The Post EDITORIAL Sunday, January 23, 2005 : OUR OPINION Farewell, hearty thanks to Marilyn Rudolph arilyn Rudolph doesn’t want people to make a fuss over her retirement from the Back Mountain Memorial Library. After all, in the 35 years she served as children’s librarian, she never called attention to herself, instead going quietly about the business of choosing books, organizing story hours and myriad other tasks no one notices. But we're glad there will be a reception at the library in her honor this Wednesday. The event will give people young and old the opportunity to say thanks for her years of service and skillful oversight of an area that is arguably the most important in this irreplaceable community resource. The entire library has expanded remarkably since it was founded in 1945. With the completion of the children’s wing in 1998, that section won the prominence it has always deserved as the spawning ground for countless lifetime read- ers. Undoubtedly, some of the people who will turn out to salute Marilyn will have been among those spread out on the floor at story hour in the not-so-distant past. Those who know her best freely comment on Marilyn’s competence, commitment and grace. There’s more to her, of course, including an adventurous streak that took her to Africa less than a decade ago and a sly sense of humor that reveals a sharp and wide-ranging intellect. Try to make it over to the library Wednesday afternoon. If you've known Marilyn, your presence will add to the festivi- ties. If you haven't, or are not a library regular, take this opportunity to see the institution so many people support with their time, effort and money. Once you see it, you'll understand why. PennDOT is on the road to traffic solution When traffic backs up along Route 415 and tempers grow short, it doesn’t seem that we're particularly fortunate here in the Back Mountain. But our perceptions may be based on lim- ited experience; things are much worse in lots of other places. Just ask anyone who lives in or near a large city. But that is no excuse to ignore an entirely predictable future in which tieups are multiples of what we now face, reducing the quality of life we cherish. So it’s with a combina- tion of relief and concern that we watch the proceedings toward a hoped-for solution to congestion in the center of Dallas, a condition that will be amplified if and when stores, offices or housing are built on the former Yalick farmland less than two miles away. A study of traffic is scheduled to begin later this year, and the best-case scenario calls for a preliminary design early in 2006. The recommendation may or may not be to construct a roundabout, a setup that is not universally welcomed in the community, although it seems to offer a grace that would be absent from more common approaches, such as ramming “another pair of lanes through the center of town. PennDOT officials say their planning is timely, given the rapid increase in traffic through the Back Mountain, and we can’t disagree. But we will continue to feel that way only if their fix takes shape before the next wave of development. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel Community retirement party for Marilyn Rudolph Wednesday, Jan. 26 5 to 8 p.m. At the library, 96 Huntsville Rd., Dallas ® On Jan. 27, 1302, poet and politician Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence, where he served as one of six priors gov- erning the city. Dante wrote his masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy,” as a virtual wanderer, seeking protection for his fami- ly in town after town. ® On Jan. 24, 1907, in Ormond Beach, Fla., Glenn Curtiss, an engineer who got his start building motors for bicycles, sets an unofficial land-speed record of 136.29 mph on a self-built V-8 motorcycle. An automobile would not surpass that speed until 1911. ® On Jan. 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympics are held, at Chamonix in the French Alps. Spectators were thrilled by the ski jump and bobsled as well as 12 other events involving a total of six sports. Canada won the hockey gold, scoring 110 goals and allowing just three goals in five games. ¢ On Jan. 29, 1964, Stanley Kubrick’s black comic master- piece, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” opens in theaters. Kubrick’s satirical attacks on the U.S. and Russian policies of nuclear stockpiling and massive retaliation struck a chord with the American people, particular- ly after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. ® On Jan. 30, 1972, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 13 unarmed Northern Catholic civil-rights demonstrators are shot dead by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.” (c) 2005 King Features Synd., Inc. en pg ! : PI WS, - JE SE Th PEL Gate to snowhere. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. GUEST COLUMN North Branch Land Trust had active year The North Branch Land Trust had a very successful 2004, working with concerned landowners in accepting con- servation agreements on four properties totaling nearly 3,500 acres. North Branch Land Trust also has assisted Wildlands Conservancy in con- serving approximately 800 acres in Carbon County. The largest of these con- served properties consists of approximately 3,017 acres. The land is in Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County bordering State Game Lands. Another property consisting of nearly 224 acres is in Union Township, Luzerne Count, also bordering State Game Lands. A third property over 220 acres in size occurs in Fishing Creek Township, Columbia County. The fourth property, slated to be available for Environmental Education efforts, consists of approxi- mately 37 acres and is located in = Tuscarora = Township, Bradford County. Collectively, the conserva- tion agreements protect pris- tine scenic viewsheds, ridge tops, forest lands, wetlands, lakes, streams and wildlife cor- ridors that are inhabited by nearly 1,000 species of plants and animals, with several glob- ally rare species among them. We thank the landowners, advi- sors and many volunteers who made this progress possible - their work has helped to per- manently protect the quality of life in Northeastern Pennsylvania. For more information on these properties, or to receive photos of the properties for media release, contact Rick Koval, Land Protection Specialist by calling 696-1691 or emailing Koval@nblt.org. “Preserving Precious Land Forever” is why the North Branch Land Trust was creat- ed. Sometimes this means working with property owners to permanently conserve their land using a tool called a con- servation easement, but often NBLT’s role is that of environ: mental educator Volunteers often go into schools and other locations to make presentations, and staff naturalist Rick Koval provides many opportunities for the public to learn about the natu- ral wonders. In addition, NBL helps to save historic stru tures (like the Noxen Train Depot), and attempts to address land-use issues such as urban decay, suburban sprawl, loss of open ‘space, and sus- tainable land-use planning while preserving the communi- ty’s culture. : it Send your comments to The Post by e-mail thepost@leader.net Digital photos welcome, too! Tie POST TIMES*LEADER Community Newspaper Group 15 N. MAIN ST., WILKES-BARRE PA 18711 * 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net Ronald Bartizek Patrick McHugh EDITOR PUBLISHER 70 Years Ago Jan. 25, 1935 HEMLOCK BARK NO LONGER USED IN TANNING The last of the hemlock bark, once an all-important factor in tanning, was ground recently by the JK. Mosser Tanning company at Noxen. Henceforth, the company will use only extracts, shipped in from Southern States in its tanning process. ONLY YESTERDAY Persons close to Congressman C. Elmer Dietrich ‘of Tunkhannock this week . expressed indignation over ‘reports that a group known as the International reform Federation intended to contest Mr. Dietrich’s election to Congress. Since Mr. Dietrich already has been seated and is busy at work in Washington D.C., it was unlikely that the threats of a contest would mate- rialize. Saturday morning in St. Therese’s church, Joseph Jerome Laux of Pioneer Avenue was married to Mary Magdelene Breza, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Breza of Dallas. 60 Years Ago Jan. 26, 1945 PEEVED, WOMAN SENDS HER LAUNDRY TO THE WHITE HOUSE Unable to purchase an elec- tric iron and rebuked by arro- gant clerks for harboring the thought, Mrs. Virginia Harding of Trucksville this week solved her washday problems by for- warding her laundry direct to the White House, along with an explanatory rhyme. Writing from California to “The Outpost,” a weekly page of correspondence from men and women in the service, Ed Cundiff said, “So far it’s not too bad. I ran into Bob McCarty and Harold Dymond a couple of days ago. I thought I was till dreaming. First time I ever ran into anyone from the back mountain since I have been in.” “Donna,” the duck, is dead. The duck arrived at the Devens mill five years ago, and never left. Since then, in summers she ranged in the Devens family back yard tethered to a clothes line, and in winter she stayed in the cellar. Her master, A.C. Devens, said old age and long- ing for her former home in Kunkle led to her death. The family moved to Dallas last fall. 50 Years Ago Jan. 21, 1955 MRS. TREBILCOX RALLIES FIGHT AGAINST POLIO Mrs. James Trebilcox, Trucksville, chairman for the Mothers’ March on Polio for the entire Back Mountain area, has made announcement of the cap- tains, co-captains and contact mothers. Mr. Trebilcox is assist- ed by Mrs. John Yaple, Goss Manor. Residents are requested to turn on their porch lights as a friendly beacon to the volun- teers in this dramatic finale to the 1955 March of Dimes. The drive against obscene lit- erature inaugurated by Harveys Lake Womans Club last spring was reported on by Mrs. Fred Swanson, chairman, at Monday night's board meeting at the home of Mrs. Walbridge Leinthal. Shop-keepers, said Mrs. Swanson, were not coop- erating. George. Major and John Manzoni, graduates of Lehman- Jackson-Ross high school in 1954, were awarded degrees of Keystone Farmer at the State Farm Show in Harrisburg last week. Major, assisted by his brother Russell, showed four animals, remaining for the entire show week. His Holstein bull went first in the open class. William Shaffer, Tunkhannock, head of NEPA, also was award- ed the Keystone Farmer degree. 40 Years Ago Jan. 21, 1965 BOYS ESCAPE HARM WHEN CAR SINKS THROUGH POND ICE Two boys jumped out of a car that was sinking through the ice in a pond near Orange Sunday afternoon. Timmy Dymond, 17, brother of Ted, who escaped serious injury in a chain-reaction crash on Lake Louise Road several weeks ago, was driving the Ford Country Squire station wagon, and Ernest Barber was passenger. The pond is located on the Dymond property. The boys happened to be testing the ice there because they reportedly saw someone else in a lighter car successfully driving on the pond. ; Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kozick, 36 Main Street, attended the inauguration of President Lyndon B. Johnson in Washington, as guest of Col. and Mrs. William Dieroff. Other local folks who received invita- tions but were unable to make it were Dallas Postmaster Edward Buckley and Attorney James Lenahan Brown, Trucksville. Action in the first Back Mountain YMCA basketball game saw the Badgers run roughshod over the Wolves by a score of 80-21. Ed Rome went wild in the second quarter for 20 points. For the Wolves, no one could do anything — not even Russ Monte, their big man, who was held to six points. i 30 Years Ago Editor’s Note: The Dallas Post was shut down abruptly after the Dec. 23, 1974 issue by its owner, Greenstreet News. A new owner resumed publica- tion Jan. 30, 1975, and “30 Years Ago” will return when we reach that date. 20 Years Ago Jan. 23, 1985 - PELTON TO CONDUCT WYOMING VALLEY CONCERT BAND Reese Pelton prepared to pick up the baton at the pre- mier performance of the Wyoming Valley Concert Band on radio station WYZZ Ironically, the station, for 25 years a leader in cultural pro- gramming, was about to be sold and the format changed. Among the performers in the “Concert Under the Stars” Mark Steinkirchner, a junior a Dallas High School. : There was a new sense of style on the lanes at Bonomo’s Sports Center, as local bowlers donned new duds for the sea- son. Modeling for a photo were Diane Garnett, Arlene Hospodar, Donna Sorber, Libby Cyphers, Kay Scavone and Elsie | Nulton. Mr. and Mrs. John P. Elenchik of West Overbrook Avenue, Dallas, were preparing to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Jan. 30. They were charter members of Gate of Heaven Church, where Mrs. Elenchik was also a founding member of the Altar & Rosary Society. They would celebrate | the even with their four chil- dren and 12 grandchildren. & ) Post drop box in Dallas Justin Wisnosk ADVERTISIN Pat O'Donnell PREPRESS MANAGER The building that housed The Post until October has been sold, and the drop off box there has been closed. A box at the Uni-Mart in Dallas, across from the Dallas Shopping Center, remains open. News items, photos and other correspondence can be deposit; h \ there at any time. Please do not place cash or checks in the box. To assure that items reach us in time for publication, deposit items before 8 a.m. Wednesdays.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers