4 The Post
EDITORIAL
OUR OPINION
Help make sure cleanup
was only the beginning
ave you ever felt the embrace of icy tentacles of dread
Hi anticipating a task that seemed to loom like a
gigantic oak in your path? That may be how the or-
ganizers of the Toby (or Toby’s, depending on your preference)
Creek cleanup, held April 24. When that week began, only
about 10 people had signed up for the event, part of the Great
Pennsylvania Cleanup, which took place statewide. Here, the
cleanup was organized by the Pennsylvania Environmental
Council, which has conducted streamside cleanups for four
years. An adjunct group, the Wyoming Valley Watershed Coali-
tion, is led by Holly Frederick, a Back Mountain native who
was on hand at Toby Creek to get the troops fired up. Oh, and
50 people, not 10 showed up to devote a chunk of their time
and energy to hauling tires, trash and brush out of the stream
bed.
The experience of that morning is a perfect illustration of
what can be accomplished when a community pulls together
to support a worthwhile goal. In this case, beyond the much-
needed scrubbing, the cleanup was an important step in laying
the groundwork for a “greenway” to link the borough center
with the Back Mountain Trail, which supporters are slowly
and surely nudging up to the campus of College Misericordia.
The connection will be a boon to merchants and a joy for walk-
ers who will be able to enjoy a peaceful stroll alongside the
stream, away from the hustle, bustle and noise of Memorial
Highway.
Planned activity to beautify the Back Mountain is a stark
contrast to the decades of thoughtless development that have
preceded the present moment, creating a chaotic jumble of
roadways, businesses, signs and utility poles. Many communi-
ties never recover from the state we are now in, but instead
sink further into the morass of tasteless commercialism that
afflicts places where people have given up the fight against it.
We don’t want to be like that, and plenty of our neighbors have
taken up arms in the company of volunteer organizations that
are steering our future in a new, more attractive and agreeable
direction. Public officials are on this farsighted bandwagon as
well, working to amend and adopt ordinances and practices
that can be used to guide future development and influence
what is already here.
While the cleanup was focused on Dallas Borough, the con-
cern and action are not that limited. We are a region, not a ran-
dom collection of towns, and what happens in one community
affects and is affected by the occurrences in others. The creek
is a perfect example — it flows from the middle of Dallas
Township traverses the borough and then tumbles through
Kingston Township. Along the way, it picks up volume — and
debris — from tributaries that flow from Lehman and Jackson
townships.
So, we're all in this together, and we all stand to benefit by
taking a more assertive stance in charting our environmental
and economic future. Anyone who doubts our ability to have
an effect should have been there when, in a few hours, an ad-
mittedly short stretch of Toby’s Creek was relieved of its
trashy burden. There’s more work, and more potential, where
that came from.
Kids today!
What's the matter with kids today? Not a whole lot, at least
not with the ones in the Lake-Lehman Key Club, who are
marking the club’s 40th anniversary year by shattering records
for membership and fundraising.
Pennies add up, club members found. When the counting
was finished, they had raised nearly $2,000 in their Pennies for
Patients campaign to help the Leukemia Society. They also
sell daffodils for the American Cancer Society and raise money
for UNICEF, among other projects. It’s not all about money,
though. In this time of conflict, Key Club members sent cards
to about 100 members of the armed forces who are serving
overseas, many of them Lake-L.ehman graduates.
The club’s success hasn’t occurred in a vacuum, and credit
must be given to its advisors, the latest being Gail Honeywell,
who has done such a good job she was recently named Advisor
of the Year in the northeastern Pennsylvania district. The
Lake-Lehman club won Club of the Year honors as well.
Congratulations to the club members and their advisor for a
job not only well-done, but continually done better. We don’t
know how they’re going to top this year’s achievements, but it
seems certain they will try.
Letters, columns and editorials
Editorials, which are the opinion of the management of The
Post, appear on the editorial page and are written by the editor
unless otherwise indicated. Any artwork represents the opinion of
the cartoonist, and columns are the opinion of the author.
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to the following guidelines:
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¢ No writer may have more than one letter addressing the
same topic published during a 30-day period, except as a reply to
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the writer.
e The Post retains the right to accept or reject any letter, and
to edit letters for grammar and spelling, as well as to eliminate
any libel, slander or objectionable wording.
Fa a
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3 al? i
A little Southern charm — only briefly — captured in the Back Mountain. Photo by Charlotte Bartizéh
LIBRARY NEWS
It’s time for the Donuts and Discussion
group to 0 get under way! Students from 10
to 13 years old may be-
gin signing up on Mon-
day, May 10, by calling
the library at 675-1182.
The organizational
meeting will be held on
Monday, May 24, from
4:30 p.m. until 5:15
p.m. At that time the
group will vote on the
books they will read,
CAROL
KING
order their books, and
discuss meeting days and times.
Interested boys and girls are asked to
Donuts and Discussion planning for new season
look over the list below of award-winning
books from which the four books will be
chosen for discussion this summer. Other
books may be suggested — come to the
meeting with your suggestions.
“A Long Way from Chicago,” by Richard
Peck; Ruby Holler, by Sharon Creech; “Sur-
viving the Applewhites,” by Stephanie S.
Tolan; “The Ear, the Eye and the Arm,” by
Nancy Farmer; “Walk Two Moons,” by
Sharon Creech; “The Other Side of Truth,”
by Beverly Naidoo; “When My Name Was
Keoko,” by Linda Sue Park; “The Kite Rid-
er,” by Geraldine McCaughrean; “The Hob-
bitt,” by J. R. Tolkien; and “My Side of the
Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George.
}
eos
The librarian reported that 17 Head
Start children from St. Paul's Lutheran
Church and 59 children from Trinity Nurs-
ery School visited the library in the month
of March. In addition to the regular Story
Hours, Title I students from Dallas have
been coming to the library each week for
reading, Here are a few statistics for the
month: total circulation, 9,618; books
added, 181; new borrowers, 81; active bg
rowers, 16,436. BT
[XX J |
On display this month is the decorative
shot glass collection of Joshua Tyler Perrel-
la, age 9.
College Misericordia plans Alumni Weekend
The golden anniversary class of 1954
will be honored at the College Misericor-
dia Alumni Weekend, scheduled for May
21-23 on the Dallas campus. All alumni are
welcome to attend part or all of the four-
day event. Other classes that will be recog-
nized during this weekend will be the
classes of 1929, ‘34, ‘39, ‘44, ‘49, ‘54, ‘59,
‘64, ‘69, ‘74, ‘79, ‘84, ‘89, ‘94 and 1999.
The weekend starts on the afternoon of
Thursday, May 20, with registration in the
Banks Student Life Center. Activities be-
gin on Friday, May 21, with a continental
breakfast in the center, followed by a tour
of the CM campus. In the afternoon, alum-
ni may participate in the Alumni Volunteer
Program with on-campus training sessions
in Kennedy A of the Banks Student Life
Center.
Dr. and Mrs. Michael MacDowell will
host the attendees from the class of 1954
and earlier for a Golden/Golden Plus Lun-
cheon in their home, with entertainment
provided. The Alumni Association will
hold its annual board meeting at 3 p.m. in
the library.
One of Northeastern Pennsylvania's
most popular bands, Which Doctor, will
perform on Friday evening from 8-11 p.m.
in the Banks Student Life Center. The
event is also open to the public. Reserva-
tions are required and the cost of tickets
for those not attending the reunion week-
end is $15 per person. Reservations can be
made for this event though the CM Box
Office, 674-6768.
Alumni and family members may attend
workshops during the morning of Satur-
day, May 22, including a trail walk starting
at the Mangelsdorf Field and floral
arrangement class in the Fireside Lounge.
The Alumni Family Picnic will be held
from noon until 3 p.m. outside the Banks
Student Life Center.
Other events of note that day incluglly
the alumni Mass at 4 p.m. and the coc
reception and awards dinner beginning at
5:30 p.m. The weekend concludes with an
alumni champagne brunch Sunday morn-
ing beginning at 10 a.m.
For more information, or to register, vis-
it. the CM website,
www.misericordia.edu/alumni or call the
Alumni Relations Office, 674-6764.
Tie POST
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Ronald Bartizek
Patrick McHugh
EDITOR
PUBLISHER
Justin Wisnosk
Erin Youngman
ADVERTISIN
REPORTER
Greg Stauffer
AD PRODUCTION MANAGER
70 Years Ago
May 4, 1934
INDIAN CHIEF SPEAKS AT
DALLAS HIGH SCHOOL
Chief Blackbird, whose Chippewa sub-
jects once ruled the northern Wisconsin
Wilderness, told Dallas Borough High
School students his
inspiring story of his
unselfish work on be-
half of the Redman.
John Henning,
ONLY president of the
YESTERDAY Wyoming National
Bank in Tunkhan-
nock, has been elect-
ed a director of the Federal Reserve Bank
of Philadelphia.
Items that could be purchased at the lo-
cal A&P: flour, 24 pounds, 85¢: brooms,
35¢ each.
60 Years Ago
May 5, 1944
LOCAL BASEBALL GOES ON
DESPITE WARTIME
Dallas Borough, last year’s champs, won
the first two games of the season. Friday
they were the victor over Lake Township’s
team and they quickly defeated the
Kingston Township team, Tuesday.
Dorothy Cornell, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Willard Cornell of Hunlock Creek, is
valedictorian of the senior class at Lehman
High School.
Sgt. B. Willard Crispell of Harveys Lake
celebrated his birthday yesterday some-
where in England. He was employed at
Hayfield Farm prior to entering the serv-
ice.
50 Years Ago
April 30, 1954
TOP 3 MRS. WYOMING VALLEY
FINALISTS HAVE BMT ROOTS
Back Mountain rated 100 percent in the
roster of finalists for the title of Mrs.
Wyoming Valley. They are: Mrs. Charles
Eberle, Mrs. Woodworth B. Allen and Mrs.
Robert Maturi.
State and Township police are investi-
gating the early morning robbery of the
Kingston Township Veterans Assoc. build-
ing in Trucksville.
40 Years Ago
April 30, 1964
BUILDING BOOM IN DALLAS
TOWNSHIP, HARVEYS LAKE
The Back Mountain is experiencing its
greatest increase in home building activity,
most notably in Shrine Acres and Hemlock
Gardens, near Harveys Lake where George
Ruckno is adding a number of Blue Star
All-Gas Homes.
Ernest Gay has again taken charge of
arrangements for procuring the car for the
annual library auction.
30 Years Ago
May 2, 1974
DRY CONDITIONS BLAMED
FOR BRUSH FIRES
Dry conditions in the woods and fields
coupled with careless burning have led to
a rash of fires in the Back Mountain.
The seventh annual Cherry Boss)
Festival will get underway this weekend,
May 3-5, in Wilkes-Barre.
20 Years Ago
May 2, 1984
AT 90, REV. RIDALL
IS STILL PREACHING
Rev. Archie Ridall, 90, who is pastor of
the Outlet Free Methodist Church, first
heard his calling at age four. He started
serving the Outlet church at age 75.
The Waterfront Inn at Harveys Lake has
new owners, Jeffrey and Wayne Collinson,
formerly of New Jersey.
Sunday’s earthquake which registered a
few points onthe Richter scale has
prompted one local insurance company to
offer earthquake insurance.
Fresh Air Fund seeks host families
Since 1877, New York City children growing up in low-income
neighborhoods have experienced the joys of summer in suburban
during the summer, host families give Fresh Air children a bre
from the sometimes dangerous, hot and crowded city streets.
For more information on hosting a Fresh Air child, contact
and small-town communities through The Fresh Air Funds Denise Moskaluk at 674-3707 or The Fresh Air Fund at (800) 367;
Friendly Town Program. By welcoming visitors into their homes
0003, or visit The Fund’s Web site at www.freshair.org.