Vol. 119 No. 32 August 10 - 16, 2008 OST. www.mydallaspost.com THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 DALLAS School ~The Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman Districts | Old cars keep these guys young By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com In the spring of 1998, friends Art Pimm and Frank Ide were hanging out at Pikes Creek Park when the two decided to start a club for old cars, trucks and mo- torcycles. They invited Jim Davis, Ide’s father-in-law, and other friends to join the group, called Hi Lites Motor Club, which met at the park. J The Back Mountain-based club soon grew to 30 people and began to hold antique car shows and cruises to raise money for charit- able organizations and people in need. Currently in its 10th year, Hi Lites remains strong with a mem- bership of about 40. The mixed gender and all-ages club actively has car cruises throughout the Wyoming Val- YOU GO ley Cruise-In at Hi Lites is Twist & Shake hosting a car 1405 State Route cruise from 6 29, Pikes Creek to 9 p.m. on 6 to 9 p.m. Sat- Saturday, CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/FOR THE DALLAS POST Hg Aug. 16, at Susan Makara, of Lehman, commands 15-week-old Prince Caspian to put his paws on her lap at Starbucks in Shavertown. Makara is training the black Labrador Re- year commemo- Twist & triever to be a service dog for a disabled person. rative plaque will Shake on be given to the Route 29 in first 25 vehicles Pikes Creek. to register at the The cruise is event. free and open to the public and anyone may show off his or her classic au- tomobile at no cost. A 50/50 raffle will be held to raise money for the Serving the disabled clubs contributions io chariiy. Area women training dogs to be service dogs for people with disabilities Prince . Last year, Hi Lites Motor Club af ignores donated $1429 to area causes, in- By REBECCA BRIA "Uo 4 iA 0 y LB ! ; : bOI customers | cluding the Make-A-Wish Foun- foria@timesicader.com Anyone with questions about puppy raising for the Sus- qin | dation, Ronald McDonald House, quehanna Service Dogs or who is interested in attending a Starbucks Toys for Toteqm the Veterans A2 ach time Susan Makara and Sarah Kabata take _Kabata at 844-2700, Vist wwmydallaspost.com for a nk In Shaver- fairs Canteen Service. They also their 15-week-old black Labrador Retrieversout to Susquehanna Service Dogs’ Web site. town and gave funds to Scott Davis, a Jack- in public, people swoon over the puppies. But pays son Township police officer and Prince Caspian and Princess Cinderella don’t attention son of original member Jim Da- | pay any attention because they're being trained tobe ser- Kabata shared the Susquehanna Service Dog’s Web yr P vs vis, who suffers from a brain tu- | vice dogs for the disabled. site with Makara and the women decided to get involved fainen mor. Makara, 43, of Lehman, and Kabata, 22, of Bentonand ith the organization. Susan Several weeks ago, Hi Lites formerly of Sweet Valley, are two of three area women Susquehanna Service Dogs, a non-profit program of li Makara, held a car cruise in conjunction training puppies to be service dogs through Susquehan- Keystone Children and Family Services, breeds Labra- right, of with an air show by the Wyoming | naService Dogs. The third woman, Patty Dooley, livesin dor Retrievers and relies on volunteers to do basic obedi- Lehman. Valley Flyers at the Hazleton Air- | Blakeslee and is raising a dog named Princess Kida. ence, housebreaking and socialization with each dog un- The dog is port. The two groups have been The women are the first in Northeastern Pennsylvania til it reaches the age of 18 months. After a physical and 1 allowed in holding a show together for the | to train dogs for Susquehanna Service Dogs. Their dogs training evaluation, dogs who pass are further trained by i] public past five years. This year, the | are from the same litter, coined the “Royal Litter” be- the organization to become service dogs. The dogs are 1 places event raked in $6300 for the | cause all the dogs are named after Disney princes and matched with deaf persons, those in wheelchairs, chil- | under the Make-A-Wish Foundation. | Princesses. dren with autism, therapists and are used as balance | Americans enough moneytogrant wishes tor Kabata and Makara originally met when Kabata at- dogs for people with conditions such as Multiple Sclero- with two children tended Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School with sis. Yio: | Disabilities oth hed uled Hi Lit Makara’s daughter, Kaitlyn. Makara raised 10 Seeing Eye ~~ Although the organization has an 80 percent place- Act. er sc 1Les Car | Dogs and Kaitlyn was occasionally allowed to take one of ment rate, dogs who do not pass are released and placed cruises for this year are the follow- ing: September 7, 1to 4 p.m., Vet- erans Affairs Hospital, Plains Township; September 20, 4 to 7 p.m., Wegmans, Wilkes-Barre Township; and October 18, 2 to 7 p.m., Sheetz, Trucksville. Jack Judge, 65, of Lake Silk- worth, a former Lehman Town- ship police office, has been a member of the club for five years and serves as president. He learned about the club through the dogs to school. Kabata saw the dogs and became in- terested, later raising one Seeing Eye Dog. See SERVING, Page 7 Jerry Schmid has pumped his last gallon of gasoline By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Dallas Post Correspondent three weeks ago,” he laments. So, when Schmid was approached to sell his property, he reluctantly agreed Frank Ide, who worked for the It’s been 40 years of pumping gas, driv- and the station will re-open as a conve- Lehman Township Road Depart- | ing a wrecker and fixing cars in the Back nience/gas station. Feeling as if he’s been ment. Mountain. But now, Jerry Schmid is retir- over-charged and manipulated by greedy “Pm proud they elected me to | Ing. gas companies and banks, Schmidt run the club,” Judge said. “It’s not He leans back against the brick facade doesn’t think he’s getting what the proper- something I really wanted to do, | on his building, wistfully looking at the ty is worth. but I felt somebody had todo it.I | clouds and traffic madly passing by his BP Ironically, it was the manipulation and met a lot of new friends and it's | Amoco station on Route 309. fickleness of gas companies in 1972 that my way of socializing. Otherwise, “I didn’t think it would end this way,” he allowed Schmid to enjoy one of the few va- I just sit around and watch TV.” said. cations he’s ever taken. During the ‘72” v1 Judge owns a 1969 Mustang Grand Coupe, although his very first car, a 1953 Lincoln Convert- ible, is much older and he recalls See CARS, Page 8 c"8098 15 200 | 7 - Schmid hardly has a minute to muse when Ed Pappas, of Trucksville, comes in to ask about a clicking noise in his steer- ing column. One listen and look under the hood and Schmid announces, “You've got a bad ‘knuckle.” Dick Morgan, of Shavertown, stops by to say good-bye and wonders why the sta- tion is closing suddenly. Schmid explains CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Jerry Schmid has sheparded many youthful area mechanics over the years, in- shortage, gas stations were rationed to an 85 percent allotment of what they had sold the year before. The Ranch Wagon hot dog restaurant went into business as a gas station and some stations received “8 more than Schmid’s allotment. #8 “I put out a sign that said ‘ALL THE GAS YOU WANT, sold my whole allot- ment right away and went to Mardi Gras,” the costs of doing business and how he cluding Adam Hunsinger. "We've had a lot of fun,’ Hunsinger said. 'He taught me he recalls. : feels credit card companies have taken gi. ¢ | never knew. It's been a bittersweet career for away the small profit he had left in card Schmid. fees. That, combined with having a large supplier like Sheetz a mile down the road ness. Se selling gas at a penny or two below what Schmid can buy it for, have killed his busi- now I'm down to 10,000 gallons.” he spec- ifies. “I made 10 cents on the gallon until “I used to sell 60,000 gallons a year and “Cars were my life since I was 12,” he See JERRY, Page 8 Ww
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