The Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse displayed 70 T-shirts and signs warning about the dangers of tobacco and smoking on March 20, when the agency joined in a “Kick Butts” day.
The 70 T-shirts represent the 70 people who die each day in New York from smoking-related illnesses. The display was at GCASA’s new office at 249 East Ave., Albion. The agency also is working with Lyndonville students on a video about the dangers of tobacco and some of the marketing strategies used by cigarette companies to entice smokers. That video will be posted on the agency’s Web site when it’s ready.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 March 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Olean was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The building was constructed in 1890 from Medina sandstone.
OLEAN – Pat Piccirillo admired the building for decades before he ever set foot inside St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Olean.
When he finally went inside, at the coaxing of a woman he was dating, Piccirillo said he was awestruck. The long-time Catholic has since married that woman and has become a devoted Episcopalian, and caretaker for the church built in 1890 at 109 South Barry St.
“It’s just a beautiful church,” he told me by phone. “The whole church is just amazing to me with the way they sculpted the stone and put the windows inside. They had people working on the church who knew what they were doing.”
In 2001, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A sign on St. Stephens proudly notes that designation. St. Stephen’s is one of many buildings across the state constructed of Medina sandstone that have endured as architectural and community treasures.
Many of these buildings have been added to the National Register, a list of about 88,000 properties in the country that have significant local, state or national significance, and deemed worthy of preservation.
Piccirillo is thankful St. Stephen’s is so well constructed.
“You couldn’t possibly build a church like that today,” he said. “You couldn’t afford it. There isn’t enough money in the U.S. Mint.”
The church was built in a Gothic Revival style. It was designed by upstate architect Robert W. Gibson. St. Stephen’s also has stained-glass windows from Germany and an impressive pipe organ.
“People go inside and they stand in awe,” said Piccirillo, 75.
A member of the church vestry, Piccirillo has been going to St. Stephen’s for 14 years. His biggest worry for St. Stephen’s: a small congregation of about 20 to 40 people. He hopes more people join the church to help keep the building up for years to come.
“We do the best we can,” he said.
Editor’s note: I was in Olean for the first time last month. St. Bonaventure University invited to give a presentation about my experiences working with farmworkers in 2008. Back then, I wrote a first-person series for The Daily News of Batavia. I planted onions, milked cows, harvested cabbage, and picked cucumbers and apples. I get asked to share my experiences, and these “talks” take me all over western and central New York.
I love going to these small towns, looking for sandstone buildings and signs of community pride. St. Stephen’s is next to Lincoln Park, one of Olean’s most prominent public places.
Before I spotted St. Stephen’s, I noticed 4-foot-high fiber-glass squirrels sprinkled around the city. The squirrels were painted in a variety of themes, from Starry Night to McDonalds.
The city of Olean launched a public art project in 2007 featuring 4-foot-high painted fiberglass squirrels. There are 28 of them around the city.
The city launched the “Woodland in the City” public art project in 2007 when 28 of the squirrels were painted and displayed around Olean. They remain outside, even in the winter.
Piccirillo said the public art project has been a big success.
“I see people out taking pictures of the squirrels all the time,” he said. “It gets people coming to Olean.”
The city has lots of black squirrels and visitors often comment about them. The fluffy-tailed rodents are also chubbier in Olean than most places, Piccirillo said.
Project organizers also have a sense of humor, he said, and didn’t mind poking fun at the city in Cattaraugus County.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2013 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – The school district may start charging outside organizations $50 an hour when they use school facilities. That would help cover the district’s costs for custodial and security services, Holley officials said.
However, non-profit organizations shouldn’t expect a bill from the school, said John Heise, Board of Education president.
“I don’t want to start charging organizations that are doing good for kids,” he said.
Holley currently doesn’t charge when outside organizations use school buildings. Don Penna, the buildings and grounds superintendent, researched other schools’ policies and found many bill outside groups, with some even charging per room.
Penna suggested a $50 flat fee for each hour a group is using the school. That would be limited to building use, and not the outdoor fields.
“I would like to get to a break-even point,” Penna told the BOE on March 18. “We want to get some of our costs back for the extra work.”
Heise and the board members asked for list of all the groups that use Holley facilities. Board members said a policy could distinguish between non-profits and other organizations.
Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent, said many rural schools don’t charge non-profit organizations.
“They waive the fees to encourage people to use the schools,” he said.
Penna said he would compile the list and make a recommendation to the board on which groups should be assessed a fee.
Heise said groups like the Girl Scouts shouldn’t worry they’ll soon be billed for using the school.
“It’s not decided that we’re doing this,” he said. “The community has already paid for the school with their taxes.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2013 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – Robert D’Angelo said it is a worrisome trend, the young elementary students facing superintendent’s discipline hearings.
Those hearings are called when students face long-term suspensions, usually for more than five days out of school. Those hearings tended to involve students in higher elementary grades or middle school.
But this year D’Angelo said he is seeing students in lower elementary grades, even kindergarten.
“People and families are under stress and we’re seeing it manifest itself down to 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds,” he told the Board of Education on March 18.
The district may need to provide more services to help students struggling with social and emotional problems, he said.
Board of Education President John Heise said financial pressures are straining families. He noted the district has started a backpack program where food is sent home over weekends with some students.
D’Angelo meets with many of the struggling students’ parents, and he said those families need assistance.
“In order to be successful, we have to work with parents, but many of the parents are needy themselves,” D’Angelo said.
Beginning in early April work will begin on Route 98 in Gaines. The culvert is located south of Route 104. The road will be closed for approximately two months. A posted detour will direct motorists to utilize Route 279 and Route 104.
Beginning in mid-summer, work will begin on the Route 237 culverts in Byron. Both culverts are located between Cook Road and North Byron Road.
The road will be closed through the end of October. A posted detour will direct motorists to utilize North Byron Road to Route 98 to Route 31A.
A local detour for passenger cars will be posted utilizing Cook Road and Searls Road to North Byron Road.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – Two village trustees who were running without opposition on the ballot were re-elected on March 19.
Mark Kruzynski, the Medina High School principal, received 174 votes for another two-year term. Mark Irwin, a retired corrections officer, received 118 votes.
The two ran together on the Village Party line. They have been pushing for consolidation of government services, including a push to study the dissolution of the village.
They weren’t without opposition on election day. Former Village Trustee Owen Toale received 61 write-in votes. He has been critical in recent village meetings about a plan to hire a village manager for $70,000 to $80,000 a year.
Other residents also received write-in votes, including Mike Sidari, 6; Mike Maryjanowski, 2; Marguerite Sherman, 1; and Peter Huth, 1.
During Winter Break the Holley Community Free Library held its 4th annual Art class. Five one-hour classes were attended by 15 children from kindergarten to middle school. Taught by retired Elementary Art Teacher, Laurence Dabney, the children made giant plaster flowers as well as wooden trivets. The flowers were painted with both fluorescent and scented paint.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Fran Gaylord, Holley’s transportation director at left, gives a tour of the new transportation facility on March 18. The new building features a lift, a bus wash, a vacuum exhaust system, and other improvements.
HOLLEY – Paul Niggli inspects school bus garages for the state Department of Transportation. Holley, for years, had one of the worst setups, Niggli said.Holley’s transportation department worked for decades in a cramped building. The buses were all out in the open. Making repairs was difficult in the small bus garage.
But Holley has entered the 21st Century with its new transportation facility, part of a $27 million capitol project that is transforming most of the junior-senior high school and making numerous other upgrades on the district campus.
“They did a beautiful job,” Niggli said after touring the new transportation facility with school and community members on March 18.
Fran Gaylord, the transportation director, waited for years for the improvements. He works with 30 bus employees – a group of drivers, mechanics, aids and clerical staff.
“This is so much better,” Gaylord said on the tour. “We have the room, the space, the brightness and the bus wash.”
The new transportation facility features a bus wash that will keep the windows clean and help with preventive maintenance on the undercarriage.
Gaylord pressed a button and a wash, with giant brushes and a soapy spray, went to work mechanically. Workers used to physically use long brushes and squiggees to clean the buses. It was difficult to get under the buses.
“With the rollover bus wash, the windows will be cleaner for the drivers,” Gaylord said on the tour. “The undercarriage will be cleaner. There will be better maintenance.”
Gaylord and his staff moved into the new complex on Feb. 28. The facility also includes a fenced-in parking area for the fleet of buses. A new fuel farm has a 10,000-gallon storage tank for diesel fuel and a 5,000-gallon tank for unleaded. The previous setup had 5,000- and 500-gallon tanks, respectively.
Contractors will soon tear down the metal portion of the old bus garage, which covers about two-thirds of that complex. They will keep a cinder block building. Buildings and grounds will use that for storage.
The new transportation facility sits on a portion of the 43 acres the district acquired for $163,000 about three years ago. That land includes room for five new ball fields that could be developed in the future.
Fred Seeman, a Holley school bus driver, fills up a vehicle at the new fuel farm next to the transportation facility.
About two dozen Scouts in Pack 164 in Albion competed in the annual Pinewood Derby on March 16 at St. Joseph’s Lyceum. (Left to right) Sawyer Braley took third, Austin Narburgh placed second and Pom Seibert won the event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Members of the Holley Board of Education are shown in a March 18 meeting. Five of the nine members include, from left: President John Heise, Brenda Swanger, Sal DeLuca, Kellie Spychalski and Robin Silvas. Other members include Norm Knight, Anne Winkley, Jack Welch and Dorothy Morgan.
HOLLEY – A petition seeks to stop the shrinking of the Holley Board of Education from nine to five members, a proposition that narrowly passed in last May’s school election.
A petition signed by 108 people was submitted on March 11 to the district office.
Petitioners want to reduce the board to seven members, but no more.
That presents a highly unusual case for Holley, school attorney Jeff Martin told the BOE on March 18. Last May district voters, in a 395-392 vote, approved the reduction in members, to be phased in over three years from nine to five representatives.
Proponents of the reduction in seats say Holley sometimes has trouble finding enough candidates to run for the volunteer positions. Those against reducing the size of the board note the board members serve for free, without a cost to the district. Cutting the size of the board reduces representation and viewpoints on the board, say opponents against a smaller school board.
Most other boards of education in Orleans County have nine members, except for Kendall, which has five.
The first cuts in Holley will take effect when the new school year officially begins July 1. Three incumbents – John Heise, Brenda Swanger and Dorothy Morgan – all have terms that will be up this year. But only one position will be on the ballot. It’s the first step in reducing the board seats.
Martin said it’s unusual to have another petition filed that, in effect, negates part of a petition that was supported by the public and is now in process. He has checked with counsel at the New York State School Boards Association and Holley case seems to be a first.
“It’s something they’ve never encountered,” Martin told the BOE on March 18.
If residents support the new proposition, to be voted on May 21, Martin said that would end the shrinking of the BOE at seven members. However, the board may need to reset when some seats are up for election, so it isn’t three each for two years and one seat on another year. He said the board, if it settles at seven seats, should have two seats up for election for two years and then three seats available on a third year. The terms are all for three years.
If the proposition fails on May 21, the board will continue on the path to five members.
Martin said two seats should then be available for two years, with one seat up for election on the third year.
