giving back to the community 10th annual dallas harvest...

October 2012

Everything For The Horse & Rider

Over $1700 was donated to the Back Mountain Food Pantry courtesy of the Kiss the Pig Contest at the Dallas Harvest Festival. Pictured from left are District Judge James Tupper, who announced the winner, Joan Rakowski, Dr. Tom Duffy, winner and principal of Dallas Middle School, and Rev. Roger Griffith, president of the Food Pantry.

Giving back to the community ...10th annual Dallas Harvest Festival

By MB GilliganBack Mouuntain CommunityNews Correspondent

The 10th annual Harvest Festival was held on and around Main Street in Dallas on Sep-tember 16. Throngs of locals enjoyed the beautiful weather while shopping at the many food and crafts tents. Ochman’s Coin and Jewelry, Dymond’s Farm Market, and Wild Birds Unlim-ited were among the many local businesses represented.

Whistle Pig Pumpkin Patch had a free craft activities tent for chil-dren and the Big Stage featured singers and dancers throughout the day. Winners of this year’s Open Mic competition were: Mary Sharon Ciaccia, 1st place; Paul Ciaccia, 2nd place; and Noah Sunday-Lefkowitz and Adam O’Brien, 3rd place. Dr. Thomas Duffy, Dallas Middle School principal, won the honors to “Kiss the Pig”

this year. His biggest supporter, Joan Rakowski, a middle school teacher, helped garner enough votes to put him in first place. His competitors were the other top vote-getters over the nine previous festival years and in-cluded Dallas Borough Mayor Tim Carroll (2003), Kunkle Fire Chief Jack Dodson (2006), and Back Mountain Community News owner Lisa Pretko (2007). All proceeds from this year’s

continued on page 17

Community News • October 2012 •

Deadline: Thursday, October 25Next Publication Date: Thursday, November 1, 2012

Beef Dinner – Family Style Sweet Valley Volunteer Fire Company, Sweet Valley, will serve a beef dinner on Saturday, October 27. 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.

Men’s Breakfast Group meets at Irem Country Club The Back Mountain Men’s Ecumenical 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.

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 Meadows Nurs-ing Center, 55 West Center Hill Road, Dallas. Join us the first Thurs-day of each month at 10:30 a.m. until 12:30, followed by lunch at a local restaurant. Call 675-8600 for more information.


www.moms2moms.net

Trinity Learning Center held its annual Get Acquainted PicnicBy MB GilliganBack Mountain Community News Correspondent

Trinity Learning Center in Dallas held its annual Get Ac-quainted Picnic on Monday, September 24. Most of the 84 students were on hand to enjoy the festivities with their parents and/or grandparents. One of highlights of the event was the arrival of the pony but the chil-dren also enjoyed making tie-dye shirts, face painting and a visit to the ice cream truck. Trinity Learning Center has nine classes with children rang-ing from 2 to 5 years of age. Registration for this current year is still open. For more information, you can call Diane Kerestes, direc-tor, at 675-0689.

Lily Spencer brought her parents Becky and Jamie to the picnic at Trinity Learning Center.

Corinne Toennes, Trucksville, gets a ride on Otto. The pony is being led by Judy Heller at Trinity Learning Center’s Get Ac-quainted Picnic.

Triplets, from left, Chase, Noah, and PJ Specht and their parents Phil and Michelle enjoyed the picnic.

From left, Connor and Cailynn Hivish and their cousin Jackson Norconk thought the ice cream truck was the best part of the event at Trinity Learning Center.

Photo right: Sherrie and 4-year-old Sarah Contardi spread their picnic blanket to enjoy the day at Trinity Learning Center.

More photos next page.

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All Day Bingo Planned All day bingo will be held at Northmoreland Township Fire Hall on October 14, 2012. Doors open at 12:01 P.M. and early birds start at 1:30 P.M. Din-ner will be served at approximately 4:30 P.M. Snacks and drinks available. Reservations contact Jim or Carol at 333-4906.

Ava, left, and Carley Knorr went to the Get Acquainted Picnic with their grandmothers Pat Lenahan and Elaine Knorr.

Trinity Learning Center Get Acquainted Picnic

Trinity Learning Center staff member Lisa DeGraba paints a rainbow on Erin Duffy’s hand at the Get Acquainted Picnic.

The Friends of the Back Mountain Memorial Library are pleased to announce that they are once again sponsoring their annual citrus fruit and cheesecake sale beginning October 15 and continuing through November 9. Order forms have been mailed to regular customers, and new customers are invited to stop in at the front desk at the library to pick up an order form. Fruit orders and cheesecakes may be picked up at the library on Friday, December 7 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturday, December 8 from 9:30 a.m. until noon. The library is located at 96 Huntsville Road, Dallas. All checks for pre-paid orders should be made payable to the Back Mountain Memorial Library. All pro-ceeds benefit the library. Last year several Friends members gathered to distribute the fruit. From left: Jane Kishbaugh, Anne Davies, co-chair Mary Lou Grant, John Simons, Joanne Runner, Claudia Stevens, co-chair Pam Allardyce, and Jill Kryston.

Friends of the Library hold annual citrus fruit sale


Fall rummage sale planned The Lehman-Idetown United Methodist Women will hold there annual Fall Rummge Sale on Friday, October 12 & Saturday, Octo-ber 13. The sale will be held at the church on Mountain View Drive, Lehman. Hours will be Friday, 9-4 with a lunch and bake sale. Sat-urday will be bag day with hours from 9-12. Homemade Vegetable soup will be sold for $5.00 a quart. Gently used clothing and items may be dropped off at the church until Octo-ber 10. No large items or electronic items will be accepted.

Back Mountain Historical Association presenting the program, ‘The Battle of Wyoming’ The Back Mountain Historical Association is offering the pre-sentation, “The Battle of Wyoming,’’ by Stephen B. Killian, Esq., at the annual fall meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall at Misericordia University. The program is open free to the public and light refreshments will be served. Mr. Killian is a local attorney and historian. He will present some little-known facts about the historic Battle of Wyoming, such as Maj. John Butler, commander of the English and Indian forces, camping in Centermoreland on the evening of June 30 while making ready for the battle on July 3, 1778 in Exeter, Pa. The local battle cost more lives than any other single encounter during the Revolution-ary War. It is now referred to as the Battle of Wyoming. Mr. Killian will share his knowledge about the battle and the various events sur-rounding it as well. To make proper arrangements for guests on campus, please register for the bi-annual event by calling (570) 674-8036.

Boback Announces Satellite and Veterans Assistance Hours Rep. Karen Boback (R-Columbia/Luzerne/Wyoming) today an-nounced her satellite office hours and veterans assistance hours for the month of October. “By hosting these types of office hours, I am able to meet and as-sist more residents from all communities across our district and offer the same services available at my full-time locations,” said Boback. A member of Boback’s staff will be available on the following dates and times: Thursday, October 11: 9 a.m. to noon at the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center, 42 Community Drive in Benton. Wednesday, October 24: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Shickshinny Senior Center, 19 W. Vine St. in Shickshinny. There are no satellite hours during the winter months. Satel-lite hours will resume in March. For questions regarding these of-fice hours, residents may contact Boback’s district offices located in Sweet Valley at (570) 477-3752 or in Tunkhannock at (570) 836-4777. Residents can call toll-free at (800) 278-3930. Similarly, because many deserving veterans may be missing out on veterans’ benefits, Boback hosts veteran representatives each month to ensure that veterans across the 117th Legislative District have the opportunity to learn about the programs and benefits for which they may be eligible. She plans to host a claims consultant from the Wilkes-Barre Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) at her Sweet Valley office on Tuesday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to address questions and concerns of local veterans and their families. Appointments for these hours are not necessary. These hours will continue through the winter, weather permitting. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ mobile veterans center will visit the Cross County Complex in Tunkhannock on Monday, October 1, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Appointments for these ser-vices are not required.

Letters to the EditorDear Editor: I would like to thank Tunkhannock Area School Dis-trict and Tunkhannock Area Middle School for hosting the Camp Invention program this summer. Camp Invention direc-tor, Lisa Burgess, and talented local teaching camp staff helped to prepare local youth for future success through practical appli-cation of the 21st century learn-ing skills such as teamwork, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. 76 Tunkhannock, elemen-tary students joined over 77,000 students nationwide in tackling exciting hands-on STEM chal-lenges at the Camp Invention program. The science, technol-ogy, engineering, and math con-cepts that they learned were used to solve a series of real-world problems that required innova-tive solutions. I especially want to thank the adult and youth staff and the students in Tunkhannock for the exceptional creativity and inventiveness that they displayed throughout the week.

Sincerely,Susan Z. Clarke, Regional

Consultant for Camp Invention

PA Program at Misericordia University to host 5K Run To celebrate National Physi-cian Assistant (PA) Day, the new PA Studies Program at Miseri-cordia University is hosting a 5K run/walk on Saturday, October 6, at 10 a.m. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. in the Anderson Sports and Health Center near the North Gate of the upper campus. The cost is $10 for students with a school or college/university ID and $15 for non-students. Proceeds will benefit the newly formed PA Student Soci-ety of Misericordia University. A free T-shirt will be given to runners who pre-register. For additional information, or to pre-register, contact Becky Jackson at [email protected].


Etiquette Tip of the MonthBy Jill Evans Kryston, Etiquette Consultant

under each other’s skin. No matter how tempting, revealing secrets, bad-mouthing and belit-tling, gossiping, and spreading rumors is never acceptable. You can count on being found out eventually. Live by the Golden Rule and do to others as you would have them do to you. Email your etiquette questions to: [email protected] or mail to: P.O. Box 1703, Shavertown, PA 18708. Defining Manners School of Protocol offers certified social and business etiquette courses. Visit: www.DefiningManners.com or call 570-696-3209.

Q: I’m a college freshman and had high expectations about dormitory life. I happen to ac-tually like my roommate but we have entirely different ideas about personal space. Before this gets too far out of hand and we end up enemies, can you give me some tips about how to live in close quarters?A: One of the most challenging times of life can be your fresh-man year of college as you adjust to living away from home, the rigors of academia, and college life in general. Being cooped up in a tight space with a friend,

not to mention stranger, is bound to test the most resilient person’s patience. To say that sharing a college dorm has ruined many a friendship is an understatement. If you wish to establish a peaceful existence, you don’t have to be best friends, but you do have to be polite by show-ing courtesy, consideration, and respect. Some students find that having a roommate contract is helpful. Whether or not you go that route, here are some sugges-tions to consider. Don’t be a slob! Sharing space means taking responsibil-ity to clean up after yourself. Make your bed, pick up your laundry, throw away your trash, and occasionally clean out the refrigerator. Honesty is the best policy. When your roommate annoys you, complaining to others can cause more trouble. Communi-cate directly, truthfully but tact-fully about the problem. Personal belongings are sacro-sanct. Whether it is food, cloth-ing or technology, always ask before taking or using. If you model consideration in these ar-eas, most likely your roommate will return the consideration.If you accidently broke it,

apologize immediately and re-place it. When your roommate is studying or you arrive home late, it is rude to disturb by being noisy. Demonstrate courtesy and use headphones when you want to watch TV or listen to music. Be polite to each other’s friends and do not monopolize the room. If you wish to enter-tain friends frequently, opt for the common spaces in the dorm. Asking permission if you wish to have a friend stay overnight is respectful. Having a significant other can become a serious point of contention if you don’t use dis-cernment where affection and sexual relations are concerned. Think of how you’d feel if the shoe were on the other foot. Never make a person feel unwel-come in their own room. It is a bad idea to bring illicit drugs and alcohol into the room and even worse if your room-mate objects. Never place your roommate in a precarious situa-tion by making him or her feel uncomfortable. Finally, be discrete. It never fails that people eventually get

Lake-Lehman Last Knight Haunted Woods planned The Last Knight’s Haunted Woods will take place the last 2 weekends of October, on Fridays & Saturday’s from 7 – 10 p.m., behind the Lehman Jackson el-ementary school off Market St. The cost is $3.00 per person. All proceeds benefit the Lake -Lehman Last Knight Senior Lock In. Volunteer sign ups are Tues-day, October 2 from 6:30 – 7:30 in back parking lot of Lehman Jackson elementary school.


We’re online for your convenience Read the Community News online at: www.communitynewsonline.net for community news updates throughout the month. To submit com-munity news, email: [email protected]. To advertise call (570) 674-7772.

The Staff Council at Mi-sericordia University celebrated Mercy Week 2012 by hosting its annual “Stuff the Bus” project. The group filled a small bus to capacity with items that were then donated to the United Meth-odist Food Pantry in Noxen, PA, in support of a campus service project involving the neighbor-ing community. The group set up donation boxes across campus and asked for items specifically for women and children, such as shampoo, soap, tooth brushes, toothpaste, deodorant, body lotion, diapers, baby wipes, baby clothing, baby bottles and formula. They also collected gently used clothing and non-perish-able food items including pasta, cereal, canned fruit, peanut but-ter, jelly, stuffing mix, coffee, tea, soup, beverages and paper products. The donations came from the campus family as well as mem-bers of the community.

Misericordia University staff and students “Stuff the Bus” for charity

Members of the Staff Council Committee at Misericordia University, from left, are Rachel Oberg, assistant director, admissions; Joan Yamrick, interlibrary loan specialist, Mary Kintz Bevevino Library; Alexandra Przewlocki, staff accountant; Bruce Riley, assistant director, Student Success Center; Lisa Malcolm, advancement support manager, development; Vicki Austin, director, Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children Program; and Michael Hilstolsky, technician, informa-tion technology

Wyoming Sem. Students Receive College Board AP Scholar Awards Forty-eight current students and recent graduates of Wyoming Seminary have been named AP Scholars by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level AP (Advanced Placement) Examinations. About 18 percent of the more than 1.8 million students who took AP Examina-tions in May, 2012, performed at a sufficiently high level to merit such recognition. Students take AP examina-tions in May after completing challenging college-level cours-es at their high schools. The Col-lege Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on the number of year-long courses and exams (or their equivalent semester-long courses and ex-ams). Fifteen Seminary students qualified for the AP Scholar With Distinction award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Back Mountain students who graduated in May, 2012 are: Joseph Kapolka, Dal-las; Logan May, Dallas; Emma Spath, Shavertown. Seventeen students qualified for the AP Scholar With Honor award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on AP ex-ams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of those exams. Back Mountain students who graduated in May, 2012 are: Harry Parkhurst, Trucksville; Brandon Rome, Shavertown.Sixteen students qualified for the AP Scholar award by completing three or more AP Examinations with grades of 3 or higher. Back Mountain students who gradu-ated in May, 2012 are: Ashlyn Reiser, Shavertown. Seniors named to the list include Emma Bertram, Dallas; Tyler Martin, Shavertown. Most of the nation’s colleges and universities award credit, ad-vanced placement or both based on successful performance on the AP Exam. More than 1,400 institutions award a year of credit (sophomore standing) to students presenting a sufficient number of qualifying grades.

Wyoming Valley Harmony Society to conduct Vocal Clinic The Wyoming Valley Harmony Society will conduct a Vocal Clinic on three consecutive Saturdays, October 20, October 27 and November 3, 2012, according toan announcement by President Lou Volpetti, Pittston. The vocal clinic, entitled, “How to be a great singer” will take place in the Oblates of St. Joseph Seminary, Route 315, Laflin and is open to any men interested in singing four-part harmony, accapella, without musical accompaniment. Sessions will begin at 11:00 a.m. and continue through 1:00 p.m. each Saturday and include techniques valuable to vocal singing, learning of new songs, sheet music provided plus learning CDs. For more information on the vocal clinic, contact chapter mem-bers or call (570) 287-2476.


By MB GilliganBack Mountain CommunityNews Correspondent

“Informed customers are the best customers,” said Char-lie Ukattah, who will be open-ing a new bakery in October. “Back Mountain consumers are very well educated consumers. They know what they want and can read between the lines about ingredients.” The Star Super Bakery, Inc. is moving from its current loca-tion on Main Street, Luzerne, to the Dallas Shopping Center near Peking Chef. “There was never enough parking there and we live here,” said Charlie, who lives in Dallas with his wife Winnie and there five children, aged 7 to 17. “We wanted to be in closer prox-imity to home.” The couple is a long way from their original homeland. Winnie and Charlie were born and raised in Nigeria. They im-migrated to New Jersey where their children were all born. The family moved to NEPA when Charlie took a job with the So-cial Security Administration in Wilkes-Barre. He gave that up to pursue his real dream. “Our specialty is bread, homemade bread from scratch with no preservatives at all,” said Charlie of their bread which has a shelf-life of seven days and freezes very well. “Our flaxseed bread is very good for you with lots of Omega3 for your heart and lots of fiber. Vegans buy it a lot.” The other bread favorites in-clude whole wheat, family sand-wich bread, crown bread,

Star Super Bakery to open in the Dallas Shopping Center

Charlie Ukattah is pictured in front of the ovens at Star Super Bakery in the Dallas Shopping Center.

and crown bread with raisins, that makes a delicious French toast. “We make the best Jewish Rye in the valley,” said Charlie. Their bakery will also feature lots of confections, cupcakes, apple turnovers, éclairs, iced cinnamon buns, nut and poppy seed rolls, and fruit pies. “We make meat pies that are not like pasties. Lots of people buy them because they are very flavorful,” said Winnie. “We also make veg-etable pies for vegetarians.” Star Super Bakery has had a booth at the Back Mountain Library’s Farmers Market for the last two years where they did very well. “We sold out every week,” said Charlie. “We have honestly enjoyed community good will.” Star Super Bakery will be open seven days a week. The store hours are from 6am to 8pm on Monday through Saturday, and from 8 am to 4 pm on Sunday.

Artists’ Works on Display N4Cs new artists’ exhibit dis-plays the works of Rolland Ryan and Jay McHenry. The exhibit is free and open to the public through October at Northern Co-lumbia Community and Cultural Center, Benton. Mr. Ryan uses acrylic for his works of modern art; Mr. McHenry uses watercol-or to portray his nature scenes and Benton locales. Prints of Jay McHenry’s work ares available. If interested, leave your name at the Front Desk. For additional information please call the Cen-ter at (570) 925-0163.

Rotary seeks area business people for goodwill exchange Rotarians in District 7410, Northeastern Pennsylvania, are seeking four outstanding profes-sionals or business people to visit Mexico in April 2013 as part of the Group Study Exchange pro-gram of the Rotary International Foundation. Through the program, teams of professionals exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. The award involves a four week visit, during which team members share personal knowledge of their own country and experience the customs, vo-cations and lifestyles of another. The purpose of the Group Study Exchange is to promote international understanding and goodwill through person-to-person contact. While abroad, team members stay in Rotarians’ homes and have the opportunityto meet their professional coun-terparts. They will also give pre-sentations to Rotary clubs and other groups about their home country. The Rotary Foundation pro-vides a round-trip air ticket, and local Rotarians in the host country provide meals, lodging and group travel in their district. Team members pay for personal and incidental expenses. People interested in applying should be employed full-time in a recognized business or profes-sion. Young professionals within the age range of 25-40 are en-couraged to apply. Applicants must live or be employed in Rotary District 7410 which in-cludes the counties of: Lackawa-nna, Luzerne, Wayne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Pike, Monroe and Carbon. For an application please visit: rotarydistrict7410.org - in left hand column, click - Group study exchange or contact: Bar-bara Petty 570-885-0731 or email: [email protected].

We’re online for your convenience Read the Community News online at: www.communitynew-sonline.net for community news updates throughout the month. To advertise call Lisa Pretko (570) 674-7772.


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and Holistic-Care Providers, at (570) 675-3833 today.

This free event is also open to non-combat veterans and those who were deployed during times of war. Veterans can reg-ister with Boback’s office online at www.RepBoback.com or by calling any of her full-time of-fices located in Sweet Valley at (570) 477-3752 or in Tunkhan-nock at (570) 836-4777. Resi-dents can call toll-free at (800) 278-3930. Rep. Karen Boback recently met with members of the Veter-ans Advisory Board to finalize plans for the Veterans Recog-nition Event on November 3. Above in photo, front row, from

Rep. Boback Reminds Local Veterans of Upcoming Veterans Recognition Event

Striving to reach out to honor and thank as many local veterans as possible in the 117th Legislative District, Rep. Karen Boback (R-Luzerne/Columbia/Wyoming), in conjunction with Misericordia University and several local veterans’ organi-zations, encourages all veterans and their families to participate in her annual Veterans Recogni-tion Event to be held on Satur-day, November 3 at 11:00 a.m. at Misericordia University’s Lem-mond Theatre in the Walsh Au-ditorium. A Veteran’s Expo will following with local agencies and organizations offering infor-mation to support our veterans. Refreshments will be served. Representative Boback is a member of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Pre-paredness Committee and sub-committee chairman of Military and Veterans Facilities. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ mobile veterans center will be on hand to assist veter-ans. This event will offer free blood pressure checks and stroke prevention screenings to all at-tendees. This event provides a unique opportunity for students in local schools and colleges and univer-sities to interact with local veter-ans who served in combat from World War II to the present.

left are: Art Peoples, member of the advisory board; Attorney Ron Santora, member of the ad-visory board; Jane Dessoye, Vet-erans Education Assistance at Misericordia University; Sandy Peoples, member of the advisory board; Darlene Headley, Falls Senior Center. Second row, from left: Jim Spagnola, Director of Luzerne County Veterans Af-fairs; Jim Merk, Director of Co-lumbia County Veterans Affairs; Rep. Karen Boback; John Head-ley, Falls Senior Center; and Jack Hubert, Wyoming County Veterans Affairs.

Wyoming Valley Civil War Round-table plans meeting The Wyoming Valley Civil War Roundtable will meet on Thurs-day, October 11th at 7:00 p.m. in the lower level of the Daddow-Isaacs American Legion, 730 Memorial Highway, Dallas. “Susquehanna County in the Civil War” will be presented by Bet-ty Chapple Smith, of Montrose. Using Civil War photographs and stories from the collection of the Susquehanna County Historical So-ciety, she will present information about the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. She has been the Curator of the Susquehanna County Historical Society for thirty-two years. Betty was born and raised in Shavertown before moving to the Montrose area. Everyone is welcome to our program--there is a fee of three dollars for non-members. Any questions you might have, call John at 570 675-8936.

Rummage, Bake sale planned The Dorcas Society of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 474 Yalick Road (Rt. 118), Dallas, will hold their annual fall rummage sale on Friday & Saturday, October 5th and 6th from 8 am till 1 pm; Bag Day will be Saturday from 10 am till 1 pm. Items available will include, but not limited to: clothes, toys, games, books, holiday decorations, household goods, jewelry, and much, much more! Homemade baked goods will also be available for sale.

To advertise in the Back Mountain Community News

or Moms2Momscontact Lisa Pretko at

(570) 674-7772 or email: [email protected]


Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Training The Luzerne-Wyoming Coun-ties Mental Health and Develop-mental Services (MH&DS), in concert with the Luzerne-Wyo-ming Counties Training Council on Quality, will hold a second in a series of Health Insurance Por-tability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) trainings on Thursday, October 25 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Genetti’s Hotel, Wilkes-Barre. Presenters Sean McHale, Director of Facilities and Infor-mation Technology, and Darryl Davis, Network Administrator, both of Keystone Community Resources, along with Attorney John T. Ellis of Ufberg & Asso-ciates, LLP, will offer interactive multi-media presentations on HIPAA fundamentals, as well as computer security and related legal issues. Luzerne County IT Director, Steve Englot, will also serve as a resource to the topic. For more information on the free training or the services offered through the bi-county Mental Health and Developmen-tal Services, phone 825-9441 or 1-800-816-1880.

Exhibit Planned Exhibit featuring bronze sculptures and contemporary art of George Mummert and Michael Tymon, and giclée prints of Back Mountain artist Elizabeth Fulton, to open at Pauly Friedman Art Gallery on October 13, 2012. The bronze sculptures and contemporary art of George Mummert and Michael Tymon will go on display at the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Miseri-cordia University beginning Oct. 13. The exhibit, “Elizabeth Ful-ton: Giclée Landscape Prints,” in the adjacent MacDonald Gallery will feature the works of the Back Mountain artist who is known for her casein paintings of the land, hills and sky as seen from her home in Lehman Township. The public is invited to a free opening reception on Satur-day, October 13, from 5-8 p.m. in the art gallery. 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 Sat-urday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. The new exhibits will be on display through December 9, 2012.


Vintage Silhouettes on display at the Back Mountain Memorial Library

Joan Taylor of Shavertown, will display her collection of vintage sil-houettes at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. Joan’s collection consists of items she has purchased over the past 30 years. She states that she has a “love of vintage items.” Her favorite pieces are “those vi-gnettes that tell a story” and the “Lady in Her Boudoir”, is one that she is especially fond of. Joan enjoys going to estate sales and even though she does not go specifically to find silhouettes, if she sees one she likes, she will purchase it. Her advice to people who also enjoy collecting is choose “what catches your eye and what you enjoy looking at.”


The 2012 Luzerne County Fair Princess was crowned at the fairgrounds on Saturday, September 8, 2012. Contestants, ranging from 4 to 6 years old and residing in Luzerne County, dressed up in their favorite party dress and told a little bit about themselves. Carly Yoder, of Kingston, won the title and will take part in community events during the year as the 2012 Luzerne County Fair Princess. Runner-up was Paige Moss of Dallas. All contestants received flowers spon-sored by Kimberly Floral, Dallas, and goody bags. Last year’s Princess, Talyia Adamitz, helped crown the new princess. Katarina Fer-rucci, 2012 Luzerne County Fair Queen, was Mistress of Ceremonies with introductions by Brooke Evans, 2012 Queen Runner-Up; Nicole Clemson, 2009 PA State Fair Queen; and Kaitlyn Miller, 2012 Miss PA Outstand-ing Teen. Judges were Amy Salansky (1986 How-ard County MD Farm Bureau Queen), Bryn Harvey (2007 Luzerne County Fair Queen), Krista Paluski (2009 Luzerne County Fair Queen), and Judy Harvey. Trudy Clemson is chairperson of the Lu-zerne County Fair Princess Committee.

2012 Luzerne County Fair Princess Crowned

Above, first row: Chasity Basara, Trinity Basara, Lily Kania, Runner-Up Paige Moss, 2012 Princess Carly Yoder, 2011 Princess Talyia Adamitz, Alaina Raspen, Mya Seabridge, and Sage Morgan. Second row: Krista Paluski, Nicole Clem-son, Brooke Evans, Katarina Ferrucci, Kaitlyn Miller, Bryn Harvey, Judy Harvey, Trudy Clemson, Amy Salansky.

Princesses above are: Paige Moss, Runner-Up, and Carly Yoder, 2012 Luzerne County Fair Princess.


Children from ages 3-13 and several parents ran “the Ring”… yes, including the hill by #1 hole, around past the scenic pond with quacking ducks, and returning to cheers from all at the pavilion. The run started at 9 a.m. but all runners were enthusiastic. Hunter Landon was the first runner to complete the one mile “ring” through Newberry. He was followed closely by Liz Shoemaker. All runners completed the one mile showing great determination and perseverance.A Special thank you to all our volunteers and staff that helped make this event a success including: Judy Schall, John Mainzer, Bonnie Lenahan, Sharron Davis, Janet Dent, Ruth Federici, Marie Kruska, Jean Brennan, Veronica Wetzel, Mary Maher, Steve Tigue, Bethany Lindsey, Tom Landon, RuthAnn Logue, Yessica Roble, Eric Yurko, Maria Lindsey, and Taylore LewandowskiShown in photo are children runners: Lindsey Yenshaw, Robbie Lauer, Tori Landon, Hunter Landon, Liz Shoemaker, Isabel Shoemaker, and Jacob Shoemaker. Volunteer: Veronica Wetzel.

2nd Annual Newberry Fun Run was recently held

Carl Majeski, Newberry Country Club Member, had a hole in one on hole #6. He made the 150 yard shot with a pitching wedge. The shot made on August 28th was witnessed by Newberry Resident Ryan Franconi.

Hole in one at Newberry Country Club


Friends Day planned at Cross Creek Church “Friend Day” will be at Cross Creek Community Church, Sun-day October 14. Cross Creek Community Church, located 2 miles from the light in Trucks-ville at 370 Carverton Road. Two services are planned for 9:00 am and 10:45am. Ev-eryone is welcomed. Please call 696-0399 or e-mail [email protected] for details.

Dallas Borough Reminder The Borough reminds resi-dents not to rake, or in any way, place leaves on the roadway or within roadway gutters, ditches or swales. This will create a hazard for drivers and potential-ly block storm drains. Please contact the Dallas Borough administrative office at 675-1389 or the Road Depart-ment at 674-5362 with any con-cerns or comments.

Flea Market Mountain Grange #567, 1632 West 8th St Carverton, is hosting a Flea Market on Sat-urday October 13th from 9AM - 2PM. There are many great items for sale - something for every-one, come out and browse! Food will be available for purchase. The flea market is held the 2nd Saturday of every month year round, rain or shine! Vendor spots are available, $10 per spot including chair and table. Call (570) 406-7749.

Vendors Wanted Trucksville United Method-ist Church Curiosity, Antique & Crafts Show, Saturday, Novem-ber 10, 2012, 10 AM to 4 PM. This year’s event includes an Alternative Christmas Market, Lunch Counter and Bake Sale! Tables are $25.00 to $40.00. Please call us at 570-239-2348 to reserve your table today!

Community News • October 2012 • Harvest Festival continued from cover - Kiss the Pig Contest were donated to the Back Mountain Food Pan-try. Duffy puckered up to kiss eight-month-old Wilbur, who has re-cently been adopted from the Blue Chip Animal Refuge. “We have lots of cats that need homes, though,” said Marg Bart, director at Blue Chip, a no-kill animal rescue facility where no animal is too old to find a warm bed, food, and loving care. “We still need more volunteers, too.” The Harvest Festival committee this year wanted to give back to the community that supports the event. Free raffle tickets were hand-ed out for chances to win prizes and gift certificates from a number of local businesses. “We have a corps group of phenomenal volunteers and I’m so proud of them,” said Liz Martin, committee member. “Everybody knows their job and does it really well. We are like a finely oiled machine.” That was once again reflected in the complete success of the event.

Edie Perzia and her mom Lindsay Coile enjoyed seeing the chickens, geese, bunnies and potbel-lied pig that Blue Chip Animal Shelter brought to Harvest Festival.Photo above: a ride on the classic Dallas fire engine was enjoyed

by many area youngsters.

A visit with Wilbur the pig at the Dallas Harvest Festival brought out lots of smiles for, from left, Tyler Ruddy, Ella and Anna Clementoni, and Trevor Ruddy.

Dallas Harvest Festival volunteer Liz Lynch took a break to pur-chase Honey Crisp apples from Morgan Cohen at Brace’s Or-chard booth.

Pictured with his mother Jennifer, Henry Sims puts the finishing touches on his pumpkin at the Whistle Pig Pumpkin Patch children’s tent at the Harvest Festival.

The Harvest Festival provided a happy outing for this Dallas family. From left are: Christine Brunn, Dorothy Vidumsky, Sarah Vidumsky, Jeff Brunn, Carter Vi-dumsky, and, in stroller, Lucy Brunn.

Members of Trucksville dance studio Take the Stage took to the stage at the Harvest Festival. From left are: Madison Chulick, Allyson Sebolka, Katie Luksa, Ka-leigh Shission, Olivia Zablocky and Allison Zablocky.

Kayden Kammerer had her face painted by Josie Yankovich, a Dallas High School student volunteer at the booth of Chiro-practors Mark Morris and Sean Miller.

Dr. Thomas Duffy, Dallas Middle School prin-cipal, received the most votes to earn the privi-lege of kissing Wilbur the pig at this year’s Harvest Festival.


MOMS 2 MOMSOnline at www.moms2moms.net

In Print at over 100 locations! Call for advertising information (570) 674-7772

On Friday morning, September 21, the ‘Officer Phil’ program was presented at Dallas Elementary School. The child safety pro-gram utilizes puppets, music and magic to entice interaction with children to deliver safety instruction. The program, which locally is cooperatively sponsored by the Dallas Township and Borough Police Departments, operates in 21 states. In Dallas, the visits are completely paid for by donations from local businesses that provide a safety booklet made especially for Dallas youth in their age group. Dallas Township Police Sergeant Douglas Higgins represented local law enforcement at Friday’s program. “Judging by their laughter the children obviously enjoyed the program, but I do feel that they also got the message,” Higgins said. The program is presented in both Dallas and Wycallis Elementary Schools. Pictured during the program at Dallas Elementary School are: (left to right) Dallas Township Police Sgt. Douglas Higgins, with Cosmo; and Principal, Tom Traver.

‘Officer Phil’ program was presented at Dallas Elementary School


Fall BBQ planned Trucksville United Methodist Church Annual Fall BBQ Fri-day, October 5 & Saturday, Oc-tober 6, 2012, 5 PM to 7 PM with take outs available from 4:30 at our Educational Building, 40 Knob Hill RD, Trucksville, PA, 18708, off 309 at Carverton RD, Trucksville. Tickets are on sale now: Adults - $8.00 ~ children - $4.00. Enjoy half a chicken, all the fix-ings and homemade desserts and beverages! Call the Church Of-fice at (570) 696-3897, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM to reserve your tickets! A Fall Tradition you don’t want to miss; join us!

Judy for Life Hello October and the Back Mountain Community! As the new season comes upon us, we prepare for the cooler weather and everything that comes with it. In general, the majority of the public conquer the immediate is-sues at hand, even though they could have been better prepared well in advance. The same goes for Life Insurance. We don’t need to address that subject yet because ‘I’m too young’, ‘I’m in excellent health’, ‘I don’t have anyone dependant on me’, which ironically are the best reasons to purchase your Life Insurance because you will get top premium rates. The younger and healthier you are the lower your premiums will be. Isn’t that what we are always looking for, the lowest possible price? And you are the only one in control of that decision to purchase your policy. How great is that? You decide well in advance that your family and loved ones will need to be taken care of if you are no longer around. Done. Seems so simple doesn’t it? It is. All you need to do is make an appointment with your life insurance agent to discuss your needs, fill out the necessary application forms and submit. Done. Something as important as Life Insurance is not as complicated or confusing as you may think. It’s preparing for tomorrow, whatever that may bring. 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

Harveys Lake American Legion Post 967 Sons of the American Legion recently held a dinner at the post home, 4907 Memorial Highway, Harveys Lake, PA, to install it’s 2013 officers. Pictured from left are: Larry West, Sergeant at Arms; Dave Gronski, standing in for Francis Kopko, Treasurer & Chaplin; David T. Smith, Sergeant at Arms; David Hanson, Historian; Art Pimm, Commander; Mike Brandon, standing in for David Hettesheimer, Adjutant; Joseph Shonis, Sergeant at Arms; Stanley Sims, 1st Vice Commander and Billy Exarhopoulos, Sergeant at Arms. Missing from photo: Sergeant of Arms, Jeff Saroka.

Harveys Lake American Legion 967 held SAL Installation

Harveys Lake American Legion Post 967 Legion Riders recently held a dinner at the post home 4907 Memorial Highway, Harveys Lake, PA, to install it’s 2013 officers. Pictured from left are: David T. Smith, Sergeant at Arms; Cathy Fetterman, Sergeant at Arms; David Gronski, Sergeant at Arms and Road Cap-tain; John Wilson, Vice President; Art Pimm, President; and Mike Brandon, standing in for Richard Heuer, Historian & Secretary.

Harveys Lake American Legion Post 967, Legion Riders held installation dinner


The Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Dallas, wishes to thank the many teens who vol-unteered over the summer and throughout the year. They brought enjoyment to the residents as they interacted with them in activities such as ice cream socials, fishing, and special parties. The Meadows re-cently hosted a pool party for its teen volunteers at Newberry Estates as an expression of thanks for their many hours of service. In photo above, kneeling from left are: Teen volunteers: Emily Harchar, Ken-nedy Straitiff, Maddie Gilhooley, Zack Garnett and Nick James. Standing left to right are: Betty Sorchik, Director of Community Services, Tamara Davis, teen volunteer; Leah Benedetti, teen volunteer; Morgan Gilhooley, teen volunteer; Emily Dale, teen volunteer; Major Moore, teen volunteer, Sara Kopczynski, teen volunteer and Camille Fioti, Assistant Director of Community Services.

Above from left are: William Lewis Chaplin, Charles Fleming Adjutant, George Tucker Jr., Vice Cdr. , Art Parks, District 12 Cdr. John M. Emil, Sr. and ClarenceJ. Michael Past Cdr.Daddow-Isaacs Dallas American Legion Post 672 conducted a 9/11 remembrance ceremony on the Post Grounds. A flag from Shanksville was presented by District Legion Commander John Emil, Sr. and raised. Clarence J. Michael and John Emil, Sr. spoke of their visitations to the the Flight 93 Me-morial in Shanksville. Reverend Bill Lewis, Post Chaplain, delivered the Invocation and Benediction. Clarence J. Michael delivered the main address. John Emil, Sr. gave a haunting, incisive rendering of Taps that concluded the ceremony.

Fall 2012 Story Times at the Back Mountain Memorial Library Registration begins on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 for the Fall 2012 Story Times at the Back Mountain Memorial Library. Please call the Library after 9:30 am. (675-1182) Story Times will begin the week of October 21 and end the week of December 2 Story times, Toddlers (2 years old); Tuesdays - 10:00 am to 10:30 am; Tuesdays – 11:00 am to 11:45 am. Three to five year olds: Wednesdays – 9:45 am to 10:45 am; Wednesdays – 11:00 am to 12:00 pm (PNC Bank Program: “For Me, For You, For Later: First Steps to Spending, Sharing, and Saving” - Thursdays – 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

New Fall Children’s Library Program PNC Bank Grow Up Great special program, “For Me, For You, For Later” will be held this fall for the first time in the Children’s Room of the Back Mountain Memorial Library. The six week program will be presented by Laura Brecher who will guide the children in their first steps to “Choices,” “Value,” and “Spending, Sharing and Saving.” Children receive a passbook, per-form small tasks, earn money, shop and make a craft too! Each fam-ily will receive the Sesame Street Financial Basics Kit and will fill out a before and after survey. The program is presented in partnership with Sesame Workshop and will be held on Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to noon begin-ning the week of October 21. Children ages 3 to 5 are encouraged to participate. Registration will be held on Wednesday, October 10 beginning at 9:30 a.m. by calling the library at 675-1182.

Meadows thanks Teen Volunteers for service

Daddow-Isaacs Dallas American Legion Post 672 conducted a 9/11 remembrance ceremony

Talent was out in full force on Sunday, September 9, at Northern Co-lumbia Community and Cultural Center’s first Annual Talent Show. More than 150 people enjoyed an evening of singing, dancing, and guitar playing at the Community Center in Benton. Participants ranged in ages from 8 through 70; they provided songs that ranged from folk, county, spiritual, and R&B; dancing included hip-hop and dub stepping (which was new to many in the audience. Above in photo, Morgan Fry performed songs which she composed herself at N4Cs Talent Show.

First Talent Show held at the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center


2012 Luzerne County Fair ... Where Memories Are Made


Vendors wanted for Fall Flea Market, Craft Show Vendors are wanted for a Fall Flea Market and Craft Show at the Dallas Chapter Eastern Star Hall, 15 Foster Street, Dallas, (Be-hind CVS Drugstore), inside and outside the building for Saturday, October 20, from 9:00 to 3:00 (rain or shine).Vendor space available - approximately 8 x 10 are available for $10.00 (No tables provides). Inside tables at $15.00 a table. (8’ table provided) Call Dianne at 675-4893 for information. Eastern Star members will be serving lunch – Soup, Whimpies, Hot Dogs, Haluski & Desserts. You can preorder chicken noodle or begetable beef soup in advance. Quarts of soup will be $6.00. To place an order contact: Dianne Corby 675-4893. Soup pickup: Sat-urday, October 20 , from 9:00–1:00 at the sale. “Our famous Welsh Cookies” will be available.

Stern to discuss state of economyat Misericordia LectureFederal Reserve economist, banker and authorDr. Gary H. Stern to discuss state of economyand projections for economic growth atMisericordia University lecture Noted economist, banker and author Gary Stern, Ph.D., retired president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minn., and co-author of “Too Big To Fail: The Hazards of Bank Bailouts,” will offer a lecture at Misericordia University on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Dr. Stern will address whether or not the economic problems of 2008 are in the past and what the economic future holds for the United States and beyond at a talk set for 5:30 p.m. in Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall. His remarks will be followed by a question-and-answer session. The program is free and open to the public. His book, “Too Big To Fail: The Hazards of Bank Bailouts,” was published by The Brookings Institution (2004). Co-written with Ron J. Feldman, it discusses the issues surrounding banks labeled as “too big to fail” and examines why that label is a problem and offers ways to deal with it more effectively. “Gary Stern’s experience and expertise in banking and macro economics is renowned,” noted Michael A. MacDowell, president of Misericordia University. “We are indeed fortunate to have an econo-mist and policy maker of this caliber on campus.” Dr. Stern is a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Ad-visory Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., and a Ph.D. in econom-ics from Rice University, Houston, Texas. A native of Wisconsin, he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 1982 as senior vice president and director of research. He served as president and chief executive officer from March 1985 to September 2009. Before joining the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Dr. Stern was a partner in a New York-based economic consulting firm. His prior experience in-cludes seven years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, N.Y. Dr. Stern serves on the board of directors of the Financial Indus-try Regulatory Authority, The Dolan Company, Ambac Assurance Corporation, the Council for Economic Education, and the Deposi-tory Trust and Clearing Corporation, where he serves as the chair of the Board Risk Committee. He formerly served as chair of the board of the Northwest Area Foundation, The Minneapolis Club, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. He was also a board member of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Hamline University, and ETS. Stern is the re-cipient of the 2009 Visionary Award from the Council for Economic Education, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington University’s College of Liberal Arts in 2010.

Frontier Communications supports programming for children at Misericordia University

Frontier Communications recently presented a check to the Misericordia University Department of Speech-Language Pathology in support of its programs that support school children. Participat-ing in the ceremonial check presentation, from left, are Michael A. MacDowell, president, Miseri-cordia University; Paul Quick, vice president and general manager of Pennsylvania operations, Frontier Communications; Michael R. Morton, general manager of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Frontier Communications, and Judith Ellis, manager of corporate, government and foundation relations, Misericordia University.

Frontier Communications recently presented Misericordia University with a check for $32,000 from funds made available in 2012 by the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program that earmarks funding for educational improvement programs. The funding is utilized by the Misericor-dia University Speech-Language and Hearing Center to provide innovative educational programs for students in kindergarten through third grade. Some of the EITC funding is also used by the low-cost clinical center to purchase cutting edge equipment to assess and treat students in kindergarten through third grade. “The funds will be used in support of our speech-language and hearing center where we will combine our capable faculty and graduate students with the latest technology to help youngsters with speech-and-language disorders to do well in school and in life,” said Misericordia University President Michael A. MacDowell. Frontier Communications Corp. is an S&P 500 company and is included in the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations. Frontier offers broadband, voice, satellite video, wireless Internet data access, entertainment services like TumTiki.com, data security solutions, bundled offerings and special-ized bundles for residential customers, small businesses and home offices and advanced business com-munications for medium and large businesses in 27 states. Frontier’s approximately 15,300 employees are based entirely in the United States. For more information about Frontier Communications, please log on to www.frontier.com.

The Dallas Tuesday night at Twin Oaks men’s league held their end-of-the-year tournament at Irem Temple Country Club. Prizes were awarded and the overall champions of this year’s league play were rec-ognized by President Dennis Wagner. The winners were Clarence J. Michael and Jack Barbose who also won last year. Shown in photo right are: Jack Barbose, Dennis Wag-ner, and Clarence J. Michael.

Tuesday night Twin Oaks men’s league awarded prizes

Visit the Community News online at: www.communitynewsonline.net for publication dates,

deadlines, advertising information & more.Visit Moms2Moms online at: www.moms2moms.net


Found in 1991, the Pennsylvania En Plein Air Society is made up of many local artists and is dedicated to the advancement of painting and drawing of artwork on location. Membership is open to all lev-els of plein air artist working in their choice of mediums. Sue Hand, in the photo above, is the president of the society. The exhibit was on display for the month of September at the Berwick Hospital.

Local artists exhibit art at the Berwick Hospital


Amore’ - Bridal Buzz

Dallas Borough announces projects Dallas Borough plans to re-surface sections of the follow-ing roads the week of October 1, 2012 weather permitting:• White Birch Lane – a portion of Dallas Borough section.• Mill Street – a portion of the roadway between Woodlawn Avenue and S.R. 415. Please call the Dallas Bor-ough Road Department at 674-5362 for details on which sec-tions of these roadways will be resurfaced.

Time to Declare War on Bullying State Rep. Karen Boback of the 117th Legislative District Bullying is much more than throwing a few punches and stealing lunch money. In fact, today’s tech-savvy youth bully in a way that’s much more subtle and pervasive. Nearly 12 percent of all students in grades six, eight, 10 and 12 across Pennsylvania said they’ve been bullied through use of the Internet and their cell phones, according to the 2009 Pennsylvania Youth Survey, the most recent statistics com-piled by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The survey indicated that non-physical forms of bullying are the most prevalent among our youth, as more than one half of Penn-sylvania students reported that other students tell lies about them or spread false rumors, 43 percent have been called names or teased and more than 30 percent have been left out of things on purpose. Many times teachers, parents, and school staff get involved and resolve the problem in a positive manner. In other instances, the problem festers and has the potential to become a bullying situation. Today’s youth have more access to online social media sites and carry their own cell phones, which provide gateways to new methods of bullying. That’s why cyber bullying is the new approach, since individuals don’t have to do it face to face. Unfortunately, four Luzerne County teens ranging between the ages of 13 to 16 have taken their lives recently, and police and school officials are investigating whether or not bullying was involved in these deaths. Enough is enough! I am declaring war against bullying. I am a co-sponsor of the Pennsylvania Safe Schools Act, which would create an online database, run by the Department of Education, in which school districts would report incidents of bullying. The da-tabase would set a deadline on investigations, generate reports and send email updates to school and state officials. It would also man-date all teachers take an online bullying prevention training program every five years. I also support a piece of anti-cyber bullying legislation that would create a high-level misdemeanor, comparable to simple as-sault, for impersonating someone else online. There have been sev-eral in-state cases involving students impersonating teachers online to harass other students, and others in which students spread false in-formation online through fake websites and texting accounts to ruin reputations of classmates. This legislation would not impinge First Amendment rights because it would require prosecutors to prove criminal intent by the impersonator to do harm. While I strongly support these pieces of anti-bullying legislation that have been introduced in the state House, I feel the problem has escalated beyond rules and regulations. You can’t regulate manners, respect, and courtesy, they needed to be taught and emulated. It’s time to specifically shine the light on the problem and involve those groups and agencies that profess to protect our children in one con-sorted effort. As a result, I have begun my war by reaching out to Penn-sylvania Department of Education, the state PTA, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania State Education Associa-tion, Students First PA, and the list will continue. My goal is to con-nect the coalitions and incentivize schools to operate the best anti-bulling practices. As a public educator and guidance counselor for 33 years, I know that our schools are immersed in anti-bullying guidelines and, as per the state Department of Education, have and will continue to undertake bully prevention programs. I also know that the problem transcends the classroom and the yellow bus and this also must be addressed. Declaring war is the first step. The next will be develop-ing a joint effort that will span the classroom and evolve into cyber space. The “war” will raise more awareness about this crucial problem with the goal being a healthier environment where we can live, learn, work and play. No parent should have to see their child victimize another or have their child become a victim of what the word “bully” entails. Let’s not let bullying prevail. We must work together to win this “war.”

Happy October! Fall is here. Hopefully there will be beautiful colors this year. Did you know that October is the busiest month for weddings? Did you also know that I am very observant of the weather on Saturdays and do a “no rain” dance for my brides? I have decided to include in the Bridal portion of my column a trivia question each month. A free gift will be given to the first per-son who answers the question correctly. Just go to Bridal Trinkets on facebook, like my page and submit your answer. The winner will be contacted via facebook. The question is: Which precious metal celebrates a 60th wedding anniversary? Good Luck! September was a banner month for engraving sales. We sold a lot of engraved picture frames as gifts for the mother and father of the bride, as well as the groom. The most popular gift for ring bearers is a pewter train engraved with their name and the wedding date of the couple. Flower girls usually get jewelry to match their dress and an engraved jewelry box. I have noticed that brides are getting away from the traditional tiara look. What sells well are rhinestone hairbands with a ribbon tie. We also custom design hairpins with Swarovski crystals and pearls that perfectly match the embellishments on the brides gown. Solid color jewelry seems to be the latest trend. The chocolate brown color is very popular and just perfect for the fall. Most of our jewelry is exclusive and we do not have many duplicates. Stop in and browse…bring your gift list for the holidays…..and I will make you a free pair of earrings. This Community News offer is valid until Octo-ber 15th. Don’t be shy…we are lots of fun to work with….you might even see us dance if the right song is playing. You must mention the Back Mountain Community News to get this fabulous offer. We had a booth at the Harvest Festival. It was a huge success and we got to meet some of our customers, as well as make some new ones. Several people told us that they thought we only sold wedding items. After looking around in our booth, they quickly realized that we have jewelry and gifts for everyday to wedding day. Within the first few hours we sold out of our scarves and handbags, and had to go back to our shop to get more. We also booked a few beading parties for birthdays and girl scout troops. I went on a cleaning binge last month and found lots of treasures to sell at ridiculously low prices….just in time for the holidays. Start your layaway today! Wishing all of you a great month filled with lots of smiles. Ciao, Mary

Baker Earns Statewide Award Senator Lisa Baker (R-20) was selected as the 2012 Leg-islator of the Year by the Penn-sylvania Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). “It is an honor to be rec-ognized by professionals on the front lines of public safety, but the true heroes are the emer-gency responders and dispatch-ers who provide expert care and compassion in times of crisis,” Baker said, as she received her award at a recognition ceremony in State College today. PA NENA recognized Baker for her work on a new wellsite safety law, pipeline safety laws, her legislation to update the emergency management laws, her collaborative efforts to im-prove the coverage of the state-wide radio network, and her ongoing efforts to promote effi-ciencies and adequate funding of 911 call centers. “First Responders Recogni-tions Day properly reminds us that Pennsylvania is blessed with first-rate police officers, firefighters, EMS officials, 911 call-takers, and veterans, along with their families, who sacrifice so much to serve,” said Baker, who is chair of the Senate Veter-ans Affairs and Emergency Pre-paredness Committee. NENA’s mission is to foster the technological advancement, availability, and implementa-tion of a universal emergency telephone number system. The protection of human life, the preservation of property and the maintenance of general commu-nity security are among NENA’s objectives.

For more information on Bullying, Cyberbullying, Sexting, Online Preditorsand keeping your children & teens safe, visitwww. Moms2Moms.net& click on “Publications”.

STOP IT!


By MB GilliganBack Mountain CommunityNews Correspondent

Although the entire stu-dent body and faculty were in the Dallas High School audito-rium, the silence was profound as they viewed a time-line montage of photos from Sep-tember 11, 2001. The assembly was organized and presented by members of the Student Leader-ship in Civics club at the high school. Dallas Superintendent Frank Galicki and school board president Cathy Wega were also in attendance. “We wanted to give infor-mation on 9/11,” said Rebecca Schnable, club treasurer. “We’ve hit the age when incoming freshmen weren’t even in grade school when it happened.” The program opened with the Presentation of Colors by mem-bers of Dallas Boy Scout Troop 281 and closed with the singing of the National Anthem by club member Rebecca Darling. In be-tween, there were speeches and video presentations prepared by club members. Jeffrey Shaffer, school principal, made the events of 9/11 all the more personal as he recounted the loss of a close friend. “He went into the North Tower and we never saw him again,” said Shaffer. “The reali-ties and consequences of that

Student Leadership in Civics Club held assembly for September 11, 2001

SLIC president Marcus Wag-ner is pictured with Patrick Ne-whart who played the guitar at the assembly.

Members of the Dallas Student Leadership in Civics (SLIC) club who participated in the 9/11 as-sembly, from left, are: Rebecca Darling, Rudy Georgetti, Blake Donovan, Rebecca Schnable, Nora Tidey, and Kristian Dyrli.

Boy Scouts from Troop 281 who formed the Color Guard, from left, are: Joshua Frankevich, Joseph Blaine, Paul Smith and Dylan Pilger.

day still affect us today.” The students heard speeches about the effects of 9/11 on our country, our mili-tary, our security and our econ-omy. Blake Donovan presented information about why we re-member 9/11. There was also a video and discussion about the memorial erected at the site of Ground Zero. Kristian Dyrli, accom-panied on guitar by Patrick Newhart, sang, “Gone without Goodbye,” written by Brian Littrell of the Back Street Boys. Boy Scout Calvin Crane closed the program by direct-ing the Color Guard out of the auditorium.


Legion Logbook

Clarence J. MichaelPast CommanderDallas American Legion, Post 672

The Dallas American Legion is in the midst of reorganizing for the year under Commander, Jim Spencer. Finances will be scrutinized very carefully this year due to these uncertain economic times and new state laws constricting how some of our money-making activities can be spent. You would think that the government would especially give the veteran organi-zations some leeway to survive since the veterans have sacrificed so much for this country. But their nit-picking regulations convince me that the best government is the least government. A District 12 meeting was held at the Post on September 23. Two of our capable members are officers: namely, Commander, John Emil, Sr. and Financial Officer, Joe Kelley. Due to a lack of a majority of Legion posts participating, no official business could be conducted. With our World War II veterans passing, who were the bulwark of many Legions, dedication to attend meetings is suffering. Com-mander Emil commends all the Legions who sent representatives, and urges the other Legions to fulfill their obligations by attending future meetings . The Commander has attended state and national meetings and the major theme is membership. Legion membership is falling. We urge local veterans to join our post to keep it a viable entity. John Ralston was given a plaque to recognize his service as Commander of District 12 and VA representative. Forms were made available for anyone who wished to attend Legion College at the end of the month. It was stressed that each Legion post should become incorporated to retain their tax-exempt status (government regula-tions again). Jim Baloga was appointed Chairman of the Oratorical Contest and I was appointed Chairman of the Essay Contest. No information was available for this year’s Essay topic. As soon as the information is sent to me, it will be announced in the newspaper and commu-nicated to the schools. Refreshments were served at the end of the meeting by the Ladies Legion Auxiliary. Installation of this year’s officers will take place on Sunday, October 21, at 1:00 PM. September 21 is POW/MIA Recognition Day. Please keep these veterans in your prayers. Our Post also sent a check to the Plains American Legion to help cover the cost of their program to honor Homeless Veterans in the area. Last year over 100 veterans attended the program. On September 11 the Legion Honor Guard conducted a Remem-brance Service on Legion grounds. A flag from Shanksville dedi-cated to the bravery of the Flight 93 passengers who sacrificed their lives was presented by John Emil, Sr. John and I recounted our visi-tation to the monument at Shanksville, that is nearing completion. Reverend Bill Lewis gave the Invocation and Benediction. John Emil, Sr., gave a haunting rendition of taps to end the program. Our active Sons of the American Legion (SAL) is sponsoring their annual Food Raffle. Tickets may be purchased from members. The SAL is also sponsoring a Hometown Hero this year for $200. Any member of the SAL can submit a name for a drawing to be held to select a Hero. The SAL will also sponsor an Essay Contest for the Middle School with gift certificates of $75 to the winners.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Pictured from left, first row are: Tom Malloy, Plains; District Governor Art Peoples; Irene Carey, Nanticoke; Todd Buckley, Dallas. Second row: Debra Secor, Kingston; John Harrington, Wyo-ming; Eric Cheatley, Plymouth. District Governor and Dallas Rotarian Art Peoples was the keynote speaker at a recent multi-club event at the Appletree Terrace hosted by the Rotary Club of Dallas. Club presidents and members attended from the Rotary Clubs of Nanticoke, Kingston, Plymouth, Plains, Wyoming and Dallas. Also in atten-dance were Past District Governor Paul Muczynski from the Plains Rotary Club, Past District Governor Paul O’Malia from the Plymouth Rotary Club, and Assistant Governor Jerry Reisch.

Rotary District Governor’s multi-club official visit


Retired? Looking to Volunteer?

Blue Chip Farm in Dallas, a no kill animal shelter, is looking for

people who can commit to a time or a task.

For more information on becoming a Volunteer ...

Call Today (570) 466-0400 or

(570) 333-5265

Clancy is a 7 year old lab mix in a 1 year

old body. He is full of energy and longs for a

fur-ever home.Many kittens have arrived & are up for adoption.

For more information on adoption, please call 570-466-0400 or 570-333-5265.

Gizzmo is a 6 month old neutered male, up to date on shots. Please call or email

[email protected]. 570-466-0400

2285 Memorial Highway, Dallas

giving back to the community 10th annual dallas harvest...

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