Vol. 119 No. 31 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 August 3 - 9, 2008 A) The DALLAS ST Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts www.mydallaspost.com (wed Harveys Lake Homecoming Heading home CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE DALLAS POST Summertime lake friends Jennifer Sims, left, Krystina Shumway, center, and Zoe Stephens dance and cool off a little atSandy Beach during last year’s Harveys Lake Homecoming. Annual event touts lake and all it has to offer By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com arole Samson has many fond memories of growing up at Harveys Lake. She recalls summer evenings listening to music from the rides at Hanson's Amusement Park in the near distance, couples sitting on the beaches and people sleeping with their doors and windows wide open. Samson, chairperson of the Fourth Annual Harveys Lake Homecoming, hopes Harveys Lake residents and non-residents alike will come out Friday, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 10, to share their remembranc- es of the lake as well as to make new memories. All proceeds from the Homecom- ing benefit the Harveys Lake Beau- tification Project. “Come and spend an afternoon or evening and visit all the old stomping grounds,” Samson said. “Remember the fun times that we had as kids and teenagers. Tell your children and grandchildren about your earlier memories of Harveys Lake. Show them where you swam, where you made life- time friends and memories that you will have forever. Share your love of the lake.” The Fourth Annual Harveys Lake Homecoming begins on Fri- day, Aug. 8, with a homecoming dance from 7 p.m. to midnight at Harveys Lake American Legion Post 967. Featured will be a hot “Come and s and visit ¢ alld Cole Kornoski delights the crowds with tricks on his watercraft at last year's buffet, beer, soda, a cash bar and music by RSO. Ticket sales for the dance were scheduled to end on August 2. A lake reflection event is also planned for the evening and resi- dents are being asked to decorate their homes and boathouses in the spirit of homecoming. The first- place award is a $100 gift certif- icate to Villa Roma Restaurant. Ap- plications for the contest are avail- able at the borough building. The official opening ceremony will be held Saturday, Aug. 9, at- Sandy Beach with Mayor Richard Boice and members of the clergy. Kids’ Day, sponsored by Harveys Lake Fire and Ambulance, will take place from 11 am. to 2 p.m. at Sandy Beach where mazes, games, & Carole Samson Chairperson, HL Homecoming he old stomping Harveys Lake Homecoming. water sports and water wars will be available. Also on Saturday, kick back at a party at Sandy Beach from 5 to 10 p.m. with your own beach blankets and chairs. Food will be available and a DJ will play while a boat regatta at the public boat launch ramp will light up the lake at dusk. Other Saturday highlights of the homecoming include Miss Char- lotte’s Reading Center, an histor- ical review by Sandra Serhan in the Sandy Beach clubhouse, face paint- ing, an antique boat show by Bill Nash at Grotto Pizza and all day swimming at Sunset Beach. Sunday festivities begin with a breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon at See HOME, Page 7 Youths artwor brings in big $ Two 12-year-olds train to do auction paintings when Hand can no longer work. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Just about everyone at the Back Mountain Memorial Li- brary Auction knows Sue Hand. A Dallas artist, Hand be- gins painting at the auction on Wednesday and is present each night of the event, working away on her masterpiece. On both sides of Hand during the auction, however, stands a stu- dent helper whose own inter- pretation and replica of the an- nual event becomes evident through their art. Lily Romanowski and An- drew Levandoski, both 12 years old and both of Dallas, were se- lected by Hand to assist her with painting at the auction this year. The two created their own paintings of the event and are training to do the auction painting in the event Hand can no longer do it herself. Unbeknownst to Hand, the two have been friends since early childhood. Their parents, Lenny and Beth Romanowski and Gerald and Diane Levan- doski, are longtime friends and formerly participated in triath- lons together. “I had no idea they had known each other since tod- dlerhood, so they really CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR DALLAS POST Andrew Levandoski, left, and Lily Romanowski, right, stand with Sue Hand, center. The children were Hand's student painters at the 62nd Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction. meshed as the perfect team,” Hand said. “Those kids worked so hard. It's an incredible amount of stress for two 12- year-olds to endure.” Levandoski has studied with Hand for six years. He was in- troduced to art through a friend who was interested in it, as well as by his mother and brother, Gerald, who also took lessons from Hand. “I was really excited because it was an honor because she doesn’t ask everybody,” Levan- doski said of Hand choosing him to paint at the auction. “I knew that my friend (Lily) would be painting with me so it wouldn’t be a stranger I would be working with for the next couple days. I was very nerv- ous, but as the days kept com- See ARTWORK, Page 6 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE DALLAS POST Kiri Koziol, Allyson Sobolka, Amanda Kornak, Olivia Sod, Morgan Gilhooley, Brittany Weinstein and Megan Mancinelli wait to audition at the Back Mountain Youth Theatre. Experience reigns at youth theatre audition By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com On the evening of July 22, 10 girls entered Major Performing Arts Center in hopes of landing a role in the Back Mountain Youth Theatre’s summer pro- duction, “Folk Tales from Around the World.” Some ar- rived early to read scripts, but feelings of nervousness did not appear to be in the room. In- stead, the girls chatted and gig- gled amongst themselves as they shared stories about their summer. Back Mountain Youth Theat- re was founded in 1999 by Gina Major Ackerman, a Lake-Leh- man High School graduate who holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations and mer- chandising from Drexell Uni- versity. The former beauty queen captured the crown in the 1984 Miss Pennsylvania pageant. When Ackerman re- turned to the area from her year on the road as Miss Penn- sylvania, she received phone calls from parents who wanted her to give voice lessons to their children. “It just took off § from theres . Ackerman said. In 1988, Ackerman opened Major Performing Arts Center in Trucksville, a school of voice, dance and theater. She started the Northeast Youth Theatre Company in 1994. This month marks the 10th year the Back Mountain Youth Theatre will perform its sum- mer production at the Arts at Hayfield at Penn State Wilkes- Barre. Among those who gathered to talk about what it’s like to au- dition for a Back Mountain Youth Theatre production were Amanda Kornak, 14, Ally- son Sebolka, 11, Brittany Wein- stein, 11, all of Dallas; Olivia Sod, 13, of Trucksville; Morgan Gilhooley, 13, of Shavertown; and Kiri Koziol, 16, of Harveys See AUDITION, Page 8 680981512007 098 9
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers