Once July 4 passes, the pace of summer seems to pick up speed in a race towards fall. It hasn’t helped that we have had so much rain, but together with the hot days in between, it has been good for my garden. The local produce has been great. If you haven’t already done so, check out the Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers’ Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday from at the Dallas Elementary School. Don’t forget to support our local farm stores, as well.

The Back Mountain Chamber held its monthly luncheon on July 13 at Tomasino’s in Dallas, which provided a superb three-course lunch in the restaurant’s private room. The speaker was Robert Franssen from Talen Energy, who focused his talk on nuclear energy production, and gave some technical insight into the operation of a nuclear power generation plant. He also addressed the challenges which the Susquehanna Nuclear Plant in Berwick faces due to competition with the use of natural gas for energy production, and the cost efficiency it provides.

Mr. Franssen indicated the nuclear industry has suffered from the competition with natural gas. He further stated that, although several nuclear plants around the country have shut down or are on the verge of shutting down, the Susquehanna Plant has no plans to close.

The Economic Development Council Committee of the Back Mountain Chamber held a planning meeting on July 12 with regard to the Federal Reserve Breakfast which will take place on Oct. 20 at Penn State University in Lehman. BMC members from banking and education participated in the brainstorming session, and the exchange of ideas will help to make the annual Federal Reserve Breakfast even better this year. Thank you to all who participated.

As we all know, energy is currently a hot topic in our area on a number of different levels. On July 19, I participated in a conference call hosted by Williams/Atlantic Sunrise. The purpose of the call was to introduce the new Will Shop Local App. Williams developed this phone app for the use of its many workers and contractors to help them find local providers of products and services in our area. Local vendors may participate at no cost to them, and all BMC ,embers have received instructions on how to sign up to be a vendor.

The Cultural Event Committee is putting together the final preparations for Friday, Sept. 8 and the Back to Country Event at the Irem Pavilion. General admission tickets are available for sale on the BMC website for $50 each, and a limited number of reserved tables of 10 are still available. The honoree for the Back to Country Event is the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins organization, and the basket raffle proceeds will benefit the Women with Children Program at Misericordia University. Don’t forget, we will have Jake’s Rockin’ Country Band as the musical entertainment, which has performed in Nashville with Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, and Martina McBride. We hope t you can join us for what we know will be a great night!

As always, if you wish to have your community event placed on the BMC Events Calendar on our website, please email details to wleandri@aol.com or bmcbussdev@gmail.com, and we will include your event.

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Chamber Notes

Tom Mosca

Tom Mosca is the president of the Back Mountain Chamber. His column appears monthly in the Dallas Post