Vol. 122 No. 14
THE BACK MOUNTAIN’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889
SUNDAY JUNE 9-15, 2013
The
DALLAS P
50¢
WILKES-BARRE, PA.
www.mydallaspost.com
AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER
ck Mountain A
Grief counseling sessions offered
after deaths of seven young area
residents in last year and a half.
By DOTTY MARTIN
dmartin@muydallaspost.com
The death of 18-year-old Thomas
Lynch on Feb. 13, 2012, sent shock
waves through the Back Mountain.
Lynch, of Harveys Lake, passed away
shortly after arrival at the Geisinger
Wyoming Valley Medical Center Emer-
gency Room, Plains Township, due to
injuries received in a motor vehicle ac-
cident in Dallas Township.
Since then, six other young Back
cademy helps others manage grief
WHAT: Grief counseling sessions spon-
sored by the Back Mountain Academy
WHEN: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays starting
July 1 and continuing for six weeks
WHERE: Dallas High School
COST: Free of charge
INFO: Call 696-6941 or email backmt-
nacademy@gmail.com
Mountain residents have died, four in-
volving automobile accidents and two
from cancer, leaving area residents
nearly speechless and grasping for
ways to cope with the losses.
Candyce Fike, former chairperson
of the foreign language department
at Dallas High School, wants to help.
Thirteen years ago, Fike started what
is now known as the Back Mountain
Academy and is reaching out to any-
one who feels they may need help with
their grief.
The academy is sponsoring grief
counselor Elisabeth “Els” Heij, of New
Milford who has trained internation-
ally, for six sessions at the Dallas High
School in an effort to bring the Back
Mountain community together in its
time of grief.
The sessions, which are being offered
free of charge, will be held from 7 to 8:30
p.m. on Mondays beginning July 1 and
are open to anyone of any age.
See GRIEF, Page 4
BILL TARUTIS FILE PHOTO/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Kelly Gibbons, right, hugs friends at a celebration of life for her daughter
Kelci Gibbons at the Harveys Lake Beach Club. Kelci Gibbons was killed in an
automobile accident on July 24, 2012.
Former Dallas High School grid coach will be inducted into
Pa. Scholastic Football Coaches Hall of Fame this Saturday
Ted and Sandy Jackson relax in their Shavertown home among memorabilia from his long career as head
football coach at Dallas High School.
More accolades for Ted Jackson
By DOTTY MARTIN
dmartin@mydallaspost.com
There is life after Dallas High
School football for Ted and Sandy
Jackson. It’s not the same life they
had for the 27 years Ted was head
football coach of the Mountaineers
but it’s a good life, nonetheless.
The Shavertown couple recently
returned from a motor trip to the
state of Wyoming where they assist-
ed daughter Jill, a magna cum laude
graduate of Ithaca College, begin
her first clinical rotation in pursuing
P’ adoctorate in physical therapy.
They’re dog sitting for son, Mat-
thew, while he’s in San Francisco
training for a new job involving ro-
botic surgery equipment.
Then there are those two beauti-
ful little grandsons, Max and Jared,
{es :
LPS
Ted Jackson Sr. will be inducted into
the Pennsylvania Scholastic Fooball
Coaches Association Hall of Fame
at 1 pm.. on Saturday, June 15 at the
Holiday Inn-Harrisburg East, 4751
Lindle Road, Harrisburg. No tickets are
required for the induction ceremony.
A buffet luncheon will follow at a cost
of $24 per person. To make reserva-
tions for the luncheon, contact Chuck
Sponsky at 814-241-8523 or by email at
csponsky@yahoo.com.
Hall of Fame inductees will also be
presented during the Big 33 game at
7 p.m. on June 15 at the Hershey Sta-
dium. Game tickets are available on the
Big 33 website at http://www.big33.org.
the sons of oldest son Ted Jr. and his
wife, Robin.
Ted Sr. will be inducted into the
Pennsylvania Scholastic Football
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Coaches Association Hall of Fame
in Harrisburg this Saturday, mak-
ing him one of just 230 coaches to
receive the honor since 1986. This
year’s inductees will be introduced
at the Big 33 football game, an annu-
al contest between the best players
from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
“It couldn’t have come at a better
time,” Sandy said of the award, refer-
ring to her husband’s dismissal last
year by the Dallas School Board.
Ted has chosen Ted Jr. to present
the award to him and, although Jill
and Matt are unable to attend the
awards ceremony, the Jackson fam-
ily will fill several tables at the event
with members of both Ted's and
Sandy’s families, as well as several
friends, planning to attend.
See JACKSON, Page 4
BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/FOR THE DALLAS POST
Lucy, left, and Susie play Cow Pie Bingo on a gridded plot of ground during
the Knight of Mayhem.
Mayhem ensued at this fundraiser
it may have been day time but it was cer-
: a Knight of Mayhem as the Lake-
Letanen fundraiser took place on June 1
on the high school grounds. Lucy the cow
ended the Cow Pie Bingo competition with
pinpoint accuracy when she selected the
winning plot at row 11, column 19, “owned”
by Bill and Rita Cutter, after one hour and 15
minutes of play. Due to the heat and humid-
ity - temperatures rose well into the 90s on
Saturday - officials changed the rules of Cow
Pie Bingo and, instead of the square with the
most volume being declared the winner, the
square with the first deposit was named the
winning square. In addition to the bovine
Bingo, there were children’s games, a rock
climbing wall, an outdoor wrestling tourna-
ment, a pie-baking contest and the crowning
of Little Miss Lake-Lehman.
ABOVE: Athletic Director
Jeff Shook goes for a dunk
during Lake-Lehman High
School's Knight of Mayhem.
AT LEFT: Brianna Lee, 12, of
Hunlock Creek, right, crash-
es while texting and driv-
ing a simulator car as her
friend Alyssa Pudinott, 12, of
Sweet Valley, watches during
the Knight of Mayhem. The
simulator car was sponsored
by Smith Insurance Group,
Inc. of Shavertown.
School's out!
chool ended on June 7 for students
in both the Dallas and Lake-Lehman
School Districts. Both schools held com-
mencement ceremonies that evening at
their respective football stadiums.
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/
FOR THE DALLAS POST
Students
take home projects
and wave good-bye to
classmates they might
not see again until
next year at Lehman
-Jackson Elementary
School.
: Through the
open window in the
empty art room at
Wycallis Elementary
School, these chil-
dren are seen playing
outdoors on one of
their final days of
Make your reservation for the
Lemmond Award reception
school.
David and Judy Rimple will be
presented with the first-ever Charles
D. Lemmond Jr. Community Spirit
Award at an awards reception set for
Tuesday, June 18 at Lemmond The-
ater on the campus of Misericordia
University.
Established by The Dallas Post, the
award is named after the former sena-
tor who passed away in 2012 and is
designed to recognize a resident of the
Back Mountain for his or her leader-
ship and advancement of community
spirit.
The award honors those who en-
deavor to improve the lives of Back
Mountain residents through oustand-
ing community service, public service
or philantrophy and embody Senator
Lemmond’s commitment to doing the
right thing, in the right way, for the
right reason.
The Rimples started the develop-
ment of the Back Mountain Trail on
the old Lehigh Valley Railroad bed.
The trail, being developed for over a
decade, connects Luzerne Borough
with Dallas Township.
The awards reception is free and
open to the public; however, reserva-
tions are necessary and will be made
on a first-come /first-served basis.
To make a reservation, Call The Dal-
las Post at 675-5211 or email Dallas
Post Editor Dotty Martin at dmartin@
mydallaspost.com. Please leave your
name, your telephone number and the
number of people in your party.
A free will donation will be taken at
the event to benefit the Back Moun-
tain Trail.
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