READ: Dr.’s orders Find out how one local elementary school celebrated the birthday of a beloved author. See Page 10.
THE ABINGTON
JOURNAL
Making a LEAP Bye, bye bullies. Area fitness experts aims to help children stay safe and independent. See Page 8.
An edition of THE TIMES LEADER
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
www.theabingtonjournal.com
March 6 to March 12, 2013
50¢
Meters on the move? Clarks Summit discusses shift in layout of 10-hour parking positions.
By Gerard NolaN Abington Journal Correspondent
AbingtOn JOurnAl/EllEn bugnO
The Abington Heights girls swimming team erupts in joy this past weekend to see their 400 Free Relay team place second for a seed in the state tournament.
STAND UP and SHOUT C AbingtOn JOurnAl/StEphAniE WAlkOWSki
Abington Heights boys basketball team members celebrate their win March 1 against GAR.
STURDY system: Church finds strength in prayer wall
Win a gift certificate from National Running Center, meet CHAMP, Sesame Street Live’s Ernie and learn a new joke. See Pages 3 and 4 for this month’s MY EDITION for YOU!
INSIDE
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The Abington Journal
ArtsEtc. .................................. 5 Calendar ................................ 2 Classified ....................... 14 Crosswords ........................... 6 Obituaries...........................9,12 School .................................... 10 Sports .............................. 11-13
hampionship seasons on land and in water. The Abington Heights high school boys basketball team and members of the girls swimming team advance to the state tournaments. The basketball team will play Shikellamy March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lackawanna College Student Union. The PIAA AA & AAA Swimming & Diving Championships will be held March 13-16 at Bucknell University. For additional stories and photos see Pages 11 and 13.
By elIZaBeTH BaUMeISTer lbaumeister@theabingtonjournal.com
Scott Dennis and his daughter, Hinata. Dennis grew up in Fleetville but now resides in Tokyo with his wife and two children.
American in Tokyo
By Gerard NolaN Abington Journal Correspondent
When English teacher Scott Dennis recently returned to Pennsylvania from Japan for the first time in six years, he experienced what he termed “reverse culture shock.” The 36-year-old, who grew up in Fleetville, said he had trouble speaking English “without wanting to throw Japanese in.” “I kept talking to people as if I were talking to a student (of English),” he said. “I was really dumbing down my English.” Dennis has lived in Japan for about ten years. His wife, Asako, and children, son Taiyo and daughter Hinata, are Japanese citizens, and he hopes to secure a permanent residency visa when he returns to the country. The Japanese rarely confer full citizenship upon foreigners, he added. About a decade ago, Dennis was an art major at Keystone
See TOKYO, Page 10A
Members of Countryside Community Church, 14011 Orchard Dr., Clarks Summit, recently completed inside a special room off the church’s sanctuary a stone prayer wall, much like the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The size and shape of a small fireplace, the wall sits under a golden cross, and small slips of paper stick out from between the stones. Congregants write their prayers on the papers, fold them and place them in the wall, kneeling on a small stand in front of it to pray. The mission statement for the prayer wall, according to Prayer Works Team Chairwoman Helen Herne, is “To model, teach, witness, promote and help others to
develop a deeper relationship with God through prayer.” A pamphlet published by the church about the prayer wall states, “This wall is placed here in the tradition of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which is a remnant of the retaining wall for the plaza surrounding the Temple that stood there during the time of Jesus…To this day people have come to that wall to pray and to tuck their written prayers in the cracks between the stones. Visitors there total nearly 10 million per year.” According to Herne, just as the prayers tucked into the stones in Jerusalem are left unread, those in the wall at Countryside Community Church are not read by anyone but God. At least twice a year, the prayers will be removed and burned.
Herne said the church’s prayer wall started as a small idea and morphed into what it is today through the hard work and donations of the entire congregation. The church also has plans to build a prayer garden on its property this spring along with a prayer path. They hope to eventually build the path to lead to a labyrinth in the woods. “We have a lot of work to do,” Herne said, “but we know God is with us.” Prayer Works Team member Betty Mears added, “We feel very supported by the prayers of the people in the church.” The prayer room is open whenever the church is open, which generally includes weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday mornings at the start of the services until about 1 p.m.
Countryside Community Church congregants write their prayers on small slips of paper, fold them and place them between the rocks which make up the prayer wall, at right.
AbingtOn JOurnAl/ElizAbEth bAuMEiStEr
CLARKS SUMMIT- Clarks Summit Borough Council toyed with the idea of reconfiguring its parking meter layout Feb. 26 during a work session. George Carros, who maintains the borough’s 140 meters, appeared before council to provide information on the meters. Twenty-one of those meters allow motorists extended parking for up to 10 hours. Those meters are distributed throughout the borough, including six on Depot Street. Carros said those are primarily used by shop employees. Council entertained the possibility of moving the 10-hour meters to accommodate employees who work in the Clarks Summit business district. Carros explained that he did not know the rationale behind the original distribution of the 10-hour meters. Council member Herman Johnson said he wants the meters to be laid out in a more thoughtful manner. “Employees don’t have a lot of parking spots,” he said. They (employees with only regular meters nearby) have to keep on running out putting quarters in.” He suggested installing 10hour meters in more “centrallylocated” spots to accommodate business employees, including more of the 10-hour meters on Main Avenue, which currently has three 10-hour meters. Council agreed that it would again meet with Carros to determine whether the meters could be arranged to make parking more convenient for shop employees. The current rate at the regular meters is 50 cents for two hours of parking; regular meters accept nickels, dimes and quarters. The rate at the 10hour meters is 50 cents for five hours of parking; they accept quarters only. All meters were recently inspected by the state when they were temporarily removed during the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice to provide free parking to visitors, Carros said. He added that spiders, traffic vibrations, low batteries and coin jams are the primary reasons some meters malfunction. The issue of parking meter rates came up, and Carros explained that upping meter rates would require that the meters be returned to the factory for re-calibration. Council president Gerrie Carey suggested raising the penalty for parking violations rather than raising rates. The current fine is $5 if the fine is paid within in 48 hours and $10 thereafter. In other business, representatives Dick Yarmey and Mike Hargrove, from the Abington Area Joint Recreation Board, appeared at the council’s request.
See METERS, Page 9A