Photo courtesy of Crystal Botello: Alma Botello stopped by Kelly Picardo’s home today and presented her with a basket of goodies. Picardo was Alma’s teacher in third and sixth grades. Picardo helped Alma build her confidence in the classroom.

KENDALL – The Kendall community has adopted seniors in high school, showering them with gifts and goodies since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alma Botello, 18, had two different people adopt her. She appreciates the efforts of the community to make her and her classmates feel some love at the end of the senior year, which has been disrupted since mid-March.

They have been doing on-line learning at home and haven’t been allowed inside the school.

Alma and her mother, Crystal Botello, thought it would be a nice gesture to adopt one of Alma’s teachers who made a big difference in Alma’s school career.

Alma immediately thought of Kelly Picardo, Alma’s teacher for third and sixth grades. Picardo was a constant encourager, and helped Alma build her confidence in the classroom, especially with her least favorite subject of math.

“She was always there and she was a voice in the back of my head, telling me, ‘You can do this,’” Alma said this evening by phone.

She and her mother filled a basket with treats and pool toys, and stopped by Picardo’s home today.

Alma has stayed in touch with Picardo over the years, visiting Picardo’s classroom in the elementary school for open houses. Alma has younger siblings in the school.

She has stayed in touch with Picardo, and continues to hear her voice in her head when the schoolwork is difficult.

“Mrs. Picardo always said I could do it,” Alma said.

She will graduate on June 26. Then she will enroll at Genesee Community College and plans to work at a childcare center. Her goal is to become a special education teacher.

“Mrs. Picardo definitely inspired me,” Alma said. “Being a teacher is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

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KENDALL – School district voters passed the budget, a proposition for transportation and elected two Board of Education members.

The district counted 822 absentee ballots for the budget on Tuesday. That turnout was nearly four times the 217 people who voted in the last election on May 21, 2019. There wasn’t in-person voting this election and budget vote due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Proposition No. 1 – school budget, passed 581 to 241. The $17,603,596 budget is down slightly from the $17,774,362 in the 2019-20 school year. The budget will increase taxes by 1.99 percent. 

• Proposition No. 2 for Transportation Fund Usage, passes 605 to 219. The vote authorizes the district to spend up to $250,000 from a transportation bus reserve for transportation vehicles.

• Board of Education members: Bryan Hardenbrook was elected to a five-year term with 673 votes, and Rachel Fisken was elected to 3-year term with 645 votes.

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Kendall held Black Lives Matter demonstration on Saturday

Photos courtesy of Mark Washington

KENDALL – About 20 people participated in a Black Lives Matter demonstration on Saturday in Kendall from noon to 2 p.m.

The demonstrators stood at Kendall’s main intersection at Route 18 and Kendall Road.

Ruthie Seabolt and her mother, Cynthia Blosenhauer, were the lead organizers of the event.

“It’s time for every person to step up and pay attention,” said Seabolt, 21, who will be a senior at the University of Rochester majoring in international relations and political science.

She wanted her small town to show its support for the Black Lives Matter movement against racism and police brutality.

She admitted she was nervous and a little scared before the demonstration. She didn’t know what kind of response there would be.

There were a few of what felt like angry stares. But there were far more supportive beeps from the motorists.

“It was actually really nice,” Seabolt said this evening. “We got a lot of honks.”

One African American woman stopped her car and came over and spoke to the group.

“She said it’s good to see people stand up,” Seabolt said.

One of the demonstrators on Saturday holds a “Black Lives Matter” sign in Kendall.

Seabolt attended a Black Lives Matter protest a week before in Brockport. She is pleased to see the demonstrations have gained a national following, and have spread to other countries.

The protests started in response to the killing of George Floyd, who was in custody of a Minneapolis police officer on May 25. Floyd was on the ground and died after being held down for nearly nine minutes while an officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

KENDALL – Jack Gillman is pictured with a 1966 Ford Thunderbird in his barn behind his house I  Roosevelt Highway.

The engine started on fire this afternoon and was spreading through the car. Gillman, a former Kendall town supervisor, called 911 and then used two fire extinguishers to keep the fire contained to the car.

His neighbor Dan Hance also came over with a fire extinguisher to prevent the car from being totally engulfed in flames.

Justin Niederhofer, an Orleans County fire investigator, looks at the engine to pinpoint the cause.

Gillman has been working to restore the car the past 20 years. It only needed to be painted before he was finished. He drove the car earlier today.

He said the engine was flooded out and the carburetor backfired, causing a spark with caused the engine to catch on fire. The flames melted the battery, wiring and the brake system.

Gillman isn’t giving up the car. He said if he can find another engine he thinks the car could be on the road in about a month.

Kendall firefighters were dispatched to the scene just before 4:30. They were able to ensure the fire was put out.

“Luckily he had a fire extinguisher and was able to knock it down,” said Jordan Willis, a captain with the Kendall Fire Department.

Gillman said without the fire extinguishers the entire barn likely would have caught on fire.

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