Clarence Michael, the 2008 auction chairman, notes that if you use this sign at an auction it means you have purchased an item.

Charlotte Bartizek/ For The Dallas Post

Members of the committee planning the 2008 Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction are, from left, first row, Carol Sweeney, Vi Gommer, Lou Ellen Zekas, Mary Ann Finch, Bennie Matchalt , Pauline Kutz, Paul Sabol, Ellen Lehon and Leslie Horoshko. Second row, Clarence Michael, Ernest Ashbridge, Jim Snyder, Karen Shuster, Cheryl Miller, Fred Krohle, John Rhoads and Jim Reese.

Jonathan J. Juka/ For The Dallas Post

It’s that time of year again.

Tonight kicks off the 62nd Annual Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction. Be sure to check out Family Night this evening where children can take part in a pottery activity by Skip Sensbach, crafts, art lessons and face painting. Hot dogs will only be 25 cents. Special play stations for children will also be set up throughout the library for the entire auction. Adult educators will be on hand to stimulate the children.

I don’t really appreciate antiques, but I am a reader. In past years, I have found great books at cheap prices in the book tent. I remember buying my sister a college survival guide for 50 cents. My friend Brian found a book one year on how Walmart is ruining America. I don’t remember if he actually purchased it, but he was really into it.

All of the books have been moved inside of the library this year, so make sure to head indoors and browse through them. I’ll be searching for useful cookbooks.

It’s also fun to look at the items in the flea market. I never gave flea markets much thought until I recently purchased items from one at the Meadows. You never know what you might find.

And how can I forget about the food? Pierogies, one of my favorite foods, are new this year at the Dallas Rotary food booth. It’s also hard for me to resist ice cream from Hillside Farms. Yum!

We’re supposed to have nice weather until Sunday, so there’s no excuse not to stop by and benefit the library while catching up with friends and neighbors.

See you there!

It was about a month ago when I first noticed a lake and a mansion behind it after Martin’s Service on Route 309 heading to Tunkhannock. My friend, who is a lifelong resident of Trucksville, tells me the lake has always been there, but that he also just recently saw the mansion.

Maybe it’s because I am a reporter, but I love to know things. Google Maps tells me the lake is named Shadyside Lake. Is it a natural lake? A public lake? What about nearby Lake Catalpa? I just discovered that one on Google Maps.

Just how many lakes and ponds are there in the Back Mountain? I always knew of Frances Slocum, Harveys Lake, the Huntsville Dam, Sylvan Lake, Lake Silkworth and Lake Louise. But it seems there are so many more.

Google Maps reveals to me bodies of water I have never heard of. In addition to Shadyside Lake and Lake Catalpa, here are others I didn’t know about: Perrins Pond, Cummings Pond, Harris Pond, North Lake, Grassy Pond, Pikes Creek Reservoir, Scarlat Lake, Posten Pond and Lake Manjo. There are probably even more that I missed.

Have you ever been to these lakes and ponds? I like to learn, so if you could give me any history or information on them, send me an e-mail. I especially want to know if any of them are public so I could check them out.

I hope you’re getting all geared up for the library auction.

Roxy

Cutie Pie, left, adores Sweetie Pie, right.

Who’s your best friend?

That’s the line we run every week in our “Man and Beast” series in The Dallas Post. In case you aren’t familiar with it, “Man and Beast” features pets or animals from the Back Mountain. We’ve had everything from cute puppies and cats to horses from The Lands at Hillside Farms.

I’m a pet owner and my pets are practically my children. My sister and I have two rabbits- Cutie Pie, 8, a Netherland Dwarf, and Sweetie Pie, 7, who is also some sort of a mixed dwarf. We also have a dog, Roxy, 7, who is a purebred Cairn Terrier (the same breed as Toto from “The Wizard of Oz”).

Cutie Pie came from the Bloomsburg Fair. A girl had purchased him without her mother’s consent and her mom made her sell him. I wasn’t at the fair that day, but Cute Man was probably the best $10 my mom ever spent. Sweetie, or “The Sweets,” was purchased from a pet store. She has had multiple surgeries for facial abscesses by Lynn D' Alessandro at Creekside Animal Hospital in Beaumont. The doctor also saved her from what we presume was a nasty urinary tract infection.

Roxy looks a lot like Rudy, a male Cairn Terrier from Orange who ran in the series months ago. She was once featured in an employee newsletter from Rita’s Italian Ices, where my sister works. In the photo my sister submitted, Roxy had a Rita’s cup in her mouth. If one of us leaves a little custard or Italian Ice in the bottom of the cup for her, she’ll take it and run with it. Usually, she finishes it in the living room.

Due to the fact many people are on vacation or poolside in the summer months, we’re getting low on our “Man and Beast” submissions. I know plenty of you have pets you adore and would love to have in the newspaper. I always see dogs being walked and cats in windows in the Back Mountain. I’m sure there are also many horses, rabbits, lizards, hamsters and snakes.

We want to feature your Back Mountain pets! Tell us your name and address, your pet’s name, his or her age, his or her breed and anything else you’d like us to know about your pet. E-mail the information and photo to news@mydallaspost.com. Or, send it by snail mail to: “Man and Beast”, c/o The Dallas Post, 15 North Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711.

I can’t wait to see your pets!

Since I won’t be here tomorrow, I’d like to wish you an early Happy Fourth of July.

There will be fireworks at dusk tonight at the Tunkhannock High School Football Field. It’s raining right now and there is a chance of showers and thunderstorms throughout the evening. Hopefully, they will still go on. If not, the rain date is July 4.

Tomorrow you can check out the fireworks at dusk at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre. I’ve spent more Fourth of Julys there than I can remember. If you don’t want to deal with the crowd in the park, here are a few good places I have viewed them from: the Market Street Bridge, the Luzerne County Courthouse Water Street parkade and West Side Vo-Tech.

In honor of the Fourth of July, Pizza Paul will hold his second annual fireworks show at dusk on Sunday, July 6 at the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly Church grounds.

Pizza Paul, actually named Paul Adamchick, is a lifelong Trucksville resident. He spends his own money to pay for the fireworks for the Back Mountain community. As you can imagine, this is a very costly feat. And Pizza Paul could use your help to make sure his fireworks can return again next year. He’s accepting donations through the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly Church.

For more about Pizza Paul and his fireworks spectacular, read my story in The Dallas Post this Sunday.

Make sure you enjoy the long weekend. I know I will.

I’m embarrassed to say I just realized both of my socks are worn on the backs of my ankles. So what will I do? Curse Wal-Mart and throw the socks in the garbage.

What did people do 50 years ago when socks became worn or developed holes? What about 100 years ago? My guess is they mended the holes and continued to wear the socks. So how and when did we become such a throw away society?

I freely admit I am a waster. It’s not something I’m proud of. My generation grew up thinking if something is broken, old or no longer needed that it should be thrown away. And my OCD causes me to throw everything away, including things I didn’t mean to or want to. Once I had to dig through three bags of garbage to find my paycheck. Luckily, it only had one spaghetti sauce splatter on it.

Paper towels are always on my shopping list. My mom used to tell me I consume a tree’s worth of products each week. I use disposable silverware when I bring my lunch to work. And I never reuse my plastic water bottles because, well, they taste like whatever I was eating. You know what I’m talking about.

But I shouldn’t speak for everyone my age. My co-worker Rory Sweeney is very eco-friendly. He picks up plastic bottles off the ground and rides his bike to work when possible.

On Saturday night, a friend of mine asked me to hold the labels she peeled off her beer bottles. She was too inebriated to throw them away but still did not want to litter. I found it to be comical.

Don’t hate me for not being as eco-minded as I should be. I do recycle at home and turn off appliances when I am finished using them. If you teach me how to mend my socks (I’m horrible at sewing), I’ll give it a shot. Seriously.

In the meantime, I have to go shopping for more black socks.

About the Author

Rebecca Bria has been reporting for The Dallas Post since June of 2007. She is a 2007 graduate of Wilkes University and previously interned with the company at The Weekender and The Times Leader.

Categories

Archives

• September 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008