Vol. 116 No. 35 August 28 - September 3, 2005 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS hope for the best.” Kunkle Fire Co. receives water rescue training in classroom, pool and Bowman's Creek By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor Jack Dodson hopes the members of the Kunkle Fire Co. never have to put the training they received last week to use. But the fire chief says with the amount of waterways in the Back Mountain, its reassuring to know his men will be prepared the next time a water rescue is needed. The company recently received water rescue and emergency training from instructor Joe Perugino. In ad- dition to classroom work, the mem- bers underwent training in the King’s College pool and in Bowman's Creek. “We try to stay on top of our train- ing,” said Dodson, who has 30 com- bined active members in the fire and ambulance companies. “We have a lot of water in our area. There’s Har- veys Lake, Bowman's Creek, Leo- nard’s Creek. And there are lots of ponds. “You never know what might hap- pen. You prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Perugino, who does training with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, was contacted by Dodson to conduct the classes. “Personal and team safety is the biggest issue,” he said, referring to the most important thing he teaches during the training. “You have to have the right protective clothing, which includes a personal flotation device and a water rescue helmet. “We've been seeing fire companies putting on their regular turnout gear at water rescues. There’s documenta- “You never know what might happen. You prepare for the worst and FOR THE POST/JONATHAN J. JUKA Kunkle Fire Co. Chief Jack Dodson, center, floats on his back during a water rescue exercise. Coming to the rescue Jack Dodson Kunkle Fire Chief Members of the Kunkle Fire Co. listen to instructions d cue training. FOR THE POST/JONATHAN J. JUKA tion that shows if a rescuer falls in without a personal flotation device, they become part of the problem.” Some of the training included a victim stranded in the water and a foot entrapment, simulating a person being stuck in moving water with their foot trapped in a rock and un- able to get free. “I think it was very good training,” said Dodson. “Our guys liked it. Some of them FOR THE POST/JONATHAN J. JUKA uring the water res- Water rescue in- structor Joe Peru- gino acts as a drowning victim for a safety demon- stration. want to get a little See RESCUE, Page 5 A variety of themed gift baskets were available through a silent auction. Preparing some of the baskets, from left, are Allie Berry, Stacey Stepniak, Kathy Berry and Lauren Hall. Auction moves group closer to Texas trip By M.B. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent DALLAS TWP. — Thanks to community support during a pic- nic and auction last weekend, the senior high school youth group from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is nearly halfway toward its fund- raising goal for a trip to San Anto- nio, Texas. “We are very grateful to the congregation and to our friends for the support,” said Marjorie Marquart, chairman of the All- American Picnic and Auction held on the church grounds. “We raised over $12,000 and money is still coming in from some items that we offered on eBay.” The youth group is trying to raise $25,000 by next spring to cover all the expenses involved in sending 18 youth and four adult chaperones to the National Youth Gathering in July. Thou- sands of youth from all over the world will attend the weeklong program that will include wor- ship, workshops, music and dance, along with various service opportunities. “It’s going to be a new experi- ence, possibly a life-changing one,” said Gina Kaiser, a 16-year- old member of the group. “It’s for kids to learn faith from their peers.” Gina was on hand to work at one of the many booths at last weekend's event. All of the young travelers and their parents are required to par- ticipate in the various fund-rais- ers to be held throughout the coming year. Plans for the auction and pic- nic began in April and donations were solicited from many sourc- es. “Most of our plants were do- nated by McCarthy's Flowers and Gallagher’s Wholesale, but we also had donations from the congregation,” said Kathy Berry, plant booth chairman. “We had a large variety of plants including Lucky Bamboo, Beta Fish plant- ers and terrariums.” Berry, who has two children making the trip to San Antonio, will be one of the four chaperones. There was a silent auction of themed gift baskets in addition to a live auction. “We've gotten some wonderful donations from the congregation and from friends,” said Sylvia Kropp, auction chairman. “The Back Mountain Quilters donated a beautiful handmade quilt. We also received a football signed by (Penn State football coach) Joe Paterno and a painting from (Dallas artist) Sue Hand.” Volunteer auctioneers for the evening included Steve Traver, Wayne Steele, Sonny Smith and Dave Spurlin. The youth group will hold ad- ditional fund-raisers, including bake sales, car washes, dinners and a coffee house. “Im excited to go,” said Sa- mantha Marquart, whose moth- er is also chaperoning. “It will be different than anything we've done before. There's going to be 25,000 kids there.” Katie Confer, left, adds some finishing touches to Courtney McCarthy's make-up at the face-painting booth. ¥ Inside The Post 10 Pages, 1 Section CRIENUET ... cet eveersnrshnsivese 10 Church news............... 2&8 CIVIC NEWS coins iiiurrinsvrnies 6 School News.........cvenunene. 9 SPOILS ov diitidiniidiisionid 7 vy How To Reach Us News: 829-7601 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 oh a, ga FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Five-year-old Molly Loughney, a visitor from London, admires her favorite "tomahtoes" while visiting her grandfather Tom Lough- ney at the Harveys Lake Country Store. Country store a By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent HARVEYS LAKE - At the turn of the century, approximately 108 years ago, what is now the Har- veys Lake Country Store had big glass windows, floor and ceiling wood paneling, a hitching post outside, and the trolley from Wilkes-Barre ran past it The trolley was gone when Margaret Truska and her hus- band Taft took over the store in 1967. But Taft’s family had owned Truska’s Restaurant — now the Sportsmen’s Bar owned by Flo- piece of Back Mountain history rence Boyle — and Taft Truska has some youthful memories of life at the lake. In the 1940s, Taft remembers Bruce Moss running a bus ran around the lake twice a day. The trolley that went by the store then continued on to Noxen and Mountain Spring, supplying the tanneries there. It brought back tanned leather and ice to Wilkes- Barre. He remembers the last two steamboats on the lake and that they were stored in nearby boath- ouses for the winter. The store once sold steamship tickets and made home deliveries around the lake. There were two other stores on the lake, the Harveys Lake Sup- ply Store at Alderson and Go- sart’s at Sunset Beach. There was also Rood’s campground store at Sandy Beach. In 1901, the “west corner store” was already in existence as a sin- gle story structure owned by Al Goode. He sold it to I. A. Rood, who came from Sweet Valley and taught at the Rock School on Sor- ber Mountain for See HISTORY, Page 5
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