A Celebration of Kelci's Life - Back Mountain Community News

SEPTEMBER 2013

2000 Memorial HighwayShavertown (570) 675-5234

www.thesmithinsurancegroup.com

The Kelci Ever After Inaugural 6K Run and 2K Memory WalkA Celebrationof Kelci’s Life The Kelci Ever After Inau-gural 6K Run and 2K Memory Walk will be held Sunday, Octo-ber 6, 2013 at 11:00 am at Fran-ces Slocum State Park in Wyo-ming. Family and friends of Kelci established this run / walk to ben-efit The Kelci Ever After Memo-rial Scholarship Fund, adminis-tered by the Luzerne Foundation that was set up to honor Kelci and to do good in her memory. Kelci was a free spirit who loved art, music, nature and having a good time. All proceeds from the run benefit the fund which will dis-tribute annual schol-arships to Dallas or Lake-Lehman High School graduates. Preference for the scholarship will be given to students with a major or mi-nor in art and/or environmental stud-ies, but it is open to all students who are pursuing their pas-sion and exemplify her spirit. All re-maining funds will be awarded to alocal youth sports

program, such as Back Mountain Youth Soccer, an organization Kelci grew up participating in and loving. The run will be a flat 6k trail and road run along the beautiful lake shore and campground road. The walk is an easy 2k on roads and level path under a canopy of trees and through grass along the shore of the lake. Registration begins at 9:00 am until 10:40 am with the race

starting at 11 am. Entry fee is $20 and includes a tie-dye t-shirt. Awards to top 3 overall male and female runners and walkers. For more information and de-tails contact Eric Grego at (570) 301-7883 or Kelly Gibbons at (570) 574-0367. Visit online at: www.kelcigibbons.com or on facebook at kelcieverafter.

Community News • September 2013 • Page 2

Deadline: Wednesday, September 25, 2013Next Publication Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Square Dance Planned A square dance sponsored by The Franklin Township Volun-teer Fire Company Ladies Aux-iliary will be held on Saturday, October 26, from 7:00 to 10:00 PM. The Fire Hall is located at: 329 Orange Road, Dallas, (Vil-lage of Orange). Featuring: The Roger Furman Band. Admission is $6.00 and the building is air conditioned. Food and refreshments will be available. Doors and kitchen will open at 6:00 PM For more information, call 570-333-5912 or 570-333-4626.

Dinner, Bake Sale Roast Turkey Dinner and Bake Sale planned at the Loyalville United Methodist Church, Sat-urday, September 14, - serving 4:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M. Adults - $9 / children under 12 - $3.50. Takeouts available - call ahead. You may also leave a message with your name and phone number and numbers of dinners/pickup time at 477-3521 Hoagie Sale planned for Octo-ber 8 - $5 each. Church located half mile off 29 South – 9 miles from Noxen – turn left onto Loyalville Road . Off Route 118 - 4 miles West of Dallas - Turn Right onto Loyalville Road.

The Dallas Township Police Department (DTPD) received accreditation by the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission on May 31, 2013, marking accredited status for the agency from July 7, 2007 to present – the 3rd three-year accreditation for DTPD.Accreditation is a progressive and time-proven way of helping institutions evaluate and improve their overall performance. A team of independent professionals are assigned to verify that all applicable standards have been successfully implemented. The process culminates with a decision by an authori-tative body that the institution is worthy of accreditation.On May 30 and 31 an on-site review and re-assessment of the Dallas Township Police Department was conducted. The assessment team was comprised of three members: team leader was Lieutenant Mark Shannon of the Norristown Police, assisted by Officer Rick Finicle of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Police, and Lieutenant Richard McGarr of the Lehigh University Police.The findings of the assessment team were confirmed by the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accredi-tation Commission on June 26, 2013, once again naming the Dallas Township Police an accredited agency. A formal presentation was made that evening at the annual Training and Education Confer-ence of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association Dinner. Accepting for Dallas Township Police was Chief Robert Jolley, Sergeant Douglas Higgins and Officer Todd Adams.

Dallas Township Police Completed 3rd Accreditation

Pictured at the annual Training and Education Conference of the PA Chiefs of Police Associa-tion Dinner from left are: Dallas Township Police Officer Todd Adams, Chief Robert Jolley and Sergeant Doug Higgins.

Attention Dallas Township Property Owners Dallas Township property owners who rent must file tenant registration forms to the Town-ship office. All rental properties must be registered; and changes should be filed whenever new tenants move into these properties. Ten-ant registration forms can be picked up at the Dallas Town-ship Municipal Offices at 2919 SR 309 Highway, in Dallas. Questions should be directed to Dallas Township Zoning / Code Enforcement Officer Carl Alber, at (570) 674-2013.

Community Yard Sale planned A community yard sale planned at the Huntsville United Method-ist Church, 2355 Huntsville Road, Shavertown, on Saturday, Sep-tember 28th from 8 am to 4 pm. Plenty of vendors and lots of home-made food. Vendor space is $10. Call 477-3748 for more details.


The Dallas Lions Club recently held installation of officers for the coming year at a dinner meeting at the Irem Country Club, with members and guests in attendance. Lion Frank Rollman installed the new officers. Pictured above are the officers for the 2013-2014 year. First row from left are: Ed Hahn, 2nd Vice President; Joe Canfield, Treasurer; Don Berlew, President; Joe Czarnecki, Immediate Past President; Second Row: Larry Spaciano, Membership Chairman; Rob Swailes, Secretary; Jeff Miller, Lion Tamer and Paul Tonnes, Tail Twister. Not present for the picture: Doug Klinger, 1st Vice President.The Club holds their regular monthly meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Metro Bar and Grill in the Twin Stacks Center in Dallas.

Dallas Lions Install Officers for the Coming Year Ninth Annual Fall Intertribal Pow Wow Announced The Ninth Annual Fall Intertribal Powwow will be held Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28-29, 2013 at the Noxen Fire Co. grounds, 3493 Stull Road, Noxen, Wyoming County. Gates open at 10 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. both days. This event is a gathering of all Nations. Grand Entry of all dignitaries and dancers in full regalia will be at noon Indian Time with various local drums. Richard Gray Owl Greene will serve as emcee. The event is open to the public, with no admission fee. The event will feature Native American dancing, drumming, story-telling, children’s dances, Native American food and craft vendors, a Saturday evening trade blanket and much more. This is a non-compe-tition gathering and everyone is encouraged to join in the fun. All with an open heart are welcome. Dogs are welcome but must be leashed and cleaned up after at all times. Bring your own lawn chair. Meals will be provided for dancers and vendors. A chili cooking contest will be held Friday evening, with a cash prize to the winner, who will be determined by $1 per plate. Saturday dinner will be pot luck; please bring a dish to share. Sunday breakfast and dinner will be provided; please bring your own place setting to help keep Mother Earth clean. Wash stations will be available. Camping is free; there will be a $7 charge per day for electricity.Drugs, alcohol, firearms and politics are prohibited.

Q: I have a friend who has meant a lot to me over the years, but recently we had a falling out. The problem is that I inadver-tently stepped on her toes over a situation without realizing that I had hurt her feelings. Once I discovered my error, I immedi-ately apologized and indicated my regret. She finally accepted my apology in a half-hearted sort of way. The trouble is that I feel our relationship has been altered and I don’t think I can count on her friendship in the same way as I did in the past. What can I do once I’ve made a mistake? A: Most times people don’t set out to hurt other people’s feelings. But because we are human we make mistakes and have accidents. Even with all of our best intentions, things don’t always turn out right. When our words and our actions are sometimes thoughtless, stupid, and downright wrong, we can take one of two paths: We can ignore the situation hoping it will go away, or we can step up to the plate and say “I’m sorry.” Although it sometimes seems impossible to get the words “I’m sorry” out of our mouths, it is much harder to walk around with the burden hanging around our neck like a noose when we know we haven’t taken the necessary steps to make amends. Fortunately, you decided to err on the right side by offering a sincere apology immedi-ately or at the first recognition of the impasse. That is the difference between kindness and rudeness, and civility and incivility. Because saying we’re sorry is difficult, it motivates us to try harder not to make the same mistake twice. In addition to saying “I’m sorry” many people will continue with a “but.” It is not appropriate to say, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to go to the outlets with me when I knew you wanted go, but I was in a hurry.” When we add an excuse to what we did or didn’t do means we are not taking responsibility for our actions, and that makes the apology worthless. The problem with apologies is there is no guarantee of reward. One should never assume an apology is the end of the situation. It is only the first step towards making it right. It is hard to know the depth that pain and anger has on an individual, and certainly the severity of the violation has to be taken into account. Just because a person accepts our apology doesn’t necessary mean we will get a hug and resume as though nothing ever happened. As a matter of fact, wrong-doing is cause for some relationships to end. For the most part, once an apology is offered and accepted, it takes some people time to recover from the hurt and so a little breather is necessary. This may be what your friend needs. On the flip side, accepting an apology is equally important even though someone was careless and hurtful. Accepting an apology, with-out conditions and qualifiers, is the first step to putting the past behind and releasing the “hold” on another. One would never say, “I appreci-ate your apology…but you really made me feel terrible!” Qualifying an apology is really not accepting it. Usually when we say words, we need to back them up with an action. I would suggest that you continue to be kind and caring toward your friend as you have done in the past. Time is the great healer so hopefully with the passing of time your friend will not only forgive, she will forget, too. After all, holding on to grudges in also a form of having a noose around the neck! Email your etiquette questions to Jill at: [email protected] or mail to: P.O. Box 1703, Shavertown, PA 18708. De-fining Manners School of Protocol offers certified social and business etiquette courses. For more information visit: www.DefiningManners.com or call 570-696-3209.


Read the Back MountainCommunity News online at

www.communitynewsonline.net

Etiquette Tip of the MonthBy Jill Evans Kryston, Etiquette Consultant

“AWANA” planned at Cross Creek Community Church Cross Creek Community Church, located 2 miles from the light in Trucksville at 370 Car-verton Road, will be starting their AWANA program, September 11th at 6:30pm. AWANA’s goal is to reach boys and girls with the gospel of Christ and to train them to serve Him. AWANA also helps churches and parents work together to develop spiritually strong children and youth who faithfully follow Jesus Christ. Fun nights are also sched-uled throughout the entire course of our year. AWANA meets Wednesday nights at 6:30pm during the school year. During this time, we will also have our CrossRoads and Revive Youth Groups for grades 6th thru 12th, as well as adult bible studies. Pastor Dave Martin encour-ages all our friends, family and neighbors to join us. You may call 696-0399 or e-mail [email protected] for details.

Rummage Sale and Bake Sale Join us on Friday, Sept 13 from 9am - 2pm and “Bag Day” Saturday, September 14 from 9am - noon at the Prince of Peace Episcopal Church, 420 Main St, Dallas. For information call 570-675-1723 or visit online at: www.princeofpeacedallaspa.org.

Ham Dinner – Family Style Sweet Valley Volunteer Fire Company, Sweet Valley, will serve a ham dinner on Saturday, September 28. Dinner served 4:30 to 6:30. Take-outs begin at 4:00. Adults $9.00, children under 12 are $5.00 and children under 6 eat free. Call 477-5121 for more information.

Bingo Nights planned Bingo will be held on Monday, September 9, at the Northmore-land Twp. Fire Hall in Centermo-reland. Doors open at 5:00 P.M. and early birds beging at 5:30 P.M. Food and beverage avail-able. Also, Bingo will be held on Monday, September 23, at the Northmoreland Twp. Fire Hall In Centermoreland. Doors open at 5:00 P.M. and early birds start at 6:30 P.M. Food and beverage available. For more information call Jim 570-333-4906.

Roast Beef Supper Will be held on Wednesday, September 25, at the Northmore-land Twp. Fire Hall in Centermo-reland. Serving from 4:30 P.M. until 6:30 P.M. Adults $8.00 and children under 12 years of age $4.00. Eat in or take out. Pur-chase tickets at the door.Call Jim 570-333-4906 for more information.


need for adequate and culturally appropriate nutrition services. From Friday, September 6th through Friday, September 13th, the Dallas Harvest Festival’s Friends Feeding Friends cam-paign will invite Back Mountain residents, families and shoppers to donate food items to the Dallas School District Classroom Food Drive, or in convenient drop-off receptacles at both Thomas’ Fam-ily Markets. The drive will conclude at the Dallas Harvest Festival on Sunday, September 15th as fes-tival volunteers host the Friends Feeding Friends booth from 12 noon-5 p.m. Festivalgoers can participate by bringing canned or prepackaged (non-fresh) food items to the booth.

Dallas Harvest Festival Announces “FRIENDS FEEDING FRIENDS” Campaign

In keeping with its “Year of the Volunteer” theme, the 2013 Dallas Harvest Festival announced that it will collabo-rate with the Dallas School Dis-trict, and Shavertown and Dallas Thomas’ Family Markets loca-tions to help collect much-needed food items for the Back Mountain Food Pantry through its Friends Feeding Friends Campaign. This year’s festivalgoers are also encouraged to bring a non-perishable item with them to drop off at the Friends Feeding Friends booth at the festival on Sunday, September 15, from noon-5:00 p.m. Founded in 1977, the Back Mountain Food Pantry serves cli-ents within the Dallas Area and Lake-Lehman school district

boundaries. Located in Trucks-ville United Methodist Church, the pantry has approximately 232 clients, serving an average of 20 prequalified families each week who receive as many as 12 bags of grocery items. In 2012, 2,349 individuals from 854 households were provided for. It is now also supplemented by the new Food Pantry Garden, graciously pro-vided by the Lands at Hillside Farms and maintained by gener-ous volunteers. As a result, fresh vegetables are now available as a seasonal benefit to food pantry clients. “As the need continues to in-crease every year, so does the community response. None of this would be possible without a community of very caring and generous churches, businesses, civic organizations, individual donations, and many volunteers,” said Back Mountain Food Pan-try Board President Rev. Roger Griffith. America has always been

known as the land of plenty, but for one in six people in the United States hunger is a reality. Many believe the problems associ-ated with hunger are confined to small pockets of society, certain areas of the country, or specific neighborhoods, but the reality is much different. Right now, millions of Ameri-cans are struggling with hunger. They are often hard-work-ing adults, children and seniors who often go without meals, for days on end.

