~~ Vol. 119 No. 25 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 June 22 - 28, 2008 The LLAS Pos 50¢ Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Drust presents this duck as an example of his carving tech- nique. A world of wooden wildlife By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com At first glance, it’s possible to mistake one of the wooden birds perched on Joseph Drust’s back porch for a real one. It was the carving work of the late Richard Disque Sr. that in- spired Drust to give the art form a shot. At Disque’s suggestion, Drust took a carving class about 18 years ago from Ron Ushing of Plains Township. “I was so anxious to learn how to do it, my hands sweat and the wood got wet,” Drust said. Drust, 87, of Dallas, has carved and painted up to 100 wooden carvings of ducks, birds, owls and fish. Prior to his class, he had never done either woodwork or painting. Yet, his second piece of work, a Greenwing Teal, won first place in the decoy competition of the 1990 Garden State Carv- ing Competition and Art Exhibi- tion, an event Drust learned about from an advertisement in carving magazine. In 2000, Drust entered the World Art Competition held in Baltimore, Md. were he re- ceived an honorable mention in the apprentice non-floating duck category. All wood work is done in Drust’s basement and it takes him about 40 hours to create a small duck and about 60 to 70 hours to produce a large one. Joe Drust’s award-winning bird carvings look almost real. To make one of his works, he first carves out the shape of the animal he wants to make from a wooden block. If maing a float- ing duck, he must cut out the bottom of the duck. If applica- ble, he burns wooden feathers in. Next, he takes the piece to his enclosed back porch where he applies a coat of gesso, a paint priming agent made from gyp- sum. After it dries, he paints the carving by hand and vermicu- lates, or decorates with wavy lines, for detail. “I'll never time myself,” Drust said. “She’ll (his wife, Lillian) say it’s time for supper some- See CARVINGS, Page 2 The Dallas Post launches Web site For the area’s technologically- savvy population, The Dallas Post has launched its own Web site at www.mydallaspost.com. The site has been up and run- ning for a few weeks now and in- cludes all of the content in every Sunday edition of The Dallas Post. News stories (complete with photos), feature stories, co- lumns, sports and social items now appear on the newspaper’s Web site as well as in the pages of the newspaper. In addition, the Dallas Post staff will add new content al- & daily as events happen in Back Mountain communities. The site will be kept as fresh as possible, allowing Internet us- ers the ability to learn about 6¢'"M0981512007 9% Back Mountain happenings as they occur. Dallas Post Staff Writer Re- becca Bria writes a blog on the Web site, giving viewers an in- side look as to how she goes about gathering news for the weekly newspaper. “The Dallas Post has been de- livering community news to res- idents of the Back Mountain for nearly 119 years and no one does it better,” said Dotty Martin, edi- tor. “With our Web site, we can now report live news events dai- ly. And the relationship The Dal- las Post has with its parent com- pany, The Times Leader, allows our Web site viewers the oppor- tunity to read all kinds of news with a Back Mountain interest.” DALLAS HS GRADUATES 226 AT ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER Two hundred twenty-six students received diplomas during Dallas High School commencement ceremonies held Friday, June 13, at the Dallas High School football stadium. Here, soon-to-be graduates make their way to Mountaineer Stadium carrying sunflow- ers, the official flower of the Class of 2008. For story and additional photos, please turn to page 5. Check out Theophilus Bartholomule at the library Home for history By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com e doesn’t “hee- haw” or have the barnyard odor of a mule and he won’t kick his legs when he’s mad. But Theophilus Bartholo- mule will soon be greeting vis- itors of the Back Mountain Me- morial Library. One of two fiberglass mules donated to the Annual Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction last summer, Theophi- lus is being decorated by Dallas artist Sue Hand, about one doz- en of her students and artist Laura ‘Adams. The other mule was purchased by an individual at last summer’s auction. The mules are from the Miles of Mules project created to doc- ument anthracite heritage and represent the live mules that once drew cargo up canals. “We're so excited about the fact that we’re getting this mule and the fact that Sue Hand’s students are making him a token of the community and that he’s finding a home at the library,” Butler said. Theophilus arrived all sand- ed down, so the artists collaged old newspaper clippings of the library auction and places and events in the Back Mountain, many of which are from The Dallas Post. The students are painting over the photos in the articles because Hand fears the original ink will fade in the sun. One newspaper clipping from a 1994 Dallas Post con- tains a painting Hand complet- ed of the library auction that year. Another clipping tells the story of how the former Col- lege Misericordia was used as a shelter during the flood of 1972. Misericordia University, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Dal- las High School, Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School and Gate of Heaven School will be painted on the mule. Hand will paint the final layers and create paintings of Harveys Lake, the Noxen Rattlesnake Roundup, the clock from down- town Dallas and The Lands at Hillside Farms. “We're going to c SH: CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Laura Adams, an art student of Sue Hand's, repaints the face of “Theophilus Bartholomule" who is being refitted as a Back Mountain mule and will be placed at the entrance of the Back Mountain Memorial Library. images that honor the Back Mountain community,” Hand said. “A lot of it is library. But beyond that, we're trying to in- clude all of the Back Mountain into it.” One of Hand’s art students painting the mule is Garrett ~ Geise, 12, a sixth-grader at Dal- Jl, Caroline Banas paints the rear leg of an Anthra- cite heritage mule which is being refitted as a Back Mountain mule. las Middle School, who was painting black and brown into a white spot on the mule’s tail the day The Dallas Post visited the project. Geise, who has been studying with Hand for seven years, went over a lamp because the black lines were it LR He not dark enough and finished ADDITIONAL PHOTOS See more photos at www.mydal- laspost.com. the helicopter. “When you think of a library, some younger children may find it boring,” he said. “This gives them something to do, to look at the mule and see the work put into this. It feels very privileged to be part of this be- cause I don’t do much in acrylic that often and I think this is a lot of fun to be able to contrib- ute to what is in the Back Mountain.” Sixteen-year-old Nicole Hil- stolsky, a sophomore at Dallas High School who has studied with Hand for three-and-a-half years, is also working on the mule. “I think it’s amazing to take something like this and paint it for everyone else to see,” she said. Each artist who works on the project will sign his or her name on the mule which is ex- pected to be finished in mid- June and will be on display out- side the entrance to the library. “We'd like everybody to en- joy him and come and see him,” Hand said. % L
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers