveys Lake Fire Department scrambled to put together one last bash — one more to remember the good old times. Eddie Day and two of the original Starfires — Bob Gardner and Roger Griffith — sat in with the Which Doc- tors? in a night of unparalleled nostal- gia for the event billed as the Last Dance. With his flashing smile and earnest charm, Eddie Day stole the show at Hanson’s Saturday night. “It was a very special night,” said Day. “It was the last dance, so it has incredible significance to me and to (Gardner) and to (Griffith.) I think you could tell that it meant a lot to those people that were there who used to (come to see us).” Day still knows how to work a crowd into a frenzy. Over 600 enthusiastic fans of Eddie Day and the Starfires — #5 Tears of joy and fullness of heart. A lifetime of friendship. Eddie Day and Becky Aben share an emotional and nostalgic moment on stage. some say perhaps 800 — were scream- ing like the young teenagers they used to be in the summer of 1964 when the group first played Hanson's Ballroom. Those teenagers are in their 50's now but every age group was repre- sented Saturday night. Eddie Day and the Starfires played Hansons about three times a week and shared the stage with music greats like Cubby Checker, Frankie Valli and the Supremes. “It was like living a young person's dream,” said Gardner. “There were close to 1,000 (people) many nights and some nights well over 1,000 lined up waiting to get in. “It was quite a time.” Gardner thrilled the crowd Saturday night with his hot sax solo of the song “Tequila.” The Starfires recorded several al- bums and even had a local hit that reached the Top 10. Day, Gardner and Griffith spent their off-stage break shaking hands of 4 POST PHOTO/ELIZABETH ANDERSON old friends. “One of the most rewarding things is when you go back and you're in con- versation with these people and they thank you for the great times they had,” said Day. “They will bring out a certain memory they had and you meet people you haven't seen for 10, 20 or 30 years. | “It is just an uplifting experience.” When they are not wowing an audi- See HANSON'S, pg 4 oL.ake-Noxen High lives on In memories By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent HARVEYS LAKE - They came from as far away as Ari- gona and Iowa to be at Old Sandy Bottom Beach last Sat- urday, joining with more than 80 other former classmates to celebrate and remember. Lake-Noxen school district existed from 1952 to 1959. This year the class of 1952 celebrated its 50th anniver- sary. Since 1987 all eight classes have come together at the lake every August to have a picnic, to reminisce, and to catch up on everyone's news. Carlene Kocher McCaffrey and Edna Gosart Morgan from the class of 1956 have planned and coordinated this annual event for more than 15 years. “Every year our attendance increases,” “Our years together at Lake-Noxen hold fond memories for 11 of us. We were unpretentious poor people, and it's amazing to see what we have done with our lives. Our See REUNION, pg 3 said McCaffrey. POST PHOTO/SANDY PEOPLES Virginia Swanson ( ‘32) and Carleton Kocher ( ‘30) were special guests. Both attended the school when it was known as Laketon. Swanson wrote the words to the high school alma mater and Kocher is the only surviving member of the Lake-Noxen school board. * NO MONTHLY FEES - NO MINIMUM BALANCE i Visioning set for next week BY ELIZABETH ANDERSON Post Correspondent DALLAS — Dallas Borough will be hosting its previously scheduled Dallas Community Visioning public meeting from 7-9 p.m. August 22 at College Misericordia to discuss sur- vey results and form task forces to address identified concerns and in- terests. There will be two short presenta- tions at the meeting. N.E. Regional Director Mike Mc- David and Vincent Cottrone of the Cooperative Outreach division of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State/Wilkes-Barre campus, will present a streetscape software See VISIONING, pg 3 Luzerne 288-4511 - Plains 829-3900 Swoyersville 287-1141 - Dallas 674-5442 Public Square 822-4211 - Wyoming 613-0966 who asked the board to consider closing Peartree Lane to school traffic. See DALLAS, pg 3 Drug use on the rise in Back Mt. BY TIMOTHY J. RAUB Post Staff Editor's Note: All statistics provided for this article are complete up to the the month of August, including those Jrom 2001 and 1999, according to the Pennsylvania State Police Uniform Crime Report. A 17-year-old girl lies motionless on the floor of her Jackson Township home. Ambulance crews race to revive the girl and get her desperate medical treatment. She is taken to the hospital, and her life is saved — at least for now. She is lucky to be alive after a hero- in overdose. Marijuana may still be the drug of choice in the Back Mountain, but at least one police officer says the emer- gence of other more lethal drugs is a key concern. “Narcotics have always been an is- See DRUGS, pg 8 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar........................ 16 Classified.........cc....... 13-15 Crossword.....................: 10 Editorials... cou veini 6 Obituaries............iumerraid, 2 School. ....o.i... ii iri 11 SPOS... tie co desigassanss 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 MEMBER
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