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Q. 115 No. 19
The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889
May 9 to May 15, 2004
Track squads
make their mark
at Dallas and
Lake-Lehman
Page 7
Si
¢
50¢
SERVING THE COM
MUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Poetry contest
Is big draw
@ °F than 300 enter
irst contest sponsored
by Friends of the Library
By M.B. GILLIGAN
Post Correspondent
DALLAS — The Back Mountain Memori-
al Library celebrated its first annual Poetry
Contest at an awards presentation on May 4
at the library. Winners in each of the three di-
visions received certificates and cash awards,
in addition to a copy of a collection of inspi-
rational congratulatory messages published
by Vi Gommer, co-chairman of the event.
The poetry contest was a natural offshoot
of the 16th Annual Luncheon With a Special
Author sponsored by the Friends of the Back
Mountain Memorial Library. “We thought it
would be fun to sponsor a poetry contest to
coincide with the theme,” said Jill Kryston,
co chair.
Melanie Maslow Lumia, editor of “Got
Verse” was this year’s guest speaker. “Got
Verse” is a collection of poetry stemming
from her involvement with the Tudor Poetry
Reading Series.
\ “The readings were so great that I
S... if we could just read them again...”
said Lumia. “I put out for submissions and
the poetry blew me away.”
The first place winners in each division
were invited to read their entries at the
luncheon and all of the poets on hand at the
award ceremony were asked to read their po-
ems for the audience. Dallas Elementary
fourth grade student Erica Luzetski, was a
little nervous and opted to stand by as Lumia
read her poem entitled, “Things I Wish I
Could Remember.”
Erica won $100 for her efforts. “My
teacher, Mrs. Ford, convinced me to write a
poem,” said Erica, who has had a library card
for as long as she can remember. “I had no
clue I would win.”
Lak=-Lehman High School students in the
erican Studies course were also encour-
aged to participate. “I've written some poetry
before,” said Skye Nickalls, first place winner
for Grades 9-12. “I enjoy poetry.”
The poets in the audience were invited to
attend local poetry readings like the one at
Tudor Book Store, at 7:30 p.m. on the third
Friday of each month or at Barnes and No-
ble, at 7:00 p.m. on the second Friday of the
See POETRY, pg 2
wv Inside The Post
Science is hard work
FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK
Michael Lyons tries hard to made the science projects work during last week's academic fair at
Gate of Heaven School in Dallas. More photos on page 3.
By CAMILLE FIOTI
by the township indicated that Pul-
Post Correspondent
Cleanup week starts off
DALLAS TWP. — The noise or-
dinance that was drafted in 1965
needs to be revised to accommo-
date the growing population in the
township. That seemed to be the
consensus of the large number of
angry residents who attended last
week’s Board of Supervisors meet-
ing to voice complaints about the
noise and vibrations coming from
the Pulverman plant on Lower De-
munds Road.
A recent sound study performed
verman was not in violation of the
ordinance because the decibel read-
ings coming from the plant were be-
low 72 which is the maximum al-
lowed.
Rosemary Hosey pleaded with
the supervisors to help put a stop to
the noise. “We are entitled to peace
in our homes. Noise pollution is a
much of a health risk as air pollu-
tion. No one that bought their
homes in this area saw this coming.
We elected you to protect us, to be
our voice.”
A number of residents at Tues-
Still no peace for plant's neighbors
day’s meeting said that if nothing is
done they will file a class action suit
against the company.
“It’s not the decibel as much as it
is the repetitive noise, it is similar
to sitting in a torture chamber,”
said Dr. Gilbert Griffiths of Orchard
View Terrace.
Life was peaceful when Encon oc-
cupied the facility, the residents
said. Since Pulverman moved in at
the beginning of the year, the resi-
dents of Lower Demunds Road,
Downing Drive, Orchard View Ter-
race, Ondish Hills and other nearby
See NOISE, pg 3
Board member
suggests new
hiring criteria
DALLAS TWP. — Dallas School Board
member Maureen Matiska says inconsistent
hiring practices in recent months call for a
new, more objective process by which appli-
cants are chosen.
Matiska presented an alternate hiring plan
after the April 20 board meeting at which
Daniel Natitus, son of board member Frank
Natitus, was hired as head high school
wrestling coach.
“I guess what I don’t want to see is Dallas
get the reputation of, ‘If you know someone,
you get the job.” I do believe there have been
some instances recently where that has hap-
pened,” Matiska said in an interview last
week.
Matiska would not name who had been
hired in such a way, and Natitus’ hiring did
not bring much scrutiny from the public or
other board members. According to the dis-
trict, Natitus was the only applicant for the
wrestling position.
“A new (hiring) process would take out of
the realm: ‘I had to vote for him because he’s
my best friend’s brother’s kid,” she said.
Matiska is proposing two key changes that
would make hiring at Dallas more objective.
First, involve one or more parents, or mem-
bers of the community, and second, base the
See HIRING, pg 3
Runoff ruins yard,
homeowner says
By VICKI KEIPER
Post Correspondent
JACKSON TWP. — Fieldcrest resident
Amy Spess has a flooding problem, but she
doesn’t live near a large body of water.
Her home rests at the base of a hill along
Hillside Road. At the crest above her proper-
ty, new homes are being built in the Rolling
Meadows development. Spess claims that
culverts installed at the new development
are ineffective and since August, 2003, runoff
from heavy rain flows into her backyard,
flooding her basement and swimming pool.
“I'm going to be surrounded by houses and
all the water is going to run into my pool,”
she said. “I put thousands of dollars in my
backyard and I can’t even use it.”
As well as repairing their property, Spess
and her husband were forced to alter it by
digging a ditch along the length of her back
yard to catch runoff. But even this preventive
measure required vigilance.
“I was out at 11:30 at night making sure
that the ditch didn’t overflow,” she said of
the heavy rain that fell Sunday night.
Her letters to developer Ray Peeler go
unanswered and she wonders who will reim-
burse her for repairs done to her property,
she said.
After listening to her case at a couple of
township and planning meetings, Jackson
Township supervisors decided to take ac-
tions that would prevent further problems.
See RUNOFF, pg 3
with a bang
Page 2
Dallas High School
honor students
Page 10
12 Pages, 1 Section
Calendar .:....... cs 12
CRUICA i isi vei 1
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Editorials: =: ions visa 4
Obituaries... v0 5
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iw -— — oe 3 Be Be i seated i
Duck hunting
Kevin Clarke, Dallas, and daughter Leah Marie Clarke, checked Toby's Creek
for ducks and other natural features last week. A stretch of the creek in the bor-
¥ oug was cleaned up two weeks ago during th®Great Pennysylvania Cleanup.
Church proudly notes
150 years of service
By SANDY PEOPLES
Post Correspondent
schoolhouse where they re-
mained until a church building
was erected and dedicated.”
FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK “In
KUNKLE — Kunkle United
Methodist Church to celebrate
150th anniversary Saturday at a
special dinner that is expected to
attract nearly all the 93 members
and their guests.
The steeple can barely be seen
from the highway near the Kun-
kle Fire Department, but as you
travel north on Rt. 309, a left turn
around the fire hall soon reveals a
quaint little white .church rich in
the history of the Back Mountain.
1853, Conrad Kunkle
opened his own home for reli-
gious services,” said Irene Tran-
sue, a member of the church
since 1954. “Later the meetings
were moved to the old Noxen
On April 1, 1888, a lot was
deeded to the church by the
Theodore Ryman family at a cost
of $1.00. “The church only owns
the land that the church building
actually sets on,” said Transue.
“The rest, which includes the
driveway, the parking lot and the
front lawn, belongs to the Kunkle
Fire Department.”
The church, built at a cost of
$1,300, was dedicated in March of
1888, and a bell tower was added
in 1896. In those days, oil and car-
bide lights were used in the
church, the church was heated by
a wood-burning stove, and horses
S#» CHURCH, pg 11