L Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 October 31 to November 6, 2002 United We Stand Vol. 113 No. 44 SPORTS THE LLake-LLehman advances in soccer districts. Pg 9. IS SATURDAY AS S5TH ANNUAL OLD SHOE GAME OST 50 Cents COMMUNITY ‘Homespun Holiday’ craft show is Sunday. Pg 3. By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS — With the boom in the bear population, and the recent lack of wild food available, it appears that people, even those that don’t live in the coun- try, are getting a crash course in bear etiquette: Oh my! Close “If they can’t find something easily accessible, they'll go to the trash can,” said Diane Shellenberger, an employee at Back Mountain Feed & Seed. “People will hear this loud noise, like breathing, and they'll look to find they'll be out there helping themselves,” she said. Joseph Wenzel, Wildlife Education Supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said over the last five years, the population of both people and bears has grown in the area. “Calls coming in to the game commission about nuisance bears have quadrupled since 1997,” he said. “People see them more often because there's more of them,” said Wenzel. No- body at the Game Commission would give one concise reason for the bear population increase. The Nuisance Black Bear Management Committee, however, cites discontinued deforesta- tion and lower bear mortality rates as two of the reasons for the increase. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said bear abundance and distribution has tripled since 1980. As of 2001, pop- encounters of the bear kind on the rise ulation estimates were approaching 15,500 statewide. “People provide a lot of opportunities for the bears,” said Wenzel, such as food from the trash cans and bird feed- ers. Their out buildings provide shelter. He said bears are living in develop- See BEARS, pg 7 » Ground broken for regional "rec park By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff LEHMAN TWP. — “I'm thrilled to see the progress they've made; last time we were here, there was nothing but a farm field and now theyre ready to break ground,” said Department of Conservation and Natural Re- source (DCNR) Secretary, John Oliver. With the Dallas Middle School Jazz Band playing, Back Moun- tain Recreation Inc. (BMR) board members, state, county and lo- cal officials, and some parents gathered under a tent to cele- brate the ground breaking of the Back Mountain Regional Recre- ation Complex. : “It sounds exciting,” said Trudy Clemson as Dave Sutton, the president of the BMR board, explained what is planned for the 130 acres off Outlet Road. “If we do nothing else to it, we've taken 130 acres and there will never be a home built on this property, it will be used for nothing but conservation and recreation,” said Sutton. The groundbreaking marks the completion of Phase I, the acquisition of the land, and the beginning of the $7 million judging and a post-parade party for the kids. See REC PARK, pg 3 i | vr POST PHOTO/ERIN YOUNGMAN Anna Manzoni shows Will Conyngham the photo of her family's first home in the U.S. hoppen owmans Creek © Tunkhannock * Edwardsville eo Litle Meadows ¢ Back Mountain ® Pine Mall ¢ Towanda Going whole hog for Halloween The Dallas Kiwanis Club held its annual Halloween Parade and costume contest Sunday. Hundreds of children attended dressed in all manner of costumes, and winners were chosen in five categories. The Back Mountain Business & Professional Association helped out with POST PHOTO/M.B. GILLIGAN First place winners in the group category were 4-year-old Jackson and 2-year-old Jaclyn Shaver. More photos on page 4. 100+ hear snippets of B Back Mountain history By ERIN YOUNGMAN: Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — People tot- ing old family photos; postcards and their interest in the Back Mountain of yesterday gathered last week in the Bevevino Li- brary at College Misericordia for the presentation, “Buried in the Back Mountain: The Graves of Interesting Historical Figures.” About 110 people showed up for the semi-annual meeting of the Back Mountain Historical Association. “I think we've outgrown our accommodations,” said Debra Altavilla, who helped coordinate the meeting, “I think this has its own following; they're (atten- dees) just interested in all of it,” said Altavilla. Part club, part community meeting and open to all, the pro- grams have grown consistently. The October 23 meeting brought in 40 more people than last spring's meeting. “When you're born and raised in the Back Mountain — fifth ® Scranton * Wyalusing “History occurs ih everywhere, “even in your on back jard.” Gee John Siper Misericordia student volunteer generation — it's as if you're in- tertwined with everyone and everything,” said Mary Manzoni about why she came to the meeting. Attorney Stephen Killian’s pre- sentation explored the same theme. Through photographs and biographical information, he introduced the audience to some of the pioneering families of the Back Mountain region, many of which still have descen- dents in the area today. Shaver, Rice, Ide and Major were a few of the names mentioned. Some people in the audience may not have heard of the others, but See HISTORY, pg 8 Serving northeastern Pennsylvania s Since 1907 Yi Dallas may run out of rooms By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — A few years ago, student enrollment in the Dallas School District was pre- dicted to fall, but in fact, if the numbers continue to rise at the same rate, either the student teacher ratio will have to be compromised, or Dallas may have to build yet again. In con- trast, Lake-Lehman’s numbers have stayed mostly constant, showing a slight dip since 2000. According ‘to Gil Griffiths, Dal- las Superintendent, the state Department of Education pro- jected that between 2000 and 2006, the district would experi- ence a decrease of 4.2-8.3 per- cent (or 100-200 students) in en- rollment. Actually, between 2000 See DALLAS, pg 3 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar... 16 Classified.................. 13-15 Crossword. ........cc....c.xi-.. 10 EdiOrials... aici iene 6 ODbItUArIES...........iveisiveenns 2 BChOON.....ii tc isini ints 11 SPOS. ei ion iiienan 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 GRANGE NATIONALBANK. {=} Member FDIC
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers