1 Vol. 120 No. 28 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 July 12 - 18, 2009 50 ¢ Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com Pantry shelves depleted: car wash might help By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Summers are tough enough on the Back Mountain Food Pantry. With school out, families ex- periencing difficult times re- quire extra food for their chil- dren. Contributions are also down compared to fall and win- ter months. Throw an economic recession into the mix and the final result is low donations on shelves. A car wash fundraiser slugged “washing cars for cans and jars” will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, at New Mart Trucksville Exxon to raise money for the food pan- try. Volunteers will wash cars for a donation of $5 or 10 food items. A rain date is set for Sun- day, July 19. The Back Mountain Food Pantry serves needy families in the Dallas and Lake-Lehman school districts. “Summers are always our soft- est times,” said Mark Stull, di- rector of the Back Mountain Food Pantry. “Come fall and Thanksgiving, every pulpit and every sermon is all about the spirit of the season and giving. But come summertime, we re really off peoples’ radar.” According to Stull, a similar - car wash benefit will be held at . Cook’s Pharmacy in Shavertown nounced in August. In addition, Cook’s is offering a 10 percent discount per item in the store for each food donation brought in during August (some exclu- sions will apply). A separate food drive for the pantry is also scheduled to take place today, July 12, and the weekend of July 18 and 19 at St. Therese’s Church in Shaver- town. Stull says the pantry had 170 families as clients in 2007. That number grew to 217 in 2008 and, in just the first seven months of 2009, the number of families has jumped to 264. Each approved family re- ceives seven food orders a year plus a Thanksgiving dinner. at a date and time to be an- IF YOU 60. “Washing cars for cans and jars" Car wash to benefit the Back Mountain Food Pantry Saturday, July 18, 9 a.m. to-2 p.m. New Mart Trucksville Exxon 108 S. Memorial Hwy., Trucksville Cost: $5 or 10 food items Rain date: Sunday, July 19 About 110 grocery bags of food are packed and distributed ev- ery week. The pantry received 8,500 pounds of food as a result of the United States Postal Service let- ter carriers food drive in May. See PANTRY, Page 11 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Mark Stull, director of the Back Mountain Food Pantry, and Sherrie But even that wasn’t enough. Newell, co-owner of Newell Fuel Service, are planning a car wash from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, to benefit the food pan- try. Rain date is set for Sunday, July 19. SUBMITTED PHOTO Lynn Aldrich of Dallas, shown at top right, lays bricks for a house with citizens in Nepal. Aldrich, of Dallas, is an active volunteer for Habitat for Hu- manity and the North Branch Land Trust. Building permanent homes for Strangers By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Lynn Aldrich, Ed.D., listened as a Hurricane Katrina victim thanked volunteers for her new Habitat for Humanity home dur- ing a dedication ceremony in March 2009. The Louisiana woman said her 5-year-old son had asked her if they would eventually have to move again as they had done for nearly the past four years. But this time the mother and son were really home - thanks in part to Aldrich. Aldrich, of Dallas, is an active volunteer for Habitat for Human- ity and the North Branch Land Trust. She is also an associate professor of physics and the phys- ics department chairperson at Misericordia University. Aldrich received the Pauly and Sidney Friedman Faculty Award for Service from Misericordia University at commencement ex- ercises this past spring. The an- nual award is given to a faculty member who has been selected recognition of their service to the university, their profession and the community. Aldrich re- ceived a plaque and a $1,500 check as part of the award. “It was actually really nice be- See HOMES, Page 11 IT’s NoT ALwAYS ABOUT THE GAME Cole Dixon might be more serious about blowing bubbles with his chewing gum than he is about playing baseball. Dixon was playing in an All-Star game at the Bob Horlacher Little League. For more photos, please turn to page 10. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST 0883 5 200 zal EE ER EC ot NE DALLAS TOWNSHIP Residents concerned about nuisance properties By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Three groups of neighbors from different areas of the town- ship complained about nuisance properties at Tuesday night’s su- pervisors meeting. Neighbors from Hillcrest Drive in New Goss Manor pre- sented township officials with photos of a property full of trash. One photo showed a dead cat in a jug of dirty water. “Wow, this is overwhelming,” said Thomas Brennan, township solicitor. “This may reach the point where we have a public nuisance.” Brennan asked township zon- ing officer Leonard Kozick to visit the property and confirm its state so he could write a letter to the owner informing her it is a public nuisance. Neighbors from Garbutt Ave- nue said a property owner has an in-ground pool full of stagnant water with no fence around it, grass that is often two feet high, an unregistered vehicle that has : CRBS CEE EE EE Wl Neighbors from Garbutt Avenue said a property owner has an in-ground pool full of stagnant water with no fence around it, grass that is often two feet high, an unregis- tered vehicle that has been in the driveway for five years and garbage on the land. been in the driveway for five years and garbage on the land. The neighbors say the property has been a problem for about 17 years and that they have been turned away when they offer to help cut the grass or plow snow. “There’s kids that could wan- der in there,” said Bev James, a resident of the area. “It’s going to be a liability case.” Kozick said he sent the prop- erty owner a letter about clean- ing up the property, but never heard anything back. Brennan asked that someone from the township knock on the property owner’s door to inform her she is in violation of an ordi- nance requiring a fence around a 4, nance. He also requested the po- lice to look into the vehicle. Brennan said the woman would be given a chance to correct ordi- nance violations before any ac- tion is taken. Westminster Drive resident Marilyn Gregorski said she and several of her neighbors worked with the township last year to pass the nuisance property ordi- nance as a result of the property near their homes. Gregorski said despite the ordinance, the prop- erty has not only returned to its previous state, but has gotten worse. She askded the township to enforce the ordinance. “Why should we have to live with eyesores?” Gregorski asked. & Kozick said he would write a letter to the property Gregorski spoke about this week asking her to clean up the property. Summer program Supervisor Frank Wagner said, that for the first time, town- ship children were turned away from this summer’s Dallas Bor- ough summer program. Wagner said he previously had an agreement with former Dal- las Borough manager Joe Mos- kovitz to allow township chil- dren to attend the program be- cause the township takes grass clippings, brush and leaves from the borough Wagner said he recently met with current Dallas Borough manager Tracey Carr to discuss a co-op agreement between the township and borough for the summer program. According to Wagner, Carr agreed to discuss the matter with Dallas Borough council at its meeting on July 15. Township resident Liz Martin asked what it would cost the township to have a summer pro- gram of its own and if grants are available. Wagner said he would compare costs. Fern Street concerns Patrick McGough, of Fern Street, said nothing has been done to control dust on his street since he complained at a super- visors meeting two months ago. . McGough also said he rarely sees police patrol the street. Wagner said calcium has not been applied to the road because all of the rain the area has been experiencing would wash it away due to the slope of the road. Wagner said the road sim- ply needs to dry out first. Township Police Chief Robert Jolley told McGough he takes is- sue with his comment because he has personally been on his street and said he would stop and blow the horn the next time he is there. Police hire The supervisors approved a motion to hire Bradley Balutis as a part-time police officer as rec- ommended by Jolley. TENS RACE RS TE 4
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