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Sunday, July 29, 2012
THE DALLAS POST
PAGE 3
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Eating donut peaches at the Back Mountain Memorial Library
Farmers’ Market was the choice of the day for 1-year-old Olive
Barket and her mom, Sinead, of New Jersey, while visiting Olive’'s
grandfather, Sol Barket, of Dallas.
Farmers’ market
fresh as
It gets
he Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers’
Market opened on July 14 to patrons mingling
while perusing the many vendors, including lo-
cals like Dymond’s Farm and Brace’s Orchard, to those
who sell new products like organic honey and “fancy
cupcakes.” Organizers say the first weekend was a great
success, causing some vendors to completely sell out of
goods within two hours. The farmers’ market is located
in the Back Mountain Memorial Library parking lot at 96
Huntsville Road in Dallas and is open from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 6.
Barbara Kolchin, of Dallas, finds beefsteak tomatoes at the Back
% 2 &
Jack Nutche, of Shavertown, said that eating donut peaches at
Mountain Memorial Library Farmers’ Market. Paying for the find is the Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers’ Market was "just
her husband, Dr. John Kolchin.
like eating candy.”
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Dorothy Hopa, of Dallas, selects carrots to freeze from the Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers’ Market.
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Lake-Lehman schools offer
dergarten classes for children
t beginning their educational
careers, but soon the district will
have a hand in caring for young-
sters as small as infants.
- After taking a long look at the
district’s financial future, Super-
intendent James McGovern and
the school board decided alterna-
tive sources of funding — specifi-
cally operating a daycare facility
at the Lehman-Jackson Elemen-
tary School — may be a worth-
while venture.
“During the budgetary proc-
ess, not only do we look for ways
to do things more efficiently
here, but I think the key to fund-
ing education in the future is go-
ing to be alternative funding, try-
ing to find supplemental streams
of money,” said McGovern. “We
try to look at what we do well —
we're in the business of educa-
tion.”
The facility will be managed by
Hildebrandt Learning Centers,
LLC. The childcare company will
provide a program manager and
instructors for the infant through
pre-kindergarten care. Every-
thing else, from supplies to main-
tenance, will be covered by the
district.
McGovern said the initial in-
tention was to operate the facility
independently, but that idea was
scrapped due to lack of experi-
ence in the early childcare field
on the part of the school district.
Another option was figuring
the logistics of before and after
school care, but before the details
could be worked out, McGovern
said personnel from Hildebrandt
Learning Centers contacted the
district about partnering in this
venture. :
The facility will be located in
the former district offices next to
the Lehman-Jackson Elementary
School. The district offices will
be relocated in the junior/senior
high school around the block.
McGovern said there was talk
purchasing an off-campus
‘building for the daycare or con-
structing a facility on campus,
but construction estimates as
high as $500,000 prevented ad-
ministrators from moving for-
* Daycare coming to Lake-Lehman
BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Lake-Lehman Superintendent James McGovern describes the renovations currently underway at
Lehman-Jackson Elementary School to accommodate the district's new day care facility.
MOREL
For more information about Lake-
Lehman School District's daycare
project, contact the district office
at 675-2165.
ward with those proposals.
“We just couldn’t do that, and
we didn’t want to take out any
new financing for this scenario,”
he said.
About $100,000 was budgeted
for the renovation project, and
though bids came back a bit high-
er than expected, the district had
enough funds to move forward.
Renovations to the district offic-
es mostly entailed demolition of
walls to create more open space
for the facility.
Two pre-kindergarten class-
rooms, equipped with separate
bathrooms, already existed at the
site and the facility even has ac-
cess to its own playground.
McGovern said more than
enough parking spaces are avail-
able for the site, as well.
One of several classrooms at Lehman-Jackson Elementary to be
converted for use by the new daycare facility in time for the start
of the 2012-13 school year.
“We're not venturing far out
from what we normally do,” he
said.
McGovern said residents had
expressed concerns about taking
business away from other local
daycare facilities, but he said Hil-
debrandt Learning Centers offers
a unique service at a different
cost scale than other programs in
the area.
“We feel Hildebrandt is one of
the most well known and promi-
nent early learning centers in the
area and to partner with them,
were very fortunate,” said
See DAYCARE, Page 11
orey was the
strongest
Recent Dallas graduate
succumbs to three-year
battle with cancer.
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
The Back Mountain commu-
nity is mourning the loss of a
young man considered by many
of his friends as “the strongest
person” they know.
Corey Ehret, 18, of Dallas died
Sunday, July 22 after a three-year
battle with embryonal rhabdo-
myo sarcoma.
Friends remember the recent
Dallas graduate as a person
whose perseverance and positive
outlook on life could rival that of
any professional athlete.
Ehret was first diagnosed with
cancer in 2008, though he re-
mained an active member of the
varsity cross country team
throughout his high school ca-
reer.
Dallas High School cross
country coach Matt Samuel said
Ehret sometimes seemed like a
second coach — he was always
present to offer support and ad-
vice to fellow teammates, which
included his twin brother, Chris,
and his younger brother, Bren-
den.
“He was a source of support,
and though he was going
through his own personal strug-
gles and for as tremendous as
those things were, for him to take
his focus away and concentrate
and offer his counsel and advice
to all other members of teams
was just amazing,” said Samuel.
“For him to be able to do that at
such ayoung age, you really don’t
see all that often.”
When Corey’s cancer went in-
to remission, the team celebrat-
ed the triumph with him, and he
began to run with the team again.
Samuel said Corey was a very ac-
tive and important member of
the team during that time.
“It was amazing to see him
come back and then step onto
our team after going through
that stuff, and cross country was
very tough to deal with in first
person
EHRET
place,” the coach said. “He was
able to overcome his cancer
treatment and contribute to the
team in a meaningful way. He
was a scoring member of team.”
Corey’s efforts were so ad-
mired by his coach and team-
mates that the team started a Co-
rey Ehret Award, which is given
to runners who overcome great
odds to be successful members
of the team.
Corey was awarded the honor
in its inaugural year, and he
helped choose the recipient of
the next year’s award winner.
“It speaks to the character of
Corey and everything he stood
for, not just during his battle with
cancer, but in his regular life,”
said Samuel. “It stands for our
most courageous and persever-
ing and diligent athlete.”
Former teammate Jess
Adams, 18, of Dallas, said the
team participated in fundraisers
to aid the Ehrets.
“When we first heard about
(Corey’s diagnosis), we were
coming up with ways we could
support him, and we helped with
different fundraisers,” said
Adams. “One thing I remember,
a lot of teammates wrote on their
shoes, For Peach’ because we
used to call him Peachy. Because
of his cancer treatments, his hair
was peach fuzz and the name
stuck. That was a big show of
See COREY, Page 10