Vol.120 No.2 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 January 11 - 17, 2009 (& ALLAS OST Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | | www.mydallaspost.com New book offers more than 200 area photos By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Many residents of the Back Mountain may be surprised to learn their family is mentioned in a new book. “Pennsylvania’s Back Moun- tain” by Harrison Wick, pub- lished by Arcadia Publishing, is a compilation of over 200 photographs of the area with text featur- ing histori- cal informa- tion and the personal sto- ries of peo- ple who live here. The Wick book is due out Jan. 19. IF YOU GO “This has Book signing a lot more with Harrison photographs Wick, author of than any- “Pennsylvania's thing I've ev- Bock Pao en or seen,” 24 ; Wick said. 1-3 p.m. “It has many Barnes & Noble personal sto- Booksellers ries and fo- 421 Arena Hub cuses on the Plaza, \Wilkes- antire Back Barre Twp. Mountain, not just one municipality of it.” Wick, 31, moved to Dallas from Harford County, Md. in 2004 when he took a job as the archivist at Misericordia Uni- versity. A 2000 graduate of Washington College in Ches- tertown, MD, he received an undergraduate degree in histo- ry then earned graduate de- grees in history and library sci- ence form Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana in 2002. While working at Misericor- dia, he became a member of the Dallas Rotary Club and the Back Mountain Historical As- sociation and his interest in the Back Mountain grew. “I just fell in love with the Back Mountain,” said Wick, who hopes his book “will bring - back fond memories of the ar- ea and encourage people to tell their stories about the Back Mountain.” In November 2007, Wick re- located to Indiana, Pa. and ac- cepted the position of special collections librarian at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. When he decided to write a book about the Back Moun- tain, he gathered over 200 pho- tos of the region from photog- rapher Edward S. Miller, the Back Mountain Historical As- sociation, the Luzerne Coun- try Historical Association, Mi- See BOOK, Page 6 Dallas student working to help cause CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ THE DALLAS POST FILE PHOTO The team of doctors from Community Cares for Kids who travel to Ecuador each year to perform surgery are, from left, Drs. David Levens, Ray Ortega, Francis Collini and Jamie Morhaim. ‘Carnivale’ time By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com ara Skammer has always been fascinated with plastic surgery. ® A daughter of Steve and Ruth Skammer, of Dallas, Skammer lives near Dr. Francis Collini and grew up around the plastic surgeon and his family. She’s heard stories of Collini’s annual trips to Ecuador to help poor children with cleft palates and other birth defects. Dr, Collini even stitched Skammer’s mouth after she tripped on a diving board, sending her teeth through her lip. ® So when it was time for Skammer, a Dallas High School sophomore, to start thinking about her senior completion project, it was a no-brainer for her to work with Community Cares for Kids. “I thought it was a re- ally good cause, plus I might want to go into plastic surgery later,” Skammer said. “It’s just always interested me. I don’t know why.” Skammer is currently soliciting ads for the third annual Communi- ty Cares for Kids “Carni- vale” to be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at The Highlands at New- berry Estates in Dallas. The ball will feature a Mardi Gras and Vienna flair, dancing, exquisite food and entertainment by Erich Cawalla’s Party Band from Allentown. Founded by Dr. Fran- cis and Susan Collini, Community Cares for Kids is a Back Mountain-based non-profit organization that assists underprivileged children suffering from congenital birth defects. In addition to the organization’s annual trip to operate on children in Ecuador, needy children are also treated at the Surgery Facility at the Renaissance Center for Plastic Surgery in Shaver- town, as well as at donated facilities by Wyoming Valley Health Care System and Sara Skammer, 15, of Dallas, is currently soliciting ads and selling raffle tickets for the Third Annual Community Cares for Kids ‘Car- nivale’ as part of her senior completion project at Dallas High School. ‘Carnivale’ will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at The Highlands at Newberry Estates in Dallas. the Geisinger Group. Skammer is trying to recruit as many businesses as possible to purchase an ad for “Carnivale.” She is also garnering do- nated gift certificates to be given as prizes for a $10,000 raffle at the event. The raffle, which will be held in conjunc- tion with the event, includes a $6,000 grand prize of a jewelry ensemble includ- ing necklace, bracelet and earrings from IF YOU GO What: Community Cares for Kids third annual “Carnivale” When: Saturday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. Where: The Highlands at Newberry Estates, Dallas Cost: $135 per person or $250 per couple To learn more about Community Cares for Kids (CCK), log on to www.CommunityCares- forKids.com on the Web. The Dewdrops Collec- tion custom designed for the