L Dallas, Pennsylvania Angie Nice makes her stage debut .. on MTV. Page 4 SERVING THE COM The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 October 12 to October 18, 2003 Sac Vol. 114 No. 41 MUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS One-room schoolhouse days recalled By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent JACKSON TWP. — More than 40 Back Mountain natives recently gathered at the homestead of He- len Franklin on Jackson Church Road for a most unusual reunion. any decades ago, they each at- nded one of three one-room choolhouses at Ceasetown, Oak- dale and Rome in the Back Moun- tain. Some of Franklin's guests hadn’t seen one another for 50 years or more. They came to reminisce, get reacquainted and bring some other family members and friends to share in the festivities. “The day of the reunion was such a happy day,” said Franklin. “I prayed for nice weather so we could have an old-fashioned picnic outside. We hung patriotic decora- tions, flags and yellow ribbons here on the farm where I was born and raised and walked the country lane to school. My niece, Sandy Morris, helped me write letters and make phone calls to get the word out about this special event.” As the crowd gathered, stories of days gone by were shared. If their memories were old television pro- grams, they might resemble reruns of The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie. The real props from their own school days were similar to the make-believe sets on those shows. “I think the teachers were very brave.” Helen Franklin Jackson Township “There was one large room with a high ceiling,” said Franklin. “And no one-room schoolhouse would be complete without an old school house bell, buckets for carrying wa- ter, a large clay jug with a push but- ton spout for storing the water, long crudely made benches and desks, a pot belly coal or wood- burning stove, kerosene lanterns, large windows to let in the light, and a nearby outhouse.” The actors on both programs played roles that the reunion guests had really lived — children in grades one through eight with a teacher who was used to a hard life. Teachers back then had to manage several children of many ages in a one-room building, by to- day’s standards, ill-equipped for the task. “I think the teachers were very brave,” Franklin said. The Back Mountain landscape is now almost void of these early halls of learning. “The Ceasetown School, located on Route 29, is now a residence,” said Franklin. “The Oakdale School was torn See 1-ROOM SCHOOL, pg 2 Helen Franklin, center, held up the bell from the one-room school her mother taught in. She is flanked by Wilson Cease and Dorothy Gmiter, who attended the Ceasetown School. Elevated boathouse roofs okayed Post Staff ° By ERIN YOUNGMAN HARVEYS LAKE — A ruling by the Harveys Lake Zoning Board Tuesday night means the owners of two boathouses will be allowed to raise their rooflines above ordinance allowable limits. Easier maintenance and aes- thetics were among the reasons cited for the changes. John and Mary Metz, at pole 102, and Richard Haas and Lynn Banta, at pole 13, were granted the variances. The variance granted for an addition to the Metzes’ boathouse will allow an octagon-shaped roof to be 17 feet above the dock at its tallest point. This is the second variance granted to the couple for the structure. The ear- lier variance, granted in February of 2001, allowed the roofline to go from 12 to 14 feet. John Halbing, the contractor for the project, testified See BOATHOUSE, pg 3 ®State, township haggle over runoft By CAMILLE FIOTI Post Correspondent DALLAS TWP.- Excessive water runoff was once again the complaint heard at Tuesday night's Board of Supervisors’ meeting. Elizabeth Hannigan of Overbrook Road requested help from the township to clean and maintain a storm pipe that continues to become blocked from gravel and debris that flows from Woodside Drive, which is perpendicular to state-owned Overbrook Road. The pipe runs across Overbrook and exits onto Hanni- gan’s property. Because of the blockage, excess water overflows from the street and onto Hannigan’s side yard. Hannigan said she recently paid over $400 to have sev- See RUNOFF, pg 2 page 8. tin. Flea market find David Blejwas of Lehman checked out the tie-dyed t-shirts at last weekend's Dallas United Methodist Church rummage sale. More photos from the Dallas and Carverton rummage sales on Rec park togeta new field By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff LEHMAN TWP. — Back Moun- tain children may be a step closer to playing on a new, higher quality soccer field. Back Mountain Recre- ation, the group turning 130 acres in Lehman Township into a large- scale recreation area, has selected a contractor to build its first field. If all goes as planned, excavation could begin this month and the field could be completed in the spring, said the organization’s exec- utive director, Brian Grove. J&H Construction of Wilkes- Barre was selected out of 10 com- panies for the $360,000 portion of the multi-million dollar project. The company was the lowest bid- der. If construction is completed by spring, the field will be ready for the 2005 soccer season. The com- plex will be home to the Back Mountain Youth Soccer Associa- tion (BMSYA), which is already us- ing unfinished space at the site off of Outlet Road for practices and games. According to Grove, the group See REC FIELD, pg 3 Queen of Homecoming Whitney Adams reacted with mock surprise when she was selected as the 2003 Dallas High School Homecoming Queen. The selection was made Satur- day night at the homecom- ing dance, and recreated Monday at the postponed homecoming football game. More photos on page 5. POST PHOTO/JIM PHILLIPS DALLAS TWP. — At first glance, the new building at Fel- lowship Evangelical Free Church looks like a building that might be used for any kind of activity. However, if you spend any time at all with Pas- tor Mark DeSilva and his staff, you will soon learn that “it isn’t just a building, it’s a mission. It isn’t just bricks and mortar, it’s a light that we hope will draw people closer to God. It’s not a monument, it’s a living, breath- ing place for people to meet and do the Lord’s work.” “We want this building to minister to the spiritual and wholesome recreational needs of the youth and adults in our congregation and the commu- nity,” said DeSilva in an inter- view just days before the sched- uled dedication of the new fa- cility on October 17. “When I arrived here 14 months ago, it was already under construc- POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Dallas church to open rec building with concert By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent tion. The dream of it really be- gan about four years ago. We wanted to build a Christ-cen- tered, family based place for the people of Wyoming Valley to use and enjoy.” The building houses a 5,000 square foot gymnasium and an additional 5,000 square feet for the kitchen and activity rooms. “If we had to pay for it all in cash, it would have cost about $1.5 million to build,” said De- Silva. “But we got it down to $800,000 in actual costs be- cause many of the faithful in our ministry donated materials and their labor and sweat to make it happen.” Now that it’s nearly finished, church leaders are eagerly plan- ning how to use it fully. “It will take us years to learn the full potential of this build- ing,” said Kyle Earhart, associ- ate pastor of the church. “My area of responsibility is with the youth of the church, and I See FELLOWSHIP, pg 7 16 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar Church Editorials Obituaries CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@leader.net Tue POST Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post P.O. 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