Vol.122 No. 11 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 May 13 - 19, 2012 ® The PDArrAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Checking roads In Kingston Twp. By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Bryan Emershaw, of Division Street in Shavertown, thought he was in trouble when he saw a mo- torcade of Kingston Township vehicles pull over near his home on May 6. “I thought I'd better call my lawyer,” Emershaw joked. The 20-year resident wasn’t be- ing investigated for crime — the Kingston Township Board of Su- pervisors examined a storm wa- ter concern near Emershaw’s property as part of its annual road inspection. The culprit for flooding in Emershaw’s and neighbor Suzie Mizzer’s houses during heavy rainfall was a failing French drainage system that was in- stalled decades ago, according to road superintendent Don Fritzg- Fritzges said installing a new 15-inch pipe to cross several prop- erties should solve the flooding issues, which Emershaw said have existed for the last 15 years. “We've addressed the town- ship about this issue, and they have been very cooperative but they just needed the money,” said Emershaw. “Now that they're here, I am confident something will happen.” Several other concerns within the township were inspected dur- ing the public meeting, including storm water control problems on West Hillside Street, traffic con- ins on Tamanini Drive and hether the township is respon- “We've addressed the township about this is- sue, and they have been very cooperative but they just needed the money.” Bryan Emershaw Kingston Twp. resident sible for water drainage issues near Donnelly Drive. Fritzges said he compiles a list of areas for the supervisors to view, and those are found through Fritzges’ daily duties around the township as well as through concerns expressed by residents. Despite the supervisors’ visits, not all projects will be addressed. Some of the projects during the tour have been on the docket for years, and despite knowing how to solve these issues, finding the money to perform the work is the real challenge. The key is to prioritize the work to comply with local and state regulations in order to pro- tect public safety. “It’s very helpful to go out in the field and see the issues that our township staff sees on a daily basis,” said Supervisor Jeffrey Box. “When you don’t see field conditions and you get a request for funding for a project, it’s much easier to say, ‘Let’s put that off.” This work needs to be done, and we try to do a little bit every year.” See ROADS, Page 12 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Kingston Township Supervisor Shirley Moyer points out how the curbside at the municipal building is too high and unsafe. The township is considering repaving the entire parking lot. ball coach Ted Jackson Sr. Reunion will honor Jackson, Dallas players By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Ted Jackson Sr. managed to accomplish quite a bit during his 27 years as Dallas High School football head coach. Though his 231-76-3 career record, 16 Wyoming Valley Con- ference, four Eastern Confer- ence and three District 2 cham- pionships and a 1993 PIAA Class 2A championship have been ‘lauded throughout the community, Jacksons wife Sandy believes his effect on the hundreds of players he’s coached over the years reso- nates more deeply. That’s why she and her son, Ted Jackson Jr., have organized a Mountaineer football players reunion spanning Ted Sr.’s ca- reer from 1985-2011 to be held May 27 at Irem Temple Coun- try Club. “We felt it was a good time to do it,” said Sandy, a retired teacher. “If we're going to have something like this, we’re going to do it once and we're going to do it right so we can honor him and all the players.” The Dallas School Board opened Ted Sr.’s position in late 2011 after an unfavorable per- formance review, and eventual- ly hired Bob Zaruta, of Shaver- town, as his predecessor. After watching her husband coach youth sports nearly every year since the 1970s, Sandy said it has been a difficult time for the family in dealing with the transition. “It was very rewarding for the whole family,” Sandy said of football's effect on the Jackson family. “Our lives revolved around it. We planned our vaca- tions around football — early June, and that was it. It was the same thing around holidays like Thanksgiving.” Sandy said Ted Sr. hasnt BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Sandy Jackson points to a gold medal and other memorabilia won over the 27-year career by her husband, former Dallas head foot- ae i Football programs and collages highlight former coach Ted Jack- son's tenure at Dallas High School from 1985-2011. What: Dallas High School Football Reunion 1985-201 honoring the career of coach Ted Jackson Sr. When: Sunday, May 27 from 4 to 8 p.m. Where: [rem Temple Country Club, 397 Country Club Road, Dallas Township Cost: $45 per person includes open bar and buffet dinner, $20 for those under age 21. Dinner includes soda, coffee/tea and dessert. Age 4 and under are free. RSVP: Friday, May 18. Send payments to Sandy Jackson, 41 Belford St., Shavertown, PA 18708. More information: Contact Sandy Jackson at 574-0412 or Ted Jackson Jr. at 574-0409. made any decisions about whether to return to coaching, but she believes the 61-year-old Shavertown resident is too tal- ented — and too focused - to do anything else. “He doesn’t have any hobbies because he was always coach- ing,” said Sandy. “He does yard work, but he’s not a skilled car- penter or anything. He doesn’t golf.” Sandy said Ted Sr. has been keeping busy teaching drivers’ education courses, working out and spending time with his grandchildren. He’s also been helping his son Matthew train a See REUNION, Page 12 LifeSmarts team By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas High School Life- Smarts team recently traveled to Philadelphia for a few days, but the trip was anything but a vaca- tion. The team performed in the 2012 National LifeSmarts Cham- pionship at the Sheraton Phila- delphia Downtown Hotel in Phi- ladelphia from April 21 through 24 at which it placed third out of 32 teams from across the coun- try. “It was the most frightening ] 6'"M098151200790g ~ MA Ad "uur 4 I HE COM To view the Dallas High School LifeSmarts.team in action during the national competition, visit www.lifesmarts.org. experience of my young life,” joked team captain Decklan Cer- za, 16, of Dallas. LifeSmarts, sponsored by the National Consumer League, is a competition-based program that aims to develop the consumer and marketplace knowledge and skills of teens, according to the organization’s website. The three-day national compe- tition featured entire days filled with questions relating to subject areas such as consumer rights and responsibilities, environ- ment, health and safety, personal finance and technology. Some days featured buzzer competitions, in which all team members could participate while on other days, the five-member team was split to see how mem- Ay captain says competition was frightening’ Mr 1I1IVUN bers performed on individual written tests. The group even had to take an online test before traveling to na- tionals, and the results of that test deemed the group to be 15th in the nation. After some troubles on the first day of competition, Cerza said the team was ranked in 18th place. “We weren't happy with that, so we went back to our rooms and studied the rest of the night,” he said. The team, which includes Cer- za, Amber Habib, Gates Palis- sery, Samuel Reinert and Sara Hudak, climbed back up to eighth place and then to third Members of the Dallas High School LifeSmarts team hold their third-place trophy at the national competition in Philadelphia in April. From left, are Amber Habib, Samuel Reinert, Decklan Cerza, Gates Palissery and Sara Hudak. See TEAM, Page 12
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