Vol. 119 No. 37 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 September 14 - September 20, 2008 The DALI AS PosT. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com “When they demolish it, I'm probably going to come up and steal one of the stones (from the building).” CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Brenda Dill A member of the Class of 1988 Reminiscing in the girl's locker room at Dallas High School are, from left, Lucy Messersmith, Helene Dainowski, Florence Che- valier, Denise Wilber and Susan Jones. Walking through DHS once again By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Florence Chevalier remem- bers how she and others in the Dallas High School Class of 1968 found ways to bend the rules. Chevalier, of Florence, Ariz., says girls were not allowed to wear pants and one day, teach- ers called all the girls to the gym and made them line up on their knees. If a girl's hem did not touch the floor, her skirt was too short and she would be in trou- ble. Chevalier and other girls would unzip their skirts and push them farther down their waists just before they were measured. Members of the Dallas High School Class of 1968 recently re- ceived a special treat during their 40th anniversary reunion weekend - a walking tour of their alma mater. About two dozen people took advantage of the tour given on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 6, by Dallas School District Superintendent Frank Galicki. “God, they look so different,” said Sally Roper as her class- mates entered the school. Dallas High School opened in 1961 with the Class of 1962 hav- ing the honor of being the first graduating class. The school merged students from the for- mer Dallas Borough, Dallas Township, Kingstown Town- ship and Franklin Township high schools. Before the walking tour, Gal- icki invited everyone into the stifling hot auditorium to view a Powerpoint presentation about the upcoming new high school that will be built. Plans call for the current high school building to be razed once the new high school is completed. Although the tour was meant Members of the Dallas High School Class of 1968 reunite during a reunion tour of the high school. From left, are Char- lotte Farley, Wendy Earl and Sally Roper. For more photos, visit www.my- dallaspost.com. 618098 1502 for the Class of 1968, graduates of all Dallas High School classes were welcome. Brenda Dill, of Nanticoke, a member of the Class of 1988, wanted to see her school before it is destroyed. “I was a little upset because it’s part of history coming down, but it’s an old building and they have to do what they have to do,” Dill said. “When they de- molish it, 'm probably going to come up and steal one of the stones (from the building).” Linda Staaf, Class of 1966, was in town from San Francisco, Calif. visiting her parents, Char- les and Dorothy Nicol, of Sha- vertown. Her brother, Bob Ni- col, Class of 1968, was going to the tour and when Staaf found out, she was interested. “I haven’t been back since my 20th (reunion),” Staaf said while looking around the school she attended as a teenager. “They said they’re going to have a tour of the school and I said, ‘Ooh, you think I can come?” Bert Gosart, Class of 1968, of Mesa, Ariz., visited Dallas High School for the first time in 40 years. “I think it looks like just what I expected,” Gosart said. “I al- ways wanted to take a walk through these buildings.” As the alumni went through the school, different memories and stories came about. Some had never been in the “senior wing,” an addition that was fin- ished in 1968 after they gradu- ated. The class also recalled multiple rows of lockers near the office, which were removed because, according to Galicki, they were a security risk. They also noticed the library is in a new location. Eddie Rome, of Dallas, quickly re- membered an incident that oc- See WALKING, Page 10 00 Rep. Karen Boback to hold tribute Sept. 20 in honor of military personnel Herbert Carl Culp, deceased, is shown in his military uni- form. Culp, formerly of Huntsville, was just 24 years old when he died in Un- terhausen, Germany during World War Il. Residents of Unterhausen, Germany show Mark Major the site of where his great-uncle, Herbert Carl Culp, was laid to rest after his plane crashed in the town during World War Il, killing him. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com one of Herbert Carl Culp’s rela- tives knew for sure exactly what happened to the Ameri- can soldier from Huntsville in World War II. That was until his great-nephew, Mark Major, began corresponding through e-mail with Donald H. Trott, of Wisconsin. Trott and Culp were co-pilots of a plane called “Guess Who's Here” that crashed on July 12, 1944 in Unterhausen, Germany. Culp ordered everyone to bail out of the plane but by the time he did so himself, it was too late for his parachute to deploy. Culp died of a broken neck when he jumped into a tree. His fellow soldiers were cap- tured as prisoners of war. Ginny Major, of Dallas, Culp’s niece and Mark Major’s mother, was a child when her uncle died. She thought he may have been a prisoner of war who was murdered, but later found out from the co-pilot that Culp has been missing in action and was de- clared deceased a year later. “I was about 12 years old, but he was my favorite uncle,” Major said of Culp. “I have a little card here he sent me at Christmas- time. I have the original church bulletin of the church he grew up in (from Huntsville i EB 8 | What: Military tribute program, presented by State Rep. Karen Boback When: Saturday, Sept. 20, at 11 a.m. Where: Dallas Middle School For more photos, visit www.mydallaspost- com. Christian Church) where they honored him.” Major submitted a photo of Culp in his military uniform to be included in State Representative Karen Boback’s (R-Harveys Lake) military tribute at 11 a.m. on Sat- urday, Sept. 20, at Dallas Middle School. The program will feature guest speaker Neno Sartini of the Italian-American-Korean War Vets and a multi-media presentation on 117th district military veterans, prisoners of war and military personnel missing in ac- tion. “We're going to do a Powerpoint of all old photos set to patriotic music,” said Carol Sweeney, legislative aide and outreach coor- dinator for Boback. “We know this is some- thing that is going to be very sensitive be- cause of the current situation with the POWs and MIAs.” Sweeney credits Clarence Michael, of Dallas, for suggesting the theme of a public tribute to POWs and MIAs. Members of the national non-profit POW/MIA advocacy Remembering heroes group Rolling Thunder will roll in on their motorcycles at the start of the event. Stu- dents of Major Performing Arts Center, di- rected by Gina Major-Ackerman, Major's daughter, will sing musical selections. A roll call of the POWs and MIAs in the 117th district will be read. In September 2007, Mark Major, and his wife, Kara, ventured to Unterhausen, Ger- many to see if anyone remembered the plane crash that killed Culp. What they dis- covered was more than they could ever have hoped for. The couple met three townspeople who were children at the time of the plane crash. At first, Unterhausen residents thought they were being bombed and the children were ordered into their basements. But once people realized the plane had crashed, the three children ran to the scene. The boys took parts of the plane, includ- ing rubber stripping to use as slingshots, the wing to shelter cars in the wintertime and plastic of which they broke off pieces and carved into hearts for their girlfriends. One of the boys took a live bullet from the plane, causing it to explode and blow off the tips of some of his fingers. Although German soldiers removed the remaining parts of the plane by railroad, See TRIBUTE, Page 10 FAST FUN AT THE FAIR Veterinarian dies at age 8 By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com tually lived at the veterinary hos- pital until his retirement in 1992, treating many Back Mountain animals in his 36 years there. Post’s sister, 7 Gullig CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Enjoying the parachute ride at the Luzerne County Fair are, from left, Alexa Remakus, Drew Patton and Noah Civiletti. For more photos of the fair, see page 5. eR ere The impact Dr. Richard Post, VMD, made on animals, pet owners in the Back Mountain and beyond will long be remem- bered. Post, 81, of Kingston, died on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008, at the Village at Greenbriar in Dallas. The Trucksville native estab- lished the Back Mountain Veter- inary Hospital, located on the corner of Route 415 and Center Hill Road in Dallas, in 1956, two years after graduating with hon- ors from the University of Penn- sylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. He worked and even- ORE oa See POST, Page 9 a Janet Phillips, of Trucksville, believes Post became inter- ested in veter- inary medicine largely be- cause, as a child, he spent many summers on their uncle’s farm in southern Pennsylvania. At the farm, Post helped tend to the animals. Phillips also re- members her brother Post
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