i | . | Sunday, August 21, 200% & { PAGE 4 THE POST EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR Some parents deserve a much-needed timeout The telephone conversation was less than two minutes old — and it had gone from good to bad to impossible. It started innocently enough, a woman calling to see how she could submit her son’s Little League team photo for publication. The team didn’t win any championships or even finish as the run- ner-up. In fact, the team of players ages 7 and 8 finished with a record well below .500. The decision whether or not to publish those kinds of photo is difficult, I told her. We'd love to be able to publish every team pho- to, but with hundreds of Little League, youth soccer, youth basket- ~ ball, mini football and elementary wrestling teams throughout the Back Mountain, it’s an impossible task. Go ahead and send in the photo, I politely told her. If space per- mits over the next few weeks and we're not inundated with those kinds of photos, we'll do our best to get it published. Apparently that wasn’t good enough. What about a feature story, she asked. After all, her son was one of the best players in the league despite his team playing so poorly and all of the kids tried really hard. And regardless, these kids “deserve” some publicity. Ouch. That word has always struck a nerve in me. Deserve. “My daughter took first place in a gymnastics competition and she deserves a story.” ~ “My son won a karate trophy last week and he deserves to have his name and photo in the newspaper.” “Our team won the championship and the players deserve some recognition.” Sorry folks, those kids don’t “deserve” anything. There used to be a time it was an honor — and a privilege — for young athletes or students to have their accomplishments publish- ed in the newspaper. Now, it’s expected. And it’s expected by the parents. Not the children. I've had coaches tell me how “devastated” their team was by not having a score in the newspaper. Parents have told me about their kids being emotionally hurt by not seeing their name or photos in print. I've had parents tell me their son was quitting the sport be- cause he felt he wasn’t getting enough recognition. And one woman told me her 9-year-old daughter wasn’t going to receive a college scholarship for gymnastics because we reported she won four gold medals, when in fact she won five. But in more than 20 years as a newspaper — and as a coach — I've never heard a child complain about not receiving enough publicity. Why? They're not playing sports for the recognition. Theyre play- ing because they love it. That doesn’t mean we should ignore their accomplishments. Believe me, there’s no one who wants to see the youth of our area recognized in print more than I do. I've devoted much of my profes- sional life to make sure it happens. Of course, there are parents who feel athletes receive far too much attention in the newspaper. Letters to the editor in many newspapers are written by people who believe the accomplish- ments of non-athletes are almost non-existent. That might have been the case years ago, but not today. In addition to publishing honor rolls; dean’s lists and ‘many other individual honors, there have been countless stories written about debate teams, chess clubs, Boys and Girls Scouts, cheerleading and band competitions, etc. And for more than a decade, the Times Leader has recognized the accomplishments of hundreds of gifted students through its Best and Brightest program. I encourage parents, coaches and teachers to continue sending in press releases and photos recognizing the accomplishments of all young people. I'll do my best to make sure they receive the appro- priate attention. And if you have an idea for a good feature story, I'd love to hear about that, too. Just don't tell me that your child deserves to have his name in the newspaper. Dave Konopki is editor of The Post. You can contact him by phone at 829- 7248 or by e-mail at dkonopki@leader.net MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., after centuries of dormancy, Mount Vesuvius erupts in southern Italy, burying Pompeii and killing thousands. The city, rediscovered in the 18th century, provided an archaeological record of the everyday life of an ancient civilization. On Aug. 25, 1819, fabled crime fighter Allan Pinkerton is born in Glasgow, Scotland. Pinkerton founded a detective agency in Chicago that originally gained fame for solving a series of train robberies and later became known for helping management break strikes by the new labor unions. On Aug. 22, 1864, the International Red Cross is founded by signed agreement among 12 nations. A red cross on a white back- ground - the Swiss flag in reverse - was chosen as the international emblem in honor of Swiss humanitarian Jean-Henri Dunant. On Aug. 23, 1926, the death of silent-screen idol Rudolph Valen- tino at the age of 31 sends his fans into a hysterical state of mass mourning. In his brief film career, the Italian-born actor established a reputation as the archetypal screen lover. On Aug. 27, 1941, Prince Fumimaro Konoye, prime minister of Japan, announces that he would like to enter into negotiations with President Roosevelt to prevent the Japanese conflict with China from expanding into world war. At war's end, he was served with an arrest warrant by U.S. occupying forces for suspicion of war crimes. On Aug. 28,1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African-American from Chicago, is brutally murdered in Mississippi for flirting with a white woman. An all-white jury deliberated for less than an hour before issuing a verdict of “not guilty,” explaining that they believed the state had failed to prove the identity of the body. On Aug. 26, 1979, Charles Boyer, the handsome hero of French and American films, takes his own life with an overdose of sleeping pills. His wife of 25 years, Pat Paterson, had died only two days earli- er. : — THE POST TIMES@®LEADER Community Newspaper Group hg 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 ©. 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net Patrick McHugh David C. Konopki PUBLISHER EDITOR Erika Calvert ADVERTISING bay “ oe Ea 71 « The Frantz farm on Hildebrandt Road in Dallas is more than a piece of property. It's a piece of history. It's been around for the Civil War, more. than 20 presidents, the invention of electricity and two world wars. And you thought you were old. 70 years ago August 23, 1935 WILCOX NAMED DALLAS COUNCILMAN Morgan Wilcox, who was ap- pointed a councilman at the last meeting of Dallas Borough Council, was sworn in by Justice of the Peace John Yaple on Tuesday night. Mr. Wilcox fills the vacancy caused by the death of Harry Garrahan. The oath was administered at a regular meeting of council. ONLY YESTERDAY Contracts for the erection of a one-story annex to Dallas Town- ship High School were awarded this week by township school di- rectors. Execution of the con- tracts will be speeded so work can be started within the next few weeks. It is expected the addition will ~ be ready for use before the end of the year. The general contract was awarded to W. F. Sutter of Nescopeck at his bid of $19,185. J.L. Turner and Co. of Nanticoke received the heating contract and the plumbing contract was awarded to Leo F. Steadle. 60 years ago August 24, 1945 LEHMAN TEACHERS READY FOR SCHOOL YEAR Lehman schools expect to open fall term on September 5 with one of the strongest facul- ties in a number of years. Three outstanding teachers have been elected to fill vacancies and an- other is ready to take his place as vocational-educational instruc- tor just as soon as a home can be found for him in Lehman. Bernard Ikeler of Millville, a graduate of Dickinson College, has been elected to teach senior high school English, and Ber- nard J. Gerrity of Centralia, a graduate of Mansfield State Teachers’ College has been elected to supervise music and direct the school band. Miss Hannah Culp of Huntsville, an outstanding grade school teach- er, was elected some weeks ago to teach first grade. An old established textile in- dustry operating for large plants along the Atlantic Seaboard — three in New York State and one in New Jersey — is definitely in- terested in establishing a new plant in the Back Mountain Ar- ea, preferably in the vicinity of Dallas. Within the past month, archi- tects, engineers and officials of the firm have been in this area viewing available sites for a plant to handle their dying and finishing for their operations. No less than 10 acres is re- quired with access to a good flow of water. According to pre- sent plans the plant will employ at least 200 persons on three shifts and have an annual payroll of approximately $350,000. Plans also call for considerable future expansion. Donald Eyet, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Archie Eyet of Dymond Hollow near Center Moreland, is one of 845 Navy men listed as missing in action following the sinking in the Philippine Sea of the heavy cruiser Indianapolis by a Japanese submarine. The young sailor enlisted in the Navy two years ago in May and had served most of his en- listment aboard the famous ves- sel which was lost shortly after the completion of her last mis- sion. She sailed from San Fran- cisco on July 16 on a high speed run to Guam to deliver essential atomic bomb material and was torpedoed a few days late after safely delivering her cargo. Loss of life aboard the ship is sur- passed only by that of the air- craft carrier Franklin and the Battleship Arizona at Pearl Har- bor. 50 years ago August 26, 1955 BOY SCOUTS HELP SALVATION ARMY Boy scouts of the Back Moun- tain region have volunteered to help the Salvation Army Satur- day morning in its collection of warm clothing and food stuffs for the flood sufferers of the northeast area. Charles Rine- himer, scoutmaster of Explorer Troop 151 said his troop will have charge of the collection in Dallas Borough and Dallas Township. Assistant scoutmasters who will organize and supervise the collection are Joe Harris, Leslie Barstow, Jack Stanley, Percy Love and David Parry. Troops in Shavertown and Trucksville will handle the collection in those ar- eas. X-rays taken at Nesbitt Memo- rial Hospital showed no broken bones and no internal injuries, so 2-year-old Elizabeth Gross was discharged Friday after a 24- hour precautionary stay in the children’s ward. Grave injury was expected when the baby slipped the catch of the car door and fell under the wheels in the Commonwealth parking lot on Lake Street when her mother, Mrs. Harry Gross of Park Street, was making a u-turn Thursday afternoon. Instead of the car wheel pass- ing over the child’s body, Eliza- beth rolled downhill, and the tire marks on her abdomen were in the nature of brush burns, not crushing injury. Mrs. Z. Platt Bennett's En- glish bull terrier won Best in Show on Sunday for the sixth time during the year, competing against 569 dogs at the Maple City Kennel Club show at Horn- . ell. Champion Kashdowd White ‘Rock of Coolyn Hill was shown by handler John Roberts, dog handler for Mrs. Bennett for the past seven years. The champion, imported from England 16 months ago, has rolled up a record on the eastern circuit of winning in 14 terrier groupings, and 20 wins as best of breed, in addition to the all-important title of best in show at Burlington, Vt.; Scran- ton, Greenville, S.C., Charlottes- ville, Va., Penn Treaty Show in Media, and Sunday’s show at Hornell. 40 years ago August 26, 1965 FIRE COMPANY BUYS FIRE SUIT The Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Co. in Dallas voted to buy a fire- proof “entry suit” at a substan- tial savings in price. The suit will be the only such piece of equip- ment in the Back Mountain and complements the present “ap- proach suit,” which is fireproof but not suitable for entering a fire. The suit is equipped to al- low the wearer to use an air pack for breathing, and it will have a D-ring on the back to secure the occupant to his company. The company was of the opin- ion that such a suit would be a particular value in case of flam- ing vehicles, as well as buildings. The Pennsylvania State Police Academy exhibition of trained horses and dogs, and the “atom- ic” car will be new features of the Dallas Rotary Fall Fair, which be- gins Friday evening, Sept. 10. The event will take place at the Lehman Horse Show Grounds. The fall fair is to run three days this year — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — and has proven such a popular festivity that the num- ber of featured attractions has burgeoned. Lake-Lehman schools initi ated a blood-assurance through the PTA at the suggestion of su- pervising principal Lester Squier. Mrs. Leonard Selingo, Mrs. Thomas G. Brown, Mrs. James McCaffery and Mrs. Wil- liam Shalata were put in charge of the program. 30 years ago Aug. 21, 1975 TRAP CLUB CLOSED BY KT SUPERVISORS Kingston Township supervi- sors voted at last week’s meeting to close the Rose Hill Trap Club. Residents have complained about shooting at the club dur- ing this summer and at the July meeting the supervisors voted to suspend shooting pending their decision to issue a permit. After several registered letters sent by the township were not accepted by the club’s owners, the supervisors closed the club citing a lack of cooperation. The Dallas Fire and Ambu- lance Co. is holding its annual Country Carnival Aug. 30-31 and Sept. 1 on the gro#nds of the 1 Back Mountain Memorial Li-; brary. A fireman’s parade will be held and this year’s parade’ promises even more than last. year, when 49 firefighting vehi: cles participated. Some of the events Als : fire truck rides, the can smash, games of chance, and a dunk] tank. Dallas Township police! chief Carl Miers has already vg unteered for a turn on the dunk- er. 2 Nd The Luzerne County 4-H light” horse and pony club roundup’ was held at the Lehman Horse" Show Grounds. Sixty members. representing six 4-H clubs were, entered in the 26 classes of En- glish, western and game events. According to county agent EV. Chadwick, 36 members’ : placing in the top three are now’ eligible to represent Luzerne’ County in the Northeast District] 3 show in Lehighton on Sept. 6.} 20 years ago - Aug. 21, 1985 in MILK CONTRACTS FOCUS OF > CONTROVERSY a The awarding of contracts to} provide milk to the schools in the Lake-Lehman School Dis-; trict was the subject of a contro- y versy again this year. When the proposal to Sard the contracts to Dallas Dairy;, Blue Ribbon Dairy and High-, land Dairy was made, school, board director Bing Wolfe re-; minded the board that in prior; years, the milk contracts were; , the subject of some disagree- ment. He recommended that to] avoid potential problems, the| district award contracts to all! three dairies to supply milk on an equal basis. amended the motion with exclusion of Highland Dairy, Iv; was passed after much discus-| sion. After director Daniel un ) The death of 31-year-old Kim Stanley Krasner of Harveys Lake was the 12th fatality this year on Pennsylvania's waterways, the state Fish Commission report: ed. Krasner was killed when the: boat he was operating crashe into a diving board at the lake. The death was the latest boat ing-related fatality on the lak since June 18, 1983 when two motorboats collided, killing fo people. When Kingston Township's new ordinances take effect in October 1985, residents will have a new Fire Safety and Pre- vention Officer. They will also have to keep their properties from being overrun by unkempt weeds. The two new ordinances wer enacted by the township Bo of Supervisors last week and become law in October 1985. The ordinance regarding th weeds carries a fine of not le than $25 and not more than, "$300 for'tiny violation. 1 Jd SA —_ —————————————————
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers