Vol.121 No. 36 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 November 11 - November 17, 2012 eo] he DALLAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Veteran's impart life lessons to youths Lake-Lehman honors local Vet's with a question and answer style discussion. By Megan Schneider mschneider@mydallaspost.com The video began with a sim- ple yet profound statement: “Freedom isn’t Free.” That message opened the Veterans Day program at Lake- Lehman High School Thursday morning and was followed by the presentation of the Colors by Boy Scouts Jared Casaldi from Troop 281, and scouts John Nowak and Connor McCue from Troop 444. State Rep. Karen Boback and many of the veterans sang along while the chorus performed the Star Spangled Banner. Lehman’s program was both informative and emotional. Co- ordinated by language arts teacher Gail Honeywell, speak- ers included veterans, those who are currently serving, par- ents and children of enlisted military. Everyone offered a unique perspective to stu- dents. Boback, who serves as an ad- vocate of veterans, asked the students if they had family who had served in the military or who are now serving in the armed forces. The majority of them raised their hands, under- scoring the importance of re- membering those who serve. Ninth-grader Courtney Eis- werth asked Lake-Lehman Su- perintendent James McGovern what it was like as a parent to have a son at West Point and to know that he could be de- ployed. McGovern said his son A.J. See VETERANS, Page 10 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE DALLAS POST /J.R. Sperl and Jim Baloga from the Daddow-Issacs American Legion Post #672 tell students about their military service. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Patrick and Christopher Flanagan offer their mother, Kelly Hackett, of Dallas, some inspiration as she tries to vote in Dallas Borough. Voting turnout strong By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com esidents from the Back Moun- tain lined up to cast their votes for the 2012 elections on Nov. 6. Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Mitt Romney weren't the only names on the ballot. First-time runner Aaron Kaufer ran against veteran state Rep. Phyllis Mundy for the 120th Legislative District seat. Gene Stilp contested U.S. Rep. Lou Barlet- ta in the 11th Congressional District and Tom Smith took on US. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. for a Senate seat. The polls were busy at all locations with Dallas Borough seeing a steady flow in the early morning. Resident Linda Zanelli said the most important for her was the debate over health care. “I work in the health care field,” said Za- nelli, “and the outcome really determines so much for everybody.” Zanelli, who vot- ed for Romney added: “We need a change. Obama tried but he just couldn’ accom- plish it.” Sister of Mercy Catherine McGroarty disagreed. “Our country isin a terrible state and we need the right person to pull us together,” she said. “Someone that has experience.” McGroarty voted for Obama because she felt his experience in the position and with foreign governments would give him the upper hand in dealing with economic issues and that he simply did not have enough time during a four-year term to ac- complish everything that needed to be done. First-time voter Nicole Clemson, a Dal- las High School senior, arrived at the polls at 9 a.m. with her mother to cast her vote. “T've seen some positive changes and would like to see it continue,” Clemson said. Her mother Trudy Clemson said, “Im just so excited that she’s voting. It’s worth going in late to work just to have her See VOTING, Page 10 Dallas High School to open student run store in lobby By Megan Schneider mschneider@mydallaspost.com Dallas High School plans to open a student-operated stored called Mountaineer Market. The store will serve as a fundraising tool for the school and a hands- on classroom where students can learn job skills such as keep- ing inventory, practical math, h handling and work-related @ skills. Principal Jeffrey Shaffer and Functional Learning Support Teacher Rachel Sutliff, with the help of several teachers, Robert Williams from Misericordia Uni- versity and the Dallas Founda- tion, have looked at other schools with bookstores and de- cided to take the idea a step fur- ther. “Many of these stores are run by the student government.” said Shaffer, “but we wanted to incorporate a learning experi- ence.” The market will be open in the mornings before classes begin, during lunches and in the eve- ning during athletic events. Shaffer says the store will carry school supplies, including note- books and pens, student-made scarves and hats and Mountain- eer gear. Money was donated by the Dallas Foundation to the school for the purchase of point-of-sale software so that the store will be able to accept credit cards. Wil- liams taught project administra- tors to use the new POS software in late October. Mark Golden, Robotics and prototyping teacher, and his stu- dents are in the process of de- signing shelving units for the store which will be housed in the same location as the current stu- dent-run branch of the P&G Credit Union in the high school. An opening date for the store has not been set. The Mountaineer Market will be run by students. Changing tools of media shared Local woman helps to bring blogging and social media education to NEPA. By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com In a business world that is rap- idly changing, Internet market- ing and the digital possibilities it encompasses can be intimidating for some professionals. Others are embracing it. One Back Mountain resident is not only active in the new realm, but is bringing the knowledge and expertise to other profession- als in NEPA. Michelle Davies, of Sweet Valley, is a 10-year veteran blogger of NEPA helping to edu- cate the area on the benefits of blogging and social media. An IT engineer for WNEP-TV and a part-time student at Lu- For more Zerrie County information ’ on BlogCon or Community Col- , payies, lege, Davies ist nepa- maintains two blogcon.com. regular blogs. The first is a personal blog where she writes about anything that might be on her mind such as the neighbors, tech topics or family. The second is NEPAblogs.com, where she writes about topics im- portant in the area. Davies also assisted in hosting the first big blogging conference in NEPA, BlogCon on Sept. 29 at Luzerne County Community College. The event featured sessions on social media, blogging, content strategy, search engine optimiza- tion and much more. It was a comprehensive Internet educa- tion for anyone with an interest in promoting themselves or their business online. The event was organized entirely by local pro- fessionals in the field, a group that calls itself the “Fearsome Foursome” and consists of Da- vies, Carla Porter, Mandy Boyle and Leslie Stewart. Each mem- ber of the group played a specific role in the event and each had her own expertise to offer the group. Davies was the IT specialist, the master of presentations and updated the website in the months prior to the event. But BlogCon was only a side gig for her. Her busy life might make you question how she could possibly have time to not only learn, but also teach the ins and outs of in- ternet marketing. We caught up with Davies and had the opportu- nity to discuss with her, how and why she makes the time. Q: Why did you begin blog- ng? A: “T've been doing it a while. I started years ago on DiaryLand and moved onto my own domain. I just saw other people doing it and I said, ‘I can do that.’ It really just helps me to get something off my chest and out of my head.” Q: What keeps you writing? A: “I like knowing I might be helping someone. A lot of people who read blogs are just looking for someone to connect with.” Q: How did you get involved See CHANGING MEDIA, Page 3 098154120079
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers