The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 3

THE SCRANTON TIMES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1982 3 Potential Montage Area Land Developer Reveals Motives By FRANCIS T. OeANDREA The parcel has been ap- "The best Darcel is the land homes and primary home sharing of resort facilities social consciousness and good ago. "Believe me, I'm not usinj Timet Staff Writer praised and a minimum price we'd consider donating to the sites, virtually all of which and professional fund-raising, business posture." he con- "We went to Frank's office the donation of the 60 acres a Thomas Joseph's primary of $500,000 has been set. city because it is relatively will be in Moosic. Joseph said he is consider- eluded "It's a good feeling and looked over a mapxrf the a sweetener in hopes of earn Joseph said he is and looked over a mapoi the "Believe me, I'm not using the donation of the 60 acres as a sweetener in hopes of gain the idea of donating part interest in 1,100 acres of state- flat The land Joseph is consid don't want to kid any 1,100 acres," said Joseph when you can marry the two ing legislative support prior Joseph said his interest in the property does not entirely rely on the Montage development being completed.

"There are a couple of things on the burner," he explained "Without Montage, we feel the land could be used for slow-track development of residential sites. There might even be some light commercial development because the access road runs along part of the property. "If Montage goes through, the road will have good com-merical value. Obviously, it will be heavily traveled Also, the land could be used for development of vacation ering donating to the city is the area originally planned for the civic arena at the Montage complex. While plans for a ski slope development at Montage, originally announced in 1976, are proceeding, the civic arena concept apparently has fallen by the wayside.

One reason why the 1,100 acres has drawn interest for would-be developers including others besides Joseph is that more than a mile of frontage is on the proposed Montage access road, which will lead to the ski slope. "Overall, the terrain is good, not great," said Joseph. one, he added. "With Montage, the project won't be easy. Without Montage, it'll be a tough project.

We're probably talking at least 10 years before full development This plan, by no means, is a cakewalk If someone else develops the land, fine But, right now, I feel we have the expertise to do this project and do it properly." The "expertise" Joseph refers to is his staff at Mark-data A number of his employees have had experience in land development before joining the company, which is engaged in mail marketing programs, time of the valuable property to the city for several reasons "First of all. we made our success here in Northeastern Pennsylvania," he said. "I think it's our social obligation to repay the community for what it has done for us "Secondly, the project would be good for the local economy. "Thirdly, we would benefit indirectly because a stadium in that location would help get some activity started there As a result, I think we'd have an easier time of it when we go to local banks for financing "The plan is a marriage of to the time a bid has to be made," he said "I think we'd have that support anyway because I really feel we have the capability of doing this project the right way. "Anyway you look at this, it's a high-risk venture, but it has my adrenaline up I want to do it for my business and 1 want to do it for my community That my motive Should the stadium actually come to fruition, Bill Giles, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, has indicated his desire to place the Phillies' Tn-ple-A farm club, now located in Portland, Ore in Scranton in 1985.

"We then got in a four-wheel drive vehicle and went up to the property. While some of the terrain is nice, we realized that with the state road coming in a plan for residential development was viable During his talks with Seraf-ini, Joseph said he was introduced to another state representative, Fred Belardi, who asked if he'd be interested in donating 60 acres to the city if Joseph managed to bid successfully on the 1,100 acres. "I told Fred and Frank that I would consider the donation for the reasons I listed Joseph explained concepts in this manner." The state bought the land, virtually all of which is in Moosic, in the early 1970s from private owners for It then announced plans to construct the Northeast Regional Correctional Institution there at a cost of $6 million. But that plan was scrapped due to opposition mounted by Moosic residents. Joseph first was told about the availability of the property by state Rep.

Frank Ser-afini, a long-time friend who had been in the land development business prior to his election to the state House of Representatives four years iff Happened 40 Years Ago Icy Ordeal Recalled By Crash Survivor C-s v. 4 Transport Command, when it crashed in an isolated area near the west coast of Greenland with nine men aboard. Before their ordeal was finished, two of them died and three would-be rescuers also perished While the following details of the crash and the ensuing ordeal were compiled from dispatches printed locally 40 years ago. the words are Bill O'Hara's For the purpose of accu- Some people walk, some people run. Pleasant autumn mornings such as today's often attract both types to the outdoors, as illustrated in this scene at Nay Aug Park, where two persons whose preference is walking, encounter Ray Hayes, who prefers to jog.

(Staff photo by Mullen) owned property near the proposed Montage recreational complex centers on the possibility that it may be developed into a residential community. Joseph is giving thought to the idea of buying the land and donating 60 of its prime acres to Scranton for construction of a minor league baseball stadium. The former West Scranton resident, who has built Pitts-ton-based Markdata Inc. into a multimillion corporation in a few years, said the state General Services Administration is considering taking bids for the land in December. Farrell Gets Help In Probe By WILLIAM J.

MANQ Times Staff Writer Lackawanna County District Attorney Ernest Preate Jr said today that he has assigned Assistant District Attorney Michael Barrasse to help Assistant District Attorney Robert Farrell present evidence to the county's investigative grand jury. Barrasse appeared before the grand jury for the first time Monday and was observed conferring with two city policemen who are known tu bo involved in a probe into prostitution and vice activities in downtown Scranton. Patrolmen Harry Rescigno and Thomas Tell have been working on the investigation with Farrell since last May Neither Barrasse nor Farrell would comment on the reason for the change, citing their secrecy oaths in matters involving the grand jury However. Preate today clarified the issue by saying that Farrell's workload has increased and that he requires assistance in dealing with the grand jury While Farrell today still refused to discuss his role with the grand jury investigation, he said his responsibilities remain unchanged from those that he undertook when he was reappointed last May to his part-time post Besides presenting cases before the grand lury, Farrell also is responsible tor carrying out major investigations and overseeing the approval of search warrants and certain arrest warrants sought by state and local police Preate said Farrell will continue to pursue investigations both within the grand jury and those initiated by the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, in a related matter, Judge James J.

Walsh signed an order Monday afternoon extending the life of the investigative grand jury by an additional six months The 18-month life of the jury was scheduled to expire Nov 25 The jurors voted Monday to lengthen their term of service, which began in May. 1981. The grand jury is expected to meet again Friday. Rails forSteamtown Sought on the trip to Albany were city Councilman Jerry Donahue and Campbell Bryce, a principal in the development firm which is in the process of converting the long-vacant Erie Lackawanna Railway Station into a luxury theme hotel The mayor said he also wants to determine whether the roadbeds on the proposed routes are in good enough condition to handle the coal-burning steam engines Steamtown presently uses on its excursion route near Bellows Falls, Vt By BILL HALPIN Times Staff Writer If the City of Scranton is successful in its efforts to lure Steamtown U.S.A. to Scranton, it must find trackage for the the tourist attraction to run excursions for the many thousands of visitors expected to be attracted to the display With that goal in mind, Mayor James McNulty led a delegation to Albany, NY, today to meet officials of the Delaware Hudson Railway about the possibility of making trackage available to Steamtown, the nation's officials also will be asked for the cost of renting their former freight station in the 600 block of Wyoming Avenue a structure which possibly could be used as the starting point for excursion trains Today's session with the officials was arranged last week by Rep Joseph McDade, according to the mayor.

The citv is attempting to put together a package attractive enough to lure Steamtown away New (Continued on Page 28) largest steam locomotive collection The mayor said he wanted to huddle with president Charles McKenna. and Richard Long, executive vice president of the railroad, to determine what trackage would be available for possible rail fan excursions Specifically, the mayor said, he would discuss the possibility of renting the trackage from Scranton to Carbondale or from Scranton to Binghamton, via the Nicholson Viaduct Accompanying the mayor By FRANCIS T. OeANDREA Times Staff Writer This story has been tucked away in the past. A generation, maybe two generations, of Americans may not have heard of the adventure in which seven members of a B-17 Flying Fortress crew won a bitter, long struggle for life after their plane crashed on a Greenland ice cap on Nov. 9.

1942. But there are others who never will forget the story, including attornev William O'Hara of Scranton, who was aboard the plane which went down 40 years ago today On Monday, he recalled the 88 days he spent on the ice cap His story is of bitter cold, heroism and terrible pain His feet actually fell off during the ordeal By the time he was rescued on Feb 5, 1943, gangrene had developed and surgeons found it necessary to amputate both of his legs below the knees. Although he still keeps an office in the Penn Security Building, the 64 year-old O'Hara, who resides at 1213 Green Ridge officially is retired He said he hasn't dwelled on what happened to him and the others aboard the Flying Fortress He claims his nights are even void of nightmares In light of what happened to him, those claims seem remarkable because four decades ago Bill O'Hara lived a nightmare which lasted 88 days. "All, I have left is the pain and "suffering," O'Hara says "I can recall it being a son-of-a-bitch for 88 days At first, the lights of the Aurora Borealis were beautiful but after 88 days I wanted to shoot them out of the sky O'Hara was navigator on the bomber, which was bound for England under the direction of the Air with a jolting crash landing "The big ship broke in two and the radio was wrecked by the landing. Only one man Sgt.

Paul Spina, our engineer was injured in the crash He was thrown clear of the plane and his right arm was broken Capt Monteverde improvised some splints and set the arm with complete success. "Looking around us, we found we were isolated by ice caps and snowbanks Wide crevasses, almost surrounding us, were other dangers which lessened the possibility of escape Besides, the weather was terrible (-80 degrees daily with winds of over 100 knots an hnun "Tearing parts off the front section of the plane, we rigged up quarters in the tail of the broken fuselage There was no heat, no light, inadequale protection and limited rations, we expected every day to be out last "For the first 10 davs after the crash, the weather was extremely severe High winds and driving snow prevented anyone from leaving the plane To add to our troubles, a crevasse near the tail kept growing until finally we had to tie our quarters to the front part to keep them from falling in "There were other crevasses nearby, most of them covered with snow. One day, Spencer (Lt. Harry Spencer of Dallas, Texas) dropped through one of them, but we managed to rescue him ith a rope made of parachute shrouds. "Several days later, after exhausting work.

Howarth (Cpl Loren Howarth of LaCrosse, Wis 1 got the radio into good enough condition to send a message for help On the 15th day, a (Continued on Page 15) McDade Acts To Boost Rail Service ATTY. WILUAM F. O'HARA racy, he asked The Times to refer to the old newspaper accounts, saying the years since the crash and a stroke he suffered in 1979 may have affected his memory of the event "We were neanng the coast of Greenland when we received a radio message to look for another airplane, which reportedly was overdue," he recalled "Veering northward off our course over rugged terrain, we searched for several hours. Suddenly, when we were about to call it quits and head on, something seemed to shake the plane We lost altitude fast. Our pilot, Capt Armand L.

Monteverde, brought us in any future for a Scranton-New York rail connection, but also would affect any excursion plans for that line that may be planned by Steamtown U.S.A., a railroad museum that is pondering a move from Vermont to Scranton McDade is concerned that as many possibilities as can be maintained should be kept for this area, the spokesman said Meanwhile, in another area. McDade has asked Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Murray of Boston to expedite a decision regarding the bankrupt Boston Main Railroad The is seen as a vital element in the plans of Guilford Transportation Industries' plans to create a new rail network second only to Conrail in size by linking the with the Maine Centrail Railroad and the McDade stressed the importance of rail transportation to the 10th Congressional District and the need for these issues to be settled so that rail service improvement and industrial development can move forward, the spokesman noted Guilford, of Durham, Conn is headed by Timothy Mellon of Pittsburgh, and got ICC approval on July 28 to purchase the By WILUAM SOBERS, Times Staff Writer Rep Joseph McDade has taken action on two fronts to preserve and improve rail service in Northeastern Pennsylvania legislator's efforts involve a section of Conrail trackage considered a vital link between Scranton and the New York City area and a bankruptcy proceeding that will affect the Delaware Hudson Railway. McDade has requested that Reese Taylor chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, intervene with Conrail to preserve local options and the acquisition of a 29-mile section of track from the Pennsylvania line to Port Morns, Conrail will be entitled legally to rip up the former Delaware, Lackawanna Western Railroad track if it docs not receive an offer from a potential buyer by Nov. 26 It's McDade's understanding that Conrail Chairman Stanley Crane has agreed to leave the section of track in place for a reasonable time in hopes a purchaser will surface, a spokesman for the congressman said.

Elimination of the section of track would not only dampen The Comings, Goings of TV People fad was strong that there had to be two persons 1 Joseph X. flonneru ii I'MLCOeiIKi Commentary BUY DIRECT AT WHOLESALE PRICES! serving up the evening news. I hat tad is now over, in this market at least, with all three commercial stations now back to using one anchor person The person who has that job at WDAU is Debbie Dunleavy, who is among those who has to wait and see what the new owners might do when they take over the station. Tom Powell, the WDAU news director and editorialist who is the acknowledged dean of local TV news figures, is in the same position They probably have contracts now but long-range, have no idea what the future holds. One reason for that is that the Federal Communications Commission which has approved the sale will not allow any kind of a premature takeover of operations before a sale is completed Nor.

for that matter, would Madge Megargee, the current general manager, be inclined to give up the reins ahead of time At WBRE. where there are neither new owners nor new managements, two of the newest staffers have Scranton connections. Miller, the sports editor, is a Scrantonian who once played minor league baseball and once was a roommate of Pete Rose. He went into radio in Stroudsburg and then worked at television stations in South Carolina. Wisconsin, Ohio and Oklahoma.

But Miller, a cousin of Carbondale Area High School football coach Jim Miller, grew tired of drifting around the country and chose to come back to Northeastern Pennsylvania. He took over a job formerly held by John Moran, whose contract was not renewed. Sid Michaels, meanwhile, a former staffer at WEJL radio here, has been added full-time to the WBRE sports staff, serving as a reporter and as weekend sports editor. Also, Lori Lewis, formerly with WDAU. has been hired as a reporter by WBRE While that hmng was going on at WBRE, the ax fell on Bachman at WNEP.

He had spent five years editorializing there adding the unusual touch of doing it from different spots in the region every day. But that novelty did not save his job and he was frank to admit that he had been fired by Hale, which was contrary to the cover story put out that the parting had been by mutual agreement. Bachman also claimed that his dismissal had been caused by economic difficulties at the station which, if true, could mean that the station has no plans to fill his job It's time for one of my periodic reports on happenings in the television news scene First, as they do in TV-land, I'll give you the headlines: WDAU-TV expects to complete its move into its new headquarters in the former Kresge Building, 41 1-17 Lackawanna by Nov. 30 but there is no word on when the sale of the station will be completed Thus, there are a lot of worried people there, wondering what the future holds when the new owners take over. WNEP-TV's new management team, headed by Eldon Hale Jr has cleared out two formerly highly visible persons from its news staff, including Jacqueline Boulden, the former anchorwoman who previously had been demoted to reporter, and Bill Bachman, the editorialist.

WBRE-TV's new sports editor, Jim Miller, is a former local resident who gave up what was a much better paying job of sports editor at a station in Oklahoma City just because after years of drifting from one station to another he wanted to come Back to his native area. OK Now let me amplify further. And let me start with WDAU-TV. First of all, the $12 million sale of the station has not been finalized. But from everything that I hear, the transaction still is on track and should be completed sometime before the end of next month.

That would let the new owners, three New York City businessmen, take over on Jan 1 from the heirs of the station's founder, the late Frank Meeargee At the official closing of the deal, the buyers have to pay the present owners $8 million in cash, take over in loans covering the cost of buying and renovating the new headquarters, pay all moving costs and pay The Scranton Preparatory School the accumulated rental" fees that resulted from delays in the sale Finally, five years after the closing, the "buyers are to pay the remaining million, plus the sellers. What weighs heaviest on the minds of the workers at WI)AU-TV is what will happen to them when the New Yorkers take over. In addition, the employees have been working under hardships related to the move Finally and this is hardly a secret in the local news business the station equipment is largely outdated and staffers wonder what they might expect in the way of relief wben the pew owners take over By the way. at least temporarily, radio stations I WGBI and WGBI-FM, whih will continue to be owned by the Megargee farmly, will be housed in the former Kresge Building Pith WDAU-TV Thus, the radio stations will be tenants of the new owners. There is a bit of irony in that.

Meanwhile, at WNEP-TV, the person cracking the whip is Hale, a former news director at the station who left a few years ago but now is back as the station's top hired hand. Hale and Sue Mclnerney, the current news director, are reshaping the news staff. Their recent moves involved: Bob Carroll, one of the veterans of television news in this market, promoted from morning anchorman to director of administration and assistant to the general manager. Thomas Shelburne III; Frank Andrews, who originated the Issue Line program when he was with The Times Radio Station WEJL, promoted from head of the WNEP's Scranton Bureau to Carroll's old job, Kathi Belich, a former reporter, promoted to Andrews' old job; Craig Stevens, a reporter, named head of the Williamsport Bureau. Noreen Clark, wife of evening weatherman Tom Clark, given the morning weather job, and Mark Davis, a former reporter, given the weekend anchor job once held by Bill Flanagan, now of KDKA in Pittsburgh Nolan Johannes, who came to WNEP in January to co-anchor the evening news with Ms.

Boulden, still is secure in that post But she and news director Mclnerney apparently did not get along well so she was dropped as an anchor person. Recently, when her contract expired. Ms Boulden was dropped completely and she recently suffered the indignity of having a Wilkes-Bafre newspaper report that she was collecting unemployment benefits, li always thought that she was good at her job I Ms Boulden. you II recall, moved up from reporter to a co-anchor person when Garry Essex was the WNEP-TV anchorman That was when the ElAfilE BIUUID- VIIIYL WALLCOVERING 239 E. MARKET ST.

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