Vol. 121 No. 40 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 November 14 - 20, 2010 The EFAS Post. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts | www.mydallaspost.com CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Some of the students who will perform a series of one-act plays at Lake-Lehman High School are, from left, front row, Mikayla Orr- son and Benjamiin Steltz. Second row, Brittany Adams, Tyler Pearson, Paige Vacante. Third row, Tim Price, Joshua Payne, Raine Scott and Julia Whitesell. Laughter is this show's purpose By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Lake-Lehman students are re- hearsing three one-act plays with laughter as the definitive theme between the altogether different plots. “LLHS: Live and Laugh with One-Acts” will be performed on Saturday, Nov. 20 and Sunday, Nov. 21. Part of a rehearsal went some- thing like this: e Seventeen-year-old Ben Steltz, of Harveys Lake, haphaz- rdly waddles across the stage ® a baseball cap, trying to keep the others from calling him a “sissy.” e Tyler Pearson, 17, of Har- veys Lake, unintentionally slams a doll’s head off a giant let- ter block and then lovingly plays with the down-trodden dolls hair. e Brittany Adams, 18, of Har- veys Lake, loudly celebrates that she’s received a fresh diap- er. “I have a dry diapie!” she shouts. One of Lake-Lehman’s fall one-acts has senior students re- verting back to the Terrible Twos, and director Gina Major Ackerman says she can’t believe how the actors seamlessly tran- sitioned from texting to temper tantrums. “It’s almost an experiment in psychology,” she said of the play “Baby Talk” by Billy St. John. The play centers around nine graduating high school students who reminisce about how they met in daycare. The set switch- es back and forth from the scene moments before walking on stage for graduation to the giant daycare set, which aims to make the actors look smaller in com- parison. Characters dress and act to their nicknames, which include Prissy, Jock, Boo Hoo, Dee Dee (short for Drippy Diaper) and The Lake-Lehman High School theater program will present “LLHS: Live and Laugh with One-Acts"” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21. Tickets can be purchased in advance at $7 for adults and $6 for stu- dents or at the door for $6 for adults and $5 for students. The three plays, “The Ever After" by Nathan Hartswick, “Cirrius, Ne- braska" by Nick Vigorito Jr. and “Baby Talk" by Billy St. John, will be performed by Lake-Lehman juniors and seniors. For more information, call 675-1761 or 477-2902. Buster, an up-and-coming 2- year-old politico. “When I choose scripts, I have a few things to consider,” said Major Ackerman. “I have to know the talent pool I have can do it, and I make sure the audi- ence can have a good time.” Major Ackerman said she wasn’t sure how the teens would respond to playing toddlers, but the juniors and seniors totally embraced going back in time. “You can have a lot of fun with it,” said Orrson, who plays Pris- sy, a dolled-up cherub who is anything but. She develops a crush on Jock, played by Steltz, to the rest of the gang’s horror. Scaling back on their coordi- nation wasn’t the only part of preparing for the role. Major Ackerman said the students watched movies about toddlers and researched the movements and linguistics of childhood. “This wasn’t easy,” she said. “This didn’t just happen.” See LAUGHTER, Page 14 They remember through art work By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com “Memories in the Making” is an art program but it isn’t partic- ularly focused on art. The program is about creating communication, not masterpiec- es, says Estelle Killian, of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Re- gional Office of the Alzheimer’s Association. “It’s not so much about the product,” Killian said. For example, one woman suf- fering from the brain disease painted a picture of some fruit, which helped her to remember the time she spent on a farm in Lake Winola. Killian, of Shavertown, said the program gives participants another chance to express them- selves if the disease prevents them from communicating in other ways. “A lot of the time these people are nonverbal,” she said. “This gives the families the opportuni- ty to talk with their loved one in another way.” About 13 pieces from the pro- gram will be on display from 2 to 4 p.m. today, Nov. 14 at the Blues- tone Studio and Gallery on Pio- " What: “Memories in the Making" art program exhibit Where: Bluestone Studio and Gallery, 3 Pioneer Ave., Shaver- town When: 2 to 4 p.m. today About: Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. The event will be catered by Ah! Some Chocolates. Thirteen pieces from the program will be on display, and note cards and calendars will also be for sale. Info: To learn more about the program, call the Wilkes-Barre office of the Alzheimer's Associ- ation at 822-9915 or visit www.al- z.0rg. neer Avenue in Shavertown. The exhibit will be the first for the program and the gallery, and Kil- lian said the event is in honor of November being designated Na- tional Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Killian will also sell note cards and calendars made from partici- pants’ artwork to benefit the as- sociation’s activities. The event is open to the public and will be ca- tered by local chocolatier Ah! Some Chocolates. The program is a form of ther- apy for patients as well as fam- ilies, according to Killian. See ART, Page 14 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST New art by Alzheimer's patients and people with various forms of dementia is on display at the Bluestone Studio and Gallery, locat- ed in the former Hill the Florist Shop at 3 Pioneer Ave., Shaver- town. Candy buy-back supports troops By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Dr. Scott Watkins sees a lot of tiny teeth in his profession, and he’s hoping a Halloween candy buy-back program will keep those teeth clean and cavity-free — at least for a while. Watkins & Medura Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Center recently held its second annual candy buy-back program. Wat- kins offered youngsters $1 per pound for leftover Halloween candy and sent the goodies to a nonprofit organization called eration Gratitude based in lifornia. From there, the candy was packaged and sent to U.S. military personnel overseas in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This year Wakins saw over ¢'M098 151200790 Dr. Scott Watkins plans to continue his Halloween Candy Buy-Back program on an annual basis. Participants do not have to be patients of Watkins & Medura Dentistry to get in on the fun. Contact Dr. Scott Wat- kins at 675-1138 for more information. 140 pounds of peanut butter cups, gummy bears and other sweet treats roll into his office. “It’s fun for the kids,” he said. “They get a goodie bag with a toothbrush.” Watkins has three children under the age of 6, and he knows that leftover Halloween candy is a temptation young- sters don’t need. “For me, it’s great because we're keeping the candy out of the kids’ mouths,” he said. Watkins learned about Oper- ation Gratitude through the American Dental Association. He says dentists all over trhe country participate in the pro- gram. Operation Gratitude sends care packages to troops over- seas in order to “lift morale and put smiles on faces,” according to the program’s website. Participants in Watkins’ pro- gram who have a family mem- ber serving overseas can request a package of goodies to be sent directly to their relatives. Watkins said the troops who receive the candy also share it with local children in the areas where they are stationed. He had a niece serving in Baghdad last year, and he was able to directly send her some sugary snacks to share with her fellow soldiers and children in the ar- ea. “Something as simple as candy, which we take for grant- ed, can really have an effect on people,” he said. Parents have also been re- sponsive to the program and, according to Watkins, are thrilled with being able to get the candy out of the house. “So much of (the candy) gets thrown away,” he said. “It’s nice to spread it around.” CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dr. Scott Watkins holds up two bins filled with more than 140 pounds of left-over Halloween candy his patients have brought to his office to be sent overseas.
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