8 ® 118 No. 27 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 July 15 - 21, 2007 ® The "DALLAS POST. SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS uction art fetches $7500, stays in Hand's hands By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Sue Hand tries not to get per- nally attached to her works of art. But this year, Hand’s annual painting of the Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction was something she knew she would have a hard time giving up. With the help of Bernadette Martin, Hand’s daughter Heather Madei- ra and the community, Hand was able to keep her beloved paint- ing. On Sunday night at the auc- tion, Martin sat in the crowd and bid on Hand’s painting with do- nated money from friends of Hand. She was the winning bid- der for an astonishing $7500. Martin handed over the painting to Hand’s son-in-law Tim, who explained to the audience that the community — which included donations from as far away as Massachusetts and Arizona - contributed the money so the painting could stay with Hand. Tim presented it to Hand and, overwhelmed, she began to cry. “I don’t think there’s a word in the English language that would cover it all,” said Hand at a later date. “I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it went over $5000; I was just thrilled to For more Library Auction photos, turn to page 3 death. I was just totally clueless; I had no idea.” After reading a recent article in The Dallas Post about the old Risley barn that was once home to the auction, Hand was in- spired. Reminiscing about her times at the auction led her to paint about her experiences at past auctions. In fact, she named her painting “Then and Now: The Spirit of the Event Lives On” after part of the article’s head- See HAND, Page 10 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Always on edge when her painting is auctioned off, Sue Hand was especially over- whelmed when the Back Mountain community chipped in to buy her painting for $7500 giving the money to the library but returning the painting to Hand. With Sue is her husband, Joe, who framed the painting. Back Mountain emergency responders were the recent recip- ients of two GPS systems from the Geisinger Health System. From left, are Josh Hilstosky, Richard Bartholomew, Franklin Northmoreland Ambulance; Ed Gromeiski RN, Life Flight Nurse; Scott Briggs and Jack Dodson, Kunkle "ire and Ambulance. onates GPS units to locals Geisinger d By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com It’s easy to get lost while driv- ing in a rural area — especially when the weather is adverse and the night is dark. Imagine at- tempting to find such a destina- tion in these conditions by heli- copter with a crew trying to re- ach someone who is critically in- In an attempt to make the task a bit easier, two global position- ing systems were donated by Geisinger Health System to the Franklin Northmoreland Ambu- lance Association and Kunkle Fire and Ambulance June 21 at the Franklin Township Fire Sta- tion. The GPS units will give the pilot exact coordinates of the lo- cale they’re seeking and will as- sist helicopter pilots in finding landing zones. The Cobra GPS 100s were funded by grants from the Emer- gency Medical Services Pro- gram through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said DON CAREY/ THE TIMES LEADER Anne Green, media manager for the Greater Geisinger Wilkes- Barre/Pocono Area. Geisinger Life Flight is a re- gional helicopter service used to transport patients who need to reach a specialized hospital quickly, or those who are too sick-to be moved by ambulance. Helicopters are based at the Wilkes-Barre /Scranton Interna- tional Airport, Avoca; Geisinger Medical Center, Danville; and University Park Airport, State College. When flying to a seclud- ed area, ambulance personnel often give the pilot a visual refer- ence point. But they are not al- ways helpful. With a global posi- tioning system, however, rescue teams can relay an exact loca- tion by coordinates to Life Flight. The result is that pre- cious time — time that can make all the difference in an emergen- cy - is saved. Life Flight pilot Scott Walters has only been on the job for See GPS, Page 10 Members of the Bob Horlacher All-Star softball team celebrate their win over West Pittston on July 10 in Beaumont. For story and additional photo, please turn to page 9. S.JOHN WILKIN/ THE TIMES LEADER / CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Aaron Hogan gets a hug from his mom, Diane, as he leaves on a 10-day trip to Spain. Off they go to Spain for 10 By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com In scorching heat and humidity, families gathered in the parking lot of Dallas High School to say goodbye to their children. But this goodbye was a joyous occasion. Seventeen students from Dallas High School left Tuesday for a trip to Spain. Spanish teacher Chesla Ann Bohinski and geography and history teacher Daryl Williams, along with four parents, are chap- eroning the bunch that departed on a bus to the Philadelphia Inter- national Airport. From there, they were scheduled to fly to Paris and then board a final plane that will take them to Madrid, Spain. Though the students and teachers days & are from Dallas High School, the group is traveling through the In- ternational Students Abroad Pro- gram and the trip is not affiliated with the school district. Trip organizer Bohinski has taught Spanish at Dallas High School for two years. She studied in Spain for a period during col- lege, has taken other student trips to the country before and has trav- eled extensively in Europe. Join- ing her is Daryl Williams, a geogra- phy and history teacher of five years. The educators hope the stu- dents will learn from being in Spain. “I just think traveling abroad is great for the students,” said Bo- hinski. “It shows them a whole new world.” Sm af Dallas High School caloHtE and students board the bus for a 10- day trip to Spain organized by International Students Abroad. Williams added, “When you travel abroad, it gets the kids out- side of the box and gets them thinking.” The group will tour with the National Education Travel Coun- sel and enjoy the luxury of a tour guide 24 hours a day. Students from other areas will meet up with the group to form one larger tour. They are scheduled to see Ma- drid, Toledo, Grenada, Sevilla, Cordobu, and Barcelona. Travel ing across Spain will be done by bus except for one overnight ride on a train. Adam Zupko was excited to be goingonthetrip.Itisthe first time he’s left the country and he is look- ing forward to seeing new people and places. “I want to learn how they live,” Zupko said of the Spa- niards. Though Zupko has taken Span- ish classes, he does not plan to at- tempt to actually speak the lan- guage while in the country and hopes his teacher is not expecting him to speak it, either. Sixteen-year-old Zupko, who is entering his senior year this fall at Dallas, was wished off by hismoth- er Lori Cogswell but Zupko does not anticipate becoming home- sick. “I'm glad to be away,” he said. Meghan Pietraccini was eager to board the bus. “I've been wait- ing for ayear so 'mreally excited,” she said. Pietraccini has never been to Spain but once visited See ABROAD, Page 10 “When you travel abroad, it gets the kids outside of the box and gets them thinking." Daryl Williams Dallas High School history teacher
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