Vol. 121 No. 50
THE
BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889
February 17 - 23, 2013
Paras Post.
www.mydallaspost.com
AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER
a= 2a: PA.
NEW YEAR:
Vietnam style
Crowd packs Franklin Twp.
Fire Hall to bring two
cultures together.
By SARAH HITE
Dallas Post Correspondent
About 200 people attended the
Vietnamese New Year celebra-
0 hosted by Father Vincent
hg of St. Francis Cabrini
hurch at the Franklin Township
Volunteer Fire Hall in Orange on
Feb. 10.
Vietnamese New Year is often
observed by decorating the tradi-
tional Hoa Mai tree, which is
dressed with families’ wishes for
the New Year, and families give
one another monetary offerings
in red envelopes. Other tradi-
tions include visiting family and
friends and purchasing new
clothes.
From the specially-prepared
cuisine to decorating the Hoa
Mai tree, not many details were
spared in the yearly celebration
Dang emphasizes the impor-
tance of bringing culture to-
gether in this unique cele-
bration. In addition to tradi-
tional foods like roasted pig,
fried rice and egg rolls, chicken
wings and pizza have become
staples of the Franklin Town-
ship event.
that Dang has hosted since he ar-
rived in the Wyoming Valley area
in the early 1990s.
“The food is brought in special
from Philadelphia,” he said.
Dang emphasizes the impor-
tance of bringing culture togeth-
er in this unique celebration. In
addition to traditional foods like
roasted pig, fried rice and egg
rolls, chicken wings and pizza
have become staples of the Fran-
klin Township event.
“We have American food for
the American people,” he said.
“(The Vietnamese people) have
Rev. Vincent Dang celebrates Mass in Vietnamese in celebration
of the Vietnamese New Year.
BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Hanh Le, of Wilkes-Barre, decorates the hoa mai tree, symbolic of the Vietnamese New Year before Mass at the Franklin Township Fire
Hall on Feb. 10.
come here and adopted the
American culture, and now we
share our culture, too. It’s about
friendship.”
For some parishioners, the
mass and following meal are just
as much about celebrating Dang
as they are about Vietnamese cul-
ture.
“I bounced around from
church to church until I met Fa-
ther Dang,” said Richard Moo-
ney, of Dallas. “He’s a wonderful
priest.”
Some attendees traveled from
as far as Warrior Run, near where
Dang was once the priest of an-
other parish, to commemorate
the occasion.
“Wherever he goes, we go,”
said Marion Croop, of Warrior
Run. “He’s the best person in the
world.”
See VIETNAM, Page 11
The Franklin Township Fire Hall is packed for a Vietnamese New Year's Mass and reception.
& By SARAH HITE
Dallas Post Correspondent
Jenelle O’Brien, of Dallas,
posed a challenge for herself
when planning her daughter’s
birthday party this year. She
wanted to find something unique
and active to occupy about 20 6-
year-olds for a few hours, and she
had to think a bit out of the box.
Instead of the same old rou-
tine, O’Brien organized a make-
your-own-pizza party at Original
Italian Pizza in the Dallas Shop-
ping Center for her daughter, Ky-
la, and 19 of her closest friends on
Sunday, Feb. 10.
“I used to be a teacher so I like
it when the kids can do some-
thing interactive,” said O’Brien.
“It’s better than kids just going to
a party and eating.”
The kids decorated their own
aprons and chef hats upon arrival
d took turns making real (in-
ling rolling the dough) and
Pe (using paper mache crusts)
pizzas during the two-hour fete.
It was the first event of its kind
to be held at the pizza parlor own-
ed by Joe and Joann Tomasino.
“We’ve had pizza parties, but
not this kind of hands-on learn-
ing experience,” said Joe Tomasi-
¢'M0981512007 90g
different kind
of birthday party
BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Noah Greco, 6, left, of Dallas, left, holds up his pizza craft with Jagar MacDonald, 5, of Trucksville.
no, who opened the location
about six years ago.
Under Joe’s instruction, the
miniature chefs-for-a-day floured
and rolled out their own dough
and assembled colorful culinary
creations with several different
toppings at their disposal.
“I like pepperoni,” said the
birthday girl. “That’s all I eat.”
O’Brien chose Original Italian
Pizza because it’s one of Kyla’s fa-
vorite places to enjoy a slice.
“It’s an amazing honor,” said
“We've had pizza parties, but not this kind of
hands-on learning experience.”
Joe Tomasino
Owner of Original Italian Pizza
Joann Tomasino. “We value our
customers’ opinions. It’s pretty
tough to get kids to eat, and when
they say something is their favor-
ite, that’s huge.”
Parents in attendance said it’s
difficult to plan and create party
offerings for youngsters that will
See PARTY, Page 1l
Mary Murray, center, a resident of the Meadows Nursing &
Rehabilitation Center in Dallas, recently celebrated her 100th
birthday with her great-granddaughters Kimberly Kubast, left,
and Stephanie Kubast.
Mary Murray notes
her 100th
Meadows resident honored
by family and friends on
special occasion.
Mary Murray, a resident at
the Meadows Nursing & Re-
habilitation Center, celebrat-
ed her 100th birthday on Feb.
6 with her family by her side.
Cake is one of Mary’s favor-
ite things and there was lots of
that at her party. Mary enjoys
spending her days at the
birthday
Meadows socializing with
staff and fellow residents and
participating in the music pro-
grams and church services.
She especially loves visiting
with the children from Little
Meadows Day Care as well as
the pet therapy dogs.
A resident’ at the center
since 2005, Mary has made a
lot of friends who also helped
share her special day.