2 The Post NEWS Sunday, August 1, 2004 | Getting in the swim Suzanne Young- blood, a water safe- ty instructor and trainer for the American Red Cross, helped Ca- den Charnitski, Shavertown, learn to float during a lesson held at Sun- set Beach Club, Harveys Lake. Au- drey Aristeo, Mon- roe Township, worked on her strokes, and Kyrah Yurko, Harveys Lake, was cold but curious. FOR THE POST/ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Old house (continued from page 1) Pat Paci drew the line at horses, though. “Nothing against horses, but they are pretty large.” The couple sees the house as a learning experience for their two home-schooled children, P.J. and Amanda. “Our son is getting the best experience; they don’t see it as work, or the house as a fixer-upper. It’s fun for them. If they want to rip off the old wall paper or bang out the wall, we say, ‘Go ahead.” “ On a recent afternoon, P.J. Paci rolled in on his bike and proudly showed off the flag- stone walkway and pool patio he helped his father build. Work goes on outside and within the century old house. While Paul Paci has comfort- ably done his own electrical and plumbing work, he has left roofing and siding to contrac- tors. Known as the Bottoms House, the inside reveals se- crets layer by layer as the can- vas backed wall paper is peeled off to show 17-inch-wide wall panels. “I think this might be chestnut,” says Paci of the planks. The first two original front rooms are planked, leading to the name of the construction style. “It’s called a plank house,” says Besecker. A Luzerne County deed book numbered 328.2 from 1894 FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Paul Paci demonstrated the width of the plank walls in the home he and his family are ren- ovating. The planks, which he thinks might be chestnut, are up to 17 inches wide. mentions the property and size of the lot, with the back of the lot extending to Spring Street, but the first title transfer is dat- ed 1906, when the lot and dwelling were first sold by a widow named Alice Dolan to William Capwell. Around the 1920s it was sold to Thomas Bottoms, who resided there with his uncle, until the 1980s. A deed from 1894 showed the plots of land in Dallas. The Pacis wonder just how old the original two front rooms and loft area could be. Wondering doesn’t make dai- re life in a fixer-upper any easi- “We're shooting for Septem- ber” “says Pat Paci when asked fom about a completion date for the interior reconstruction. “Not many people could live like this,” she laughs, and offers a word of caution. “We never knew what we Were in for when we bought this house.” The modest house on King Street in Dallas is one of the oldest in the borough. Officer from Shavertown ° is named best of year HERSHEY — Liquor En- forcement Officer Thomas J. Sweetz of Shavertown has been named Liquor Enforcement Of- ficer of the Year. Sweetz, 55, serves in the Pennsylvania State Police Bu- reau of Liquor Control Enforce- ment’s Wilkes-Barre District Office. Members of the bureau are responsible for enforcing the state liquor laws. Sweetz, a 33-year veteran of liquorlaw enforcement, is known for creating a model sys- tem for property management within the bureau and for ex- pert training of liquor enforce- ment officers, said state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller. Sweetz, an enforcement offi- cer 3, served as acting district office commander for three months in 2003 and completed all assignments in a notewor- thy and exceedingly profession- al manner, Miller said. Sweetz received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Moravian College in Bethle: hem in 1971 and a master’s de+ gree in organizational manages ment from College Misericor- dia in 2001. He and his wife, Patrici have a daughter, Melissa. Sweetz was nominated fo the award by Sgt. James E. Degnan, Wilkes-Barre offic commander. Festival (continued from page 1) Temple Country Club on Saturday. “It’s going to be like a homecoming dance and the Starfires are going to play.” Tickets must be purchased in advance and ticket information will be announced as it be- comes available. Plans are also in the works for Sidewalk Sales Days. “We're hoping that all of the business- es up and down Routes 415 and 309 will participate,” said Fufaro. Mary Ann Ochman is coordinating that segment and will discuss it at Wednesday’s meeting. Last year’s festival was limit- ed to one afternoon. An esti- mated 4,000 to 5,000 people at- tended, taking advantage of a break in from a long stretch of rainy weather. This year’s events are all still in the planning stages and vol- unteers are always welcome. “We’ll start meeting more fre- Main Street closed for repair Rich Fufaro, chairman of the committee planning the ~~ § second Dallas Harvest Festi val, kept a close eye on the # proceedings during last # year's event. quently as we get closer to festival,” said Fufaro. Anyone interested in help is invited to attend the me ings, held at the Dallas Bog ough Building. Call 675-1388 or check the borough’s websit www.dallasborough.org to gi the next meeting date. i Main Street in Dallas Borough will be closed at the intersection with PA Route 415 while crews rehabilitate a stone arch under the roadway. According to PennDOT, the section of road, near the Dallas Borough Buildinggill be closed. for. up to 10 days. A detour will be in effect and signs will be posted. Updated information on roadwork in ‘Northeastern Per wil nia is available -neparoads.com" Pent Pennsylvania transportation website. Benefit (continued from page 1) Team, came up with an idea to raise funds by having a bene- fit on Thursday, August 5 at Tom Leary’s Cork and Keg on Division Street in Kingston. The evening will begin with Jared Campbell from 6 to 7 p.m., Big Daddy Dex from 7:30 to 9:30, and Crush will be play- ing from 10 p.m. to closing. All artists have donated their time and talent for the event. A min- Tax collection (continued from page 1) to about two-thirds of that ex- pense. And it could get worse if the township is forced to bear the expense of printing and mailing its tax bills. Facing a deficit in its budget, Kingston Township imposed a local property tax of 10 mills this year, after relying on its income tax for 10 years. As a home-rule municipality, Kingston Township collects a 1 percent income tax, while most townships and boroughs are limited to half that rate. Tax bills, which are now printed and mailed by the county, include separate lines for county and township taxes, and the local tax collector allo- cates payments to the proper account as they come in. School taxes are handled en- tirely separately, and are col- lected on a different schedule. If the county stopped print- ing and mailing local tax bills, the postage alone would cost the township several hundred dollars. The county took over tax col- lection from the City of Wilkes- Barre in 2003. DePolo said the result was a savings of more than $170,000 that year, since the county had been paying $10.77 per tax bill. While the city lost that revenue, it was also able to shift personnel to pare some expenses. Unlike Kingston Township, the city was already in the habit of preparing and mailing its own tax bills, so there was no addi- tional expense. Other counties and munici- palities use different approach- es to collecting taxes efficiently. Lancaster County has been cited as a model. The county collects local taxes for 25 of its 60 municipalities, but only if both sides agree to that system. “It’s up to the local munici- pality,” whether or not to em- ploy or elect a tax collector or to let the county do it, said Treasurer Craig Ebersole. Ei- ther way, the entity that does the collecting is paid a flat 75¢ per bill by the other, an amount that has stayed the same for at least six years. Township Manager Eddie O’Neill said he was told about the proposed change just a cou- ple of days before the July meeting of the county commis- sioners. After he protested, the item was dropped from that meeting’s agenda. But it is not dead. When he asked if the idea was still viable, “They (Com- missioners Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid) said they hadn’t changed their minds,” DePolo replied last week. O'Neill has sent letters to each of the commissioners re- questing a meeting to go over the plan. So far, there has been no response, and one is not necessary. DePolo said the switch can be made by a simple resolution of commissioners. For his part, O'Neill is still hopeful that a meeting will take place. “I would assume in the not-too-distant future.” The proposal would affect only the three home-rule mu- nicipalities and three cities within Luzerne County, some of which receive a much higher payment than others. Pittston, for example, is paid $15.91 per taxable property. The other second-class town- ships and boroughs use either elected or appointed tax collec- tors. The rate the county pays for their services, generally $3.50 per bill, is fixed until 2006. imum donation of $6 at tif door will go directly to the Society to aid in funding re search and to provide services to those suffering from this ds bilitating disease. For further information about joining the race or mak- ing a donation or pledge, cot tact Stephanie Baloh at 574 0464. : The Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary presents FM Kirby Center 8:00 pm ; Thursday, Aug. 5th & Friday, Aug. 6th $14 adults - $7 seniors/students © Tickets can be purchased at Kirby cf or at Wyoming Seminary 270-2186 « Coverage Area: The Post covers the “Back Mountain” area of Luzerne County, including the Dallas and Lake-Lehman school districts, and southern Wyoming County. We try to get to as many events as possible, but staff and space limitations make it impossible to cover everything. If you have news about your family, town or organization, please send it to us and we'll try to get it in. Photographs are welcome. You may send items to the address above, or drop them off at the Uni-Mart in Dallas near the intersection of Routes 309 and 415. E-mail is the best and most timely method for submissions. 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