The Daily Item from Sunbury, Pennsylvania • 23

Inslds today 1 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Five burning questions on Social Security C7 Inside today Employers brace for flu season C2 The Daily Item Sunday, December 19, 2004 PENNSYLVANIA YOUNG PROFESSIONALS ml tone MICHELLE SINGLETARY Tm 'PP'; Tod leaving state Readers split on re-gifting the event. PerinsylVania Young Professionals group hopes to bring together regional young" professionals groups across the Commonwealth, to tackle critical issues concerning its demographic, including brain drain, economic development Please see GROUP, C6 Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. The event was at the Innovation Center in Wilkt's-, Barre. from POWER! and Team PA spoke about the origins of the organization and the goals, of the group, Unger said. Approximately 50 people Dubbed PaYP.the group's focus is uniting young professionals throughout the state.

"The event was energizing and fulfilling," said Unger, manager of community development and marketing at the 1 i i TROXELVILLE 4 i it Mil Edmiston Cabinetmakers in If fc vf Young Professionals. Among the local participants were Owen Heller, Justin Dunkleberger, Jonathan Ada ms, Emily Kissinger, Kurt Kissinger, Ryan Unger and Rich Hudic. Josh Edmiston, owner of J.D. pre-17(X)'s Windsor chair selling for $30.1100. "To go out and buy antiques, you don't want to.

sit op Edmiston 'said. "That's why a lot of people prefer reproductions." Machine tools are scarce in Edmiston's garage workshop. Instead, the walls are lined with saws of varying sizes and patterns lor chair seats. All that is needed to make the wooden chair seats are draw knives and spoke shaves to Pieasesee FURNITURE, C6 'I 1 I) Troxelville, works on one of his SHAMOKIN DAM Local chamber of commerce officials and young professionals joined officials from the across the state in Wilkes-Barre last week to mark the beginning of Pennsylvania Shop specializes in reproduction furniture By Melissa Brown The Daily hem TROXELVILLE The sky is gray outside and the air is bitter as Josh Edmiston carves the pine seat of a Windsor chair in his warm, kerosene-heated garage. Thin curls of wood fall to the floor as Edmiston uses a spoke shave, a tool that looks like a large screwdriver; to round the sides of the seat.

"A lot of it is labor inten sive because you can't do if with machine tools. You have to use hand tools." Edmiston said. Edmiston. 23, who has been making furniture for more" than seven years, recently opened I). Edmiston Cabinetmakers.

In the l.MK) square-foot garage near his Troxelville home, Edmiston makes reproduction furniture by hand. Windsor chairs and "just about anything the customer wants." Eor an antique lover like Edmiston. browsing antique shows and shops gives him plenty of ideas for reproduction furniture. While many antique furniture pieces go for, thousands of dollars on Internet auction sites and at other sates, the reproduction furniture market is growing, Edmiston said. He recenllv heard of a ELYSBURG I One of the most frequently asked holiday etiquette questions involves the practice of re-gifting.

So I asked my readers recently if they thought that taking a gift they had received and passing it on to someone else was prudent or just plain rude. I'm in the prudent camp. Despite what some might think, re-gifting isn't (or shouldn't be) miserly. We all get gifts that aren't suited to our taste, but are still perfectly nice items for somebody else. Re-gifting allows you to give those presents to people who might enjoy them.

Of course, not everyone agrees with me. Here are some comments from readers who think re-gifting is unacceptable: "I would never re-gift because I believe in karma and it's not good practice. Because someone gave you a gift you did not want, that is no excuse to pass it on to someone else." "Gifts should make someone feel special. It is tasteless to risk doing otherwise." it's the thought that, counts, the re-gifting thought is i can't be bothered to consider your tastes, and I'm giving you something that doesn't even suit my tastes, but I don't care what you think of me; so I guess that tells you what I think of you." Nice message." Here's what proponents of re-gifting had to say. "I have absolutely no qualms about doing this; it saves us all from perpetually contributing to the destructive grind of consumerism." "I don't feel that re-gifting is rude so long as the gift is unused, unopened, and not expired.

Sometimes when 1 receive a gift, it's not always the case that I don't like it. I usually end up realizing I have an abundance of the item or I end up not having a use for it." "I am a strong advocate of re-gifting. It's like the old adage one man's trash is another man's treasure." I'm certainly not going to settle this debate. But for those of you who plan on re- gifting this holiday season or for another occasion, you can learn a lot from re-gifting gone bad. There are as many awful re-gifting stories as there are soap gift baskets that get.

well, re-gifted. Here's just a sample of some I received: "My husband's friend gave us a wedding gift with a card at the bottom of the box a card she had overlooked that made it obvious that it was a re-gift The lesson here: Be sure to remove all evidence of a previous giver "I received a recycled gift from a close friend. I was a little taken aback. My friend's birthday is coming up soon, and my gut feeling is not to make an effort to hunt for a meaningful gift for her like I would normally do." The lesson: there is even a slight chance the person being re-gifted might be offended, don't do it. "A cood friend was once sent a birthday re-gift from Please see SINGLETARY.

C6 CD Will if If A' f. Photos by Jacob KeplerThe Daily Item chairs at his shop. Josh Edmiston uses few mechanical tools to make reproduction furniture. The high cost of buying genuine antique furniture precludes many people from actually using it, so many prefer reproductions, Edmiston said. upside down.

I he Whirlwind has served us well lor over ten years, but it's time to move on to new thrills and ride experiences," said Knoebels president Dick Knocbei. A crew from Costa Rica, arrived at Knoebels over the weekend of Dec. II and has begun the process of dismantling and packing the ride for shipment. Knoebels has purchased two new rides for 2005. A giant pendulum ride, with outward facing seats on a circular rotating platform, a Knoebels sells Whirlwind to Gosta Rican park Two new rides purchased to replace roller coaster for 2005 ELYSBURCi The Whirlwind roller coaster, which arrived at Knoebels in 1W.

has (ound a new home. The ride has been sold to Parque Dc Diversionev an amusement paik operated for the K-nefit of the Costa Rica Children's National Hospital. The Costa Rican park the first of its kind in the country. It employ 350 people, and all of its net proceeds go directly to the hospital. The Whirlwind was purchased Knoebels trom Rye Hay land Rve.

and moved to Knoebels in W.t as a replacement for the Jet Star Roller Coaster. While at Rve. the ride had Ken featured in the movie "Big KniK'KIs selected the Whirlwind because park visitors had expressed interest in a ride that turned them II lias ei ui ie ii.iiiieu. A second ride called Flving Tigers ill prov ide high flying family tun as riders pilot colorful, miniature replicas of-the famous flying tiger airplanes. Knocbei said.

The Whirlwind rotler coaster at Knoebels Amusement Park in Etysburg, will take about 1 2 days to be dismantled. It has been sold to an amusement park in Costa Rica..