a Vol. 119 No. 38 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 September 21 - September 27, 2008 The bati.As Post. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com Thas service station ELIVERED By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com all it chance or fate but in 1958, two Back Mountain women in la- bor both stopped at the same Dallas gas station to call an ambulance. The babies, one boy and one girl, were born just nine months apart. Strange? Perhaps. What’s even more bizarre, though, is the station owner’s name was Clyde Birth. The “babies” are celebrating their 50th birthdays this year. Nancy Cilvik, now 68, of Lehman, was having contractions with her third pregnancy late in the evening on Mon- day, Dec. 1, 1958 so she and her hus- band, Edward, went to Dr. Irvin Jacobs’ office. Jacobs told the couple he would follow them to the hospital. Not long in- to the trip, Cilvek felt her baby moving. At about 11:25 p.m., Edward pulled into Clyde Birth’s Esso Station in Dallas where the current Uni-Mart is now lo- cated. Jacobs stopped and delivered the ba- by in the front seat of the Cilviks’ blue Ford station wagon. Birth was at his sta- tion and called for an ambulance. “My ex-husband was in the business of selling herbalm products (cough syr- up) that were filled in the back seat, so I was stuck in the front seat,” Cilvik said. “I laid my head up on the steering wheel and the doctor did the rest.” Cilvik gave birth to a boy, Paul, who weighed six pounds and four ounces. Although she had expected to go to Nancy Cilvek and her son, Paul Cilvek, pose for a photo in 1988 in Walla Walla, Wash. Nancy delivered Paul on Decem- ber 1, 1958 at the former Clyde Birth's Esso Station in Dallas. Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, she and her baby were taken by ambulance to Nesbitt Memorial Hospital in Kingston because it was closer. “I remember when we got down to Eaitenten ASS SUBMITTED PHOTOS Clyde Birth's Esso Station, shown here, was located where the current Dallas Uni-Mart is. Two women went into labor at the station in 1958, with one of the women delivering in her car in the station's parking lot. Clyde Birth's Esso Station opened in 1956 with two service bays. The 24-hour station expand- ed to four bays in 1960. After the two incidents at his service station, Birth began to adver- tise with an image of a stork holding a baby. Nesbitt, my ex-husband went into the nurses’ dormitory by mistake,” Cilvik laughed. Although she gave birth to six chil- dren, Cilvik says Paul’s birth was the most eventful. She remembers when she arrived at the hospital to deliver her fourth child, the doctor was glad to see she had made it to the hospital that time. Paul now lives in Walla Walla, Wash. and is a father himself — to a 20-year-old daughter, Megan. His mother is planning to visit him in Washington this month. Similar circumstances occurred at ber of the ambulance crew. Joan is the Clyde Birth’s Esso Station at 9:30 p.m. youngest of five children. on Thursday, March 6, 1958 when Ruth Sevenski could not make it all the way to er’s water broke, so he had my oldest sis- the hospital. Her husband, Ben, pulled ter, Mary Ann, gather up some towels the family car off the highway into the and blankets,” Strub said. “They pulled gas station and Birth phoned for an am- into the gas station and Clyde Birth bulance. Joan (Sevenski) Strub weighed called the ambulance. They delivered seven pounds at the time of her birthand me there. I was supposed to go to Gener- was delivered in the Dallas Community al Hospital but instead they took me to Ambulance by former Dallas Borough Nesbitt because it was closer.” Police Chief Ray Titus who was a mem- “My father came home and my moth- An article in the March 14, 1958 edi- tion of The Dallas Post reports what hap- pened after Sevenski was placed in the ambulance. “The baby was born as the ambulance sped through Shavertown,” the article reads. “A reception committee met the ambulance at the emergency entrance to Nesbitt Hospital. The baby, born outside the sacred precincts of the delivery room, had to be banished from the nurs- See DELIVERED, Page 10 Area kids will benefit from ‘Godspell’ show By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Those who choose to see “Godspell” as presented by the Sweet Charity Players will enjoy an evening of enter- tainment. Benefitting the most from the production, however, will be two Back Mountain children. Four-year-old Zachary Shoemaker, of Dallas, and 2-year-old Kara Cook, of Tunkhannock, will receive the profits from the production by the Sweet Charity Players under the direction of Warren Shotto. The show will be pre- sented at 7:30 p.m. each night from Sept. 26-28 at the Church of Good Shepherd in Scranton. It will also be presented at 7:30 p.m. nightly from Oct. 3-5 at St. Therese’s Church in Sha- vertown. The 1970s musical is based on the Gospel according to Saint Mat- thew. “Godspell’ best sums up the pri- mary mission of Sweet Charity,” said Father James Paisley, pastor of St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown and one of the original founding members and actors of Sweet Charity. “It is a sto- ry about a simple man who challenged us to move beyond ourselves to make a difference in today’s world and to share God’s love with others. We invite ev- eryone to join us for a night of memora- ble entertainment and a chance to help local children in need.” Kara Cook, 2, of Tunkhannock, was born with congenital heart disease. She had heart surgery at nine days old and was doing well until age 1 months, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor on her cerebellum. She has 15 weeks of chemotherapy remaining. Kara, the daughter of Wally and Al- isha Cook, was born with congenital heart disease. She had heart surgery at nine days old and was doing well until age 11 months when she was diag- nosed with a brain tumor on her cere- bellum. “We kind of knew from the begin- ning we would have another couple of surgeries coming up in her life, but never expected a brain tumor or any- thing like that,” Alisha Cook said. Zachary Shoemaker, 4, of Dallas, was in a car accident with his mother on Memorial Day of this year. The boy suffered numerous brain injuries and underwent sur- geries at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, costing over $750,000. He is currently a pa- tient at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. i i { bh When Kara turned 1 year old, she had surgery to remove her tumor and endured heart surgery again at 13 months. The Cooks were told that usu- sally only one out of three children who have a brain tumor like their daughter’s survive. Kara's chances were even slimmer because of her heart difficulties. Little Kara beat the odds. Although See GODSPELL, Page 10 SUBMITTED PHOTOS Members of the Sweet Charity Players will perform in “Godspell” to raise money for area children. From left, first row, are Father Jim Paisley and Pam Shotto. Second row, Karim Letwinsky and Danny Marx, pianist. Third row, Kathy Elgaway, Father Joe Elston, Dan Gallagher and Char Jeffers. Absent at the time of the photo was Dave Baloga. > SAYING GOODBYE TO SUMMER ess CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Three-year-old Connor Tattersall enjoys an ice-cream cone as summer comes to an end. Fall officially starts tomorrow, September 22. For more end- of-summer photos, please turn to page 3. o 098151200798 gs BES El a MS i mag
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