Vol.121 No. 30 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 September 5 - 11, 2010 The DALLAS POST. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com Early opening will aid construction project in spring Students in Dallas School District go back to school a week earlier than usual. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas School District opened a week earlier than usual this year due to the ongoing high school construction project and administrators felt well-prepared to take on the challenge. “(The early start) wasn’t a sur- prise,” said Kathleen McCarthy, principal of Wycallis Elementary. Board members voted on the 2010-11 school calendar in April and when school let out on June 4, school staff began to work to prepare for the Aug. 23 start date. “We kind of had a sense at the start of the high school construc- tion project that this is how the school year flow would most like- ly go,” said Thomas Duffy, princi- pal of Dallas Middle School. Administrators and staff were busy all summer preparing for the early start, ordering materi- “I always liked to start early and end early. The productivity has always been, in my opinion, high- er.” Frank Galicki Dallas School District superintendent als, cleaning buildings and orga- nizing classrooms. Transportation was an issue for some schools as new traffic patterns due to construction made some buses lag behind schedule. “Just like the students, you have to retrain the adults,” said Frank Galicki, Dallas School Dis- trict superintendent. “Because the entranceway was different coming into Dallas (Elemen- tary), there had to be some re- training, so to speak, regarding what lanes parents are going to be in, what lanes buses are going to be in, et cetera.” Galicki says that early morn- ing traffic is a common problem on the Dallas campus and the construction project will hopeful- ly rectify this ongoing complica- tion. “One of the major reasons for this construction and the re-pat- terning of traffic flow has been the commingling of the buses and the vehicles,” said Galicki. “One of the first goals we charged Crabtree Rohrbaugh (construc- tion project architect) with was to come up with a plan that would evenly distribute the traf- fic flow.” Thomas Traver III, principal of Dallas Elementary, felt the ef- fects of different traffic patterns but says this year’s head start wasn’t much different from any other year. “It was hectic over the sum- mer, but it wasn’t any worse than other years,” he said. See EARLY, Page 12 Much camaraderie oullds as seniors play shuffleboard “| like to win but if | don’t, it's no big deal.” Teams from Dallas, Tunkhannock senior centers square off. Sue Masters couldnt figure out how to describe what she liked about being a part of the shuffleboard team. “Hey guys, what's the word for everybody getting along and having fun?” she asked others at the Dallas Senior Center. The Sweet Valley resident seemed to have it right on the first try. The Dallas Seniors formed a shuffleboard team nine years ago. Prior to that, there was a lag between teams due to lack of membership. The seniors’ league is comprised of five teams — Dallas, Tunkhannock, Falls, Kingston and Nanticoke — and they play each other every Monday from April until No- vember. There are about nine members on each team. ere are no losers in this icague. Joseph Malak, of Dallas, says there are no major rivalries be- tween teams, though he does call the Kingston players “The City Slickers.” Team members squabble over points and razz each other about form, but ev- eryone is a winner in the end. “It’s like a friendly sibling ri- valry, even though no one here is a sibling,” said Masters, who has participated in the league for four years. She never played Jim Reese Senior Center shuffleboard player shuffleboard in her life until she joined the team. “l was encouraged to join,” she said. “It’s very light-heart- ed.” The teams start at the sched- uled centers every Monday around 10 a.m. and play until one team wins the best of seven games. Curry Donuts donates doughnuts to the Dallas center and members have a sweet treat for breakfast and coffee before the big meet. Malak played the game off and on when he was younger and now serves as captain of the Dallas team. “This isn’t shuffleboard - it’s scuffle board,” he laughed. The teams don’t play for prizes or money with the win- ner earning bragging rights at the next game. “I like to win but if I don’t, it’s no big deal,” said Jim Reese, of Dallas. “[ The rivalries] get a lit- tle warm.” Malak added, “And when it gets to a boiling point, we put a lid on it.” Louis Mrak, of Dallas, has been playing shuffleboard for See SENIORS, Page 12 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Sue Masters shoots for the Dallas Shuffleboard Team while Ron Zeibig waits his turn. The Dallas and Tunk- hannock shuffleboard teams met on Monday, Aug. 16, but took some time to catch up and joke around before starting the tournament. 6/098 15120079, CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Diana Berry, of Dallas, laughs as she prepares the pickles for canning in the kitchen of "The Cottage" at The Lands at Hillside Farms during a canning course presented by the Penn State Cooperative Extension. In the background is Joe O'Connor, of Kingston. Learning how to can food - the safe way By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com This wasn’t your mother’s can- ning class. Mary Ehret of the Penn State Cooperative Extension of Lu- zerne County held a two-part novice canning class on Aug. 10 and 17 and some of the 15 attend- ants were surprised to hear that their treasured family recipes are unsafe to follow. “Why can’t I do that?” asked Pat Calabrese, of West Pittston, of her mother’s tried and true method of canning tomatoes. The issue at hand is food safe- ty. : Ehret, a nutrition educator and registered dietician, presented an informational session on Aug. 10 and on Aug. 17 the group worked together to can quick raw pack pickles at “The Cottage” at The Lands at Hillside Farms. The steps in the recipe the class used are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and methods followed before 1994 are not deemed safe by the U.S. government. The most important aspects of canning are measuring the pH level of what's inside the jar and using the correct method to kill potential bacteria growth. “My husband's mother never used a pressure canner and those problems stay in the body,” said Ehret. The class wasn’t all horror sto- ries and chemical equations. There are many positive reasons to can foods at home, including monitoring one’s salt and sugar intake and eating fresher foods. Ehret says the act of canning was once “a dying art.” Saving money is also a reason why some would want to pre- Hey, that's a good idea! Think you have a good idea about how to improve life in the Back Mountain? Here’s your chance to express that idea and let others know about it. Beginning tomorrow, Sept. 6, you can share that idea with others on The Dallas Post website. Simply click on www.mydallaspost.com. There, you will see a box that asks if you have a good idea. Click on that box and share your idea with others. It’s that simple! And, who knows? We may even print some of those ideas in The Dallas Post in upcoming issues. The class wasn't all horror stories and chemical equations. There are many positive reasons to can foods at home, including mon- itoring one’s salt and sugar intake and eating fresher foods. serve the fruits of their labor in glass jars. “I want to learn how to do my own so I'm not wasting money,” said Anna Antoniello, of Benton. The students broke into three groups and worked together to make pickles in “The Cottage” kitchen. Participants boiled brine, cut cucumbers, put season- See CAN, Page 12 Voting lines are now open for the 2010 Best of the Back Moun- tain Readers’ Choice Awards. The Third Annual Best of the Back Mountain Contest has be- gun and readers have the oppor- tunity to vote for their favorites in more than 80 different cate- gories. Five different divisions — lo- cal flavor, dining out, goods and services, local professionals and nightlife — offer Dallas Post readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite businesses and individuals. The Best of the Back Moun- tain ballot, which appears on the back page of today’s paper, will run two more times in The Dallas Post and twice a week in The Times Leader until Sun- day, Sept. 19. Votes may also be cast online at The Readers can pick the best website (www.mydallas- . post.com) or The Times Leader website (www.timeslead- er.com). Readers must provide their name, address and phone num- ber and choose a winner in at least 25 categories in order to have their votes counted. Every- one who votes will be entered into a drawing where one win- ner will be randomly selected to win $100. Winners in all categories will be honored with a plaque and window decals at the annual Best of the Back Mountain Awards Event set for Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Fire & Ice on Toby Creek in Shavertown. Winners will be announced to the public in a special section to be pub- lished in The Dallas Post on Sunday, Oct. 24.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers