HEART LAKE - The season at Heart Lake has opened and many new improvements have been made for the welfare of guests. A more extended notice will be given next week, by Proprietor Frank T. Mack. Arrangements are well under way for the big 4th of July celebration at the lake.

BROOKLYN - The Brooklyn Rod and Gun Club held a very interesting shoot on their grounds Tuesday afternoon. J. M. Hawkins, of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., was present and demonstrated the high qualities of the arms and ammunition of the company which he represents by doing some very clever and difficult shooting with rifle, revolver and shot gun. More than 200 persons were present. Expert trap shooters from Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Nicholson and Montrose were present and made most excellent scores. Harry VanStorch, the genial proprietor of the Parker gun store of Scranton, was present and although severely handicapped by having the use of only one arm, ranked among the highest scorers of the day both in single and double events. Also Valedictorian of the Brooklyn H. S. is Stanley M. Williams and the salutatorian is Miss H. Louise Reynolds.

ELK LAKE - John Ralston, of Montrose, is moving a barn for Mrs. M. F. Cadden.

FAIRDALE - Last Sunday a large congregation met together in the M. E. church to show their sympathy with the relatives of the victims of the recent disaster at sea. The church was draped for the occasion. A full choir sang suitable hymns, including “Nearer My God to Thee.” The pastor spoke on the subject “Lessons from the Titanic disaster,” basing his remarks on the text “God is Love,” showing that many of the so-called dark providences” are but the working of natural laws. If we disobey we must be prepared to accept the punishment.

KINGSLEY - Workmen are in town to move the large storehouse building owned by C. H. Stearns back from Main street to the completed concrete foundation for a livery barn, and also to move the blacksmith shop to a foundation adjoining, thus leaving the lot vacant for the erection in the near future of a temperance hotel.

HARFORD - Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Sophia accompanied their daughter, Louise, to Binghamton, where she took leave of them for Butte, Montana. There she will become queen of the heart and home of Frank Alexander, a former Harford boy. Hearty congratulations will follow the couple.

CLIFFORD - Last Friday the town - en masse almost - wended their way to the new home of Hiram Rivenburg for a house-warming. Dainty refreshments cake, pickles and lemonade were served, and at a reasonable hour the self-invited guests wended their way home in the rain.

JACKSON - Last Monday evening the friends and neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Wheaton made them a surprise visit. After partaking of a bountiful luncheon served by the ladies, Rev. H. L. Renville, with a few well chosen remarks, presented Mr. Wheaton with a purse of $113.00 toward buying another horse to replace the one that died recently.

Dimock - The two small boys of Mr. Lewis, who live on the Dolan farm, can be seen daily making their way to the post office, bare footed on warm days, with their satchel in hand to get their mail from Wilkes-Barre, their former home. Also Ray Palmer has gone to Scranton where he will take lessons in learning to run an automobile.

MONTROSE - “Bill” Lorrimer, of the Horse Shoe cigar store, is the possessor of a calabash pipe which he has colored only through the art of smoking it. It has the admiration of salesmen who have made “bill” some tempting offers for his work of art. After such an acquaintance, said Bill, “to release this calabash would be somewhat too summarily for mine.” [This is exactly how it reads.] Also A hound belonging to Leonard Corey was killed by an automobile, Friday. The day following a brother of the hound died from grief and mortification - supposedly.

BIRCHARDVILLE - O. F. McDonough came near meeting with a painful accident one day last week, while trying to stop the speed of a runaway gasoline engine, his head coming in contact with the exhaust. He escaped with a hole being blown through his cap.

LENOXVILLE - C. G. Stephens and D. W. Wright returned from Philadelphia last Saturday. Now if D. W. hears of a trout of record breaking dimensions anywhere within a radius of one hundred miles, he will go after him in a fine new automobile.

UNIONDALE - Hon. Philo Burritt, who is located in Fairfax county, VA., in a letter to a townsman, states that fruit trees are in blossom in that locality and that he had planted potatoes and had the corn ground ready. A portion of his farm is on the Bull Run battle field.

FOREST CITY - Harry Estabrook, who opened and conducted the first moving picture playhouse here, several years ago, was in town this week calling on friends. It was in that part of the Bloxham building now occupied by Walker’s restaurant that Mr. Estabrook opened the Lyric theatre.

South Auburn - Leon Champluver’s house was burned to the ground Friday forenoon. The origin of the fire is unknown, but it is supposed that a defective chimney was the cause. The wind was blowing a gale so that little time was given to save the contents of the house, although they did succeed in saving a few things. They carried a small insurance, but the loss will be heavy. Much sympathy is expressed.

FOREST LAKE - The Warner school closed Friday with a pleasant entertainment given by the pupils, assisted by Mrs. A. C. Newton and Edith Horton, Miss Horton as organist and Mrs. Newton assisted in the singing. The teacher, Miss Cole, has given excellent satisfaction in her school work this term and is deserving of much praise.

ST. JOSEPH - Aloysius G. O’Reilly, one of our leading and most respected citizens, died at his home April 29, aged 48 years. The deceased was one of a family of eight children, all of whom have preceded him to the grave, excepting one sister, Miss Mary O’Reilly, of St. Joseph. Four of his brothers were priests, well known throughout the state.

In the summer of 1984, my father decided that it was time for me to get a job. I was 12 years of age - but turned 13 over the course of the summer itself. My Dad put me to work on his milk truck. My duties included helping to load the truck in the morning for the route, riding along on the route to deliver the milk, stocking the product at the stores, loading up the empty crates onto the truck, and cleaning the truck afterward as well as mopping out the cooler where the product was stored.

I do not recall that there was much debate about my employment options - but I know that I complained mightily about the “fairness” of it: I was too young; I was just a kid; there are child labor laws; my friends did not have to work; my summer was being ruined and so on. I recall that my complaints were particularly vociferous during the early morning hours when I was dragged out of bed to get to Montrose to load up the truck for the day’s deliveries. But a remarkable thing happened over the course of the summer – I began to enjoy working. I was proud that I had a job and I took pride in my work. I know that I made lots of mistakes over the course of the summer and there were times that I hindered, more than helped, my Dad in getting things done. But throughout the summer, I learned a lot about responsibility and hard work - and I learned a lot about myself. Ever since that time, I never had another summer “off.”

If you have not been following the news, the Obama Administration’s Labor Department has been floating a proposed regulation that would have prohibited persons under 16 years of age from performing a variety of farm work. The proposed regulation had an exemption for family farms, but it would have restricted the ability of farms to utilize non-family labor if those persons were not 16 years of age. The response to this proposed regulation was overwhelmingly negative - and thankfully the Labor Department has rescinded the proposed regulation. In making its decision to kill this regulation, the Labor Department issued the following statement: “The Obama Administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations.”

I like the way that the Labor Department phrased its decision, i.e., the statement about “respecting the rural way of life.” Unfortunately, the Labor Department did not define what the “rural way of life” entailed and why it was entitled to respect. I believe that the “rural way of life” promotes core values of self-reliance, independence, hard work and strong communities. I cannot comment on the “urban way of life” as I have no real experience with it aside from a few stays in small cities for college and law school. But it seems to me that there is a real difference between the “rural way of life” and the “urban way of life.” Certainly, the Labor Department has made that distinction and properly noted that the rural lifestyle not only deserves our respect, but that the government should be promoting and encouraging that lifestyle.

I never really worked on a farm - there were rare occasions when I would help my Uncle with bailing some hay or getting the hay into the barn. But those were truly rare occasions - and I recall that it was really hard work and I am not sure how much of a help I truly ever was. On the other hand, I am thankful that my father put me to work at a young age - despite my whines, moans and protestations. The lessons that I learned over the summer of 1984 were not the types of things that I was ever going to learn in a classroom, or in a book, or on television, or on the computer. They were also lessons that needed to be learned - sooner rather than later - and the government should be encouraging and promoting any efforts for family and friends to teach these lessons to our young people - not creating regulations that assure that those lessons will never be learned.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.