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It was a bright, sunny day at the Octagon Barn, a nearly 200-year old barn in Dimock repurposed some 2 years ago as a modern “events venue” in Dimock, a perfect setting to celebrate the 2026 Susquehanna County Distinguished Citizen awards, this year given to Tom Follert and Tammy Bonnice on April 18th. The awards are given by the Delahanna District of the Baden-Powell Council of Scouting America (the Boy Scouts). These were the 37th awards, a tradition going back to 1988.

The room was full of donors and notables from around the county, including many past recipients of the award, not to mention a gathering of Scouts from Troops 154 and 92 who presented the colors, led the Pledge of Allegiance and recited the Scout Oath and the Scout Law.

Long-time boosters of everything Susquehanna County and Montrose, June and Earle Wootton acted as Masters of Ceremonies at the event. Mr. Wootton was a publisher before he helped establish the Susquehanna County United Way. Ms. Wootton presented the award to Mr. Follert; Mr. Wootton presented the award to Ms. Bonnice.

Ms. Bonnice and Mr. Follert also received certificates from Lisa Baker, representing Susquehanna County in the Pennsylvania State Senate; from Alexandra Allen, representing State Representative Jonathan Fritz; and from two of the three county Commissioners, Bob McNamara and Dave Darrow. Presbyterian Pastor Rick Schmieg gave the invocation and benediction.

Remarks were given by Matthew Bull, Scout Executive of the Baden-Powell Council of Scouting America; Scout Speaker Cherl Myers; Gina Suydam of Williams Oil and a close friend of Ms. Bonnice; Mr. Follert’s children, Ben, Penelope and Vincent; Ms. Bonnice’s companion, Ben Hawley; and Larry Souder, President of Montrose Broadcasting (WPEL) who claims he has known Mr. Follert since he was about 9 years old.

Mr. Follert, a graduate of Susquehanna University, created and ran the Chocolate and Wine Festival in Montrose from his position with Chocolates by Leopold. He ran the popular but difficult Festival of Lights and Tall Pines Players Club. He now occupies the position of Regional Manager at the United Way of Susquehanna County; from that chair he organized the recently completed first annual county spelling bee for 4th and 5th grade students across the county, which raised more than $10,000 for the United Way through its sponsorships.

Ms. Bonnice, formerly employed in Mr. Wootton’s publishing enterprises, is now a senior field office administrator for Williams Oil. She has been on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Susquehanna County for 18 years, and has been active in many community-focused organizations throughout the county.

The Octagon Barn and adjacent property is owned and operated as an event space by Dr. Alice Davis, recently retired Executive Director of the Susquehanna County Career & Technology Center (SCCTC) at Elk Lake after 45 years. She also owns and operates the Gracious Living nursing center in Montrose, and, like many others at this event, gives generously of her time and resources to the community. Dr. Davis received the Distinguished Citizen Award in 2011.

Once the postponed monthly meeting was opened on April 15, 2026 Council President Susan Crawford introduced the new Borough Secretary/Treasurer Mel Parraga. She also took a few minutes to recognize previous Secretary/Treasurer Ann Stewart who resigned to fill the Tax Collector position. Keeping tears in check, she thanked Ms. Stewart for her years of service and hoped she knew how grateful she was and how much she is going to miss her. Mayor Dennis Gow Jr. also thanked Ms. Stewart saying she was a great help to him when he started in his position.

Council accepted the resignation of Chief Walter Meany effective March 17, 2026. Mayor Gow stated they have hired a replacement for Chief Meany and the paperwork is almost complete. Jeffrey Burman, a retired state trooper will be replacing Chief Meany. He also stated there were 95 calls answered by Police in one month, which is incredible for a small town.

Council President Crawford asked Dan Vinsko if there was anything new to report on the Emergency Management, which he replied the government is shut down so nothing new to report on. They are just continuing with classes.

Kevin McKee Department of Public Works (DPW) was asked if there was anything additional to report besides what was on his initial report to Council. Council President Crawford said once again it looked like he was very busy. Mr. McKee stated he received a phone call from the Susquehanna County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and there is $23,454 towards paving 5th Street or Center Lane and he recommends Center Lane since it is in worse shape than 5th Street. He asked if the $12,000 was still available from the Borough to add to that amount and it was confirmed still available.

Other work performed throughout the month by DPW includes: ongoing paperwork to Federal Emergency Management Agency for various projects; patching potholes; completed repairs to the fence at Ira Reynolds Park; obtained estimates for various repairs needed; contacted Northeast Signal to repair traffic light on Main Street; received bids for storm drain project; communicated with Coterra Gas Company regarding the boat launch project. In addition to many more small jobs completed during the month.

Council gave permission for Summer Help in the DPW which would be two high school students. Mr. McKee informed Council they were a huge help last year and he looks forward to working with them again. He will be scheduling the street sweeper with J.P. Riley Construction and next week he is planning to remove the heavy stuff from the roads. Mr. McKee will be sending out letters to ask people to park on opposite sides of the road when they are scheduled to sweep.

The next Council meeting will be held on May 13, 2026 at 6:00pm.

At the opening of their April meeting on the 16th, members of the New Milford Borough Council made a place at the table for a new colleague, Aaron Kelsey, seated as a non-voting Junior Member. A junior at Blue Ridge High School, the soft-spoken Mr. Kelsey said that he just wanted to help his town. He would like to go into the plumbing trade after high school.

With little business to conduct, the meeting took barely more than a half hour. Members voted a donation of $250 to the popular and long-running Summer Adventures program based at the Blue Ridge campus. They also voted to spend up to $1,000 for a “performance chip” for the Borough’s new truck that can be used to optimize its performance depending on its use.

And they voted to choose a “more intense” (Donna Cosmello’s phrase) approach to repairing the bridge on Maple Street, meaning more expensive but presumably more long-lasting. The Borough just spent $21,288 with Herbert Excavating to carve a temporary roadway around the construction site.

The Borough is still looking for a pool manager (and lifeguards), now that Karen Gudykunst has gone into retirement. Council is also hoping that Great Bend can find another police officer to augment the one-man force that provides some coverage in New Milford.

Council noted that construction on the new 4-unit apartment building to be erected by the county Housing and Redevelopment Authority on Main Street is getting underway. And most of the final touches at the playground in Mid-Town Park are nearing completion.

The annual Mid-Town Festival, slated for Saturday, June 6, has already attracted more than 30 vendors.  Now, if it could attract as many volunteers. Call the office if you want to help.

The next meeting of the New Milford Borough Council is scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2026 beginning at 6:30pm at the Borough offices on Main Street.

It’s not at all unusual for a public school district to carry some long-term debt, usually for larger capital projects financed through the public sale of bonds. The Blue Ridge district has been operating without debt for at least 3 years, after it retired all of its remaining bonds, some of them even left over from a major renovation in the 1990’s. Now, to help finance the upgrade of its heating plant, Blue Ridge will be taking on some new debt. That was covered by 3 items among 25 on the School Board’s agenda for April 13th.

But first, the Board took time out to give special recognition to some of the more important members of its community: its students and staff. Most of them didn’t attend to claim their rewards; after all, most young people have better things to do than attend a meeting of adults. Among the chosen:

• Skylar Sinnett and Emily Murillo were singled out by Elementary School Principal Danelle Decker as 5th-grade Students of the Month for March for their “Grit.” Ms. Sinnett is into cheer and basketball, and wants to become a radiologist; Ms. Murillo plays soccer and could become either a teacher or a cop.
  

• Ms. Decker selected Reading Specialist Kathy Roe as Elementary School Staff Member of the Month for March. With 33 years of teaching experience, 25 of them at Blue Ridge, Ms. Roe has been involved in a wide variety of programs, most recently the county-wide spelling bee for whose final competition at Blue Ridge she served as moderator.
  
  
• Through Middle/High School Principal Casey Webster, Assistant Principal Brian Woodruff nominated Jennifer Sumba as 8th-grade Student of the Month for March. Ms. Sumba is (not really) known for her command of 3 languages.
  
  
• Ms. Webster named Gabriella Bierman as 8th-grade Athlete of the Month for March. “Ella” excels at softball.
  
  
• Ms. Webster named Rylee Carrico as 8th-grade Artist of the Month for March. Ms. Carrico says that she is currently specializing in realistic art.
  
  
• For Senior of the Month for March Ms. Webster selected Riley Phillips, Co-President of the Senior Class and Vice President of the National Honor Society, who plays soccer and volleyball, and wants to study kinesiology next year at Penn State.
  
  
• Brendan Marvin was selected as Senior Athlete of the Month of March for his prowess on the baseball field. He hopes to play baseball and study business at Marywood next year.
  
  
• The Middle School/High School Staff Member of the Month of March is para-professional Jason Stec, who, in his spare time, aside from music and family, is a paramedic.
  
  
• Ms. Webster chose Michael Smith for SCCTC Student of the Month for March. At the Susquehanna County Career & Technology Center, Mr. Smith studies building property maintenance. He also plays football, and says it’s most important to “get up in the morning and go to school.” (Lenin Lopez was also named SCCTC Student of the Month for March, but he withdrew from Blue Ridge only days before the meeting.)
  

The Board was also treated to a summary of winter sports, albeit (due to a technical glitch) without the visuals. He singled out head coach Charlie Church and his champion wrestler Brice Woodruff, as well as the outstanding performance of the Blue Ridge Competitive Cheer Team.

As it often does, the Board approved most of the agenda items with a single roll-call vote. In this case, Board Vice President Mindi Carr asked to have one of the items amended. It was one of three related to the boiler plant project, in particular, the one about the contract itself.

The actual agreement was under the state’s Guaranteed Energy Saving Act (GESA) through the district’s Sourcewell membership. Sourcewell is a Minnesota-chartered cooperative that provides a variety of services to governments. In this case, Sourcewell vets companies engaged in the type of work needed; the process allows the school district to avoid a lengthy and complicated bidding process. Through Sourcewell, Blue Ridge chose the McClure Company, a Pennsylvania engineering firm, to upgrade its boiler plant at a cost of $3,080,622. Ms. Carr asked that the motion to approve include the phrase “pending solicitor review.”

The project is supposed to save the district about $400,000 in energy costs over 20 years; the company is supposed to monitor performance, and there is a modest penalty if the promised savings are not achieved. The Board also approved a “contingency” fund of 5% of the project cost (about $154,000), which is not to be used for change orders, but for removal of an oil tank, and sidewalk repairs related to the project. The project will replace the oil-fired boilers with propane, and completely refit the “biomass” boiler (wood chips) used during the coldest months.

The third part of the measure involves financing. While the total amount of debt to be accepted has yet to be determined, the administration will work with Raymond James as Placement Agent, Stevens & Lee as Bond Counsel, and the Board’s own solicitors, to arrange the bond issue.

The Board approved an updated calendar for the school year to come. Classes are to begin on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Michelle Montague, representing the teachers’ union, the Blue Ridge Education Association, asked that the Board consider amending the calendar to provide another day for teachers (and nurses) to prepare. The calendar as adopted provides 3 “in-service” days before students arrive, including the Monday before. Ms. Montague said that wasn’t really enough time, even with the two in-service days the week before. The Board did not seem inclined to make any further changes.

The calendar always includes some days to account for weather events. The Board approved the latest 3-year application for a “Flexible Instructional Day Program” that would allow the schools to use hybrid or fully remote instruction to substitute for extra days in the schedule.

And the Board approved an addendum to the district’s 2026-2027 curriculum and course offerings to include more agricultural classes, and news and media literacy courses.

The Board approved the annual request from CAFÉ (Creative Adventures For Education) for the sixth-grade trip to Washington, DC in April of 2027.

Mr. Gumaer discussed with the Board a possible dedication of the spiffy new softball field on Old Route 11 at the East end of School Road. It would probably take place on May 9, and, among other things, would commemorate the district’s only 2 state championships, in 2004 and 2006.

Business Manager Brian Dolan nominated one of his own for special recognition. He told the Board that an administrative assistant in the Maintenance Department, Jessica Graves, would receive a RISE award for exceptional dedication. Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) is a federal program “honoring classified school employees (paraprofessionals, transportation, custodial, etc.) who provide exemplary service to PreK-12 students. Nominations are made annually by governors.”

Soup historically doesn’t continue into the warmer months. You may have another chance at the next budget meeting on Monday, April 27, or the next regular session on May 4, 2026. Budget meetings begin at 6:00pm; regular meetings start at 7:00pm. All of them are held in the cafeteria in the Elementary School.

Forest City Regional School Board (FCRSB) accepted the resignation of Superintendent Doctor Daniel L. Gilroy at the regularly scheduled school board meeting held on April 13, 2026. Dr. Gilroy has served as Superintendent over the past three years. He stated: “I would like to thank the school board, also the staff, students, families and the broader community for allowing me to be part of this district. It has been a privilege walking alongside many dedicated people who care deeply about the school and community. I’m proud of the work we’ve done together and grateful for the relationships and experience I take with me. Forest City Regional is a special place and I sincerely wish the district, students and staff nothing but continued success and thank you for allowing me to serve as your superintendent.” His last day will be June 30, 2026. President Director Marissa McAndrew extended her heartfelt thanks along with several other board members.

Elementary School Principal Michael Zack and High School Principal Cynthia Weiss presented to the School Board Directors the 2024-2025 State Assessment Report. The students in many categories did not meet the standard demonstrating growth, and science was not recorded, however they are in line or above with neighboring school districts. They explained how the data was collected and their plan to help the students use the online testing program which they feel was a detriment to the scores since it was the first time using the program. Chronic absentees have been a major theme in the low scores since children need to be in school in order to learn. Several action steps were shared to increase the student’s performance for the next test.

Mighty Foresters for March 2026 were recognized, here are the results: Pre-K - Bea Kravits; Kindergarten - Makenzie Heuskin; Grade 1 - Sophia Heuskin; Grade 2 - Landyn Bodtman; Grade 3 - Adrian Knight; Grade 4 - Payton Zantowsky; Grade 5 - Mia Coleman; Grade 6 - Reed Lesjack; Grade 6 - Truett Lanier; Super Sixth Grader - Peyton Erdmann; Outstanding Senior - Ethan Silfee.

During the approving of the Treasurer’s Report, it was noted an extra healthcare payment of $157,756 was paid to the Northeast Public Schools for the healthcare system provided by the consortium. The trustees agreed to make an extra payment towards a high payment health claim. Directors discussed the healthcare system provided and noted if they did not belong to the consortium, it would have been ten times this amount, they would have to pay on their own. They also received a 23% increase in healthcare cost.

Friendship House agreements were tabled again. School Board Directors reviewed the Social Worker Agreement presented by Friendship House at a cost of $96,515 and the agreement for Outpatient Program with an hourly rate of $55.56 per hour not exceeding $40,000 for the year. Board President McAndrew questioned why the Outpatient Program was not included in the price of the Social Worker Agreement. Elementary School Principal Mr. Zack explained to the board the difference between what the Social Worker does and what the Counciler for the Outpatient program does. He feels its instrumental to the students to have this Counciler in addition to the Social Worker. They will contact Friendship House to see if there is any negotiation they can do to lower the cost of these services and review the results at the next business meeting.

It was approved to declare the 2026-2027 school year fall and winter extracurricular positions open. These positions will be advertised in the local paper and on the Forest City Regional School District website.

Accepted was the resignation of High School Teacher Terri Erdmann after 37 years of service to the school. President McAndrew stated Ms. Erdmann has provided a lifelong commitment to this school and we have great appreciation for her service. Entire board relayed their great appreciation to Ms. Erdmann and said Good Luck in her retirement.

The resignation of Paraprofessional Denise Kowalick was accepted. Sentiments of appreciation were relayed from the School Board Directors stating she made a lot of difference to many children and she is a lovely person.

Resignation of Renee Vigil, High School teacher after five years of service was accepted by the School Board Directors.

Superintendent Dr. Gilroy reported a $500 donation was received from Diane Sysko, Treasurer from Friends of the Community and Veterans to clear student debt in the cafeteria. Pleasant Mount Welding Inc. generously donated $30k and received a heartfelt thank you.

More information provided by Superintendent Dr. Gilroy includes the following: Drama Club presents You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown the weekend of April 24th for 3 performances; Friday, May 8th will be a 12:15 dismissal for Prom at Montdale Country Club; Class Night is Wednesday, June 3rd in the auditorium and Graduation is Friday, June 5th with the last day of school for the rest of the students June 8th.

Work session/budget committee meeting will be held Thursday, April 23rd at 5:00pm followed by a Board Executive Session.

Next Regular Business Meeting will be held on Monday, May 11, 2026 at 7:30pm.

Resolution 202601 Fee Schedule for Northeast Inspection Consultants (NEIC) who provide plan review and inspection services for residential and commercial project across Pennsylvania was adopted at the regular Council meeting held on April 14, 2026. NEIC provides these services to Lanesboro residents for building, electrical, plumbing and fire protection. Residents who are building or remodeling require a permit from the Borough.

Council members questioned reports from Tri-Boro for February and March since March fees were double. Council and Mayor spoke about what could have caused the large spike around the 17th of March. They tossed around different options of where the additional water could have come from and will look to see if they can identify the cause.

The spreader and plow have been repaired by Lowes Sale & Service. Extensive work was done on the spreader with a cost of $1,236.15 and the repair of the plow was $700.

Police Report for Lanesboro was provided by Chief Jim Smith with the following included in the report: two people were charged having a Vape in school; 16 Incidents (other than routine traffic); 6 Traffic Citations; and 7 Traffic Warnings. Medical calls, Sewer notices served, family civil issues, tree blocking roadway, faulty furnace call, and crash notification on 171 South. Chief Smith reported there were 6 Traffic Arrests; 5 Traffic Warnings; 1 motor vehicle accident and 1 neighbor dispute in the Borough of Thompson.

Borough resident Gary Wren would like to build a garage and Mayor Chris Maby phoned Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). The property is in a flood plan zone and Mr. Wren cannot build a garage in that zone.

Mayor Maby informed Council even though they have the funds to add heating, air conditioning and a bathroom in the Gym no local business wants to put up the bonds required when using federal funds for small jobs. He contacted Bobbi Jo Turner in the Redevelopment Authority and she is working on it.

A resident did ask a question on whether or not there were plans for a Data Center in the borough in which Mayor Maby stated there is not.

The next Council meeting will be May 12, 2026 at 7:00pm.