Vol.122 No.5
THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889
April1-7, 2012
LLAS Pos
50¢
WILKES-BARRE, PA.
www.mydallaspost.com
AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER
Peyton brings talent to Misericordia
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Former Indianapolis Colts
quarterback Peyton Manning is
taking his career to a new level —
he’s decided to travel east to Mi-
sericordia University in Dallas
Township, where he’ll play dur-
ing the Cougars’ first Division III
football season.
Manning recently signed with
the Denver Broncos, but after for-
mer Broncos star quarterback
Tim Tebow moved on to the New
York Jets, Manning felt he was
“Speaking of fresh, can | get a change of shoes? |
think | stepped in something.”
Peyton Manning
At press conference at The Lands at Hillside Farms
“stepping into Tebow’s shadow.”
“(Tebow) had such a great sea-
son, and I didn’t even play. Start-
ing at Misericordia will give both
parties a fresh start,” Manning
said at a press conference held at
The Lands at Hillside Farms
grazing pasture. “Speaking of
fresh, can I get a change of shoes?
I think I stepped in something.”
Coaches at Misericordia wel-
come the four-time NFL Most
Valuable Player recipient, though
they said it won’t be an easy tran-
sition.
“Our program is going to be
tough,” said one coach who
wished to remain anonymous.
“In addition to traditional tactics,
we've been training by swimming
around the docks at Harveys
Lake, dodging cars on routes 309
and 415, and climbing up and
down the steps in Mercy Hall on
campus. We've got the home turf
advantage.”
Manning is well-known for his
outlandish pre-snap routine. Mi-
sericordia coaches said while it
will bring some publicity to the
See GOTCHA, Page 13
AP PHOTO
Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning will con-
tinue to wear blue when he starts as the Misericordia University
Cougars’ quarterback for the 2012-13 season.
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Jessica Zurawski, of Harveys Lake, and her daughter, Rebecca, read together during a story time about children with disabilities at
the Back Mountain Memorial Library.
LEARNING ACCEPTANCE
“It's good experience for her to hear about this,
that kids with disabilities aren't any different.”
Step By Step employees visit
library to teach children
about those with disabilities.
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Youngsters gathered in the chil-
dren’s wing of the Back Mountain
Memorial Library on March 21 to
learn more about children with
disabilities in recognition of
March as Intellectually Disadvan-
taged Month.
Employees from Step By Step,
Inc., an organization located in
Wilkes-Barre that provides sup-
port services to those living with
disabilities, chose two books to
read to 3, 4 and 5-year-olds in at-
tendance.
“We do a project every year
where we go out to as many
schools as possible to teach kids
about people with intellectual dis-
abilities and autism awareness,”
said Diane Kendig, of Step By
Step.
Step By Step employee Mary Pi-
larik read the books “My Brother
Charlie” by actress Holly Robin-
son Peete and “French Fries
Please!” by local author Sandra
Mungro King.
“My Brother Charlie” is based
on Peete’s own experiences grow-
ing up with her autistic twin broth-
er, R.J. “French Fries Please!” is
about a child with Autism Spec-
trum Disorder who has difficulty
trying new foods.
“Kids are aware of intellectual
disability,” said Kendig. “It’s nice,
if anything, to make them aware
before they reach school age to
Jill Antall
Dallas
know that students with special
needs are OK, that they can accept
them and treat them as friends.”
Jill Antall and her 3-year-old
daughter, Julia, of Dallas attend-
ing the reading group at the li-
brary every week, but it was the
first time Julia had been exposed
to the subject at hand.
“It’s good experience for her to
hear about this, that kids with dis-
abilities aren’t any different,” said
Jill Antall.
Jessica Zurawski and her 3-year-
old daughter, Rebecca, enjoyed
the books, and the elder Zurawski
said she believes kids don’t care
much about the differences of peo-
ple — they accept everyone.
“I think kids understand that ev-
eryone is different, but theyre ac-
cepting of everyone,” she said.
By STEVE MOCARSKY
smocarsky@timesleader.com
with county council.
Borough, Ill disagree about dispatching
gency Management Agency Co-
Emergency responders from ordinator Rich Williams said the
seven Back Mountain communi- press conference was necessary
ties on Monday night attended a because he called county man-
Library's book
shop extends
operation hours
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Ruth Tetschner always want-
ed to own a book store.
But that dream was too ex-
pensive - and too risky - to come
to fruition.
“Book shops have a high rate
of failure,” said Tetschner, an
avid reader.
Now the former teacher and
principal at the Dallas and
Westmoreland elementary
schools can say she runs a book
shop, though the books inside
the shop have been Slightly
Read.
Tetschner, of Trucksville, is
the manager of the Slightly
Read Bookshop in the base-
ment of the Back Mountain Me-
morial Library on Huntsville
Road.
Tetschner ran the book shop
in its early stages before moving
away from the area. When for-
mer manager Fred Krohle died
in early January, Tetschner
stepped back into the position.
“I have a book shop that has
no rent, no paid personnel and
the inventory is donated,” she
said.
The shop has increased its
hours to be open six days a
week, making it even more
competitive with stores that
carry brand new books.
“We're the largest used book
store in Luzerne County,” said
Tetschner.
About 40 volunteers donate
their time and skills to keep the
book shop running. It got its
start in 1998 after library board
members noticed the overflow
of books for sale at the library’s
annual auction.
All the shop’s proceeds bene-
fit the Back Mountain Memo-
rial Library. Tetschner esti-
mates it draws in about $10,000
Ruth Tetschner, who admits
she always wanted a book-
store of her own, finds herself
in command again at the
Slightly Read Bookshop locat-
ed in the basement of the
Back Mountain Memorial
Library.
yearly for the library, but more
days open for business will
mean more money to keep the
library afloat.
Many of the book shop’s cur-
rent volunteers have donated
time there since the store’s
humble beginnings. Three vol-
unteers who helped sort books
on a recent Wednesday admit-
ted they’ve been working at the
shop for about 10 years each.
Tetschner said the volunteers
keep the book store going, and
the donations keep the book
store filled. She estimates there
are about 12,000 books in the
shop at any given time.
Sometimes the books re-
ceived are already a well-known
part of the inventory.
For example, the shop is cur-
rently running a “Steal a Steele”
special, in which patrons can
buy a book by Danielle Steele
and receive another for free.
The shop has more than 250
Steele books.
“I sold about 15 of them and
then got a donation that re-
placed the ones I sold,” laughed
See SHOP, Page 13
L
6150981512007 9% I,
Back Mountain emergency re-
sponders are giving the new Lu-
zerne County administration
two weeks to resolve an ongoing
dispute with county 911 officials
before bringing things to a head
press conference called by Har-
veys Lake officials to make the
public aware of problems they
are having with county 911 dis-
patch protocols.
Harveys Lake Deputy Emer-
ager Robert Lawton six times
about the issue and Lawton did
not return a call until Williams
informed him he was going to
See 911, Page 13
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Keeping books in order at the Slightly Read Bookshop in the
basement of the Back Mountain Memorial Library are, from
left, volunteers Kathy Waltos, Nancy Dingman and Rita Bal-
berchak.