TE a ey Du Sunday, November 27, 2011 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 By SARAH HITE eT Two teachers and two coaches were hired at the Lake-Lehman School Board meeting Monday night. Allison Connell, of Forty Fort, was hired as an elementary au- tism teacher and Nicole Height, of Wilkes-Barre, was hired as a secondary mathematics teacher. Both will receive a starting salary of $41,263. Charles Lavan, of Wilkes- Barre, was appointed as head girls’ basketball coach for the 2011-12 school year. Mark LeVal- ley, of Shickshinny, was appoint- ed in a 6-1 vote as head baseball coach for the spring season. Board member David Paulaus- kas voted against the measure. Board members Harold Cornell and Andrew Salko were absent. The following substitute teachers were appointed: Amy Byle of Wilkes-Barre, Jacklyn Da- vis of Harveys Lake, John McDo- nald of Harveys Lake, Renee No- vitski and Cory Patton, both of Dallas. Jayme Spencer, former junior- senior high school secretary, was hired as technology assistant at a rate of $16.31 an hour. Patricia Ross of Dallas was hired as a five- hour part time teacher aide at an hourly rate of $9.75. The following support staff substitutes were appointed: Deb- bie Blockus of Shavertown, Cyn- thia Rittenhouse of Noxen and Ann Charney of Dallas. Essay contest winners for their efforts in an annual Vet- erans Day essay contest. All Three students were honored school districts in the Wyoming Valley are encouraged to partici- pate in the event, which awards cash prizes to first, second and third place and honorable men- tion winners in each age group. Retired Lieutenant Command- er Susan Allen of the U.S. Navy told the board all first-place win- ners this year hailed from the Lake-Lehman School District. Abigail Pascewski took the top prize in the fourth and fifth-grade category. Her essay gave reasons why people should honor veter- ans, including because “some of them have scary dreams forever.” Courtney Richards earned the top spot in the sixth through eighth-grade category. She wrote about the incredible sacrifices soldiers make every day, includ- ing leaving behind their families, which “makes (her) sad.” Rene Rismondo won first place in the high school category. Her essay mentioned the humbleness of veterans, who are more heroic than “Superman, Michael Jack- son or even Hank Aaron.” The students were awarded certificates from the district and the contest committee. They were invited to a brunch and to Board appoints teachers, substitutes and coaches walk in the Wyoming Valley Vet- erans Day Parade. Honoring board members Superintendent James McGov- ern presented gifts to outgoing board members Moderno Rossi, Harold Cornell and Lorraine Far- rell. He also acknowledged recent- ly-elected board members James Welby, Karen Masters and Ri- chard Bombick who will begin their terms next month. See TEACHERS, Page 4 By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Michael Marley has been ling for nearly half a cen- . In that time, he’s racked up thousands of miles — more than 24,901.55 miles, to be exact. Marley, 51, of Dallas Town- ship, recently accomplished a goal he has been working on for nearly 20 years — to bicy- cle the circumference of Earth in cumulative miles. While he began to log his miles in a journal in 1992, it wasn’t until Marley turned 43 that he set his lofty goal. “I looked in the mirror and thought, ‘I'm getting old,” he said. “I already had logged about 11,000 miles by then, and I asked myself how much longer could I bike, how do I conclude this?” He started setting yearly goals and tried to calculate how long it would take him to reach his ultimate achieve- ment. Year by year, Marley began to surpass his initial timeline as he increased his mileage. For the last three years, Marley has been biking up to 2,000 miles in a cycling sea- son, which can range from six to seven months, usually from March to October. Despite his planned win- y of opportunity, weather WW most often the deciding factor in whether Marley can Biking around the Earth without ever leaving the States “| looked in the mirror and thought, ‘I'm get- ting old.’ | already had logged about 11,000 miles by then, and | asked myself how much longer could | bike, how do | conclude this?" Michael Marley Dallas Township ride his bike. “I remember one time it was 50 degrees in January and I decided to take out the bike,” he said. Marley completed much of his goal in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but he also traveled to New York City, California, Maine and other areas. First and foremost in his mind was always the goal at hand - visualization helped Marley during his treks. “I would imagine myself go- ing through North Africa,” he said. “I'd fantasize about dif- ferent parts of the world.” Music and scenery helped, too. Marley said he’s always got his iPod plugged in, but the most powerful inspiration was the sights and sounds of wherever he happened to be traveling that day. “I'm one to stop and take pictures,” he said. “I like to See BIKING, Page 11 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Michael Marley, of Dallas, has completed his goal of cycling the circumference of the Earth or 24,901.55 miles. Marley started logging miles in 1992. ¢ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Abby Curtis, of Shavertown, hands over a coat to Kingston Twp. Police Officer Martin Maransky during the annual Back Mountain Policemen's Association Warm Coats for Kids clothing drive. Cops’ coat drive needed more than ever By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Back Mountain Police- men’s Association is expecting a greater need for its Warm Coats for Kids drive this year due to the late summer flood- ing. Ross Piazza, vice president of the policemen’s association, said the clothing drive has dou- bled the number of collection sites and expanded the rules for donation to include adult cloth- ing as well. “We're anticipating a greater need,” said Piazza. “With peo- ple losing their homes, (they) don’t give much thought about winter clothing. We wouldn’t doubt a lot of coats were ruin- ed.” Piazza said the drive was ex- pected to be in full force by Thanksgiving and collections will continue until January. The program has worked with various organizations in the past, but Piazza would like to distribute the coats at a holi- day dinner for those affected by the early September flooding. Mm 14 vii A ANM UID 4 Ww YOU CAN MH 3 1 Some donation sites for the Warm Kingston Township Municipal Build Library, Fuel On and The Rock Rec Coats for Kids drive include the ing, the Back Mountain Memorial Center. For more information or to host a distribution site, contact Ross Piazza at 760-9342. He said after three years, the program has been able to deter- mine what avenues for distribu- tion are more successful. The first year, the coat drive gave out coats to children at Mi- sericordia University, but Piaz- za felt like transportation to the school in Dallas Township was a problem for those in need. “I think people had a hard time getting to the college,” he said. Last year, the organization at- tended a holiday party for un- derprivileged children. Piazza said having the coats, hats, gloves and scarves there al- lowed the children to try every- thing on to ensure proper sizing before taking items home. “That worked really well,” he said. Piazza is trying to coordinate a similar distribution site for this year. He also said several local churches will have the do- nated winter clothing available once the collection ends. The Warm Coats for Kids drive collected nearly 1,000 coats in its first two years, and Piazza believes this year’s col- lection will far exceed that to- tal. “It’s primarily Warm Coats for Kids, but this year because of the flooding we'll take any- thing anybody will give us, in- cluding adult coats, gloves and hats,” he said. Piazza said the group is also working with guidance counsel- ors within school districts to satisfy any needs for clothing local youngsters might have. “They’ll do this in a very dis- crete way,” he said. “They’ll ask us for different coats in differ- ent sizes and allow the family to choose what they need.” Piazza said this way of dis- tributing the clothing is part of how the Warm Coats for Kids drive got started. He said local teachers, counselors and police officers saw children without proper clothing in chilly tem- peratures more often than not. “When you see kids going to school in light jackets, some- times even just T-shirts, you see the need,” he said. “That’s part of the nature of kids, but I think a lot of them just don’t have the clothing they need.” Piazza said the generosity of Back Mountain residents is the only unsurprising aspect of the fundraiser. “People buy coats for us,” he said. “People will donate coats with the hangers and tags still on them. That happens every year. There are a lot of generous people in this area.” The Back Mountain Police- men’s Association is comprised of more than 20 police depart- ments spanning the Back Mountain and West Side re- gions as well as the state Fish and Boat Commission, the state Gaming Commission and the state Department of Conserva- tion and Natural Resources. LAKE TOWNSHIP [llegal burning continues to be a concern Illegal burning on Route 29 was brought to the attention of Lake Township supervisors dur- ing their November 21 meeting. Residents confirmed they have seen burning near the inter- section of Chestnut Tree Road and Route 29. One resident re- ported that debris, including metal and various construction materials, possibly flood-relat- ed, was being trucked in and burned. Supervisors said they will call the Department of Environmen- tal and request that someone in- spect the site. In other news, the adoption of two resolutions to accept FEMA reimbursements for disaster as- sistance from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee were ta- bled until Barney Dobinick, township emergency manage- ment coordinator, could be pre- sent. Dobinick had the reimburse- ment paper work said Carlene Price, township secretary and treasurer. In September, it was estimat- ed damage sustained by the township totaled $26,350. The total amount of damages for Tropical Storm Lee were un- available. The next municipal meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednes- day, Dec. 14 in the township building. - Eileen Godin Grotto Parade of Trees” kicks off 16th season Grotto Pizza at Harveys Lake kicked off the Sixteenth Annual Parade of Trees on Tuesday, Nov. 22 with a decorating party for participating businesses and charities. The 2011 Parade of Trees fea- tures dozens of holiday trees sponsored by businesses that support local charities. Decorat- ing teams from these business- es as well as representatives from the benefiting charities were on hand at the decorating party. Businesses sponsor a tree and then decorate that tree, usually with trimmings that reflect ei- ther the business or the charity being sponsored. Visitors to Grotto Pizza's Harveys Lake lo- cation then “vote” on which tree is best-decorated by making monetary donations. The trees that raise the most money “win” and share an additional bonus from the pool of entry fees. All monies collected go to charity. Since its inception at Grotto Pizza, the annual Parade of Trees event has raised more than $100,000 for regional char- ities. BR A aN A a il a A lS A ia, i i a a — — ———
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