NEPA Community Health Care is excited to announce three new members that have joined the Board of Directors. The NEPA Community Health Care Board of Directors now consists of nine (9) members. Officers of the Board are: Kenneth Cooper, President; Dawn Ziegler, Vice President; Lori Mitchell, Treasurer; Jason Beardsley, Secretary; members Joseph Polanski, Nancy Panzera Jackson, Robert McNamara, Joanne Kays and Jacinta Smedley. The three new Board members, Lori Mitchell, Jason Beardsley and Jacinta Smedley come to NEPA CHC with a history of extensive accomplishments.

On Saturday September 16th 2017 the Susquehanna American Legion Post 86 held an appreciation dinner for the Susquehanna Fire department. Donations and Appreciations were handed to both the Firefighters and the Ladies Auxiliary, from the board members of the post, In addition to gifts and proceeds from the departments guest bartenders over past month. Pictured above (l-r) are: Service Officer Joe Kapsandi, Finance Officer Scott Darling, First- Vice Commander Brian Delaney, Adjunct Mike Maxwell, Commander Gene Stewart, and acccepting on behalf of the Department is Assistant Chief Kevin Kelly.

The Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau Board of Directors recently elected its officers for the 2017/18 fiscal year. The three counties the visitors bureau promotes is represented by the group, which will hold their positions until June 2018. The new officers are, (pictured l-r) are: Bob DeLuca (Susquehanna County) secretary/treasurer, Donna Clemens (Wyoming County) president; Jean Ruhf, visitors bureau executive director; Jacqueline Battin (Sullivan County), vice president.

The New Milford Area Rotary Club hosted a dinner for graduates and sponsors of RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, a week-long student leadership program held at Keystone College.

Pictured (l-r) are: front row- exchange student Ben Galvin from Mountain View, RYLA graduates Karris Fazzi (Blue Ridge), Bethany Maby (Susquehanna), and Chloe Tinklepaugh (Susquehanna); back row-Melody Haley, New Milford Area Rotary, Aubrey Elbrecht, Musa-Stiles VFW Great Bend, Bill and Judy Harmer, Elk Mountain VFW Kingsley. RYLA graduates not present were Matthew Gerrity, Faith Mountain; Dakota Stoddard, Faith Mountain; Cameron DeManicor, Mountain View; Patricia Ayers, Mountain View; Mike Braun, Susquehanna.

The RYLA students are jointly sponsored by New Milford Rotary and two local VFW posts. Also honored was Ben Galvin, an exchange student recently returned from a year in Thailand.

Pictured (l-r) are the newly elected officers for the NJD BPW: Darlene Slocum-Treasurer, Linda Bedford-Parliamentarian, Jennifer Bixby-President, Lori Hubal-Co-Vice President. Absent from photo were Mary Mushala-Co-Vice President, Gay Keys-Secretary.

On September 28, 2017 the Nellie Jane DeWitt BPW began a new year. With each new year we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who might like to take a look at our club and join.

Anyone interested can check us out on facebook, or contact Linda Bedford at 570-853-3584.

Representatives from The American Society of Safety Engineers, The Society for Human Resource Management, Lackawanna College, the Wilkes-Barre regional OSHA office, PA OSHA Onsite Consultation Program as well as local safety professionals associated with business, industry and education have formed the Northeastern Pennsylvania Safety Alliance (NEPSA). The mission of NEPSA is to create a resource forum and network for safety, health and the environment information available to all businesses and interested organizations throughout NEPA. The key focus of NEPSA is to provide useful information on ways to improve safety in the workplace, discuss and devise methods to integrate safety into the business, and share best practices to enable better, more sustainable, and profitable workplaces for all participants, large or small. NEPSA is currently accepting no-obligation memberships from all interested parties including students, professional organizations, labor unions, and individuals. There is no fee for membership in NEPSA, nor are there any requirements for meeting attendance.

NEPSA is modeled after similar Safety Alliances throughout the country and plans to meet on a monthly or bi-monthly basis at host locations throughout NEPA. Offerings will be timely and seasonal topics  on key issues, trends and emerging trends in occupational health and safety, industrial hygiene and environmental quality will be presented. These meetings are intended to be gateways by which organizations and individuals can learn best practices and share successes and challenges in an open forum, all with the goal of enhancing workplace safety and environmental quality.

The inaugural meeting of the NEPSA is tentatively scheduled for late October/early November 2017 at Lackawanna College in Scranton and will feature a discussion on the current status of workplace drug policies and challenges, presented by Susquehanna County District Attorney Robert Klein. This meeting will also allow participants to learn the current status of the Opioid Epidemic, its potential for impact in the workplace and steps employers may take to minimize their risks and liabilities from Opioid use. Additional information on the event will be released in the near future.

Starting Tuesday, September 26th, 2017, women throughout Wayne County and the Greater Carbondale Region will have increased access to life-saving breast cancer screenings, thanks to a “big pink van” housing a digital mammography system. The mobile mammography program will be available at Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers’ family health centers in Hamlin, Lake Como, Vandling and Carbondale. Wayne Memorial officials say the program was initiated to address a community need.

Wayne Memorial Hospital’s mobile mammography van.

“Wayne Memorial offers digital mammography at the hospital in Honesdale and at our Lords Valley office in Pike County, but many women in other parts of our service area such as northern Wayne are not always able to get to those facilities,” said Wayne Memorial CEO David Hoff.  “Higher rates of breast cancer are often seen in areas where screenings are not easily accessible. Early detection saves lives.”

The mobile mammography program received funding from the Wayne Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, the AllOne Foundation and the USDA’s Distance Learning & Telemedicine program. “This project would not have happened without them,” said Mr. Hoff.

The van will be staffed by mammography technologists from Wayne Memorial, whose mammography program is certified by the American College of Radiology. Wayne Memorial performs close to 5,000 mammograms each year.

To make an appointment for a screening in the mobile unit, patients with a prescription from their provider may call Wayne Memorial’s Central Scheduling Department at (570) 251-6689.

Senator Lisa Baker, R-20th, announced that Field Representative, Tom Yoniski will be available for consultation from 10AM to 12PM on Tuesday, October 3 at the Susquehanna Depot Borough Building, 83 Erie Boulevard, Suite A, Susquehanna Depot.

He will also be available from 10AM-12PM, on Tuesday, October 17 at the Forest City Borough Building, 535 Main St., Forest City and from 1PM to 3PM that same day at the Lenox Township Municipal Building, 2811 State Route 92, Kingsley.

While appointments are recommended, walk-ins are welcome.

Constituents are encouraged to visit with any questions or problems relating to state matters and no appointment is necessary though they can scheduled. Concerns may also be addressed by visiting Senator Baker's district office at 22 Dallas Shopping Center, Dallas, by visiting her website at www.senatorbaker.com or by calling 570-675-3931.

Lucy & Sasha

They say that love has no boundaries and for animal advocate, Sasha Kheyfrets and a beautiful dog named Lucy, that certainly rings true. You see, Lucy was slated to be euthanized at a very high kill shelter in Brooklyn ,NY. Sasha however wasn't going to let that happen, no matter what it took or how far she had to travel to get this lovely canine to safety. Unable to keep Lucy herself, but determined to place her, Sasha contacted over 60 no kill shelters and rescues who all said “ NO". Then she finally found her miracle and True Friends said “ YES". So now Lucy, a sophisticated city gal, has turned into a country loving lady and is looking for a permanent home while she resides at True Friends. We commend Sasha for never giving up on this special dog and going above and beyond to rescue her. We are hoping this absolutely adorable, friendly, spayed, 5 year old who loves to cuddle, and give kisses, finds her happily ever after and that Sasha can fill her heart with the joy of knowing how her determination and kind act of love was well worth it. If you are interested in Lucy, please stop by and meet her at True Friends!

The past year True Friends has saved 131 dogs from being euthanized at other shelters simply due to the lack of room. Our goal is to help many more, but we need your help. Our back building kennels are rapidly becoming too hazardous to utilize. It is also a great challenge to focus on raising the funds for new kennels when when we are constantly fundraising just to keep our doors open. Your contribution to the new kennels would be greatly appreciate and make a difference in helping us get back on our path of saving hundreds of innocent animals who deserve a save refuge. Donations can mailed to us at 16332 SR 706 Montrose, PA 18801 or easily through paypal on our site, truefirendsawc.com. Please note it is for our New Kennel Fund.  Through your help, we look forward to a brighter future at True Friends.