fundraiser by Le- cil Henderson and do- nated by Valentines Jewelry of Dallas and Henderson Designs. Additional prizes in- clude various medical/spa treatments donated by Age of Innocence Salon Day Spa & Skin Clinic of Shavertown, total- ing $3,100 in value; a massage package (10 massages) valued at $750 donated by massage therapist Maureen Sprau; gift certificates from Shelby Boutique, King- ston, $250; Big Red Barn Antiques, Beau- SUBMITTED PHOTO See CARNIVALE, Page 9 Adams By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Bob Mitkus likely had no idea when he recruited Whit- ney Adams for the Dallas ju- nior high girls cross country and track teams that he was signing up the entire Adams family. All six Adams’ offspring - Whitney, 22; Hillary, 21; Ma- riel, 18; Griffin, 16; Jess, 14; and Nell, 13 - have run or currently run for the Dallas School Dis- trict cross country and track teams. They are the children of Keith and Marjorie Adams, of Dallas. siblings just keep on running It all started in 1999 when Whitney was in the eighth- grade at Dallas Middle School and a student in Mitkus’ shop class. Mitkus was the coach of the girls cross country team and in desperate need for more girls to join. Whitney, who only had ex- perience in soccer and ballet, agreed and was one of only four members of the girls cross country and track teams that year. Just three years later in 2002, the girls cross country team was district champion and, in 2003, won the state championship. Hillary left other sports in the 10th-grade to join her older sister in running. Now, she is a junior at University of North Florida where she was the top cross country runner this year. “I was a big field hockey and soccer player,” Hillary said. “The only reason I came out is because Whitney bugged me.” In 2004, Whitney placed first in the 800-meter race in track and Hillary came in sec- ond in the same race. Marjorie was not only excited as the girls’ mother but because she had been their coach, as well. Marjorie took over for Mit- See ADAMS, Page 3 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Members of the Adams family are, from left, first row, Nell, Hillary, Muriel and Whitney. Second row, Marjorie, Jess and Griffin. we / 44 ke - DAMA raises 09 rates Increases will pay for long-range infrastructure plan. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Dallas Area Municipal Authority (DAMA) is raising its residential and commercial customer sewer rates for 2009. Beginning in January, rates to resi- dential customers will be raised to $322 for the year. Quarterly rates will be raised by $10.50 and will now be $80.50 per quarter. The rate charged to commercial customers will rise from $3.51 per 1,000 gallons to $4.39 per 1,000 gal- lons. The last rate increase to DAMA sewer custom- DAMA ers occurred in 2009 2006. SEWER DAMA exec- RATES utive director RESIDENTIAL: arty Spaciano Yearly - $322; says the in- yearly with a 2 Crease in sewer percent dis- rates is required count if paid on to provide fi- or before Jan. nancing for an aoe extensive long- $80.50. range infras- COMMERCIAL: tructure Im- $4.39 per1,000 provement plan gallons estimated to cost $6.8 mil- lion. Improvements include construc- tion of a 2.8 million gallon flow equal- ization tank to replace existing and decaying 40-year-old concrete tanks, repairs to the sewer collection system and improvements to the authority’s main and satellite pumping stations. According to Spaciano, the new flow equalization tank is needed to hold what can’t pump down to the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority during heavy rain and storms. Also, there has also been an increase in cus- tomers. From 2000 to 2008, 537 new residential connections were in- stalled. “These improvements are neces- sary to maintain compliance with Pennsylvania Department of Environ- mental Protection regulations and to help keep pace with the growth surge that has taken place in the Back Mountain over the last several years,” DAMA officials said in a press release. “...Infrastructure improvements al- low DAMA to extend its customer base over a wider area, which, in turn, helps to provide for the stability of fu- ture sewer rates. As regulations change and we move forward to meet the demands of continuing growth throughout the Back Mountain, DA- MA will do everything possible to keep future rate increases to a mini- mum without sacrificing our current level of quality service and the ability to keep pace with the growth of our area.” Spaciano says work has already be- gun on the project. A sewer line was replaced in the area across from the Twin Stacks Complex on Route 415. Upgrades to the authority’s 15 satel- lite pumping stations have been made and three pumps at the main pump- ing station were also replaced. DAMA was formed to provide sew- er service to Dallas Borough, Dallas Township and Kingston Township. The authority now also serves Har- veys Lake, Jackson Township and Lehman Township; however, the add- ed municipalities pay different sewer rates than those in the original three. Rebecca Bria, a staff writer for The Dallas Post, may be reached at 970-7436. | 20 6 079g
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers