Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC), welcomes Stephanie Childs, DMD to its staff.  Dr. Childs, formerly Dr. Bloss, will see patients at the Pike Dental Center in Lords Valley.  The new dental office, part of a building expansion at the Pike Family Health Center, is an extension of the Together for Health Dental Center in Honesdale.

Stephanie Childs, DMD

Dr. Childs earned a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree graduating Magna Cum Laude from Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry, Philadelphia, PA.  She graduated Cum Laude from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. 

As a scholar with the National Health Services Corps and a native of Pocono Lake, PA, Dr. Childs is “happy to be serving patients in an area that is relatively close to home.”

The Pike Dental Center is located at 750 Route 739, Suite D of the Pike County Medical Center, Lords Valley.  The dental facility, fully equipped with five operatories for comprehensive dental services will open its doors to patients in January 2014.  Dr. Childs joins Robert Fredericks, DDS at this state-of-the art practice.  Appointments are now being scheduled by calling 570-775-7818. 

WMCHC, is a federally qualified health center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc.  In addition to dental services, WMCHC offers primary care, women’s health care, pediatric services, pulmonology, general surgery and behavioral health services at satellite offices located in Wayne, Pike and Lackawanna Counties.  For more information on all services, call 570-253-8390 or visit www.wmh.org/WMCHC.

Over the weekend of October 25-27th, Susquehanna County 4-H had a record showing of twenty eight members participate at the 54th Annual Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse Show at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. There were over 1400 entries from across the state of Pennsylvania. Participants that qualified took part in 52 performance classes and 90 production classes.

Performance classes include events such as showmanship, horsemanship, equitation, pleasure, over fences, driving, western riding, reining, trail and timed gymkhana events. Members must have qualified through their county and district shows. In the production classes, participants can exhibit horses younger than five years of age in both futurity and conformation classes. The Susquehanna County members qualified through their regional show, held in Williamsport in July.

A huge congratulations goes to Corrin Raynor of Apalachin for her first place finish in Hunter Under Saddle, Pony! Corrin competed in a large class of ponies, and came out the winner. Great job to Corrin on her excellent ride on Maya. Also placing in the top ten in the State were Jessica Sudhop, riding I’m Good to the Last Drop, who received fourth place in Open Trail Horses, Junior Rider. Tayler Diaz competed in Western Horsemanship, Junior Rider and was ninth place with her horse Coupe de Elegance. Madelyn Fruehan competed in Western Pleasure Horses and took ninth place with her horse RV Zipped Up. Abigail Leamon received seventh in Novice Reining with Razzolena. Alison Teel had a great ride on Whistling Dixie and took fifth in Clover Leaf Barrel Race, Ponies. Sarah Carpenetti placed tenth with her horse Gina in Raised Box Keyhole, Junior Rider. Marissa Doty showed Vested Leaguer in Breed Type Hunter Under Saddle, Senior Rider and placed ninth. Katelyn Briel participated in Low Working Hunter Horses with Gizmo’s War Bonnet and placed tenth. Katelyn Kveragas competed in Working Hunter Horses with Jem Trader, and was eighth place. Brandon Bergman drove his mare, Bayo, in Pleasure Horse Driving, and was sixth place.

Other participants from Susquehanna County in the performance classes were Lily Thomas, Kelsey Mitchell, Stephanie Koloski, Kelly Oliver, Jamie Smith, Sierra Hall, Casey Purdum, Alex Carpenetti, Myranda Polcha, and Alexis Diaz.

Susquehanna County also had eight participants in the Production classes. Austin Graham, of Montrose, had the highest place of the day when she received first with her Draft Type Pony, Red Light Special. The Three Year Old Filly won her class, and was very well shown by Austin. These members exhibited horses that ranged in age from a yearling to five years old, and showed in classes that judge them on confirmation. In the Miniature Horse Division, Stephanie Koloski exhibited the third place Yearling Gelding, Silver Linings Dun Gottem Good, and Jessica Sudhop showed the fifth place Two Year Old Filly, WHF Bonnet’s Curiosity. In the Palomino Division, Sarah Bolles placed second with her Three Year Old Gelding, Zips Montana Gold. Jessica Sudhop showed Parton My Gold Zipper in the Pinto Two Year Old Gelding class, and received second place. In a very competitive Quarter Horse Division, Jessica Sudhop placed fifth with Crazy Yella Clown, a Two Year Old Gelding. Megan Leamon took fourth in the Two Year Old Filly class with Yellas Cocoa Kid, and Brandon Bergman exhibited Karmi Yella, a Yearling Filly. Kelsey Mitchell showed, April Reigns, a Stock Type Horse, Yearling Filly and placed second. Austin Graham exhibited her Stock Type Pony, Two and Three Year Olds, Hot Scotch Hottie to a fourth place finish. And rounding out the Production Class participants were Brandon Bergman, riding Bayo and Meghan Polcha riding Coromiro in the English Pleasure Futurity, 4 Year Old.

It is very easy to see that Susquehanna County had an excellent year at the State 4-H Horse Show. Congratulations to all the participants – your hard work really showed. A very special thank you goes to all those that helped with the decorations, especially Katelyn Kveragas and the rest of the crew from Unity Stables. And we also need to thank all the horse 4-H Volunteer Leaders that worked so hard to help our 4-Hers have a great year.

The Susquehanna County 4-H Horse program is open to all youth ages 8-18. If you have any questions or would like more information on the program, please contact the Extension Office at 278-1158.

What is an entrepreneur? Do I have the skills necessary to become an entrepreneur? Your Future in Focus course instructors will guide you through business plan writing so that you can turn your farm or food business dreams into reality.

Class participants will cover marketing, legal matters, human resources, finances and so much more - with the goal of drafting a business plan. Many business owners have a collection of ideas about how their enterprise will start up and grow. To be effective, a written business plan is a necessary tool for accurately launching new ventures - either new businesses or additional enterprises for established businesses.

The class will benefit current business owners and others interested in becoming agricultural or food business owners.

There will be a series of seven webinars and two face-to-face toolbox sessions, teaching the necessary steps of setting the goals and objectives for a farm or food business, with the goal of drafting a written plan.  *Non-Pennsylvania registrants will participate in webinar-style toolbox sessions.

Join the webinars in the comfort of your own home. Toolbox sessions will be held at convenient locations across the state.

Webinars will be held on January 14, 21 & 28; February 4 & 25; and March 4 & 25 from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.  Toolbox Locations will be held across the state in two face to face sessions.  Locally, a Toolbox Session will be held February 20 & March 20, 2014 from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. at the Penn State Extension Susquehanna County Office located at 88 Chenango Street, Montrose, PA 18801.

There is a cost for the program. Registration deadline is Thursday, January 9, 2013.

For more information and registration, contact Michelle Kowalewski at 570-278-1158 to provide more information about this course and other opportunities offered by Penn State Ag Entrepreneurship Team.

Effective, January 7, 2014, Melissa Rickard, CRNP, MSN, board-certified family nurse practitioner at the Honesdale Family Health Center will offer expanded office hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  

Melissa Rickard

Patients may be seen as early as 8 a.m. with the final appointment scheduled for 5:45 p.m.  Rickard provides primary care services for children over age 6 up to adults and is currently accepting new patients.  She has been practicing at the Honesdale Family Health Center, located in the Stourbridge Medical and Professional Building on Route 6 and Maple Avenue, since its inception in 2008.  Appointments may be made by calling 570-251-6672.

Honesdale Family Health Center is part of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) a clinical affiliate of Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc.  For more information on all services offered by WMCHC, call 570-253-8390 or visit www.wmh.org/WMCHC.

You don’t need special skills to become a mentor to a young person in your community; you just need an ability to listen and to offer friendship, guidance and encouragement. And now is a great time to get started, as January is National Mentoring Month, which first began in 2002.

Potential mentors are being encouraged this month to begin offering their services in their local communities, in schools, at faith-based organizations, in local businesses and even through the Internet.

To get started or to learn more about different opportunities in these different settings, you can visit www.mentoring.org, which is maintained by The National Mentoring Partnership, one of the key non-profit organizations involved in National Mentoring Month. The organization provides free resources for those looking to get involved, as well as information on how to start a mentoring program.

Not only does working with young people help them to achieve academic success, it also can lead them to make responsible decisions in different facets of their lives, say experts at the Harvard School of Public Health and The National Mentoring Partnership.