Vol. 115 No. 41 Mounts edge Knights in soccer. Page 11 SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 October 10 to October 16, 2004 DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Our hidden resource Toby's Creek, which winds its way through the heart of the Back Mountain, has been hidden, abused and nearly forgotten. But this distinctive waterway may hold the potential to spark inter- est in the area as a historic, nat- ural and recreational destination. Through this spring and sum- mer, Post writers and photogra- phers have examined the past, present and possible future of Toby's Creek, from its formation by glaciers through its service providing water power to a vision of the stream as a delight for residents and a magnet for visi- tors. This first part of a multi-week report relates the geology and forgotten commercial history of the creek. Other stories, includ- ing the one that starts on this page, look at the creek’s environ- mental condition and explain the origin of its name. There is also the first installment of notes from a walk down the entire length of Toby's Creek in the Back Mountain. Long abused, creek could be a gem POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK This rushing fall, just below the Harris Hill Road bridge, once powered a mill owned by William Trucks, for whom Trucksville is named. It has also provided generations of youngsters a place to frolic. By VICKI KEIPER Post Correspondent To hear Rich Adamchick talk, the fish are biting in Toby’s Creek. A few yards from his business on Carverton Road, local children, includ- ing Adamchick’s son, usually catch “a stringer full” and in 2003, a youngster pulled a 23-1/2” brown trout from a shallow area by the Trucksville fire hall, he said. “Theyre there,” Adamchick said. “You gotta sneak up on ‘em.” Although the children in Adamchick’s neighborhood see plenty of fish, Walter Chamberlain of the “For years Toby's Creek has been treated as a nuisance.” Walter Chamberlain Luzerne County Conservation District Luzerne Conservation District wasn’t as lucky. During an April 24 cleanup in Dallas Borough, he encountered only one fish. “lI don’t know what kind it was, though I can tell you it was certainly not a trophy fish,” he said. “It was 3” long. I might be exaggerating here — actually it was only 2” long.” So Toby’s Creek isn’t an angler’s par- adise. In fact, it could be categorized as a plant-choked, garbage-filled trick- le of water that moves mostly unno- ticed under and alongside Memorial Highway. But the creek supports a great deal of wildlife while providing recreational opportunities. In recent years, various agencies and individu- als began working to revitalize the neglected and forgotten waterway. The kind of animals you find along the creek depends upon your location, Chamberlain said. “In areas where trash accumulates, especially food stuff, we find rats and See TOBY'S CREEK, pg 7 Dallas board must decide how to use extra counselor Staff report DALLAS TWP. — Now that it has authorized adding a third high school guidance counselor, the Dallas School Board must decide what she should do. At the Oct. 4 work session, counselor Jack Wolensky presented two options for using Diane Sherman, hired Aug. 30: 1) Have Sherman handle grades nine and 10, except for special-cducation students; 2) split the roughly 800 students equally among the three counselors, letting each counselor work with the same students for all four years in high school. Wolensky and Superintendent Gilbert Griffiths said option two is probably the better one, but would be harder to imple- ment now that school has started. They suggested starting with option one but switching to two later. Griffiths said Sherman must stay in her job at Lake-Lehman School District for about another month. The board also considered adding pur- chasing software supplied by eSchoolMall, based in Horsham. Representative Anthony Londino said the system allows a district to check prices from a wide range of suppliers online, make purchases. and track deliveries. It also allows districts to seek price quotes from various vendors online, or to seek bids for large purchases. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Flanagan claimed the system typically pays for itself within the first four months. Dallas Business Manager Grant Palfey said the system could be leased for about $1,100 a month or bought for $27,000. The board could vote on either proposal at the regular meeting, Monday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Bring in the hounds; Back Mountain churches lend many hands on a Habitat house By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent Eo) i AE a pets get bl : - Fike By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent SHAVERTOWN — A great deal of barking heralded the annual cer- emony to bless the animals at St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown, held Oct. 4. “It’s a’ good year for dogs,” said Monsignor Peter Crynes in refer- ence to the preponderance of years we even have snakes. We've been doing this for nine years and the people seem to enjoy it.” The Blessing of the Animals marks the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, who was known for his kind- ness to animals. The ceremony, which is held in the upper parking lot of the church, included a short FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Msgr. Peter Crynes, of St. Therese's Church in Shavertown, blesses Butchie and Sammy, pets of two old friends, Deborah Kapral, Wilkes- Barre, and Mark Carmon of Lake Township. Bible reading, a prayer and a song. A blessing by Father Peter included the words, “O God, our creator ... may the wisdom of Saint Francis canines at this year’s event. “Some- Dallas sophomore gets a look at the worl By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent John Thompson feels very for- tunate for the travel opportuni- ties he has been afforded in his young life. The 15-year-old from Dallas has taken two terrific edu- cational trips in the last few years. The first, in the summer of 2002, took him to Hawaii for two weeks with an organization called Earth Explorers. While there, he studied the varied cli- mates of Hawaii from Volcano National Park, to rain forests, to the desert. This summer as a member of the People to People Student Ambassador Program, he spent three weeks traveling through- out Brazil. John first flew to Fozdoiguacu, Brazil, where he stayed for the first three days of his journey. “There they have waterfalls that are bigger than Niagara Falls,” said John, a sophomore at Dallas High School. “We also went to a bird sanctuary and toured a hydroeléctric plant in the area.” That plant supplies all of the electricity for Paraguay and 30 percent of Brazil's power. From there, the group traveled to Manaus and took a boat ride on the Rio Negro River. “We could see where two rivers come together, one is brown and the other is black but they don’t mix together for a while because of their different speeds and what is in them,” said John. “That was very interesting.” The students also visited the nearby rain forest but due to the possibility of contracting malaria from mosquito bites, they spent only a short time there. See WORLD, pg 3 essings at St. Therese’s and our love for these animals deep- en our respect for your creation.” Among the dozens of dogs pres- ent were three greyhounds owned by Loretta Deboer, who recently joined the parish. The dogs are part of the greyhound rescue operation. “We try to spread the word that these dogs make wonderful pets,” said Deboer, whose middle name is Frances. “I just wanted to have my hounds blessed.” The event is not limited to mem- bers of St. Therese’s. Deborah Kapral brought her two Yorkshire Terriers from Wilkes-Barre for the second time, and was accompanied by her mother and a friend. “It’s such a nice ceremony, you'll get tears in your eyes,” said Kapral. “This really brings out the best in people.” Another “out-of-towner,” 10-year- See PETS, pg 3 West Ridge Street in Nanticoke. Volunteers from local churches are helping a deserving family obtain a modest home of their own. In the spring of 2003, nine Methodist churches in the Back Mountain agreed to partner with the United Methodist Churches of Greater Wyoming Valley and Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity to help build the Wesley Habitat House of Wyoming Valley, located on Ground was broken at a ceremony on May 21, and the building phase was begun on an empty lot given to Habitat by the city of Nanticoke. The excavation work and foundation were completed at the beginning of August, and since then, the walls and flooring have been See HABITAT, pg 2 Habitat volunteers raise the roof trusses for Wesley Habitat House. Lending a hand by leading small work groups on site were many regular vol- unteers, including John Johnson, Windsor Davis, Spencer Martin, Don Newell, John Merges, Terry Smith, Mark Rutkowski, Jerry Dunham, Lynn Aldrich and Eric Woelfel. {Wong \ # Building § Building ! ® Building Co PHOTO CONTRIBUTED Inside The Post 14 Pages, 1 Section Calendar How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000
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