Vol. 122 No. 42 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 December 11 - 17, 2011 The DALLAS PosT. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER as metering station to be built By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com After nearly a year of hearings and hours of testimony, the Dallas Township Zoning Hearing Board approved Chief Gathering LLC's re- quest to construct a natural gas me- tering station on Wednesday, but with several conditions. The facility will be located off Hildebrandt Road about 1,300 feet Next week zoning hearings will begin for another natural gas company, Williams Field Services LLC and its request to build a similar facility about 500 feet away from the Chief site. from the Dallas School District campus. Its purpose is to measure the quantity and quality of gas flow- ing from wells in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties via a not-yet- built Chief gathering line. Two members of the three-per- son zoning board, Bob Bayer and Gary Hozempa, unanimously ap- proved the company’s application but offered several conditions. A third member, Conrad Higgins, ab- stained from voting because he has a right-ofway agreement with Chief. The conditions Chief must ad- here to include maintaining the highest local, state and federal safe- ty standards, constructing a six foot high fence no less than 315 feet away from the structure, devising an emergency preparedness plan with emergency responders and the Dallas School District, and in- stalling a video surveillance system See GAS, Page 12 AIMEE DILGER/THE DALLAS POST Attorneys for Chief Gathering LLC Jeff Malak, left, Emily Thomas, center, and Ken Komoroski prepare to leave after final decisions were voted on by the Dallas Township Zoning Board meeting. | New stage is big allt with actors . & By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas High School Dra- ma Club is preparing to wow au- diences in a big way for its up- coming production of “Little Women” — in a bigger auditori- um, on a bigger stage and with a bigger cast. After afew complications, the students are working on the fi- nal touches for their first show on the stage in the new Dallas High School, which opened in mid-September. The new space comes along with male and female dressing rooms, prop storage, state-of- the-art technical equipment and high expectations. “It’s our first show right at the starting block, so I think there are high expectations,” said the- ater director Harry McKeown. “We’ve always done a nice job in the past. The kids are so excit- ed.” Caitlin Cameron, of Dallas, will make her stage debut in the eriod piece as Aunt Carol. It’sa all part (“I only have seven lines,” she said) but Cameron said the venue in which she will perform makes her feel like a star. “It’s going to be so fun on this stage,” said the 17-year-old. “We get to act more important and we get more perks — it’s more professional.” Cameron said the old school’s stage was much smaller — about half the size. The space didn’t have much storage and a lack of dressing rooms meant everyone had to change together behind the stage curtain in between scenes. Limited space affected sets, props and the kinds of shows the What: Dallas High School Drama Club presents “Little Women" Where: Dallas High School audi- torium When: 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 Tickets: $5 at the door For more information: Call the high school at 675-5201. club was able to present. “This gives us more of an op- portunity to do maybe bigger productions,” said Audrey Ide, assistant director. Rachael Alles, of Dallas, said lags in the construction process hindered the play at the begin- ning of the year. The flooring on the stage wasn’t completed by the school’s opening date, and students had to practice in a large classroom in the mean- time. “At first it was hectic ... but now we have a nice big stage,” said the 17-year-old. “It makes me feel like 'm on Broadway.” Student actors will use wire- less microphones for the first time in this production, and the- ater intern Jeff Kelly from Miser- icordia University said there are some glitches to work out before opening night. “At the old school, we used to do everything just to get through the show, including us- ing duct tape,” he said, laugh- ing. “It’s nice to have brand new, state-of-the-art equipment, but it’staking some gettingused to.” Kelly said learning the ropes of the new technical equipment has warranted some long nights on the set, but he feels the show will be worth it. “There’s a lot of potential See STAGE, Page 12 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Alyssa Horvath, left, and Rebecca Darling rehearse for the Dallas High School production of “Little Wome > By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The clip-clop of horses’ hooves only meant one thing to 3-year- old Macey Ramsey — Santa Claus was coming to town. Onlookers crowded East Tioga Street in downtown Tunkhan- nock on Dec. 2 to welcome the Clauses and the holiday season at the 10th annual “Christmas in our Hometown” event, hosted by the Tunkhannock Business and Professional Association. Ramsey and her sister, 6-year- old Ava, twirled around street- lamps and jumped up and down excitedly at the sight of St. Nick and his wife as they were led down the street by two Belgian horses during the event. The Clauses were escorted to People’s Neighborhood Bank, where they flipped a larger-than- life light switch to make a festive- ly-decorated tree come alive. With ornately-decorated store- fronts, it was difficult to tell that just a few months ago the down- town area was underwater due to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee. Tunkhannock was one of the hardest-hit areas during the flood, which occurred in early September. Nancy Parlo, coordinator of the event, said the flooding did affect the event but the group was determined to continue the Vi€ nual tradition. “The response after the flood- ing was phenomenal,” said Parlo. “Business owners were just amazed by how people helped them get back up and running.” The event featured a host of ac- tivities for patrons, including sleigh rides, ice-carving demon- strations, performances from lo- cal dance groups and free activ- ities and refreshments from local businesses and nonprofit organi- zations. “I think this shows residents that Tunkhannock is back, and businesses get to show off to vis- itors,” said Parlo. “You would never know we were flooded.” Ramsey’s father, Michael, agrees. The Clarks Summit resi- dent was surprised the event went on at all this year, but thought it was a good time to lift locals’ spirits after the flood. “We loved it last year, so we had to come back,” he said. “The Dietrich (Theater) recovered shockingly well, and it’s nice to see that everyone came together to help out the Dietrich. It looks wonderful.” Recuperating businesses were the last thing on 4-year-old Eris Dickson’s mind. The Tunkhan- nock tyke’s eyes widened as soon as she spotted her favorite fellow donning red and white. She rushed over to Santa and gave him a big hug as soon as he was finished with media inter- CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Eris Dickson, of Tunkhannock, has a special love for Santa, whom she met at the downtown Christmas tree lighting in Tunkhannock. Christmas mn Tunkhannock ta Claus has just turned on. Mrs. Claus approves of Tunkhannock's Christmas lights that San- Teva “I think this shows residents that Tunkhannock is back, and businesses get to show off to visitors. You would never know we were flooded.” Nancy Parlo Event coordinator “I love him,” she said. “He gives me toys.” Parlo said children were at the forefront of planning for the event, and businesses planned to give back to the little ones who helped during the recovery. “There’s a candy store on North Bridge Street and kids came and helped clean up be- cause they wanted their candy store back,” she said. M N Ball said th outpouring of support and aid from residents was tremendous, and “Christmas in our Home- town” was a celebration for them. “We're almost back to normal,” he said. *09815120
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers