Benji Jane Archer was born April 28, 1911 to Ann and William Archer, from Archer Hill, Fiddle Lake, Pa. She had 2 siblings, a brother, Theodore and a sister, Mildred. She and her siblings were home schooled by their father. Once Jane reached the third grade level, she was sent to a 1 room school house and attended there until the eighth grade. At age 17, Jane left home and got her first job caring for children. At 18, she began her career as a sewing machine operator and worked 26 years for Katz Factory in Honesdale.

Jane Carpenter

 In 1944, she met and married her husband, Emerson Carpenter and moved to the Waymart area. Jane had no children of her own, but became Step-mom to Emersons’s five children. Jane became an active member of the Waymart First Baptist Church. She served on many committees including Missions and also taught Sunday school.

At age 95, Jane was no longer able to live alone and became a resident at Sponji Manor, Waymart until it closed in 2012. She now makes her home at the Forest City Personal Care where she has made many new friends.

Anna Drasler was born March 16, 1913 on a farm in Sesser, Illinois, to Martin and Anna Zaitz. She was the second of their six children.

Anna Drasler

Her father worked as a coal miner in southern Illinois, while her mother stayed home to care for the family.

 After finishing 8th grade she went to work in St. Louis as a mother's helper for a widow who cared for orphan children, and ran a bakery to support them.

When Anna’s uncle, Tony Zaitz needed help running the boarding house, which was attached to his gas station in Browndale, PA, Anna was eager to help.

It was in this little town that she met her sweetheart Tony Drasler, and became his bride in 1934. They were blessed with 54 years together. Though times were hard, they managed to purchase a small house on Martin Street in Browndale. Here, they raised their three children, Donald, Eugene, and Joyce. Anna lived in that same little house for 70 years.

In addition to raising her family, Anna worked in the garment industry in Forest City for 30 years. She was an excellent cook and baker who loved gardening, sewing, and making fine, crocheted lace doilies. She and her family spent many enjoyable hours fishing at the local lakes, as well as those in New York and Canada.

Today, Anna Drasler resides at the Forest City Personal Care, where she is loved by staff and residents alike. She is the proud mother of three, grandmother of five, great-grandmother of nine, and great-great-grandmother of two. If you were to ask Anna the secret to her long life, she would tell you to live each day joyfully.

Family members at the 124th Gelatt Family Reunion

The 124th Gelatt family reunion was held on Saturday, August 16th at the farm of Dan and Dee Schoellig in West Burlington. 

The Gelatt clan share an ancestor, John Gelatt who immigrated to this country in 1722 from France and bore children that settled in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania founding the hamlet of Gelatt, PA. 

There were over 60 family members present with numerous guests attending. Dee Gelatt-Schoellig and family provided a full buffet of food with other cousins rounding out the feast. 

Gary Gelatt started the day with a prayer and the family shared in food and fun till late afternoon. 

Family visited from as far as Massachusetts and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

Joyce Loomis was on hand to photograph the festivities and the annual group photo in front of a Gelatt Family Reunion banner designed and created by cousin Luke Jarvis. David Gelatt and Kevin Peters set up a fine display of old family photos and memorabilia with others sharing the memories they brought with them. 

The day ended with a bonfire at the farm of Gary and Selina Gelatt in Burlington Flats and the family members returned to their homes full of memories.

Next year’s 125th Gelatt Family Reunion will be held at the Grange Hall in Gelatt, Pennsylvania, where the first one was held in 1891.

Any and all Gelatt cousins can email David Gelatt at hortusd@msn.com for information on next year's reunion.  

The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains welcomes Heather Taylor as our newest staff member who will be helping with the daily tasks of administering The Foundation’s charitable endowments and education assistance.  Heather is a graduate of Indiana University Southeast Campus where she also worked as a Greek Life Coordinator and Student Liaison for Volunteer Services accomplishing such tasks as Public Relations, social media management, event management, and volunteer management.  Heather has also been a Territory Assistant for TSC Global and for The Handleman Company, and she has been a Customer Service Associate at JC Penney.  Heather and her husband live in Montrose with their two year old daughter.

Heather looks forward to utilizing her organizational skills as she joins the team at The Community Foundation with a particular interest in the Foundation’s education projects such as pre-school through college scholarships and getting to know the schools and organizations The Community Foundation works with.  Currently The Community Foundation manages nearly 170 charitable endowments worth a combined value of $10 Million benefitting all facets of our local communities.  Heather joins the current Foundation staff including Chairman Earle Wootton, President Peter Quigg, Operations Manager Cristine Clayton, Book Keeper Angie Frystak, and Technology Advisor Jerry Golis in our work assisting donors with their charitable priorities and improving the quality of life in northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.

Members of Sea Scouts Ship 90 of New Milford successfully navigated the Upper Delaware River during a whitewater canoeing trip June 23-26.

The Delaware is the longest free-flowing river in the Northeast, and can be navigated by watercraft for its entire length. This makes it one of the finest rivers in the Northeast for recreational canoeing.

Sea Scouts Katee Chludzinski and Trinity Spencer canoeing on the Delaware River

Although the average depth is four to five feet, 12 to 18 foot holes are common, and Big Eddy, which the Sea Scouts navigated, has a 113 foot deep hole, and drops a total of 460 feet in elevation, or more than six feet per mile. One of the Sea Scouts, Tiffany Spencer, said, "It was really fun, one of the best trips I've been on and the rapids weren't bad.  It was one of the longer canoe trips, and one kid, Austin Chludzinski, even took a kayak."

Thirteen of the ship members participated in the trip: Tiffany Spencer, Trinity Spencer, Katee Chludzinski, Austin Chludzinski, LaAnna Farnelli,  William Farnelli, Austin Anderline, David Hudack, David Stude, Stacie Grubb, Josh Warner, CJ Maslayar and Skipper Chuck Jaget.

On the first day on the river, the group canoed through the Skinners Falls rapids, which are considered the most difficult rapids on the Upper Delaware. Skinners Falls features waves of up to two feet, or Class II rapids.

After canoeing all day through rapids such as Railroad Bridge, Masthope, Colang, Cedar, and Shohola Rapids, the Sea Scouts camped somewhere new each evening and enjoyed swimming, fishing, playing frisbee and card games as well as other activities.

On June 25, they went to a museum honoring the oldest existing wire cable suspension bridge in the United States: the Delaware Aqueduct, or the Roebling Bridge, as it is now known. The bridge was built in 1847 as one of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware Hudson Canal, and was designed by and built under the supervision of John A. Roebling, future engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The scouts finished the trip by canoeing through Butlers Rift, which is in the scenic section of rapids called "Hawk's Nest," where beautiful cut rock is visible on the cliffs of the New York shore.

For information on Sea Scouts membership, please call Commodore Ron Hall at (570)465-3218.

Pennsylvania is fortunate to sit on top of one the nation’s largest natural gas deposits, the Marcellus Shale, a formation deep underground that extends across many states. Just last year, thanks in part to increased natural gas production from Pennsylvania’s section of the Marcellus Shale, the U.S. surpassed Russia as the world’s largest producer of natural gas.

Pennsylvania continues to see a number of significant benefits from the Marcellus Shale —through reduced energy costs, impacts fees, employment growth, and economic revitalization. In fact, because of shale energy development, Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas utilities have saved consumers $3,200 over the past four years through rate reductions. 

Significant impacts have also been seen in the counties where shale energy production continues to thrive. Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Mid-Atlantic continues to highlight the positive examples of economic influence that energy development has had on communities across the nation in Part VIIII of their series — this time showcasing Susquehanna County, PA.

With more than 43,000 residents, Susquehanna County is located about 155 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 290 miles east-northeast of Pittsburgh.

The county, which was once known for its coal mining, has become an area known for Marcellus Shale development as it sits atop a thick, prolific portion of the shale and is currently home to 44 of the top producing wells. Susquehanna County produced the most natural gas, followed by Bradford and Lycoming Counties in northeast Pennsylvania in 2013. According to Cabot spokesman George Stark, this is what makes Susquehanna County “the sweetest spot.”

Along with increased tax revenue, one the major benefits the county has seen are the millions of dollars of royalties and lease payments paid to local landowners by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp, and in turn, the landowners spending their increased income on goods and services within the community.

In Susquehanna County, Cabot has employed hundreds of local employees and has also invested over $18 million to date on improving and maintaining the roads in order to provide safe and efficient transportation of goods and services. With the unemployment rate decreased from 10.9 in January 2010 to 6.3 in March 2014, it’s clear that Cabot’s shale operations in Susquehanna County are helping to bring prosperity to the local economy.

“Thanks to Cabot, our business is growing in unexpected ways. The natural gas industry has brought new life to the area,” states Jeffery B. Tyler, Partner & Agent at Hawk Insurance Agency in Susquehanna County. 

Here are just a few examples of how this economic growth has brought prosperity to other local businesses that serve a variety of markets, such as stores, hotels, restaurants, car dealerships, insurance companies and many more:

Gretchen Backer, the owner of The Inn at Montrose has seen more guests at her hotel and more business from the booming energy industry. “I know we’re a little biased because we are in the service industry, so when new individuals come from out of town, everybody needs a place to stay and some place to eat. So, it’s been wonderful for us. We are very, very fortunate with all of the gas influx...”

Dennis Bunnell, Jessup Township Supervisor, is happy to see the influx of economic growth in the region. “If anybody had told me 5 years ago, maybe even 3 years ago, that we would be seeing what we’re seeing here in this county and in this township, I wouldn’t have believed them. We’ve had really no jobs here in this area at all. You could pump gas or some little jobs like that, and that’s all that people had to provide for their families with. This has really opened up an avenue for some good-paying jobs and good benefits and that is a real bonus.”

Local businesses are not the only ones seeing changes in Susquehanna County. Just recently, Lackawanna College, located in New Milford, PA, announced that Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. gifted $2.5 million to the college.  Lackawanna College will use the donation  for scholarships, equipment, training, faculty and staff, student curriculum and internships in the college’s School of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

“Lackawanna College saw an opportunity a few years ago and took a leap into education in support of the oil and natural gas industry," explained Mark Volk, President of Lackawanna College. "Our partnership with Cabot enhances tremendously the ability of the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas to provide a world-class education designed to prepare a ready workforce that fits the needs of the multiple companies across the industry.”

The School of Petroleum & Natural Gas was established in 2009 when the Marcellus Shale industry was just beginning to take off in the area. The current job placement rate for graduating students is 90%.

Susquehanna County’s considerable growth demonstrates the positive impact that the Marcellus Shale is having across Pennsylvania. Instead of trying to stop the production of this valuable resource for Pennsylvania and threatening the economic development and investment that it has created, our policymakers would be wise to support and encourage its growth.

To learn more about Consumer Energy Alliance Mid-Atlantic please visit www.consumerenergyalliance.org.

Thank you to all who made Woofstock possible.  What a wonderful day it was - so many kind people and well behaved canines attended.  We can't tell all the sponsors, vendors, bands, volunteers, attendees, our fund raising committee and board members and their families how much we appreciate all the hard work and effort it takes to coordinate an event like this.  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Mixer is our pet of the week and he also attended Woofstock.  He is 2 years old, neutered and housebroke.  He loves to play ball and get lots of attention. 

Mixer

He does not like to be alone.  If you would like to give him the loving, responsible home he needs please come in and meet him.