Pictured above at Thomas’ Food Market, in Dallas, are (left to right): Back Mt. Food Pantry President Rev. Roger Griffith, Friends Feeding Friends Co-Chair Barb Roberts, Thomas’ Co-Owner Chris Evans, and Manager Larry

Dallas School District participants include (seated): Wycallis Principal, Tom Traver; Special Edu-cation Director, Dawn Keifer; Superintendent, Frank Galicki; Technology Director, Bill Gartrell; (standing) Dallas High School Assistant Principal, Brian Bradshaw; Friends Feeding Friends Co-Chairs, Barb Roberts and Donna Davies; Dallas Elementary Principal, Paul Reinert; Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Mark Kraynack, Dallas Middle School Principal, Tom Duffy; and Dallas High School Principal, Jeff Shaffer. For children, good nutrition in the first three years of life is important in establishing a good foundation for future physical and mental, academic achieve-ment, and economic outcome. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 16.7 million children under age 18 in US households are unable to con-sistently access enough nutritious food necessary for their healthy

development. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the number of older adults is projected to increase by 36% over the next decade, and continue to rise in the following decade. By 2030 it is projected that there will be 72.1 million older adults, almost twice as many as in 2008, which will have a profound impact on the demand for social services, especially the


By MB GilliganBack Mountain Community News Correspondent

The Farmers Market at the Back Mountain Memorial Li-brary offers farm-fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables ev-ery Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm on the library grounds. The popular market also fea-tures fresh baked breads, rolls and pastries and pies. In addi-tion, organically grown vegeta-bles and herbs and hydroponics are also available for purchase. The market is very popular but volunteers from the library com-mittee serve as parking lot atten-dants and maintain the safe, steady flow of cars in and out of the parking lot. So, plan on a visit soon to pick up some delicious fresh produce and support our local farmers and the library Saturdays through October 5.

The Farmers Market at the Back Mountain Memorial Library is the place to be on Saturdays

Peggy and Peter Olivieri of Dallas make a purchase from Jerry Mancinelli at Braces Orchard stand.

Friends often enjoy a visit to our local Farmers Market. Pic-tured on a recent Saturday morning are Patti, left, and Dr. Ken Ustynoski, his friend from medical school Dr. Alan Graff, and Kate Tappert.

Picking out fresh produce with help from Golomb’s Farm Market employee Mi-chael Pehala, left, are Dallas residents Michael Bakay-sa, III, center, and Tony Westawski.

From left, Max, Diane and Derek Gordon, Shavertown, are pic-tured at the library’s Farmers Market.

Meghan Palmer, right, and Sandy Sheehan, both of Dallas stopped by the Farmers Market for some fresh bread. In the background are Charles and Winnie Ukattah, owners of Star Bakery located in the Dallas Shopping Center.

Back Mountain Memorial Library’s Farmers Market

Saturdays - October 5.

Dallas Lions Club recently presented a Plaque of Appreciation

The Dallas Lions Club recently presented a Plaque of Appreciation to Wayne Devine, and his crew, at Frontier Communication for their three years of exceptional support for the Lions Hometown Hero project. During the three year period Frontier has placed and removed the Hometown Hero Banners from poles in the Dallas downtown area. In 2013 an additional 23 banners were added for a total of 82 banners. With the continued support of Frontier Communication the Lions Club is once again considering, what was originally scheduled as a two year project, another year extension into 2014. Shown dur-ing the presentation above, from left: Ken Daily, Frontier; Devine, Frontier; Steve Mar-tin, Frontier; Don Berlew, Lions; Russ Johnson, Frontier and Joe Canfield, Lions.


Starts Here: 1,000 Reasons to Give will continue through Sat-urday, September 14th; but, there will be ample opportunity to vote during the 11th annual Dal-las Harvest Festival, on Sunday, September 15th, at the festival booth located across from the Dallas Borough office, 25 Main Street. At 4:00 p.m., though all participants will be winners, the charity with the most votes will be announced as the recipient of the $1,000 top prize. Remember, ALL of the charities will win the ballot money collected in their names.

“Charity Starts Here - 1,000 Reasons to Give” at the Dallas Harvest Festival

The Dallas Harvest Festival’s new contest, Charity Starts Here: 1,000 Reasons to Give, is currently underway. Pictured above are: Frontier Communications Dallas Local Manager, Wayne Devine and Dallas Harvest Festival, Committee Chairman Rich Fufaro.

The Dallas Harvest Festi-val Steering Committee recently announced its special interactive contest, “Charity Starts Here: 1,000 Reasons to Give”, and it’s up and running throughout the Back Mountain. The only thing missing is your vote! Five area charities will com-pete, in former Kiss the Pig style, for the public vote – a mere $1 per vote, accompanied by a cir-cled choice ballot. The best part about it is that ALL of the mon-ies collected will be donated to their respective charities; but, the charity with the MOST votes by Sunday, September 15th will win an additional $1,000 dona-tion, contributed by Corporate Sponsor Frontier Communica-tions and the Dallas Harvest Festival. A win-win proposition, for sure, but the success of the contest can only be measured by public participation. Five deserving Back Moun-tain-based charities are up for the challenge and will be more than happy to win your votes and your dollars. They are Blue Chip Farms Animal Refuge, Back Mountain Rails to Trails, Michael J. Cleary Scholarship Fund, Dallas High School Mini-Thon, and Back MountainMemorial Library.

Bright orange ballot jars and ballots have been placed at a half dozen Back Mountain offic-esand businesses: Frontier Com-munications office, Route 309, Dallas; Ochman’s Coins & Jew-elry (next to Wayne’s World), on Route 415, Dallas; N-Mart, Route 309, Trucksville; Dallas Citgo (former Fuel-On), Route 309, Dallas; Dallas Borough of-fice, 25 Main Street; and Dallas Township office, 2919 SR 309 Highway (just above Thomas’ Family Market, Country Club Shopping Center). Presently underway, Charity

The Golf Tourney Committee of the Dallas Lions Club met re-cently to finalize plans for their Second Annual Tournament at Newberry Estate in Dallas. It will be held at 8:30 AM on Sep-tember 8 and it will include lunch, entertainment and prizes for everyone. Interested participants and sponsors may contact Joe Czarnecki at 255-0136. Pictured above from left are: Don Ber-lew, Joe Czarnecki, chairman, and Jack Williams.

Dallas Lions Club announces Second Annual Golf Tournament

Bill VanSanten achieved a Hole In One on June 20, 2013 at the Newberry Estate Country Club. Bill was using a nine iron on hole number 2. The hole in one was witnessed by Claire Evans. Congratulations Bill!

Hole In One at Newberry Estates


The Dallas Lions Club concluded it’s “Hometown Hero” project with the placing of approximately one hundred banners of service men and women who served or who are presently serving in the Armed Forces. Placement of the banners on poles throughout the Borough was ac-complished by the staff of Frontier Com-munications. This was the third and final year of the project. As was done in the previous years, any excess funds collected for the project were presented to the Michael Cleary Foundation which provides finan-cial help to members of the Armed Forces and their family members. Shown in pho-to presenting the club’s check is project chairman, Don Berlew on the left and Jack Cleary, president of the foundation. The check was presented to Cleary at the club’s annual “pizza meeting” at the Grotto at Harvey’s Lake.

Dallas Lions Club concluded it’s “Hometown Hero” projectBlue Chip Farms Animal Refuge fund raisers planned NEPA BlogCon 2013 is scheduled for Saturday, October 5 2013 at the Luzerne County Community College Educational Conference Center. Last year, four women put together NEPA’s first blogging and social media conference, NEPA BlogCon. They had a great turnout last year - sold out and had more than 100 bloggers attend - and attracted attendees from Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, NYC, and of course, NEPA. Their goals for this event are to educate local bloggers, busi-nesses, students, and non-profits while also cultivating the tech scene in NEPA. But beyond this, they have a third goal that’s very important to us: to raise money to benefit a non-profit in Northeastern Pennsylvania, specifically, Blue Chip Farms Animal Refuge. Visit their website for more info http://nepablogcon.com/ Blue Chip Farms Animal Refuge’s biggest fund raiser of the year, our 5th Annual Dance, Saturday, October 12th, at the Wilkes-Barre, Twp., Fire hall, 152 Watson Street, Wilkes-Barre, Twp. 6pm – 11 pm. We are happy to announce that we are including a catered buffet for this year’s event with food provided by Kowalski’s Catering, Nanticoke and have not increased the ticket price. For just $25 you can enjoy delicious food, music for your dancing pleasure by The Sperazza Band, Chinese Auc-tion, 50/50, door prizes, lots of great raffles and plenty of fun. You can purchase tickets at the door or in advance by calling 570-333-5265.

Misericordia University senior Daniel Price, a sport management major from Floral Park, N.Y., shown left, and Jackie Pearson, a junior in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program from Dallas, PA, were members of a team of 72 orientation leaders who volun-teered their time to help with Freshman Move-in Day on Aug. 22. Price and Pearson helped the first-year students and their fami-lies unload their cars and carry their belongings into the residence halls. Misericordia welcomed 430 freshmen, the second largest first-year class in the 89-year history of the institution of higher education, and 129 new transfer students. With the new class, the University will have a record 3,058 undergraduate and graduate students in full- and part-time academic programs for the fall se-mester. The freshman class hails from 13 states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, plus Washington, D.C. There is also one international student. The university has 1,053 students living in residence halls and townhomes on the upper and lower campuses. The residence facilities include the new 111 Lake Street Resi-dence Hall, a repurposed former private residence that is home to 18 upperclassmen.

Misericordia University welcomes 430 freshmen, largest enrollment in

campus history


Eight-year-old Charlie Kappler V, son of Chas and Leah Kap-pler of Dallas, will display the family’s collection of “Pixie Knee-Hugging Elves” at the Back Mountain Memorial Library in Sep-tember. A third-grade student at Wycallis Elementary school, Charlie, along with his sister, Carly 5th grade student, have been collecting the elves for one year. During a family vacation to the beach last fall, mom, Leah, said they noticed the elves on a shelf while visiting an antique toy shop. “They reminded us of our own elves on the shelf and the elf on the shelf legend.” Most were purchased online and were shipped throughout the US and Canada. Although they look somewhat similar, each of these elves of yesteryear style their own unique personality and attire. The family’s 150 vintage elves will be sitting on the library dis-play case shelves for an entire month for all to come and see before the holiday season arrives.

“Pixie Knee-Hugging Elves” on display at the Back Mountain Memorial Library

Pictured above from left are: Bill Shaffer, Lodge 531; InterMountain Medical Group representa-tives Krishnakant A. Patel, MD, Alan L. Boonin, MD, and Mark W. Puffenberger, MD; and Dallas Harvest Festival Chairman Rich Fufaro. The Dallas Harvest Festival’s Best of Open Mic (BOOM) will take place on Friday, September 13, beginning with sign-ups at 5:30 p.m., in the lower level of the George M. Dallas Masonic Lodge 531, 60 Main St., Dallas. Light refreshments will be available. The annual talent showcase will feature local musical and verbal/prose performances; all ages are invited to participate. A panel of judges will determine the top three acts, and cash prizes will be awarded: 1st place, $100; 2nd place, $75; 3rd place, $50. In addition, the three winners will also be invited to perform on-stage during the Dallas Harvest Festival on Sunday, September 15, noon-5:00 p.m. The event is free and participants can compete for the prize money and chance to perform at the Festival, or may choose to perform at the Best of Open Mic event on Friday evening only. Event sponsor is InterMountain Medical Group, Shavertown office.

Best of Open Mic Set for Friday, September 13th


Parents, sponsors, supporters, and members of the Lake-Lehman band held their 30th Annual Car ShowBy MB GilliganBack Mountain Community News Correspondent

Parents, sponsors, support-ers, and members of the Lake- Lehman band held their 30th Annual Car Show at the Lehman Fair Grounds on a beautiful Au-gust 18. “The Car Show helps us raise money for the band to buy equipment, uniforms, and to rent buses to go to competitions,” said Kate Pelton, a senior at Lake-Lehman and a band mem-ber for six years. “We all work at the show and have different jobs to do here. We work at the food stand, register cars, direct traffic, and work at the games.” Over 60 cars entered this year’s show and were judged in 27 different classes. Trophies are awarded to the top three entries in each class. “The band members go out and solicit local businesses to sponsor all of the trophies. The sponsor’s name goes on the tro-phy and we also announce our sponsors throughout the day,” said band parent Kathi Hamil-ton. “The kids work really hard and we fund-raise constantly. We’re just happy that we still have a program.” Middle school and high school students at Lake-Lehman participate in the band which consists of a marching band, in-door percussion band, concert band and color guard. The stu-dents perform at five or six com-petitions per year and the band sponsors provide funding. The Lake-Lehman Band has been very successful over the years. Last year, at the Atlantic Coast Championship in Wildwood, New Jersey, the Indoor Percus-sion Band earned a score of 96.7 which entitles them to move up a class for this year’s competition. The band hopes to add to their trophy case again this year with the support of the community.

Working at the Ring Toss game at the Car Show are Lake-Lehman band members, from left: Blaise Waligun, Nicole Lockard, Zack Zaleskas, Rebecca Osiecki, Nik Antinnes, and Collin Mac-Mullen.

Lake-Lehman band members, from left, Joshua Szabo, Kate Pelton, John Hospodar and Jared Kepner, helped with the 30th annual Car Show.

Photo right: The Car Show registration table was staffed by band parents. Seated from left are Paul Leahy, Matt Price, and Teri Green. Doug Kepner is standing.

Jason Brady among artists, to be featured at Pauly Friedman Art Gallery Jason Brady will be among the featured artists when the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Misericor-dia University presents “Capturing Realism 2013,” a biennial exhibit of works instructors, alumni and apprentices from the nationally renowned studios of the Ani Art Academies and acclaimed modern master Anthony J. Waichulis. The installation will be on display Sept. 7 through Oct. 31. The 24-year-old Brady is a life-long resident of Dallas. He will have the charcoal drawing “Rebirth” on display and a second drawing “Desert Pilgrimage” will be unveiled. His drawings have also been exhibited in “The Big Gamble” exhibit at Rehs Galleries in New York, N.Y., as well as in the “New Season, New Works” exhibit at Mainstreet Galleries, Kingston.


Dallas Rotary Club’s 30th Annual Charity Golf Classic set for September The 30th Annual Dallas Rotary Club’s Golf Classic to support Dal-las Rotary Charities will be held at the Irem Country Club, Dallas on Monday, September 23 beginning with a shotgun start at 12:30. Chairman, Kevin Smith, co-chair Kerry Freeman, and all club members are looking for hole spon-sors and players. The sponsorship donation is $100 and the players’ entry fee is $110.00. The format is captain and crew. Individuals are welcome and will be teamed up with others in a group. Call Kevin Smith at 696-5420 for more infor-mation and an entry form. Spon-sors are asked to respond by Sep-tember 12 to allow enough time for proper sign printing. Players are also urged to respond by Sep-tember 12 for the Rotary Club to determine how many will be in at-tendance at a delicious seafood and steak dinner with all the trimmings following the tournament. An awards ceremony and raffle will take place at the end of the day.

NOW through September 30

Dallas Alzheimer’s Support Group meets monthly The Dallas Alzheimer’s Support Group now meets once a month. Meetings are held in the Board Room of the Mead-ows Nursing Center, 55 West Center Hill Road, Dallas. Join us the first Thursday of each month at 10:30 a.m. until 12:30, followed by lunch at a local res-taurant. Call 675-8600 for more information.

Dallas High School Boys Soccer Club plans Craft Show Dallas High School Boys Soc-cer Club is preparing for their An-nual Fall Craft Fair. This year’s show will be held on Sunday, October 13, at the Dallas High School from 10am-3pm. The ad-dress is 2000 Conyngham Ave, Dallas


Expires 9/30/13

Kingston Township Raiders signups, practices Come try it out for Free! Attention Kingston Township Children ages 5 to 11 - join us at the Center Street Park, Monday through Friday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Let us provide your child with a safe, rewarding and fulfilling sport experience. Stop by or contact Stacy Wydra at (570) 301-8841 or email: [email protected]. Season runs through the end of October.

Dallas High School Class of 196845th Class Reunion planned The Dallas High School class of 1968 will be celebrating their 45th class reunion starting on Friday, September 20 - 7-10 PM at a mixer at Grotto Pizza, Harveys Lake. On Saturday, September 21 - 6 PM join in for the Reunion Evening at Leggio’s Restaurant, Dallas. Cost of the Saturday Reunion event is $30, payable to Charlotte Farley, 5661 Main Road, Hunlock Creek, PA 18621. Facebook page at “Dallas High School Class of 1968”, also information on www.classmates.com and the Dallas High School Alumni site. For further information, contact Lucy at [email protected] or 570 674 5673.


Letter to the Editor:Dear Friends, The entire body of the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended our recent benefit and to all those who contributed in numerous other ways in support of our Fire Chief, Harry Sweppenheiser, who was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident on July 22, 2013. Our company received contributions that ranged from loaves of bread to paper on which we printed our fliers, from spaghetti noo-dles, raffle items and change for the “Fire Boot” to sizeable dona-tions, from parking lot attendants to kitchen and lawn staff. No item, job or need went unnoticed or unmet. We would especially like to thank our brothers and sisters from the Mt. Zion and Shavertown Fire Companies, whose members vol-unteered their day to help us staff this event and without them, this would not have been possible. The outpouring of love and friendship from our community and surrounding areas was overwhelming and we will be forever truly grateful. Sincerely, Maureen Oremus, Asst. Chief, FTVFC

2422 Memorial Hwy., Dallas • 570-675-6020

Caraway Street Children’sTheater, Opening Night Carnival Join in the fun on Sunday, September 8 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM., for the Caraway Street Children’s Carnival ... It’s all FREE to the public. Come and enjoy Hot dogs, Snow cones and drinks, balloons, tie dye t-shirts, face painting, crafts, petting zoo, Photos with “The Little People”, “Bouncy House”, yard games and more. Register to win a grand prize. Caraway Street Performance at 5:30 pm at the Dallas Baptist Church, Briarcrest Road, Route 415, Dallas.

Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Misericordia University to present“Capturing Realism 2013” The Pauly Friedman Art Gal-lery at Misericordia University will present “Capturing Real-ism 2013” a biennial exhibit of works instructors, alumni and apprentices from the nationally renowned studios of the Ani Art Academies and acclaimed mod-ern master Anthony J. Waichu-lis. The installation will be on display Sept. 7 through Oct. 31. The exhibit will open with a Meet the Artists Reception on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 5-8 p.m. in the Pauly Friedman Art Gal-lery. The Pauly Friedman Art Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.


Therapy Dogs Visit With Pack 155 Cub Scout Pack 155 spon-sored by the Trucksville United Methodist Church in Trucksville, recently held a Pet Education Meeting with Companion dogs and Handlers which introduced the scouts to activities they are involved in. The therapy dogs visit nurs-ing homes and care facilities, (R.E.A.D.) Reading Education Assistance Dog which help with reading disabilities and encour-age more reading at the libraries. They also talked about being involved in the National Guard Children’s Volunteer at Camps, Pet Safety Program and Dog Scouts helping the communi-ties.

Above in photo, first row from left are: Sheila, Pasha, Jake and Corky. Second row: Phyllis Sinavage, Zakary Mikolosko, Steve Kol-lar, Jeremiah Faux, Garrett Voitek, Bryce Voitek, Nick Godin, Max Castellino, Joseph Sowga, David Kottler, Christopher Campbell, Brendon Austin, Doug Newbigging, and Jo Ann James. Third row: Diana Cognigni, Andrew Lewis, Jacob Baldrica, Matt Cheskie-wicz, Zach Calkins, Jacob MacMillan, Ethan Shilanski, Lucas Tomko, Austin Sowga, Jacob Banta and Ryan Hunt.

The Wyoming Valley Civil War Roundtable will meet on Thursday, Sep-tember 12th at 7:00 p.m. in the lower level of the Daddow-Isaacs American Legion, 730 Memorial Highway, Dallas. William Kashatus, a historian, educator and writer, will present his program on “A Trial of Principle and Faith; Lin-coln, the Quakers & Civil War.” Bill spent fifteen years as a history teacher in Philadelphia’s Quaker schools before joining the ranks of university edu-cation, first at Penn, then West Chester University and presently at Luzerne County Community Col-lege. Everyone is welcome. The Roundtable is accepting new mem-bers; a three dollar donation for non-members. Any questions you might have, call John at (570) 675-8936.


Once again the Dal-las Knights of Columbus, Council 8224 recently made a donation to AL-SAC, the local arm of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospi-tal in Memphis TN. St. Jude’s specializes in re-search and development of cures for childhood cancers. Pictured making a two thousand dollar donation from left, are: Bob Lukus, trustee: Jerry Schmid, treasurer: Jack Cacozza, Grand Knight and Tom Casey, past financial secretary. Missing from photo is Attorney Peter Moses, local ALSA rep-resentative.

Dallas Knights donate to St. Jude’s Hospital Wyoming Valley Civil War Round-table announces September meeting

Above photo is Joe Mieczkowski, speaker at the August Roundtable meeting. Joe Mieczkowski presented his program on his most recent book “Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet”.


The Rotary Club of Dallas recently sponsored three Back Mountain students to attend their Rotary Youth Leadership Camp held annually in July at Keystone College. The week-long event focuses on life skills that the students can take with them as they go on to college and their careers. The students each gave a presentation at a recent Rotary meeting on what the program meant to them as they prepare for the next steps in their lives. From left: Dallas Rotary Club President Todd Buckley, Lake Lehman student Jason Field, Dallas student Allison Rismondo, Lake Lehman student Philip Hettes, Rotarian and Program Chairperson Melissa Saxon.

Dallas Rotary Club sponsors students at leadership camp

For more than a decade, the members of the Harveys Lake Yacht Club have made generous annual donations to the Back Moun-tain Food Pantry. They have held 50/50 raffles at every major event during the summer months.Yacht Club member Madeline Flynn, chairperson of the food pantry fundraiser, has made sure that raffle tickets are sold at every party and potluck dinner. This year she raised $360.00 for the pantry to help meet its mission of helping those less fortunate in our community. Thanksgiving will soon be upon us, and doz-ens of families will benefit from the efforts of Mrs. Flynn and the yacht club members who donated so generously again this year.A member of the Board of Directors of the Back Mountain Food Pantry was on hand to receive their gift. Those present for the check presentation, from left: Gary Conrad, yacht club commo-dore, Madeline Flynn, project organizer; Sandy Peoples, food pantry board member; John Harrington, yacht club vice-com-modore.

Harveys Lake Yacht Club supports local food pantry

Above from left, first row are: Colton Powell, Jonathan Adams, Jake Arnold, Sen. Lisa Baker, State Rep. Karen Boback, Maureen Oremus, Asst. Chief, FTVFC, Bill Arnold and Todd Adams. Second row are: Mark Lofing and Steve Lofing. The Scout Master for Troop 281 is Ronald San-tora. The Franklin Twp. Volunteer Fire Company was the proud recipient of a new sign, flower bed and flagpole due to a completed Eagle Scout project. Jake Arnold, of Troop 281, Dallas chose to enhance the landscaping at the fire company for his project. He and other Boy Scouts from his Troop, dug out dirt and rock to cement the new sign posts into the ground. The dirt was saved and a few flowering plants and bushes were then purchased and planted. The landscaping project was set off by a beautiful stone wall that encompasses the plantings and the sign, allowing for easy access when changing company information. Jake was also able to procure a new American Flag from State Sen. Lisa Baker, and State Rep. Karen Boback provided a Pennsylvania State Flag. Several Scout Masters assisted and supervised the work which took several weeks to complete. They are shown above with Jake and some of his fellow Scouts.

Eagle Scout Project Benefits Fire Company


Eleven area artists will exhibit their artwork at the 16th Annual Theme Show Invitational Art Exhibit at Sue Hand’s Imagery, 35 Main Street, Dal-las, from September 13 - 15. Each artist will exhibit six to twelve pieces of art showcasing their chosen subject, media and style. Sue Hand will exhibit her watercolor landscapes featuring aerial views from hot air bal-loon rides. Guest artists and their subject themes include: Joyce Culver, Wyoming, watercolor winter barnscapes; Renee Giunta, Dallas, water-color gardenscapes; Michael Hiscox, Dallas, watercolor athletes; Tammy Hoyt, Shickshinny, watercolor landscapes; Marcie Jones, Hunlock Creek, acrylic florals; Pam Laity, Shavertown, colored pencil cat portraits; At-suko McHale, Falls, watercolor oriental art; Irene Metz, Harvey’s Lake, acrylic animal portraits; Vita Reddy, Shavertown, oil Italian views; and Lora Womer, Hunlock Creek, watercolor florals. The public is invited to attend the exhibit on Friday, September 13 from 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 14 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; and Sunday, Septem-ber 15 from noon – 5:00 p.m. during the Dallas Harvest Festival.

Art Show planned for Harvest Festival Weekend


Judy for LifeBy MB GilliganBack Mountain Community News Correspondent

The Arts at Hayfield Summer Festival was held on August 25 on the grounds at Penn State’s Lehman Campus. The popular craft show once again attracted artists and craftsmen not only from our immedi-ate area, but also from nearby states. Those in attendance were able to purchase some beautiful and unique hand-crafted items. Visitors were also treated to craft demonstrations including pot-tery throwing, wood carving, jewelry making and wheat weaving. Entertainment throughout the day featured jugglers, a theater group, singing groups and a Native American traditional dancer.

Annual Arts at Hayfield Summer Festival attracts many visitors

Leah Amico, Trucksville, and her daughter Stacey Amico Arn-aud enjoyed their trip to Arts at Hayfield.

It was a family outing for Tanya Sakulich and her four children: Logan, left, Morgan, Nathan and shy Caden in his stroller.

Standing under the hand-crafted wreath they purchased, from left, are Marge Garinger, Angela and George Elias, and Amy Brozena.

The Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners were on hand for Arts at Hayfield with planters filled with beautiful fresh herbs. Pictured at their booth are Devon, left, and Domi-nic Nelson of Dallas who both thoroughly enjoyed making pine cone/peanut butter bird feeders at the Kids Station provided by the Master Gardeners.

Sheryl Bednash attended Arts at Hayfield with her daughter and granddaughter Maria, left, and Audrey Yeager.

Be the reason. Be the reason your spouse can continue living the lifestyle they are used to if something drastic were to happen to you. Be the reason your child/chil-dren get a full college education. Be the reason your family can stay in their home if you do not live as long as you thought you would. Be the reason. September is Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM), which originated in 2004 to educate you and me about the significance of life in-surance. Life insurance can pro-vide a way to pay off debts/loans, keep the family business in the family, provide an income for a family to live on and even give you time to grieve. You can have all of this by owning your own life insurance policy. There are a staggering amount of Americans who do not have adequate life insurance coverage and 30 percent of U.S. house-holds have no life insurance at all, leaving them one accident or terminal illness away from finan-cial ruin. Be the reason. It just takes a few minutes to call your life insurance agent to set up an ap-pointment to discuss the security and protection your family needs. Put your worries to rest. What-ever your reason is… Be the reason for Life. If you have any questions or would like to talk to me regarding a policy that suits your needs, please feel free to call me. Allow me to help you prepare for the future, for Life.

I’ll be seeing you for Life. Judy Sweinberg

Smith Insurance Group Shavertown, PA 18708

Call (570) 675-5234

To place an advertisement in the Back Mountain

Community News callLisa Pretko at (570) 674-7772


The Wellness ColumnPresented by Roberta Klein LDN, DC, Albert Klein, DC and Ross Spencer, DC

Are Your Legs the Same Length?Are You Sure?

You may not be able to tell, simply by looking in a mirror, but one of your legs may be shorter than the other.So if you can’t see it, what’s the problem? According to research-ers, even a quarter of an inch difference can trigger disorders ranging from arthritic knees to hip pain, low back pain and even headache.Leg length inequality (LLI) may also increase a person’s odds of suffering a ruptured (herniated) spinal disc.As providers of holistic health care, Doctors of Chiropractic be-lieve in preventing illness and injury before they occur. That’s why chiropractors are always on the lookout for LLI: both anatomical (the bones in one leg are shorter than the other) and functional (the bones are the same length but one has shifted up or down).“Flat” feet, asymmetrical hips, muscular tension and imbalances in the spine may result in functional LLI. Subtle shifts in spinal alignment are also linked with headache, back pain, asthma, ear infection, infantile colic, leg pain and other ills.To find out more about LLI and chiropractic’s revolutionary and highly effective approach to health care,

Call Drs. Albert Klein and Ross Spencer, chiropractors and holistic-care providers, at (570) 675-3833 today. Drs. Klein and Spencer are currently accepting new

patients, to make an appointment call (570) 675-3833.Nutritional counseling available. It’s not true to say every-

thing possible is being done, unless chiropractic is included!!

Dallas Rotary Club relocates food booth at festival The Rotary Club of Dal-las will once again have a food booth at the Dallas Harvest Fes-tival on Main Street on Sunday, September 15th. They are re-locating their booth, previously on Main Street, to the space be-tween the Citizens Bank Build-ing and Fino’s Drug Store. They invite everyone to stop by for a freshly grilled ham-burger or hot dog and cold bev-erages. Tables and chairs will be nearby for patrons to sit down and enjoy their lunch. The mem-bers of the Dallas Rotary Club would like to thank everyone for their support.


Meadows staff and volunteers helping to celebrate this milestone, kneeling front from left are: Jo-seph Fioti, Stephanie Jones, Allison Culver, Arianne Schott, Dave Bodosky and Kelly Cox. Stand-ing from left are: Toni Shrawder, Joan Krispin, Gary Kirk, Brenda Balinski, Carl Noto, Christine Beyer, Cristina Tarbox, Diane Brink, Linda Haddle, Melissa Neishell, Mary Ellen Gless, Camille Fioti, Megan Nemshick, Phyllis Sorber, Betty Sorchik, Cynthia Sickler, Kevin Reilly and Beverly Price. In August of 1983, Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center opened its doors with fifty staff mem-bers and eight residents. Today, the Meadows is one of the largest employers in the Back Mountain, and can accommodate 130 residents. Owned and operated by Ecumenical Enterprises, Inc.(EEI), the Meadows is a non-profit, faith based organization created for the purpose of serving those in need within the surrounding communities.Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center provides premier care to long–term residents requiring skilled care as well as short term rehabilitation.

Meadows celebrates 30 years of caringAmore’ ... Bridal Buzz I have noticed over the past several months that trends in fashion and bridal are changing. Let’s start with bridal. A great way to create an heirloom centers on the bride’s bouquet. The bride asks her Mom, Grandma, and close relatives for a broach, and incorporates it in her wedding day bouquet. When that magical day is over, she gathers the broaches and keeps them so she can pass it down to the next bride in the family. Very sentimental! I have noticed that more brides are telling me that they are wearing the traditional sweetheart neckline, when for the past several years the straight across neckline was more prominent. Traditionally, wedding showers were attended by all women, but now, the Jack and Jill shower is all the rage. The shower is enjoyed by both men and women. How times have changed, and I like it. Jewelry looks are constantly changing. The past year has shown chunky statement necklaces to be all the rage. For the fall, layered looks are the trend. Long necklaces made with several strands can be seen in fashion magazines and Amore/Bridal Trinkets. It is not unusual to see two or three necklaces being worn together. Earrings worn with the layered look are shorter so attention is given to the necklace. Trendy bracelets are still chunky and most are stretchy. Scarves are still very popular, and right now the vintage lace look is a great seller. We will be at the Harvest Festival again this year. Take a look at our latest trendy jewelry and gifts and get a FREE discount card that can be used at out store. Get a jump on your holiday shopping. Keep spreading smiles and good will. Ciao, Mary


Again this year, the Dallas Council 8224 of the Knights of Columbus, sup-ported Joe Snede-ker of WNEP TV in his grueling bike ride throughout the viewing area in GO JOE XVI to raise money benefiting St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton. St. Joes’s cares for the most severe-ly physically chal-lenged young people in our area.

The Village at Greenbriar in Dallas recently held their annual senior prom. Music, refreshments and a king and queen were chosen. Residents voted for Millie Bartos as the queen and Mike Moran as the king. In photo above standing behind are: Ruth-Ann Hannigan activities, Lynmarie Young, activity director and Miranda Dembowski activities.

Dallas Knights donate to Joseph’s Center

Village at Greenbriar in Dallas recently held their senior prom

Above presenting a one thousand dollar donation from left are: Bob Lukas, trustee: Jack Cacozza, Grand Knight: Joe Snedeker, Jerry Schmid, trea-surer and Tom Casey, past financial secretary.

At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Dallas, the members presented a check to Back Mountain Memorial Library Direc-tor Martha Butler in the amount of $500 as their contribution to help the library continue to offer their many services to our com-munity. From left: Dallas Rotary Club President Todd Buckley, Rotarian Ken Chapple, Library Director Martha Butler, Rotar-ian Joe Stager.

Dallas Rotary Club makes donation to the Back Mountain Library

Dallas High School Class of 1983 Reunion Dallas High School Class of 1983 is planning a 30th Reunion for October 26th. If you have not received information on the class reunion and wish to attend, please send current E-mail ad-dress to: [email protected] or call Sharon at (610) 737-0042 with your current name, address and telephone number.

Men’s Breakfast Group meets at Irem The Back Mountain Men’s Ec-umenical Group meets at the Irem Country Club for their weekly breakfast meetings at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesdays. All men are welcome to join the group as they share fun, fellowship and faith.

Fall Chicken & Biscuit dinner planned Dallas Chapter Eastern Star Building Association, Eastern Star Hall, Foster Street, Dallas (behind CVS Drug Store). Join us on Friday September 20 from4:30 PM – 7:00 PM or until sold out. Take outs start at 4:00. Tickets will be sold at the door. Adults $8.00 – Children $4.00 – Preschool Free. Our Famous Welsh Cookies will be available. Information call Dianne Cor-by 675-4893. We will be selling Welsh Cookies at the Harvest Festival in Dallas.


Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center wishes to thank the many student volunteers for over 500 hours of service over the summer months. The students participated in many different activi-ties with residents such as, fishing by the pond, bingo and other various games and special parties. They brought enjoyment to the residents and were a tremendous help to staff. A pizza party in the Meadows pavilion was held to honor their service. Kneeling with sign: Matthew Roncevich. First row from left are: Camille Fioti, Dylan Swithers, Brittany Acevedo, Lacy Lawson, Megan Rusonis, Kara Martin and Betty Sorchik. Standing from left are: Nick James, Shawn Spencer, Jacob Roberts, Allison Zablocky, Tamara Davis, Bryce Van Deutsch, Madison Klopp, Joseph Fioti, Connor Beyer, Kaitlyn Strumski, Rayna Roberts and Alex Scott.

Area Tennis Courts benefit from free “Kid-Compatible” Tennis Facility Upgrades Through grants from the U.S. Tennis Asso-ciation (USTA), the USTA Middle States Section and the USTA Eastern Pennsyl-vania region, the area now boasts “state-of-the-art” kid-compatible tennis courts! As the US Open gears up in New York City, tennis in the greater Wy-oming Valley is poised to perhaps produce the next American champion through grants from the USTA national and regional organizations to make tennis public park facili-ties “kid compatible.” Just as other sports have adapted playing fields and equipment to younger athletes, tennis has made courts, racquets and balls more kid-friendly. On January 1, 2012, the rules of tennis in the United States and throughout the world changed to require all tennis competition as well as training for kids aged 10-and-under be played on smaller-sized courts with age-appropriate racquets and balls. Through grants from the U.S Tennis Association (USTA), the USTA Middle States region, and the Eastern Pennsylvania Tennis District, public facilities in Back Mountain and Wilkes-Barre/Kingston are now ready to accommodate the new rule changes. Blended lines were painted on traditional 78-foot courts, dividing them into 36- or 60-foot courts for multi-use by youths at Dallas High School and Kirby Park Tennis Center. The blended lines do not inter-fere with high school, collegiate and USTA sanctioned 78-foot league/tournament play, but allow young people to go out and enjoy tennis on age-appropriate 36- and 60-foot courts. In addition, Dallas Borough’s Kenneth Young Park received a facility upgrade for three 36-foot youth courts and one 60-foot court to make the borough’s basketball facilities multi-purpose for youth tennis activities. The borough also received an equipment grant from the USTA Middle States section to include tennis in its summer youth camp program. The area’s public-park upgrade initiative was lead by Dallas native, Laura Canfield, who was inducted into the USTA Middle States Tennis Hall of Fame in October 2012. “A great many opportunities were open to me because of the available tennis facilities and programs in Dallas and at Kirby Park.” Canfield explained, “The Hall of Fame event itself is both a celebration of history/achievement as well as a fundraiser for the future—and the proceeds from the US Open fuel grassroots tennis throughout the country. The USTA Eastern Penn District, through its leadership of President Jack Monick and others, saw the benefit in using Hall of Fame proceeds as a ‘legacy’ program to invest in communi-ties that developed a Hall of Fame inductee, a sort of “pay-it-forward” program.” Canfield stated, “It was a pleasure working with people in the area to implement the facility upgrade opportunities—and we are finding in other communities that the adapted courts/and equipment has a big appeal to adults as well.” Canfield credits Grant Palfey and Nancy Roberts from the Dallas School District, and Tracey Carr and the Dallas Borough Council/Mayor for making these free upgrade opportunities a reality for the Wyoming Valley—and especially Bill Eydler, Director of Kirby Park tennis courts for not only assisting with the upgrade of two courts at the Kirby, but whose company also painted the court lines at all three of the area sites.

Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center thanks student volunteers for service

Photo taken at Dallas Borough’s Kenneth Young Park illustrates younger athletes enjoying coach-ing on kid friendly tennis courts using kid friend-ly racquets and balls.

Gate of Heaven Church, Dallas, recently held its annual summer youth music camp. Directed by Anthony J. Kubasek, the camp featured choral rehearsals, games and daily teachings by Deacon Tom Cesarini. In addition to explaining the bible readings that were used at the week-end liturgy featuring the campers, the Deacon also spoke to the campers about the importance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, and the Second Vatican Council. Campers were treated to a pool and pizza party on the final day of camp and an ice cream social, sponsored by the Altar & Rosary Society at the church, following the weekend youth liturgy, in which they participated.Soloists at the youth liturgy included Morgan Patla, who sang Cesar Franck’s “Panis Angeli-cus” and Melissa and Michelle Leonard, who sang the Gospel style song “If Today You Hear His Voice” by Rawn Harbor. Psalmists for the Mass were Grace Aiello, Jennifer Leonard, Melanie Selner and Brooke Higgins. Pictured above front row from left: Jennifer Leonard, Melissa Leonard, Morgan Patla, Grace Ciaccia, Melanie Selner and Grace Aiello. Back row: Jacob English, Brennan Eggleston, Marilyn O’Connell (camp assistant director,) Brooke Higgins, Mi-chelle Leonard, Anthony J. Kubasek, Delanie Neil, Father Daniel Toomey, pastor and celebrant of the youth liturgy, and Jessica English.

Gate of Heaven Held Summer Music Camp


world.” “On September 7th and 8thwe are hosting our annual Rally Day and Ministry Fair,” said Rev. Walker. “We will have displays of all of the ministries of the church, and people can sign up to indicate their interest in any of those areas. They can also sign up for Sunday school, which begins on September 15th, and register to join any one of our choirs, outreach programs and more.” Rev. Walker would like to invite the community to wor-ship every Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. followed by Sunday School at 10:45 a.m. For more informa-tion, call 675-3616.

By Sandy PeoplesBack Mountain Community News Correspondent

Early in July, the congre-gation at Shavertown United Methodist Church welcomed their new pastor, Reverend Judy L. Walker. “God has called me to a good place for this season of ministry,” said Rev. Walker. “My husband and I are excited to be here, and we look forward to our ministry among the people in the area.” Rev. Walker was born in Aberdeen, Maryland. She re-ceived her degree in elementary education at Penn State and was awarded her Master of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Theo-logical Seminary. She and her husband, David, who is a pastor in West Pittston, are the parents of two sons, Bradley and Jer-emy, and they have four grand-children with one on the way in November. Rev. Walker is a second career pastor having previously served as the Executive Direc-tor of the Builders Association in Centre County, PA. Before coming to Shavertown, she served for eight years as a pastor in two other churches in PA. “In 2003, I felt restless,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, and I felt that God was calling me to pastoral ministry. I began to explore the process, and the rest, as they say, is history. God was definitely tugging at my heart.” “In my brief time at Shaver-town United Methodist Church,

Shavertown church welcomes new pastor

Rev. Judy L. Walker, newly appointed pastor, sits in her office at Shavertown United Methodist Church.

I have witnessed the many things that this church and its people do so well,” she said. “The children’s ministry and the mu-sic ministry are true gifts to this church and the community. But I need more time to determine the direction God wants us to take to be even better in the fu-ture, as we can always be better for Him. My goal is to help the congregation become even more involved in the community, build more relationships both inside and outside of the church, and extend a call to the community at large to grow closer to Christ and one another. The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the

Join the Fun. Join Cub Scouts.

Slightly Read Bookshop at the Library will be resuming its six day schedule The Slightly Read Bookshop at the Back Mountain Library will be resuming its six day schedule on September 3rd at 1:00 p.m. The Bookshop’s hours of opera-tion will be as follows:Mondays – 1 pm to 7 pmTuesdays – 1 pm to 7 pmWednesdays – 10 am to 7 pmThursdays – 1 pm to 7 pmFridays – 1 pm to 5 pmSaturdays – 10 am to 2 pm While on their post-auction hiatus, the volunteers of the Book-shop have been very busy reorga-nizing their book shelves to make shopping for your favorite author, even easier! All hard cover fiction and trade paperback books have now been integrated alphabetical-ly by author. Therefore, all books by a particular author will now be on the same shelf. The Bookshop Special Sale for the month of September will include big brown bag paperback sales and any duplicate titles will be on sale for half price. The Bookshop is also eager to announce that they have had many donations of jigsaw puzzles clas-sics and cookbooks…plenty of time to start perusing recipes now in time for that holiday cooking! Many of the same volunteers will be back to assist you in the Bookshop…along with the addi-tion of some new faces. But, as always, there is room for more help and the Bookshop is inviting everyone to join their crew.

Boback Announces District Outreach Events In an effort to address ques-tions and concerns of residents of the 117th Legislative District, Rep. Karen Boback (R-Colum-bia/Luzerne/Wyoming) today announced her satellite office schedule for the month of Sep-tember. “My satellite offices are a wonderful tool for people seek-ing state government assistance,” said Boback. “Citizens can expect the same services at my satellite locations as they would receive in either of my full-time offices.” A member of Boback’s staff will be available on the follow-ing dates and times: Wednesday, Sept. 18: 9 a.m. to noon at the Benton Senior Center located in the Northern Columbia Com-munity and Cultural Center, 42 Community Drive in Benton. Wednesday, Sept. 25: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Shickshinny Se-nior Center, 19 West Vine St. in Shickshinny. Individuals who cannot at-tend the satellite hours can con-tact either of Boback’s full-time district offices, located in Sweet Valley at (570) 477-3752 or in Tunkhannock at (570) 836-4777. Residents can also call toll free at (800) 278-3930, and state forms are available at RepBoback.com. Patrick Rogan, a caseworker for Barletta, will be available on Monday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Boback’s Sweet Valley office, and then from 1-3 p.m., at her Tunkhannock office. He will be available to help constituents who are having problems with federal agencies and programs, and constituents are encouraged to bring documents they have received from federal agencies related to their issues. Boback will also host the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Mobile Veterans Center at her Tunkhannock district office on Monday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Appointments for the mobile center can be made by contacting (570) 344-2676. Lastly, striving to reach out to veterans and their families in the 117th Legislative District, Bo-back will host her veterans’ assis-tance hours at her Sweet Valley district office on Tuesday, Sept. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more legislative informa-tion, visit Boback’s website at RepBoback.com.


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