Vol. 117 No. 37 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 September 10 - September 16, 2006 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Everyone’s all smiles as students come back from summer break 0) happy returns By DAVE KONOPKI Dallas Post Editor Editor’s note: Teachers and principals, if your schools having a special actwity, gwe us acall at least one week i advance. We won't be able to cover every- thing, but we’ll do our best to ge your students some recognition. Editor Dave Konopki may be reached at 829-7248. Kindergarten students riding the school bus for the first time. Sixth-graders struggling with the combina- tion to their locker. A new face in a sea of new faces. The first day of school can be a very emotional time. And not just for the students. Just ask seasoned veterans such as Marilyn Glogow- ski and Anthony Martinelli. “I didn’t sleep the week before school began,” said Glogowski, a third-year principal at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School who begins her 31st year in the dis- trict. “I had knots in my stomach. I was just as excited this year as I was the very first year. When you put your whole heart and soul into something, nothing be- comes mundane.” Students in the Lake-Lehman and Dallas school dis- tricts — as well as students in private and parochial schools such as Gate of Heaven — returned to the class- room following summer break. Lake-Lehman’s sched- uled return date of Aug. 30 was postponed by one day because of a leaky roof at the high school, while Dallas students were back in the classrooms the day after La- bor Day. “I'm as excited and anxious as the kids,” said Marti- nelli, who is entering his 15th year as principal at Dal- las Middle School and his 33rd year in the district. “You're always concerned about how the first day is going to go. You would think it would get easier each year, but it doesn’t. You're always a little anxious.” Despite the concerns, both principals said things have gone smoothly. . “Everything went wonderfully,” said Martinelli, adding that all new students attended an orientation. “It was a great transition; went as smooth as can be. PHOTOS FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Lehman-Jackson Elementary School principal Marilyn Glogowski welcomes student Nicole Barto. “I had knots in my stomach. | was just as excited this year as | was the very first year. When you put your whole heart and soul into something, nothing becomes mundane.” Marilyn Glogowski Lehman-Jackson principal People worked all summer long in our office getting everything ready. In middle school, I think there’s al- ways some anxiety when students go from fifth to sixth grade. I try to allay those fears. We try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.” While academics will always be the No. 1 priority, Glogowski says it’s important for the students to have fun. “I believe enrichment is just as important as the aca- demics,” she said. “Last year, we specials days like ‘Western Day’ and ‘Wacky Hair Day.’ The students are here to learn. But for a day or two, you let them do something new. They come to school excited. They have fun and they're still learning.” Martinelli is hoping his students can repeat their academic performance from a year ago. “Our students did very well academically last year Denise Driscoll greets her daughter Emily after class at Gate of Heaven School in Dallas. and we're raising the bar even high this year,” he said. “We're looking forward to a very good year.” The 44th annual Luzerne County Fair concludes today at the fairgrounds on Route 118 By JOHN DAVIDSON For The Dallas Post DALLAS - The first night of the 44th annual Luzerne County Fair began un- der the light of a full moon earlier this week, with the familiar and alluring smells of fair food wafting through the cool night air. “I come here for the food,” said Bill Mackrell of Dallas, as he chomped into a giant turkey leg. “It’s good stuff and you can’t just get it anywhere.” And there’s plenty to go around: fun- nel cakes, elephant ears, gyros, Polish and Italian sausage, ribs, giant pretzels, fried veggies and much more at the 2006 fair, dubbed, “A Fair to Remem- ber.” For those with more refined fair Food, floats and fun flow at county fair The Richardson Root Beer stand is one of the features at this year's Lu- zerne County Fair. TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO\FRED ADAMS DAVE KONOPKI tastes, there’s even a rarity — The Ri- chardson Root Beer stand of Grant and Gail Simons, thought to be the only one of its kind still in operation. The antique stand makes root beer floats with old-time carbonators and a wooden barrel manufactured by the Ri- chardson Food Company of Rochester, N.Y. in the 1920s. “There’s nothing like this,” said Keith Powell of Lehman Township as he bought a root beer float for himself and his son. “It just has that fair taste.” The county fair began with music from 40 Ib. Head and concludes today with a 2 p.m. show by Sug’r Bear anda 7 p.m. performance by Daddy-O & The Sax Maniacs at the amphitheater stage. A fireworks show is set for 9 p.m. Gates open today at 10 a.m. The $7 admission price includes un- limited S&S Amusement rides, park- ing, gate entrance, entertainment, shows, exhibits and a petting zoo. Se- nior citizens may attend the fair at half price. Kelly Neilson of Dallas said she never misses the county fair and most enjoys the rides and games, of which there are many. “I can’t believe I actually won some- thing this year,” she said, holding up a stuffed animal she won with the skillful use of a water gun at one of the many carnival booths. This year the fair featured a new act — western stunt artists Shane and Susie Karson. Performing as the harmonizing duo Team Karson, they entertained fair- goers with trick riding, Roman riding and a bull whip act. The pair, who tour nationally, rode four paint horses — Bobcat, Bo, Robin and Doc — with which they performed an array of stunts and tricks for fairgoers this year. V¥ How To Reach Us News: 829-7248 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 The Dallas Junior Mounts and Kingston Township Raiders bat- tle in youth football ( In search of an Idol Dallas soccer team poster V Inside The Post 8 Pages, 1 Section 6 Church Briefs... nine 6 CIVIC DIETS .cicieesinsiserasssisssonss 5 ODIEUBIIOS ..covicnrci-rirsincssinrvess 3 Puzzles. ............. 2 Sports 7 Returning to our papers rich tradition Tradition. The Back Mountain is steeped in tradition, from the founding of Harveys Lake more than 200 years ago to the trains that rolled through our neigh- borhoods to events such as the annual Back Mountain Memorial Library Auc- tion. The Dallas Post was part of that tradi- tion for more than 110 years. And the tradition returns today. If you haven’t noticed, we've returned the name of the newspaper to The Dal- las Post, a name that has appeared on the paper’s banner almost every year since Arthur A. Holbrook founded the publication in 1889. In October 2004, the word “Dallas” was removed from the newspaper in an effort to give it more regional appeal. Proponents of the change worried the name “Dallas Post” might lead people in surrounding communities to believe there was nothing in the newspaper about them. Avid readers of the publication know that couldn’t be further from the truth. Quite frankly, this newspaper never stopped being The Dallas Post in the minds of Back Mountain residents. Almost all of our mail is addressed to The Dallas Post. It appears in the phone book as The Dallas Post. And people never stopped calling it The Dallas Post. Don’t be fooled by the name, however. Faithful readers know we love to write stories about the people and events within the communities of the Lake- Lehman School District. That will never change. Returning to the newspaper’s original name doesn’t mean the name change nearly two years ago was a bad idea. Things are constantly changing in the newspaper industry. And we're not afraid to try new things. Sometimes we'll be successful. Sometimes we won't. We're going to continue running many of your favorites, including our Only Yesterday feature. It doesn’t ap- pear this week because of special ad- vertising for the Dallas Harvest Festival that was sold for the page. Keep in mind we’re a community newspaper. A newspaper that is publish- ed with a larger, sister publication. We want to write the stories you won't see in the Times Leader. Stories about our neighbors. Stories about our churches. Stories about our schools. Stories about our young athletes and the many youth sports programs in our back yard. That doesn’t mean we’ll stay away from issues that are important to you. As you've probably noticed in recent weeks, we've been writing more “hard news” stories in addition to the feature stories. We've written about the Back Mountain Council of Governments. We've written about the expired teacher contracts in the Dallas and Lake-Leh- man school districts. Those are issues that have also been written about in the Times Leader. But we feel they’re impor- tant enough to warrant extra coverage by us. To give you the best possible product, we need your help. Tell us the kind of stories you'd like to see in The Dallas Post. What have we been doing well? Where can we improve? The location and name of the newspa- per has changed several times since the days it was printed in a building on the corner of Huntsville Road and Norton Avenue in Dallas. But there’s one thing that will never change. Our commitment to you. You may reach editor Dave Konopki at 829- 7248 or dkonopki@leader.net.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers