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.