o Vol. 120 No. 14 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 April 5 - 11, 2009 e 50¢ Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts www.mydallaspost.com Bike ride will honor Spencer Martin Event to benefit Habitat for Humanity By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Spencer Martins friends at Habitat for Humanity hope to raise money and keep his mem- ory alive at the same time. The Spencer Martin Memo- rial Bike Ride for Habitat 09 will be held beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus in Lehman Township. The 30-mile bike ride will benefit Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity. Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, Chris- tian organization that builds houses for families based on level of need, willingness to be- come partners in the Habitat program and ability to repay a no-interest, 20-year mortgage. The organization has construct- ed 15 houses in the area since its inception in 1992. Martin, known as “Spence,” of Trucksville, died in April 2008 at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer. An ac- tive member of the communi- ty, he was a Martin member of the board of direc- tors of Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity where he served as president for a time. “He was a dedicated volun- teer for Habitat for many years who inspired so many people to volunteer for Habitat or be part of our community,” said Karen Evans Kaufer, executive direc- tor of Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity. “When he died in the spring of last year, we want- ed to do something to honor his memory. We just thought that we would do something a little unusual; we know that there are lots of walks in the communi- ty.” Martin was also chairman and one of the original mem- bers of the Dallas Area Munici- pal Authority for more than 35 COACH KNOWS BEST years, a member and past presi- dent of the Rotary Club of Dal- las and volunteer and driver for Meals on Wheels of Wyoming Valley. In addition, he was in- strumental in the founding of the Dallas Area Fall Fair, now known as the Luzerne County Fair, where he was chairman of the grounds for over 20 years. In recognition of his civic contributions, Martin was des- ignated a Rotary Club of Amer- ica Paul Harris Fellow for out- standing community service. In See MARTIN, Page 1 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Spring has definitely arrived and, with it, softball season has started. Here, Samantha Martin gets some tips from Dallas softball coach Joyce Tinner. For more softball photos, please turn to page 10. Meeting about postal changes set for Tuesday The United States Postal Ser- vice conducted a study on its Wilkes-Barre Processing and Dis- tribution Center to determine the feasibility of consolidating mail processing in to the Scran- ton facility. During the study develop- ment, it was determined that all mail processing operations, both originating and destinating, would be transferred to the Scranton facility and also to the Lehman Valley. A public meeting will be held to share the initial results of the study and to allow members of the community to ask questions and provide feedback. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, at the Best Western Genetti Hotel & Conference Center, 77 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre. ZIP codes served from the Wilkes-Barre plans include 182, 186 and 287. ZIP codes in the Back Mountain start with either 186 or 187. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Ross Elementary is expan An upcoming expansion pro- ject at Ross Elementary School in Sweet Valley will add four classrooms, a school bus park- ing lot and a new playground to the school. Ross Elementary School Principal Donald James says the expansion is necessary due to a rise in enrollment. Forty more students have been added to the school’s roster in the last five years, raising the total en- rollment to about 285. “In the past, we had art class- es on the stage because the art room was turned into a special education room,” James said. According to Lake-Lehman School District Superintendent James McGovern, the total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $1.3 million. A temporary modular facility was placed along the a Soe aa right side Donald James points to where four classrooms will be added to the school. of the building at the beginning of the school year to help re- duce the strain on space at the school. The modular facility, which the district is renting, houses two special education classrooms and three second- grade classrooms. It does not have any bathrooms, but it does offer wireless computers and all of the same technology that is in the main building. Groundbreaking on the ex- pansion is slated for early June and the project is expected to Cie CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Ross Elementary School Principal Donald James peers through broken playground equipment that will be replaced as part of an approximate $1.3 million expansion project on the school. be completed before classes are back in session in late summer. James says two of the new classrooms will be regular classrooms. The additional rooms will be called media * CoA rooms and will serve as the new See ROSS, Page 1 library and computer lab. The computer room will feature wireless computers and a wide- screen television while more books will be added to the li- Creating a Web site for her town Marian DeAngelis volunteers time to move Lehman Twp. into the 21st century By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Marian DeAngelis works full- time, is a wife and a mother of two yet still finds time to volun- teer as executive director of the Lake-Lehman Foundation. She’s also the co-creator of the Lehman Township Web site. DeAngelis, 31, of Lehman, vol- unteered her time to create the township’s current Web site — lehmantwp.org — with an asso- ciate back in 2006. Now, she’s on a solo mission to re- design the en- tire site and is DeAngelis putting it on a new URL. “I didn’t go to school for Web design or take a course on it,” DeAngelis said. “I just bought (the book), ‘Web Sites for Dum- mies.” The new site, lehmantwp.us, will be up and running by the next Lehman Township Board AM of Supervisors meeting on April 20. The updated format includes zoning ordinances and applica- tions, meeting dates, township officials, phone numbers, photos and information. It will also have links to the Web sites of local colleges and universities, schools and fire and ambulance departments. “This way when they visit Lehman Township (Web site) and find out who the officers are and who the members of the board are, they can also get links,” DeAngelis said. DeAngelis is using Microsoft Office FrontPage to create the new site. FrontPage is a Web de- sign program that generates the hypertext markup language (HTML) required so users can easily produce their own Web site. DeAngelis works as an insur- ance agent for Kulac Agency in Kingston and is finishing gener- al studies track at Luzerne County Community. College with plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in surveying and technol- ogy at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. DeAngelis is married to Al “Butch” DeAngelis. The couple has two children, Matthew, a freshman at Lake-Lehman Ju- nior/Senior High School; and Jessica, 5. ! Matthew enjoys helping his mom with the Lehman Town- ship Web site and his experience with the internet enables him to offer tips that aren’t in his mom's “Web Sites for Dummies” book. Al is the assistant coach for the Lake-Lehman High School varsity football team and assists his wife with the Lake-Lehman Foundation, resurrected by a group of people in April 2008. The foundation has raised $5,802.08 since its inception. “The kids actually do help out a lot, too, in the community,” DeAngelis said. 6¢'"M09815120079% 1g ia L #4
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