Vol. 118 No. 33 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 August 19 - 25, 2007 *The DALLAS Po 50¢ SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ~ Dr. Collini does life-changing surgery on children in Ecuador By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com When Dr. Francis Collini, MD, FACS, and his medical team showed up at Na- Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, they und nearly 300 children waiting for them and all had only one thing in mind - a life-transforming surgery. Because of the large turnout, the vol- unteers were forced to sort through the children and decide who would benefit the most from an operation. Medical screenings were performed on each child to ensure they were healthy enough for surgery and, by the end of the day, a little over 50 patients were chosen for free surgery during the week. Dr. Collini of the Renaissance Center in Shavertown and his team visited Ecuador in June to help underprivileged children with disfiguring birth defects and injuries. Their trip was sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Collini’s Back Mountain- based charity Community Cares for Kids, which makes the annual visit to “The smiles of the children and the tears of relief of the parents make it all worth it.” Dr. Collini Ecuador possible. “The smiles of the children and the tears of relief of the parents make it all worth it,” said Dr. Collini in a press re- lease when the group returned home. During the trip, about 55 surgeries were performed on poor children, some of which were very complex and lasted more than four hours. Three ear defor- mations, cleft lips and palates, burn scars and hand reconstructions were corrected. Cases of hemangioma (a blood vessel tumor on the face) and ce- phalocele (a cyst on the scalp that has communication with the brain) were al- so corrected. See COLLINI, Page 12 A winning design? Former resident’s bridal gown entry is finalist By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Jillian Krakosky was accepted to the Pennsylvania (Governor’s School of Excellence for Visual Arts in the summer of 2002. She was just a ju- nior in high school who wanted to keep her options open, so she was majoring in ceramics and minoring in theater. But those summer classes jhanged her forever. “That summer, I was handed a white umbrella to use as a black can- vas,” said Krakosky. “I decided to paint a fashion figure on each panel. At that moment, I knew I was meant I've ever had.” A 2003 graduate of Dallas High School, the aspiring fashion design- er relocated to New York City after high school to attend FIT. She has completed an internship at David Rodriguez in New York City in which she assisted with the making of Car- rie Underwood’s gown for the 40th annual Country Music Awards. Over the years, Krakosky has re- ceived a variety of awards for her work. While at FIT, she was a recip- ient of the John Bakel (of Ralph Lau- ren) Critic Award for Art Specializa- tion. Before college, Krakosky was SUBMITTED PHOTOS to be a designer.” Krakosky, 22, formerly of Dallas, is one of five finalists in the Contrex eu Natural Mineral Water Bridal De- sign Competition. Contrex Natural Mineral Wa- ter partnered with retailer - Kleinfeld Bridal and New g4 York Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to sup- port student bridal design- ers. Each finalist construct- ed an original, water- themed wedding gown and presented it to a panel of judges on July 25. The pan- el judged on creativity, originality, = wearability, demonstrated technical skills, and professional- [ ism. They consisted of rep- ! resentatives from Contrex, | @- Kleinfeld Bridal own- he ) { onyx. Twenty-two year old Jillian Kra- kosky, formerly of Dallas, is a final- ist in the Contrex Natural Miner- al Water Bridal Design Competi- tion. ers, high-end bridal designers Michelle and Henry Roth, and fashion editors from BRIDES, ModernBride, and Martha Stewart Wed- dings. The winner will be an- nounced September 26 at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City, will receive $5,000 from Contrex and earn bridal industry recog- nition. “I'd spend every night at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) until they'd kick me out,” said Krakos- ky. “Tm so excited. I think this is one of the best opportunities awarded the Rossetti Art Exhibit-Da- vid Berkowitch Memorial Award and Senior Art Scholarship, Dallas’ Outstanding Scholastic Achieve- ment in Art, WVIA-TV’s Artist of the Week, and the Cider Painters of America: Mertie Larish Award, Scholarship, Excellence in Minia- ture Art, and League Award for Art- istry. Comprised of about a half dozen high-end fabrics, Krakosky’s wed- ding gown entry features 12,000 hand-sewn white Swarovski crystals. Because the gown had to be centered on water, Krakosky used sunlight on water as her inspiration. The overall construction of the dress mimics a water droplet. Krakosky feels the dress reflects the seasons; the colors reveal the spring and summer and the arrangement of the crystals also look like icicles, challenging her to create something different, unique and wearable. The arts have always been a love of Krakosky’s. Both her mother and grandmother are artists and Krakos- ky learned from them. She also took professional art lessons from Sue Hand of Dallas. “I think in order to be a successful designer, you need to be an artist and See DESIGN, Page 14 The front side of the wedding gown Jillian Kra- kosky designed reveals the intricate beading from her inspiration of sunlight on water. V How To Reach Us News: 970-7440 news@mydallaspost.com 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 1871 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 V Inside The Post 18 Pages, 1 Section Calendar Page Community Pages Editorial Page School Pages Sports Page AEE Sal all SUBMITTED PHOTO Dr. Francis Collini of the Renaissance Center in Shavertown and several volunteer medical personnel visited Ecuador in June and performed more than 50 life-transforming surgeries on children with birth defects. x CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Jess Lincoln holds up a peacock egg for inspection. She's hoping to sell her 26 birds. This is one of the 26 peacocks Jess Lin- coin is hoping to sell. Do you ‘wanna By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK For The Dallas Post You can buy a peacock egg from Jess Lincoln in Harding but she’ll be quick to tell you that you can’t get the birds to sit and hatch them for you. “Too many generations of people taking their eggs from them,” she said. “They don’t know they are supposed to sit on them.” Lincoln knows all about these curi- ous and beautiful creatures because has hatched most of the 26 birds she See PEACOCK, Page 14 MEET THE DALLAS FOOTBALL TEAM ; 4 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Andrew Ondish, Derek Martin, Fred Mihal and Nick Lombard are quarterbacks of the Dallas Dallas High School football team. For a story and more photos on Media Night, please turn to page 13. im
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers