PAGE 4 - THE FOREST CITY NEWS, FOREST CITY, PA 18421 * WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 * PHONE 570-785-3800 * email fcnews@nep.net

Thinking About GolfBy Art McLain

Coach’s Diaryby Art McLain, FCR Golf Coach

“We Keep the Smile In The Mile”

GENCO DENTAL CARE, PC

DENTAL IMPLANTS

ALL PHASES OF DENTISTRY

570-785-9500518 Main Street, Forest City, PA 18421

Participating withMost Insurances

Forest City’s Black Hawks and Vikings.

Elaine Bandel‛sBeauty Salon

329 Clinton Street, Vandling

785-9860

Wivey’s Memorial Golf League

Art McLain Golf Instruction

Please call Art McLain at570-280-5135 to reserve

your lessons

Junior Golf LessonsAges 4-16 $25 per private lesson (30-45 min.)

Series of 5 lessons for $100Adult Lessons - $35

Package of 5 private lessons for $150

Michelle McLain ArtistryCustom Artwork

Photographs into paintings. Bedrooms and murals. Freshening and touch-ups on signs and ornaments.

Landscapes, portraits, pets, and others. View some of her portfolio at Facebook page M. Jaconia McLain Artistry.

Message or call 570-280-5135.

FCR Golf teamSchedule listed

Art McLain, golf coach at Forest City Regional School, announced that this year’s golf program be-gan on Friday, August 19. The remainder of the season is as follows with all matches starting at 4PM:

Sept. 8, DunmoreSept. 9, West. WayneSept. 12, MontroseSept. 13, Holy CrossSept. 19 Blue RidgeSept. 22, Mid ValleySept. 26, Mt. View

Week 18 brought some changes in Wivey’s League; Brian Urbas and Bill Franceski endured a loss, but still held on to 1st place by 7 points. Nick Jubinski and Joe Machek jumped from 4th to a 2nd place tie with Karl Herrmann-Tip Tolan. Brian Fitzsimmons and Jim Striefsky dropped to 4th. Wivey Sr. and Kevin Smith are now in 5th. Carl Urbas, Matt Urbas and John Banko each had 38’s for low gross. Joe Machek, Karl Herrmann, Brian Fitzsimmons, Gary Krushinski, Luke Pisarcik, Jack Sparks, and Tom Thiede shot 39’s. Kevin Smith shot 31 net. He was followed by Joe Machek and Dave Shollock with 32.

by Trebbe JohnsonIn 1978, when a small group of

local amateur naturalists first con-tacted The Nature Conservancy about a seemingly nondescript wetlands area in northeastern Pennsylvania, regional directors of the international environmental organization were immediately interested. The Nature Conservan-cy purchases valuable wilderness areas in order to protect them, and their decision to acquire the land that was to become the Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve reserve was based on several important factors: the diverse wetlands areas, which contribute to the ecological health of a bioregion; the diversity of plant and animal species; and the presence of a small stand of balsam firs growing wild there. The balsam fir normally thrives in northern woodlands, and it is believed that these trees make up one of the southernmost stands in the U.S.

Besides the rare balsams, the Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve features many species of trees that tell a unique tale about this partic-ular area and its human and natu-ral history. On Sunday, Septem-ber 11, at 2 PM, Hank Hartman a retired forester and longtime member of the preserve steward-ship committee, will lead a walk to identify some of these trees, discuss their special qualities, and describe some of the modern en-vironmental challenges affecting them.

Other indigenous trees at the preserve include maple, ash, a few species of oak, shadbush (named because they flower around the time the shad are running

in the rivers), black cherry, and many others. There is even a rare American elm. Walk participants will notice a line of sugar maples along the main trail, planted for convenient sugar tapping by the farm family who lived on the land almost a hundred years ago. Apple trees and a lilac half hidden in goldenrod and hardhack give further evidence of human habita-tion in what is now a wildlife ref-uge. Dense, dark patches of scotch and Austrian pines are remnants of the pine plantations planted by the Conservation Corps during the Depression more than seventy years ago and never thinned. Mr. Hartman will give tips for iden-tifying trees by their bark, leaves, cones and other characteristics. He will point out damage caused by insect species from remote places and explain why trees—and the humans who are concerned about them—have such difficulty com-batting these pests. The walk will last approximately two hours.

The Florence Shelly Preserve is located one mile north of Thomp-son, PA on Route 171. The walk is free and there is no need to make reservations. The trails are quite flat, but tree roots and rocks have made them very uneven, so wear sturdy shoes and come prepared to walk carefully. Parking is avail-able in the lot just opposite Stack Road. If we’ve had recent rains, you are urged to wear shoes ap-propriate for walking in wetlands.

Nature Walk at Florence Shelly Preserve Sunday, Sept. 11

McAndrew Golf tourney Sept. 17

The McAndrew Memo-rial Golf Tournament will be held at Memorial Links Golf Course on Saturday, Sept. 17. The tournament, established in honor and memory of Drs. Lorain, Pat & Rick, and Ruth McAndrew, provides an op-portunity to give back to the local area volunteer ambu-lance and fire companies who give countless hours and effort to respond in someone’s time of need.

The tournament format will be a 4-6 person captain and crew. The cost will be $50 per person and will include 9 holes, cart, food, beverages, favor and a good time! Regis-tration will begin at noon with tee off at 1 p.m.

To sign up, sponsor a hole and/or donate a prize in mem-ory of a loved one, please call John McAndrew at 570-448-9200 or 570-470-0030. Hole sponsorship can be made by making a check payable to your local ambulance or fire company. Please send checks to John at 106 Memorial Links Road, Waymart, PA 18472. John will acknowledge the do-nation and forward the checks accordingly.

Thank you for your support and hope to see you there!

by Art McLain

Round & Squaredance Sept. 10

A Round and Square dance will be held at St. Peter and Paul R.O. Church, Greek Set-tlement, 2112 Belmont Tpke., Pleasant Mount, on Sat., Sept. 10 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Music by Just Us. Refreshments will be available.

One of the surest ways to throw your golf game off track is to add your score up before your round is finished. We are all guilty of looking too far ahead at one time or another. Project-ing our score if we can make a couple of birdies, pars or bogeys can interfere with our concen-tration in playing one shot at a time. Staying in the moment is a saying that you will hear the successful tournament players talk about.

We do have a certain expecta-tion as to how well we should play. Having an established handicap serves as both a scor-ing average and a barometer of how well we are playing. When we have a good round going it is too easy to think about how well we are playing and figuring out how good our score could be. You will likely find that some of your best scores happen when you don’t know your exact score but know that things are going well and your swing is working.

While playing, thinking about our target, what club gives us the best chance and what the shot might look like, can be good ways to produce a good shot. Try to pick out a large target as it gives the best chance for a good result. Trying to make risky and difficult shots can ruin a round also. For most players hitting smart shots, middle of fairway, on or near green, playing away from hazards is usually a good strategy. Most rounds of golf are filled with a lot of average

quality shots and rather than a good shot making a round it oc-curs more often that a bad shot or shots have more effect on our score than the good shots do.

Keeping our routine the same for each shot helps our chances also. Our lie in the grass or sand, whether there is slope involved, any wind to account for helps us to come to a decision as to which club to use and where to aim to. Our rhythm or tempo in our swing is important. A prac-tice swing can help us get the feel for the shot, especially if it is less than a full swing that we are getting ready to make. Watch-ing the shots of other players can help us get a feel for the effect of wind or the speed of greens. There are always clues to help us play good shots.

Keep trying to get your best grip, aim and balance on each shot. Control of your club is what produces control of your shots. Choosing the club and target that gives the most mar-gin for error is a great idea when possible. Using more loft on longer shots and less loft while chipping are two ways to create more margin for error.

Best wishes for more great golf this season. If you would like help with your golf game or want to start playing please con-tact me at arthurmclain@yahoo.com and find me at the Fern Hall Inn Golf Course and the Lake-land Golf Club in Fleetville.

Our season continued against Scranton Prep on Fri-day at Memorial Links. Once again our team played our 3 players against 6 players from Prep. One of the Prep golf-ers, Collin Ennis, had played for us last year. He played well on a golf course he has played many times. Although our team was defeated we did have some highlights the brightest was when Emily Okon birdied the 8th hole. She made a long uphill putt which fell right into the middle of the hole. Both of the Prep golfers also had short putts for birdie themselves. They both missed and Emily had won a hole against a tough team.

Our next match was against Lakeland at Sleepy Hollow. Lakeland also has a young team and new this year they also have a girls team. In or-der for our team of 3 to win a match we need all 3 golfers to be having a good day. Lucas O’Neill and Emily Okon were off to a good start. Matt Tighe was up against 2 golfers play-ing well and having a tough match. If Matt could turn it around and Lucas and Em-ily kept playing well it would

be a huge upset but anything is possible. As it turned out Matt and Lucas did their best but lost their matches. The highlight would again belong to Emily.

Behind in her better ball match but doing well individ-ually her match went to the last hole. In great shape af-ter two shots, right in front of the green, Emily was looking good. Things do not usually go as easily as we like and af-ter the chip the match was still in doubt. To her credit Emily won her point in her individu-al and prevented a shutout of points to our team.

Wednesday’s match was again a home match and against Riverside. Physically our team was not 100 percent but again to their credit they played as tough as possible. Yet again, the highlight went to Emily who was behind in her match, kept trying and ended up winning her indi-vidual match. Emily contin-ues to lead by example and her competitive spirit should serve as inspiration to our whole team, especially for the younger golfers.

Think about how much our world has changed in the last 100 years. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the Franceski family is still serving the needs of the community for lumber and hardware. Founded by his grandfather, Joe Fran-ceski after 40 years is still serving customers 6 days a week. With his team of 5 employees Franceski Lum-ber Company has a little bit of everything and most of what someone would need to build a house.

Joe’s father worked un-til age 82 and chances are good Joe will continue as long as he can also. His son, Joe also, has the Franceski

Waste & Recycling business and where, once many in the family were involved in the lumber business, it is now mostly Joe and his cousin who serves as the secretary.

During World War 2 the men in the family were drafted and it was the wom-en, Virginia and Marcella, who kept the store going until the men could return. Jim, Dominick and Carl all served in the military forces during World War 2.

Joe has witnessed a lot of changes to the community during the 40 years at the store and even longer hav-ing grown up in the commu-nity. Where once everyone knew everyone, well those days are going. We need the support of the local commu-nity to keep our business go-ing, he said.

Looking around in the store you will find the prices are very competitive. The big box stores may try to beat us on pricing but consumers need to carefully evaluate the product as the cheaper prices may also mean a dif-ferent type of construction (plastic gears as opposed to metal gears which are more expensive but also a stron-ger product).

Consider shopping lo-cally whenever you can. Joe and Franceski Lumber along with the other local businesses will appreciate it and you will help the local economy.

Franceski Lumber Co.

9th annual D&HDistance run/5KSun., Sept. 11th

The 2016 D&H Distance Run/5K will be held on Sunday, September 11 starting in Forest City. The race is Rail-Trail Coun-cil of NEPA’s major fundraiser. Online registration ends Septem-ber 6th but there will be race day registration. A packet pickup is available on Saturday, September 10th at Elegante Restaurant, Main Street Forest City from 4PM-7PM. Participants can also pick up packets, race day.

Runners can fuel up by taking advantage of 15% off the food at Elegante Restaurant on Main Street Saturday and Sunday. Shirley’s Family Restaurant, also on Main Street, is offering 15% off breakfast (all day Sunday!). Cou-pons can be found in race bags.

This year’s Distance Run Raffle includes many valuable prizes. The first prize is a season pass to Elk Mountain Ski Resort valued at $800! Check our website for a full list of prizes. Raffle tickets are $1 and can be purchased at our of-fice or on race day. You can also download tickets from our web-site www.nepa-rail-trails.org

Any questions contact trails@nep.net or 570-679-9300

Forest City Girls VB Kick off the 2016 Fall Season

The Forest City Girls Vol-leyball will kick off their 2016 season with matches right after Labor Day. The first match will be at home on Wednesday 9/7 against the Lady Wildcats of Western Wayne. This will be followed up with an away match at Mountain View on Friday 9/9, and then the Lady Foresters will travel to a Tournament hosted by the Tunkhannock Tigers.

This year will usher in changes to the number of clas-sifications in Volleyball com-petition, as defined by student enrollment, and governed by the Pennsylvania Interscholas-tic Athletic Association (PIAA). Girls’ volleyball competition in the state will now crown four different champions from Class A, through Class AAAA schools, which is an increase from the three (3) champions crowned last year. Forest City will be competing in the AA size of schools. In the Lacka-wanna league (LIAA), where Forest City plays, there are five AA schools; Dunmore, Elk Lake, Forest City, Lackawanna Trail and Montrose. Within District 2, there are five addi-tional teams in that classifica-tion and they play in the Wyo-ming Valley Conference; GAR, Hanover Area, Holy Redeem-er, Lake Lehman, and Myers. Additionally, playing in the LIAA, there are three of the four District 2 Class A schools; Blue Ridge, Mountain View, and Susquehanna, along with two of the eleven Class AAA schools; Abington Heights and Western Wayne.

The Forest City Foresters Varsity and Junior Varsity programs are just starting for this season, there 18 matches to play in the Lackawanna league, so please come out and support the 2016 Forest City Volleyball team.