- The Forest City News

PAGE 4 - THE FOREST CITY NEWS, FOREST CITY, PA 18421 * WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 * PHONE 570-785-3800 * email fcnews@nep.net
Foster’s snag Sailfish in Mexico
Forest City
Basketball Report
Lady Foresters
Moving on to
Championship
Michelle Jaconia McLain completed this beautiful mural panels on display at Fern Hall Inn
Local artists talent
on display at Fern Hall
By Art McLain
Chances are you’ve seen her
work around the community. If
you’ve been to the YMCA pool
in Carbondale, Frank’s Place Restaurant in Simpson, Colarusso’s
in Peckville, JW’s Restaurant at
Heart Lake and perhaps most
notably at the Clifford Historical
Society in Clifford where her mural of the story of the native Indians and their canoe is located,
you’ve seen her work. Almost every community has been graced
with her work: from a mailbox in
Forest City to a flourescent mural
of Alice in Wonderland at Tink’s
in Scranton.
Michelle Jaconia McLain is
originally from New Jersey and
now lives in Greenfield Township. She has been painting since
a young age when she painted
her bedroom without getting
permission first. Fearing she
would be punished for painting
on her walls it was good enough
quality to stay and she was excused. While other classmates
in kindergarten were drawing
pictures with white separation
between earth and sky Michelle
was ridiculed by her classmates
for being different with her colors
and ideas of completeness and
accuracy of content. Her difference of perception was soon noticed and sought after.
Marriage to Tom Jaconia
brought her to Pennsylvania and
eventually to the Finch Hill area.
While raising her family she also
created a business, Craftmaker’s
Two. Her craft shop featured up
to 40 crafters at one point and
helped provide needed income
to the crafters while featuring
an array of interesting items for
her customers to purchase. As
money was often scarce Michelle
earned money to start her business by mucking out horse stalls
at what is now Painted Acres. Michelle walked the approximate
2 miles to and back and eventually built up her business with the
money she earned while working
at the stable.
Craftmaker’s Two eventually closed but Michelle’s artwork continued until her husband become ill and eventually
lost his battle to cancer. Without
the benefit of any insurance Michelle and her family now faced
the prospect of losing everything
in addition to her husband. For
many years Michelle had worked
at Ron Walczak’s Christmas Tree
Farm and had occasion to meet
John Downer soon after her husband became ill. John was the superintendent at Elkview Country
Club at the time and offered Michelle a job on the grounds crew.
Mowing the fairways soon became a welcome respite from the
tragic events and she proved her
expertise on a mowing machine
as well as with a paint brush.
While at Elkview Country
Club Michelle met Art McLain
and they made a new life together. Michelle’s son, TJ, and
daughter, Tina were now adults
and when a new daughter, Sarah,
came along it created a new family and new path through life.
Many of the members of Elkview
became friends and customers of
her artwork. Landscapes and pet
portraits were some examples of
her work. Bedroom scenes for
youngsters were a popular project and subjects from diggers (excavation equipment) to wolves
to serene backyard scenes were
some of the projects she’s created.
Most recently Michelle has
painted murals on panels which
are then fastened to an existing
surface. At Fern Hall Inn, Sam
Kamenitzer, an owner at the time,
had sought an idea to preserve
the nearly 100 year old wallpaper which was starting to show
it’s age. Michelle had the idea to
recreate the pictures of the wallpaper, The Hudson River Valley,
on the panels. The benefit of the
panels was that it preserved the
antique wallpaper while freshening up the look of the lobby. Also,
instead of having to inconvenience guests and staff by painting at the location the work was
completed in her shop and then
was simply mounted and framed
as a finished product. If necessary
the panels could be removed and
the existing surface visible again
or a change of panels and subject
could be created also.
Michelle’s other passion is photography. Through her Facebook
pages she is able to exhibit many
of her projects, both artwork and
photographs. She is always ready
for the next project not knowing
whether it will be touching up an
existing sign or lawn ornament
or a mural project for a home or
business. More of Michelle’s portfolio can be seen on her Facebook
page at M. Jaconia McLain Artistry. See her ad on page 10 for more
information.
GIRLS
FC 62, Old Forge 52
Fri., Feb. 19
The Lady Foresters 62-52 win
over Class A arch rival Old Forge
in the District 2 semi-finals at Valley View High School, was a tale
of several games, with action both
on and off the court. The win puts
Forest City into the championship
game at Mohegan Sun Arena on
Saturday against Lackawanna
Trail at noon.
The Lady Foresters under
While fishing with captain Jorge De La O out of Isla Muhead coach John Duffy, hit the
jeres, it took Diane and Tom Foster sharing the rod to land court ready to play against an Old
this 70 pound Sailfish after a 40 minute battle. It is the biggest Forge team which is the defendSailfish either has caught and released so far.
ing District champions. The local
girls played well until near the
end of the first half but went into
the locker room with a 31-23 lead.
It was a different Forest City
team which came onto the floor
after half time and they were outhustled and outscored in the 3rd
period 16-9 and held only a 43-40
lead at the end of the quarter.
Things changed dramatically
when a referee decided to eject the
Forest City student body rooting
section, famously known as “The
Pit”, for what he termed excessive
booing of an official call. Their removal turned on a switch for the
Lady Foresters and they swept
the floor in the final stanza with
a 22-9 run for the impressive win.
Those at the game felt the ruling
On Diane Foster’s second trip of the season, she landed
was unjustified and after school
this 50 inch wahoo fishing with Captain Jorge De La O out
officials talked to the students,
of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
they were allowed to return to
standing room in the foyer.
Four Lady Foresters hit double
figures led by sophomore forward Skylar Fortuner’s 19 point
effort. Junior Kendra Bendyk hit
for 16 points in the winning effort.
MacKenzie Hartman’s 12 points,
along with her aggressive 4th
quarter play, added to her 6 for 7
from the charity stripe, helped to
ignite the final quarter run. Anna
Congdon also added 12 points including two 3-pointers.
Hunter Wallis wins 6th
Grand National Title
Old Forge (3-21) — G. Verespey
10 4-5 28, K. Breig 4 1-2 9, K. VanFleet 2 4-7 8, T. Hoover 2 0-0 4, A.
DeSando 10-0 2, M. Florovito 0 1-2
1, J. Regan 0 0-0 0, Totals: 19 10-16
52.
Forest City (15-10) — S. Fortuner
9 1-3 19, K. Bendyk 6 3-4 16, A. Congdon 4 2-2 12, M. Hartman 3 6-7 12,
M. Kowalewski 1 0-0 2, C. Bonham
0 1-4 1, E. Urban 0 0-0 0, Totals: 23
13-20 62.
Old Forge 14 13 16 9-52
Forest City 19 12 9 22-62
3-point goals G. Verespey (OF) 4,
A. Congdon (FC) 2, K. Bendyk(FC).
Foresters to
Play for
Championship
BOYS
FC 42, MMI Prep 25
Thurs., Feb. 18
It was on to the championship game of District 2 Class
A as the Foresters made short
work of MMI Prep 42-25 at
Valley View High School.
Top seeded Forest City led
throughout behind a 16 point
effort by Jared Paulin, who
had a perfect 6 for 6 from the
foul line. Noah Yates added
nine points.
The Foresters (8-15) will face
the second-seed Old Forge
Blue Devils (13-9) who defeated Lackawanna Trail 74-44 on
Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mohegan
Sun Arena.
MMI Prep (6-18)—J. Stish 3 3-6 10,
K. Williams 2 1-2 7, E. Herbener 1 1-2
4, L. Smith 1 0-0 2, B. Drusda 1 0-1
2, M. Badamo 0 0-0 0, D. Caldwell
0 0-0 0, K. Patel 0 0-0 0, A. Alday 0
0-0 0, J. Sol-game 0 0-0 0, N. Young 0
0-0 0. Totals: 8 5-1125. Forest City (815)—J. Paulin 5 6-6 16, N. Yates 4 1-3
9, D. O’Dell 12-2 5, A. Kowalewski 2
0-0 4, D. Knehr-Cook 2 0-0 4, K. Rotella 2 0-0 4, J. Non 0 0-0 0, J. Non 0
0-0 0, J. Smith 0 0-0 0, M. Giles 0 0-0
0, K. Shame 0 0-0 0, M. Taylor 0 0-0
0. Totals: 16 9-1142,
MMI Prep 3 7 9 6 - 25
Forest City 8 13 9 12 - 42
3-point goals: K Williams (MMI)
2, E. Herbener (MMI), J. Stish (MMI),
D. O’Dell (FC).
by Art McLain
PA bear kill
3rd highest
PA Game Commission reports that the 2015 bear harvest is the 3rd highest in history with a recorded kill of 3,748.
The 2014 statewide harvest
was 3,371.
In WMU 3C, covering counties of Susquehanna, Wayne
and Lackawanna, the total kill
was 207 which is just slightly
lower than the 2014 kill of 212.
Wayne County was the only
WMU 3C county with a much
higher kill in 2015.
Their
bear Wayne bear kill was 107
in 2015, up from 87 in 2014.
Susq. County had 59 bears harvested in 2015 as opposed to 74
in the previous year. Lackawanna harvest was 41, which was
down from 51 in 2014.
Two bears were tied for
heaviest weights in the state,
both tipping the scales at 713
pounds. One was from Blair
County, the other from Mifflin
County.
The largest bear in the
Northeast was a 629 pound
bruin from Pike County.
Hunter Wallis recently defended his Grand National Turkey
Calling title by wining the Intermediate division in Nashville
Tenn. Hunter is a Sr. At FCRS and will be attending Lackawanna college next fall. His future plans are to study communication and marketing to further prepare him for his career in the hunting industry. This spring he’ll be traveling to
several states turkey hunting for Avian X TV and promoting
Zink Calls.
Coyote kill
Pet of the Week Down 44%
From 2015
Odyssey Travel
British Landscapes
England, Scotland, Wales
May 5 to 14, 2016!
Final Payment due
February 28, 2016
Cost of trip: $4,029 Air and Land, per person,
double occupancy;
DEADLINE FOR
SUBMITTING ARTICLES
AND ADVERTISING NO
LATER THAN 10 A.M. OF
THE MONDAY BEFORE
PUBLICATION.
There were plenty of hunters
but many fewer coyotes bagged
as in past years at the 17th annual
District 9 Northeast Pennsylvania
Trappers Association Coyote Hunt
held at Tunkhannock Jan. 29-30-31.
A total of 771 hunters paid their
registration fees yet only 27 coyotes
were brought in during the 3-day
event. Last year’s harvest was 48.
George Krzan, Lackawanna
County got the biggest coyote at
46.6 pounds and won the $2,000 1st
price. He also had the largest coyote on Saturday, at 41.1 pounds and
won an additional $250.
The harvest by county was:
Luzerne seven; Lackawanna, six;
Susquehanna, six; Bradford, four;
Wyoming, two; Pike, one; and
Wayne, one.
The following Susquehanna
hunters were successful:
Jim
Yachymiak, 28.5 lbs.; Wyatt
Yachymiak, 37.05 lbs.; Corey Luther, 34.7 lbs.; Patrick Cramer, 36.35
lbs.; Phil Marsh, 33.7 lbs.; and Eric
Cornelius, 39.9 lbs.
Officials indicated that the warm
temperatures made the harvest a
little more challenging.
Trip Includes:
Round trip bus pick-up in Forest City to Newark Airport
Round trip air from Newark to London
*All transfers *Deluxe Hotels
*Breakfast Daily *4 dinners
Art McLain Golf Instruction
Call for Details:
Odyssey Travel Agency
Carole Kameen @ 570-960-1086
Email
arthurmclain@yahoo.com or
call 570-280-5135.
FC Librarian Diana Junior
The Forest City librarian has
been working for her library and
community for over 29 years.
Diana Junior and the library has
been changing with the times in
a fast changing world of technology and information. Not just for
books anymore, the library does
have over 13,000 books and over
500 DVDs. Audio books are becoming increasing popular as a
way to learn and be entertained
during the drive to and from in
your vehicle. Six brand new computers are standing by to take
you wherever you’d like to go on
the internet or available as a tool
for any writing and printing you
might need to do.
In this age of digital devices
reading is still critically important
and a gateway to happiness and
success. There are many programs at the Forest City Library
geared especially towards young
people. The summer program at
the library is part of a statewide
program to encourage reading.
On Your Mark, Get Set, Read will
be the theme of this year’s program. Each of the children participating receive a free book and
there are many prizes donated
by the community. Last year approximately 60 children were in
the program.
There are also services directed towards our senior population. Mary McElhinney teaches
a computer class for seniors at
the library. The library works in
concert with the adjoining senior
center with additional programs
also. Seniors can get help with tax
rebates and other services. If the
library doesn’t do it they can direct
you to finding who does whatever you need.
The library can be affected by
budget cuts and was hit pretty
hard by cuts five years ago. Forest City’s library is funded by
Montrose and so far this year they
are weathering the lack of a state
budget. The library has on staff
two part-time employees; Andrea
Demianovich who has served
over 12 years on the staff and Joan
Skarbez who has been at the library for 9 years. Obviously these
folks love what they do and their
experience is invaluable.
Mrs. Junior has lived in Forest
City her entire life and has been
married 54 years to husband,
Andy. They have a son, Glenn,
who many of us know from the
Stone Bridge Restaurant. She has
a sister, Dolores, in nearby Carbondale and nieces also. For hobbies she lists reading and enjoys
going to see a good movie. She
is currently working on required
continuing education to keep her
certification as a Pennsylvania Librarian.
The library gets support from
many organizations and one of
the big ones is the Lions Club who
has done some beautiful remodeling inside the library. The library
is in a relatively small space but
beautifully organized and is a treasure chest of knowledge, entertainment and opportunity. They
have a book club, story hours, and
an ongoing book sale you have to
see to believe. A couple of forms
of identification is all you need
for a library card. Newspapers
and magazines are waiting to be
enjoyed. The children’s area of
the library is colorful and inviting.
The experience of going to the library is one you’ll want to repeat
over and over. Stop in and say
hello. Thank you to everyone that
makes this great library possible.