Vol.121 No. 30 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 September 30 - October 6, 2012 WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER ~ DT residents will learn importance of tree clearing By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com Dallas Township road crews are preparing to clear the line of sight for drivers by educating residents. Township Roadmaster Martin Barry says it’s a problem town- ship officials have encountered for years. He explained that resi- dents don’t always understand their responsibilities regarding plant life on their property as it relates to public roads. Township officials want resi- dents to understand their re- sponsibilities as property own- ers to keep the line of vision clear around roadways and in- tersections. This means keeping all plant life away from the road. They also want owners to be aware of the right of the town- ship to take action if their trees Township officials want residents to understand their responsib- ilities as property owners to keep the line of vision clear around roadways and intersections. This means keeping all plant life away from the road. and shrubs are not maintained. Barry has researched other municipalities in the area and is using those examples to create a form that explains the situa- tion to residents. The form will be available in the township newsletter and on its website. Barry hopes to start the proc- ess of speaking to residents in November. Problem properties will be ad- dressed on a door-to-door basis, according to Barry. “To let them know there is a problem,” he said. “You have to act or we have a certain number of days that we can come in and do it.” Barry said school bus drivers, county bus drivers and fire de- partments have all placed com- plaints with the township be- cause overgrowth makes it diffi- cult for drivers of larger vehicles to see. He also said that crews have been threatened in the past by property owners for try- ing to clear branches and shrubs that obstruct the view of motorists. “We want to have a system in place in the future so everyone is informed,” said Barry. He said the main concern is the older developments in the township. Barry plans for the clearing of problem areas by the township to be a winter project, weather permitting. ~The legend behind the Haunted Woods The Last Knight Haunted bods will be open from 7 to 10 .m. during the last two Fridays and Saturdays of October (19, 20, 26 and 27) behind the Lehman Jackson Elementary School on Market Street in Lehman. The Haunted Woods benefits the Last Knight Lock-In for Lake- Lehman High School graduates. Legend has it that in 1848, a few years after the new school was built in Lehman, children started to see strange things on what is now Market Street - shad- ows chasing them and trying to pull them into the forest. This happened to so many of the chil- ren that they soon called the & ooded area the Creepers Woods and never went near this area at nightfall. : One adventurous child, Jarrod decided to explore the woods with two of his friends. They went during the day not long be- fore dark set in. They made their way to the back right of the woods and stumbled onto a log cabin. They peered through the dirty window only to see a very thin, boney woman with long, scrag- gly hair leaning over a table full of bat wings and other gross stuff she had thrown into a big black kettle on the fire. With one last item she threw in the pot, she raised her hands, chanted odd words and, from the walls of the cabin, came a black shadow fig- ure. The woman demanded this fig- ure to bring back children for the rest of her spell. She wanted to awake the dead with her potion and fill Lehman and the world with nightmares. The woman shall get revenge on the town’s people for shunning her and forc- ing her into the forest to hide. The boys ran as fast as they could through the now twilight forest. The Creeper set out and soon caught the boys but told them never to return because the old woman would cook them. He was once her son and died when she poisoned him to make a spell for herself of immortality. She summons him to do her dirty deeds. The boys ran home and told all their friends what they had seen, vowing never to enter the woods again. These boys grew up but al- ways warned local children what would happen if they entered the wooded area of Market Street. See HAUNTED, Page 3 09815120079 the message across Playing’ ‘picking’ are two | different By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider @mydallaspost.com Five hours from their home in Massachusets, BMX Pros Matt Still, Joe Pastomeroo and Danny Tod wowed the students of Ross Elementary School on Sept. 25. The three men are riders with Perfection on Wheels, a Califor- nia-based BMX organization that focuses on educating while performing in assemblies and school presentations. Tuesday’s presentation was an anti-bully- ing rally to teach the children the boundaries between playing and picking, and what to do if they find themselves or a friend in a bad situation. “People don’t always take bul- lying as a joke,” said Still while explaining to students the differ- ence between joking with a friend and crossing the line into bullying. PTO Vice President and As- sembly Coordinator Ashley Raspen booked the group to teach the young students the im- portance of understanding bully- ing. “It seemed like something good for the kids,” said Raspen, “to keep them interested and to keep them excited while getting » and things “People don't always take bullying as a joke.” Matt Still Professional BMX rider Students chanted the riders’ names as they took turns flip- ping, spinning and jumping on and off the ramps. The riders demonstrated the proper way to wear a helmet, im- parted some bicycle safety and stressed the importance of ac- cepting one another’s differenc- es by example. Still explained that rider Tod wore a bright pink helmet to show the students that it’s okay to be different. Still also pointed out that the audience had loved all the tricks Tod was able to do even though he was wearing a funny color helmet. Still then told the youngsters where they can turn to for help with bullies. As part of the show, he asked for two teacher volun- teers. Katie Mullins, reading spe- cialist, and Kim Chopyak fifth- grade teacher, were asked to lie on the ground. Riders Pastomeroo and Still joined along either side of the teachers and, in an amazing feat, rider Tod jumped all four human i bodies without the aid of a ramp. Still then said, “See that, kids. Your teachers would do any- thing for you.” As the final trick of the day, Still did a backwards flip onto the ramp. He shared with stu- dents that he had only learned that trick a few years ago. The 31- year-old Still stressed that edu- cation is important and that no one is too young or too old to learn. Ross Elementary students Seth Sheffler, Josh Rushton, Morgan Eiswerth and Nina Foresman listen to a lecture on bullying and bike safety pre- sented by a BMX touring group called Perfection on Wheels. cane gis sme CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Ross Elementary students are amazed to see a professional BMX rider jump over these four people, including two people they know, reading specialist Katie Mullins, left center, and fifth-grade teacher Kim Chopyak, right center. Ross Elementary School kindergartener Alex Kane describes to a professional BMX biker what kind of bike tricks he would like to see during a demonstration at the school.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers