Vol. 121 No. 43 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 December 5 - 11, 2010 The DALLAS POST. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts . www.mydallaspost.com HL Borough officials want your opinion By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Harveys Lake Borough offi- cials recently mailed communi- ty surveys to 600 area residents, hoping for feedback which will help develop a new comprehen- sive plan for the borough. A comprehensive plan entails an analysis of the community in der to change policies and ob- Ectives for the coming years to better accommodate residents. Some of the aspects of the com- prehensive plan include land us- age, transportation, housing and economic development. “Rather than starting from scratch, we're using a communi- ty survey as a public outreach,” said Jack Varaly, planning con- sultant for the borough. The last time Harveys Lake Borough structured a compre- hensive plan was in 1973, and Varaly said the community has drastically changed since then. “When I was growing up in the ‘60s, I was at Hanson's Amusement Park,” he said. “They had dances there on Fri- day nights.” Hanson’s Amusement Park closed in 1984, and now the 33- acre property may be home to a townhouse development - an is- sue that exemplifies why the borough has begun to reconfi- gure its plans for the future. “The lake has changed,” said Varaly. “It’s more densely pop- ulated and there is more water activity.” Council recently passed new subdivision and zoning ordi- nances, which were written in 993. After a long public proc- & officials realized a compre- "hensive plan influenced by resi- dents’ feedback would make similar changes less difficult for the council. “We were here at meetings If you are a resident of Harveys Lake Borough and have not received a community survey, officials would still like to see you participate. Residents may call 639-213 or visit the borough building on Route 415 between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to request a copy of the community survey. Responses may be mailed or dropped off at the borough building. many nights from 5 to 8 (p.m.) that were public,” said Varaly. “The document went from two pages to three or four pages with diagrams and charts.” Varaly and Council President Francis Kopko hope to receive input from residents to direct the comprehensive plan. While a 25 percent sample survey was sent out a month ago, both offi- cials encourage others who may have not received a survey to participate. “Community involvement is important because it’s their ar- ea of domicile and we need to accommodate them,” said Kop- ko. Varaly also said the borough plans to use the results of the 2010 census, which will become available in February of next year. He said the comparison of this most recent data will only add to the response from the community survey. “(The survey) gives everyone an opportunity to participate,” he said. The surveys are submitted anonymously so that residents can feel free to answer ques- tions candidly. “The survey will consider views on specific items,” said Varaly. “If people don’t partici- pate, we lose that valuable in- put.” Ranch will cater to disabled vets By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Chico, a 19-year-old Appaloo- sa horse, is quite timid despite his enormous stature. He has mobility trouble due to a case of ringbone, a degenerative condi- tion in which bone growth is found within the pastern joint above the hoof. Chico had thrush when he came into the care of Deborah Basalyga, of Harveys Lake, be- @: of his lack of movement. aslyga whipped up a home- opathic cure that seemed to do the trick. “White sugar and Betadine,” she said. She covered the horse’s affected area, bandaged his hoof and he was clopping around the pasture in no time. The simple cure had special meaning to 46-year-old Basal- yga, too. “Long ago, soldiers carried white sugar with them to heal wounds,” she said BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Deb Basalyga of Liberty Reins Ranch in Harveys Lake with Chico. This is just one of the connec- tions Basalyga links between horses and veterans. She owns Liberty Reins Ranch in Harveys See RANCH, Page 11 Remembering the coach Annual DHS Alumni Soccer Game pays tribute to the late John McCafferty. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The mood was jovial and light despite the frigid temperatures and muddy field at the 2010 An- nual Dallas Alumni soccer game on Nov. 27. More than 40 former soccer players gathered to honor John McCafferty, the man who start- ed it all, who passed away on Nov. 19 at the age of 66. McCafferty’s son, Steve, played in the tribute game to his father. “These guys are all like ex- tended family,” the younger McCafferty said of the former players. Nearly 20 team mem- bers who played soccer almost two decades ago came out for the game, a first for many of them. “These guys are all like extended family.” Steve McCafferty Son of the late John McCafferty “(John) was more than a coach - I'd known him since I was a little kid,” said Brent Snowdon, of Dallas, who played soccer during the 1985-87 sea- sons. “This is my first alumni game, though it’s unfortunate circumstances. It’s about cama- raderie.” A native of Scotland, McCaf- ferty started the Dallas High School soccer team in 1980, and for many of the players at the alumni game, his death signified the loss of a true legend. “John was one of the most in- fluential people in my life. The lessons he taught me about soc- cer also applied to my life,” said Jay Maniskas, of Dallas, who graduated from Dallas in 1988. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Players offer a cheer for the late John McCafferty, who started the soccer program at Dallas High School. Leslie McCafferty, widow of John McCafferty, gets a hug from her brother-in-law, Kenneth, during the annual Dallas High School Alumni Soccer Game. “It’s nice to have the guys back together again.” While the game began with a somber moment of silence, the players worked the field and ribbed each other during the game - the way some said their former coach would have want- ed it. The “old guys” wore dark blue shirts, while the younger alums wore light blue. At halftime, with the older crowd losing by two goals, John “Johnny” Shee- han, of State College, proposed a trivia game to even the score. “If the younger ones can’t guess what the phrase means, we get a goal,” he told the crowd. Players searched their memories for colorful sayings McCafferty had once spouted during games, a unique trait for which he was known in the soc- See COACH, Page 11 Bloomers looking ahead to 201 garden show By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com For members of the Back Mountain Bloomers, gardening isn’t just a hobby — it’s a way of life. “When you're angry and upset, you walk out to your garden and weep a bit and the anger’s gone,” said Louise Mattas, Bloomer member and former president of the club. “It’s work, but it’s plea- surable work.” The organization is a commu- nity-based effort to educate the public about horticulture and conservation as well as raise awareness of the personal bene- fits of tending a garden. The club is completely non-profit and any roceeds from events usuall What: The Back Mountain Bloomers 201 Garden Tour When: Saturday, July 2, 201, © a.m. to 4 p.m. Tour locally-owned gardens in the Back Mountain area, listen to profes- sional gardening lecturers and attend a flower show at Misericordia University. Tour will be held rain or shine. Cost: $20 per ticket More info: www.backmountainbloomers.org benefit like-minded organiza- tions. The club is currently prepar- ing for its 2011 Garden Tour to be held Saturday, July 2, 2011, which will raise funds for the An- thracite Scenic Trails Associ- ation, otherwise known as the Back Mountain Trail. The garden tour has been held every other year since its incep- tion in 2003. Prior to that, the Bloomers held an annual flower show at the Kingston Armo but after the 9/11 terrorist at- tacks, the club was no longer able to use the armory’s facili- ties. It came as somewhat of a relief — the annual flower show was quite a bit of work for the Bloomers and the idea of a gar- den tour seemed to fit with the club’s abilities while still adher- ing to its mission of garden edu- cation. Lisa Lindquist, the 2011 tour chairwoman, believes the tour i arden enthusiasts a chance to blossom their own ideas. “A lot of the people that go on our tours want to know what (they) can do (themselves) with- out hiring an expensive land- scaper,” she said. The tour is usually comprised of six or seven unique gardens from the Back Mountain area that feature certain characteris- tics. Mattas says the club looks See GARDEN, Page 1 09815%20079
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