4 The Post EDITORIAL Sunday, June 27, 2004 Putting together a puzzle for county 911 nce again, local municipalities and citizens are being (== to pick up the slack for the failings of the Luzerne County 911 system. This time, Harveys Lake councilmen Daniel Blaine and Clarence Hogan are trying to rally volunteers to complete an addressing system that con- forms to the “Colorado” scheme adopted by the county. We hope they succeed, because it is painfully obvious that the county is uninterested in and incapable of providing the serv- ice we all have been paying top dollar for since 1996. When it was first crammed down the throats of unwilling municipalities, the county 911 system was sugar-coated with promises of efficiency and accuracy springing from new radio towers, a Computer Activated Dispatch (CAD) system and Mobile Data Computers that would instantly transmit direc- tions and information to fax machines in vehicles on their way to a crime scene, accident or medical emergency. Before the county system even opened for business, the mobile machines were scratched. But the $1.25 per month charge added to each phone line — the maximum allowed by the state — didn’t de- cline by a cent. And that spiffy CAD system? Well, it’s depend- ent on a completed address scheme, which it seems will be- come reality only after local towns finish it, using either volun- teers or paid staff. Harveys Lake is far from the only local community where addressing is incomplete. Most rural route addresses in the Back Mountain still lack street names and numbers, making it sometimes difficult for emergency crews to pinpoint a home in distress. It is not entirely fair to blame the county alone for this; each town should have been working with the post office and the county to create precise addresses. But someone should have taken the lead, and since Luzerne County mandat- ed participation in its 911 system, that is where responsibility to follow through should lie. But at this point, we can only hope Harveys Lake succeeds in the effort to align phone numbers and addresses. If that hap- pens, perhaps the rest of the Back Mountain can use the expe- rience as a model, and finish an important job that no one else seems willing to do. Kudos to company for building restoration Probably no society in history has more eagerly embraced change than ours. We trade in cars as soon as the payments ex- pire, give away gobs of perfectly good clothing in favor of the latest styles and even tear down useful structures that have simply outlived their novelty. The destruction of Veterans Sta- dium is evidence of that latter point, and there are instances closer to home, in Wilkes-Barre, where distinctive buildings have been razed to make room for holes in the ground. Balanced against that predilection is the three-story brick building at 100 Lake Street in Dallas. It is by no means a his- toric edifice, although it could easily be mistaken as older than its 53 years. And it surely wouldn’t be built the same way to- day as it was in 1951. In fact, you might think it was once a now-outdated high school, not the headquarters building of an ambitious regional telephone company. But that’s what it was, and it is once again being put to use by Commonwealth Tele- phone, after recent renovations that brought it up to 21st cen- tury standards while maintaining its classic Georgian charac- ter. We have nothing against modern architecture or contempo- rary design. But it’s heartening to see an individual, company “or government agency that appreciates good work that has come before, in this case enough to preserve it for current and future generations to admire. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel ® On July 4, 1826, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the sec- ond and third presidents of the United States, respectively, die on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Both men had been central in drafting the historic doc- ument. ® On July 3, 1863, Confederate Gen. George Pickett leads his infamous charge up Cemetery Ridge against the center of the Union line at Gettysburg. The failed attack effectively ended the Battle of Gettysburg, and Confederate commander Gen. Robert E. Lee began to withdraw his forces to Virginia the following day. ® On July 2, 1881, only four months into his administration, President James A. Garfield is shot in the back by a disgruntled office seeker as he walks through a railroad waiting room in Wash- ington, D.C. The mortally ill Garfield died of blood poisoning 80 days later. ® On July 1, 1941, NBC broadcasts the first official TV commer- cial following sanctioning by the Federal Communications Com- mission. Bulova paid $9 to advertise its watches on the air during a Dodgers-Phillies baseball game. ® On June 30, 1953, the first Chevrolet Corvette, a white con- vertible roadster with a red interior, is produced in temporary fa- cilities in Flint, Mich. (c) 2004 King Features Synd., Inc. Taking a breather. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. NN b £ LIBRARY NEWS Volunteers needed for setup at 58th library auction Monday, July 5, and Tuesday, July 6, are important dates! Volunteers of all ages are needed to help set up for the auction on the library grounds. Please contribute as much time as you can be- tween 9 am. and 4 p.m. on one day or on both days. Refresh- ments will be provided. Recruit some friends CAROL KING great cause! Volunteers are also needed to move an- tiques to the auction block during the auc- tion. Please call the library to put your name on the list of volunteers. Paul Nicholson, the auction chairman, is making a request to help insure the safety and convenience of auction-goers, and that is to leave your dogs at home this year. Last year a dog threatened to nip a child, and the barking of many dogs made it diffi- cult to hear the auctioneers. Your coopera- and enjoy helping a - tion will be greatly appreciated. Special attractions at this year’s auction continue to be announced. Check these out: The Wyoming Valley PT Cruisers, found- ed by Jim Nulton of Shavertown and Bill Berlew of Dallas, and directed by Karen Leonardi, will cruise over to the auction grounds on Sunday afternoon, the 11th, at 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come to meet the group and take a look at the PT Cruisers. On Sunday evening at 6 p.m., the new Mrs. Pennsylvania, Angela Evans, will be introduced by our very own Mrs. Pennsyl- vania of 25 years ago, Karen Boback. On Saturday, free rides on the fire truck will be offered stating at 11 a.m. preceding the children’s auction from 12 noon to 3 p.m. . : And some old, but ever-popular offer- ings: first, several raffles, one of three an- tique items donated by David Hill in honor of his wife, the late Kathryn Hall; and one for the handsome grill in the library, under- written by Auto Works, Fleet Bank, and Ben Jones III. Tickets are priced at the bar- gain prices of $2 per ticket, and $10 for six tickets. Winners will be announced on Sun- day evening. 1 Second, you can prevent parking prob- lems by using the shuttle bus which runs continuously from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. oe evening between the library and the parking lot next to the post office in Dal las. : The when-and-where for the auction are as follows: : Thursday, July 7, through Sunday, July 11, from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m., on the library grounds at 96 Huntsville Road in Dallas. Vendors will open their stands at 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and at 4 p.m. on Sat- urday and Sunday. Don’t miss the 58th An- nual Auction! = ov For full information about all aspects of this very popular event, read the special supplement to The Post which will be pub- lished on Sunday, July 4. Tie POST TIMESeLEADER Community Newspaper Group 15 N. MAIN ST., WILKES-BARRE PA 18711 * 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net Patrick McHugh Ronald Bartizek PUBLISHER EDITOR Justin Wisnosk ADVERTISIN Greg Stauffer AD PRODUCTION MANAGER k ¥ 70 Years Ago June 29, 1934 DEMOCRATS ELECT TRUCKSVILLE WOMAN Democrats from the Sixth Legislative District, which in- cludes Dallas and the Back Mountain section, elected William J. Cotter as chairman and Mrs. Elizabeth Gobel of Kingston Township as vice- chairman ONLY at their YESTERDAY meeting in Wyoming on Saturday night. The resignation of one teacher was accepted and two appointments were announced at the meeting of the Kingston Township School Board on Monday night. Miss Helen England presented her resigna- tion and Miss Sarah Pfahler of Wilkes-Barre was elected to fill the vacancy in the commercial department. Mr. Daniel N. Tip- pin was re-elected as a high school instructor at a salary of $1,050 yearly. Mr. and Mrs. George T. Kirk- endall Jr, and daughter, Ann left Wednesday for Lansing, Mich., where Mr. Kirkendall will take up his new duties as director of the community chest of that city. 60 Years Ago June 30, 1944 DENTAL CLINIC OPENS AT LAKE Starting Wednesday, July 5, at 9:30, the State Department of Health will conduct a dental clinic at Laketon High School daily. Any person in the Back Mountain Area is eligible for free examination and free cleaning. Dr. Catherine Waters of Nanticoke and two nurses will be in charge of the work. Alfred Bronson of Sweet Val- ley, puzzled by the slaughter of 30 of his full-grown Rhode Is- land Reds, discovered the cause Monday night when he caught the marauder, a large horned owl, in the act of beat- ing one of his finest birds to death. Lieutenant Frank E. Matuki- tis, son of Mrs. Joseph Matuki- tis of Dallas, has reported to the AAF Training Command’s Lockbourne Army Air Base to attend the Central Instructor’s School for B-17 Flying Fortress pilots. 50 Years Ago June 25, 1954 CARRIE’S PANTIES BRING $95 ON TV SHOW IN NEW YORK On Friday, Mrs. Caroline Ca- peroon, of Franklin Street, Dal- las, had a wonderful time in New York City and earned $95 to boot. She also saw a lot of people, including some stage and screen stars, but more peo- ple saw her when she sold a pair of old-fashioned panties to Peter Arnell’s television pro- gram, “I'll Buy That”, coast to coast. A baking contest will be a feature of Gate of Heaven Fies- ta June 30 and July 1. Contes- tants are invited to bring their favorite product on either day, entering baked goods before 5:30 p.m. for evening judging. Mrs. James Borton, Mrs. Lester Evans and Mrs. Ernest Gay will judge. Stefan Hellersperk, chairman of the grounds committee, has installed four deep sleeves on the Library Auction grounds, ready to hold tall iron poles for extra flood-lighting. The poles were obtained at less than cost from Joseph Hughes of the Hughes Corp. and Carl Schuler, of the Joseph G. Schuler Co. 40 Years Ago June 25, 1964 LOCAL FIREMEN " BATTLE MINE BLAZE Shavertown and Jackson Township tankers were called to the scene of a raging fire at Honeypot late Tuesday evening to help local firemen battle a blaze which threatened local mining interests nearby. Volun- teers were forced to go to Nan- ticoke for water and the local firemen helped at the scene un- til 3:30 Wednesday morning. Calvin Strohl was named fire chief and J. Weston Ruff, presi- dent of Noxen Fire Co. at a meeting of the group on Mon- day evening. Fred Schenck will serve as assistant fire chief and vice president of the organiza- tion. Area chairmen have an- nounced their street workers for general solicitation for the Library Auction. They include Martha and Susan Messick, Dallas Township; Helen Ed- wards and Susan Moore, Dal- las; and Diane Hoover, Shaver- town. 30 Years Ago June 27, 1974 MERGER BETWEEN FIRE, AMBULANCE CO. Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Co. and the Dallas Ambulance As- sociation merged and will be known as the Dallas Fire and Ambulance Inc. The merger was announced by Fire Chief Don Shaffer after the fire com- pany and ambulance associa- tion held an advertised meet- ing June 23. Charles E. Parente, Dallas, has accepted the position as chairman of the professional di- vision for the 1974-75 9 paign of the United Way of the Wyoming Valley, it was an- nounced by John B. Hibbard, Commonwealth Telephone Company board chairman and general campaign chairman of United Way. . Richard F. Billings, Trucksville, received the Presi- dent’s Freshman Award for out- standing scholarship at the close of the spring term at th Pennsylvania State University, University Park. One hundred ninety-two Penn State students were presented the award in the form of a certificate of com: mendation by Dr. John W. Os- wald, president of the universi: 20 Years Ago June 27, 1984 CHILDREN’S LIBRARY MOVES TO FORMER BOROUGH SCHOOL The Back Mountain Memori- al Library announced the re- opening of the Children’s Li- brary relocated to the former Dallas Borough School Build: ing on Huntsville Road. by the Presbytery of Lackawan- na as a candidate for modera- tor of the 267th annual meet: ing of the Synod of the Trini held on the campus of West: minster College. State Auditor General Al Benedict has commended offi- cials of Dallas Township, Lake Township and Lehman Town: ship for investing and earnin interest on their temporary idle liquid fuels tax funds durin, 1981 and 1982. These thre Back Mountain communitie communities, who, togethe now have an extra $51, 812 t spend on road repairs.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers