The Voice Of Pike County
Since 1826
The Pike County Dispatch is not only Pike County's largest circulation weekly newspaper, it is also the oldest.
Founded as the Eagle of the North, it has been in continuous operation reporting news and covering local events since 1826. It is, and always has been, the mainstay in keeping the local citizenry informed. Today, subscribers are as far afield as California and Florida
The Dispatch has covered the historic events that have shaped Pike County for almost as long as that history has been in the making.
Over the years, hometown news has shared pages with national and world events, and world events were sometimes right here in Pike County, Pennsylvania.
Its pages carry news of joy and sorrow, homespun advice, births, deaths, marriages, spats, feuds, political controversy, scandals, murders, heists, social affairs, dedications--in short, all the news in Pike to print.
Look for the Pike County Dispatch at local news dealers, and read all about it!
Heat Swooned
This Past June
By Chris Jones
MILFORD — If you have been waiting for Mother Nature to turn on the heat this month, so you can finally dash down to the old swimming hole and cool off, forget it.
June 2009 has come and gone with hardly one sunny day and few warm ones. According to the National Weather Service, this June has been the 5th coldest and 3rd wettest since at least 1878, judging by records for New York’s Central Park.
Through the first 29 days of June 2009, the average temperature in Central Park was 67.2 degrees, 3.8 degrees below normal. Total rainfall for the same period was 9.4 inches. Tuesday’s forecast, again cool and rainy, was unlikely to affect these numbers.
Here in the Tri-State area, it has not been much different: day after day of clouds and showers, punctuated by a few violent thunderstorms.
In the era of “global warming,” June 2009 has bucked the trend of many record high temperatures being recorded in recent years and few record lows.
Among the top 10 coldest Junes in New York, all of them happened before 1958, except this year. The coolest June on record happened in 1903, when the average temperature was 64.2.
The wettest June happened in 2003, when 10.27 inches of rain fell in Central Park.
Course Takes A Licking, But Keeps On Ticking
By Joe Baron
MONTAGUE — “Today the grass was cut,” said Mayor Joe Barbagallo at the Montague Township Committee Meeting on June 23.
The Town Hall was full. Montague residents came to voice their concerns about what will happen to the High Point Golf Course (HPGC) after it filed for Chapter 11 earlier this month.
Besides mowing the fairways and grooming the greens, golf course crews were at work bright and early last Saturday morning clearing storm damage at the course. Plenty of golfers cruised around High Point’s unique combination of fascinating golf holes wound around a bizarre array of housing styles.
“I own a piece of property that I believed in before and believe in now,” said HPGC and Club House owner Rob L’Abbate. He said that he does not know what is going to happen. He said that he will continue to maintain the property and if things do go bad he will notify the Township.
Committeeman Ted Brace, who was criticized by many residents for writing a letter in support of Community Corporation of High Point (CCHP) taking over if a problem arises, said that as a taxpayer, he needs to be concerned.
CCHP is a corporation with a board and administrator comprised of all of High Point Country Club Complex to oversee the community of High Point.
Montague Township Committee Attorney Michael Garofalo said that there was nothing wrong with Brace sending this letter as an individual in support of CCHP taking action if problems arise, despite many residents’ objections.
Brace said that “it is going to affect, if things don’t turn out right, everybody’s taxes in Montague.” He said that he doesn’t want to see the golf course not taken care of and become overgrown....for complete story, get this week's issue.
The Big And The Little Of It
Tall People, Small Car Get Looks, Great Mileage
By Lisa Mickles
DINGMANS FERRY — Good things come in small packages and for one eco-friendly couple, the new smart fortwo car fulfills their tall order.
Frank and Gail Wershing love their “smart” car as they tool around town making local pitstops and gathering attention everywhere they go.
With comments like “it’s so cute” and “how do you fit in a car like that,” their micro-mini car raises many eyebrows and has been a conversation icebreaker due to its unique size and the height of its owners.
Frank, who stands 6’ 7”, and his wife Gail at 6’, would lead you to believe the impossibility of such a striking couple’s ability to fit in a car whose total length is less than nine feet.
“It is actually quite comfortable and spacious enough,” said Gail, who uses the car to run errands within the tri-state area and bragged about how many large items it held during a recent trip to Cosco’s, a retail store that packages grocery items in bulk.
Gail recalled when they first drove the car home from the dealer in Bergen County, N.J.
“I drove about a mile before a N.J. State Trooper pulled me over. I didn’t think I was speeding,” she recalled.
Turns out he just wanted to take a look at the car...for complete story, get this week's issue.
