it L April 4 to April 10, 2004 50¢ SERVI ————————— en School to housing? Meeting emay decide By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff LEHMAN TWP. — When he was younger, Bill Jones attended the now- closed Lake-Lehman Middle Level building. Now he hopes to turn it into something entirely different, afford- able housing for the elderly. “As you age, your housing needs change,” Jones said recently. “The Back Mountain needs more housing for seniors.” He cites his own parents as an ex- ample. They moved to the Oak Hill section of the township after the 1972 flood. Three decades later, the spa- cious lot that WHAT: Public forum on proposed conver- sion of the former Lake-Lehman Middle Level building into af- 25 Once so at- fordable senior hous- tractive has be- ing. come a burden WHEN: Wed., April 7, to maintain. 7 p.m. A public fo- HERE: Lake- rum will be _ehman Junior/Senior held Wednes- High School, Old day, April 7 on Route 115 plans to turn the former school building into 26 one bedroom units of housing de- signed for the senior population. “We envision a building with spa- cious rooms, a great deal of activity, and a very safe, affordable housing op- tion for the elderly of the Back Moun- tain and Sweet Valley areas,” said Jones, Vice-President of Volunteers of America. ; Renovations to the building are es- timated at $3 million. Jones said 70 to 80 percent of the funding would come from the federal Department of Hous- and Urban Development. His & up would seek the balance from three or four other sources. While he anticipates HUD approval this fall, a final schedule: for the conversion would depend on securing the other funding sources. Jones said the basic structure of the building is sound. “The roof is good, the foundation is See SCHOOL, pg 2 At right, Rev. James Wert shows an exact replica, color and all, of the type of trolley that used to make its way through the Back Mountain and on to Harveys Lake. Below, College Misericordia stu- dents Renee Lavin, seated, and Jenna Grabowski interviewed Wert as part of an ongoing oral history project. POST PHOTO/ ERIN YOUNGMAN Students record local lore V InsiDE THE Post Ecumenical service for Good Friday. Page 11 12 Pages, 1 Section Calendar....................... 12 CUNO Yk a sivnes ics sisniiias 11 Crossword...................... 8 Editorials. .cc...is ces usivassivies 4 Obituaries..........c....cvvunnes 5 SCNO0L-... sri shnari osssvin 9-10 SPONS.......cc.cinsivioni rion 7-8 ¥ How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 - thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 970-7102 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff Reverend James Wert is a trolley enthusiast to the “nth” degree. Men- tion the once-popular mode of trans- portation and his eyes light up, his hands begin to move and his voice booms with excitement — all the stuff a good storyteller is made of and an interviewer’s dream. Wert is one of about 40 people who will be interviewed between now and next fall for College Miseri- cordia’s Oral History Project. Nine students and two faculty members are taking part in the effort aimed at gathering as much historical infor- mation about the Back Mountain re- gion as possible. Misericordia professor ~~ Allan Austin said intense community-wide interest has propelled what started out a year ago as a three-person service project into a large-scale grant-funded undertaking. History major Renee Lavin and El- Plans are for 40 interviews this year 3 3 3 ¥ 3 © io oo iis i AAR ANA SOAK A Organizations eye local history BACK MOUNTAIN — Those who just can’t get enough of local history now have an organization to call their own. The Back Moun- tain Historical Association, which formed about two years ago, offers - talks by local historians on local subjects. Any person can attend the meet- ings and if interested, become in- volved in one of two ongoing proj- ects, said Dr. Allan Austin, profes- sor of history at College Misericor- dia and member of the associa- tion’s steering committee. The oral history project has tak- en on a life of its own, after begin- ning as one of the group’s projects. Most of people who will be inter- viewed were either suggested by association members, or frequent the meetings themselves. See ORGANIZATIONS, pg 3 ementary Education major Jenna Grabowski interviewed Wert at his home in Exeter last week. Large pro- duction equipment filled the living room — video cameras, micro phones and a tripod. This is Lavin’s second year with the project. The Dallas High School graduate said she has a number of reasons for being involved in the program, from preparing for gradu- ate school to learning about a wide variety of topics. Although Wert cautioned he did- n’t have all of the information stored solely in his mind, he rarely looked at the large cue cards his wife, Jean, was holding. “This is the history of the Back Mountain’s Tumultuous Trolley line, that ran from 1887 to 1939,” Wert started, “I say tumultuous because it had trouble, struggles, upheavals and violence.” The United Methodist minister ef- See INTERVIEWS, pg 3 Refusing sewer line exam could double rate J Cost would jump to $1,278 By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE - Ask folks in the borough about their sewer rates and their eyes begin to roll. Then ask them about the newest notice they received from the General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake (which governs the sewer system) and you'll likely hear, “I'm not happy about it” and “The rates are already high.” In January residents were hit with a $111 rate increase, bringing their an- nual bill to $639. Then last week, many homeowners opened their mail- boxes to find letters threatening to double that rate if they don’t return a form allowing an inspection of their storm water hookups. “We've already got the highest rate in the area,” said Jim Koutnik ‘who See HL SEWER, pg 2 Little League change draws parents’ ire By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff A change in policy made by Back Mountain Baseball has humiliated some children and raised the ire of their parents. “It's wrong; theyre devastating kids,” said Paul Clemson, whose 11- ———— year-old son was Back Mountain told that he will Baseball will hold not play on a a general meeting Major League Monday, April 5, at team this * year. 8 p.m. atthe Dallas (5,45) pow” 11- American Legion. ; The meeting is open to all parents and the public. year-olds who had come up in the program au- tomatically ad- vanced to the Majors from the AAA level. Back Mountain Baseball has a hier- archy of teams organized by age and skill level. Players can begin as young as age 6 in tee-ball, then advance through A, AA, AAA and finally the Major League. Jack Snyder, president of the league, See LITTLE LEAGUE, pg 2 ] By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff DALLAS — The Dallas Legion Post 672 Ladies Auxiliary is well- known for supporting American service men and women. So much so that the group was recently recog- nized for sending the most material overseas of any auxiliary in the na- tion. So, what to do next? How about instead of toothpaste and bottled wa- ter, sending cards from home. Not just any cards, but oversized versions containing sentiments and encour- agement from more than 1,000 school children and anyone else who wanted to sign. FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK WR to EE ET RR EN RRR i IBERE ita nr Eh a a eT SH GH IE SE SE a TR a GE RHEE \ Ww ; v Robert and Paula Civlick sign a card that will be sent to soldiers in the 109th Field Artillery Unit. Six cards were made by Missy Eneboe of New Vi- sions Art Studio. Children’s artwork and messages were pasted on the cards, and members of the community added their own signatures and well wishes. ® Rn NA “Why should we just keep sending them goods?” Deana Moelder, auxil- iary president, asked herself one day. Instead, “we wanted to show them how we felt — and to get kids in- ' Legion Auxiliary sends big message to soldiers A sampling of children’s sentiments, page 2 volved.” They succeeded in a big way. The initial idea to create and send three cards, each 18” by 24” when folded, proved inadequate when 1,048 notes and pieces of artwork were con- tributed by students in grades 1-6 at Dallas and Wycallis elementary schools. In the end, six cards and seven posters with children’s art- work were on display March 28, when visitors to the Dallas American Legion could add their own mes- sages and signatures. “They need something like this to cheer them up,” said Barbara Jacoby, the primary organizer of the card See MESSAGE, pg 2 a Te A Nad & te A. As SYS. SEI gp
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers