Photos by Tom Rivers

KENDALL – Faculty and staff from Kendall Central School went on a 75-mile  trip throughout the school district on Friday afternoon, going by the homes for the 51 members in the class. The vehicles honked horns to celebrate the seniors.

The caravan included three school buses, a Kendall fire truck, and several faculty and staff in their personal vehicles.

A day earlier, Junior-Senior High School Principal Carol D’Agostino went to all of the homes and placed signs celebrating the in their front yards.

Provided photos: Amber Salonen, left, and her friend Alma Botello pose with their signs, which were delivered on Thursday. They have been best friends during high school.

Carol D’Agostino, the school principal, organizes the lineup for the parade.

D’Agostino said the district and the Kendall Faculty Association are trying to make seniors feel special during a difficult end of their senior year. The students have been out of school since March 16 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They continue to do remote and on-line learning from their homes.

The caravan on Friday lasted three hours as the vehicles went by all the addresses for Kendall’s Class of 2020.

The school sign lets students and teachers know they are missed.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

KENDALL – One of the most popular performers at local parades, the Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies, is taking off the season due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Lawn Chair Ladies are pictured above at last year’s Albion Strawberry Festival on June 8, 2019.

They are leaving open the chance for returning in the fall, if it is deemed safe to have public gatherings.

The Lawn Chair Ladies have been performing locally the past eight years.

“Okay, so we put off this decision for as long as possible: The Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies are cancelling their 9th marching season,” the group posted on its Facebook page. “Rehearsing in a group and participating in parades doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do right now. We’ll look toward possible fall events, but for now we’re hunkered down, with our lawn chairs and boas tucked away. Sorry to disappoint our fans, but we’ll be back again as soon as is wise!”

Kim Corcoran and the Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies performed to “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra on Jun e 20 at the Kendall Firemen’s Carnival Parade. The group has been a crowd favorite for several years.

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Provided photos

KENDALL – These signs were placed in front of the Kendall Junior-Senior High School to greet school staff this morning. Kendall students put the signs there to let the teachers and staff know they are missed.

“These signs were in front of the school when I arrived this morning,” said Carol D’Agostino, the school principal. “Our teachers, aides, secretaries, and custodians are working hard to support our students. Our bus drivers and cafeteria staff help every week to make and deliver food. It is amazing that our students wanted to recognize the outstanding staff at Kendall.”

“All of the parents and students appreciate each and everyone of you! Thank you for all the time you have taken from your own lives through this to reach out to all your students, whether to teach, comfort or just check in. Thank you for taking the time to put packets and lesson plans together. Thank you for making meals, and thank you for delivering them, thank you for delivering technology so the students can continue to learn! Thank you for zooming as chaotic as it can be, seeing your faces helps our students feel hope through a difficult time. Thank you for continuing to keep our schools clean and grounds looking beautiful. Thank you for helping us all through this!

“WE APPRECIATE YOU ALL!!! We miss you all!

“Stay safe and healthy”

Kendall PTSA

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Press Release, Kendall Central School

KENDALL – Kendall Central School is accepting PreK and kindergarten registrations for the 2020-21 school year.

If you are interested in enrolling your child in the Kendall universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) or kindergarten program and would like a registration packet mailed to you, please email Registrar Terri Kroth at tkroth@kendallschools.org with your name, address, phone number and the program your child is eligible for.

Parents are asked to mail the completed registration packet back by April 30. The mailing address is Kendall Elementary School, Attn: Registration, 1932 Kendall Rd, Kendall, NY 14476.

Copies of birth certificates, proof of residency, immunization records and any applicable custodial paperwork will be collected at a later date.

If you have any questions and cannot email, please feel free to contact Elementary School Principal Heather Eysaman at (585) 659-8317, ext. 1401.

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KENDALL – The school district beginning today will be delivering all meals to students by bus, with a pickup at the Junior-Senior High School no longer an option.

Kendall will deliver bagged breakfasts and lunches by bus to children age 18 and younger who reside in the district. Children do not have to be enrolled in the district to receive meals, according to a notice from the district.

All meals will be delivered via school bus to homes between 10:30 a.m. to noon according to the following schedule:

• Meals delivered on Mondays will be for Monday and Tuesday.

• Meals delivered on Wednesdays will be for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

• For Spring Recess Week, four meals will be delivered on Monday only.

“Please place a bin by your front door so our staff can safely leave meals in it,” according to a letter to the community from Julie Christensen, Kendall school district superintendent. “Please monitor delivery so food temperatures are maintained safely.”

Kendall parents picking up meals will have them delivered to their home beginning today. For families already on the distribution list no action is necessary.

To be added or removed from the meal distribution list, email Cindy Wolck at cwolck@kendallschools.org or call at 585-659-8317.

School instructional materials will be delivered on Wednesdays to students.

“Thank you for your patience as we modify our practices to keep our school family safe while school is closed. We miss our students!” Christensen said in her letter to the community.

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Students, teachers also welcomed chance to connect – at 6 feet apart

Photos by Tom Rivers

KENDALL – Lucas Jones, his sister Mary and their mother Karen decorate their vehicle with a Happy Birthday sign.

They were part of a caravan of vehicles that drove through Kendall today sharing birthday greetings with children who have been homebound much of the past two weeks and haven’t been able to have a typical birthday party. There haven’t been any birthday recognitions at the school, with it being closed, and kids also are encouraged not to have friends over.

The Kendall school district, like the others and Orleans County, announced on March 14 they would be closed until further notice due to health concerns with the spreading coronavirus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that public schools in the state would be closed until at least April 15.

Mary Jones, 15, a freshman at Kendall said she misses her friends and being in class in person. She has been doing her schoolwork at home, and connecting with some of her teachers and classmates online through Zoom.

“Being at home without your friends it lonely and boring,” she said.

Jones was preparing to be in the school’s musical production of Annie. She hopes the show can go on, somehow.

Her brother Lucas, 13, is an eighth-grader. He was going to help with the musical in stage crew. He also was on the tennis team, which hasn’t been able to practice the past two weeks. The season is very much uncertain right now.

Lucas and his sister said they are trying to keep up with their friends through social media but it’s not the same as seeing them in person.

Their mother Karen Jones has been a Kendall bus driver the past seven years. She is still driving bus for the school during the closure, delivering meals and even schoolwork to students.

Kolby Primmer, left, and Eric Warren are both seniors at Kendall. They hadn’t seen each other in a couple weeks. They maintained social distancing at the Kendall Elementary School parking, where the vehicles gathered for the birthday caravan.

Kolby said the uncertainty with when school could reopen is hard for seniors.

“We don’t know what will happen with the senior trip or graduation,” he said.

The senior class is planning a trip to Philadelphia in late May. Commencement is scheduled for June 26.

Eric Warren, the other senior, said he welcomed the chance to see some classmates today.

“All of my friends go to school and that’s the only time I can see them,” he said.

Kolby Primmer and this mother Margaret decorate their vehicle for the processional.

Patty Longrod, a substitute aide at Kendall, decorates her vehicle with a birthday greeting. Her husband, Dana Longrod, is a fifth grade teacher at Kendall. He joined his wife in the caravan today, eager for a chance to see students and other community members.

Mr. Longrod, a teacher for 34 years, a couple weeks ago prepared a packet of schoolwork to last a month for his students who are at home. Longrod said he’s never experienced any kind of prolonged shutdown like this during his career, with a return date unknown.

“It’s sort of a work in progress,” Longrod said. “None of us have ever dealt with this situation. We’re seeing what works and what needs to be improved.”

Longrod said the spring is usually a highlight of the year with field trips and many engaging activities for the kids.

“I can’t wait to get back to class,” he said. “It’s a fun job.”

These people brought some school pride for the trek around town.

Kadence Schoonmaker, a Kendall third-grader, helps decorate her family’s vehicle for the trip around town today.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to see each other,” said her mother, Lindsay Schoonmaker. “She has been inside the past two weeks and has been losing her mind.”

The vehicles head north on Route 237. They traveled along several roads in town.

To see a video of the cars heading out of Kendall Elementary School, click here.

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Photos courtesy of Kim Corcoran

KENDALL – The electricity was fully restored in Kendall at about 1:40 a.m. in Kendall after several utility poles snapped on Kendall Road at 1 p.m. on Friday due to powerful winds.

National Grid had new poles in place and the power back on for all of its customers about 12 hours later, although many customers came back on line much sooner.

About 1,500 National Grid customers initially lost power.

Kim Corcoran took these photos. The poles came down near the Kendall Elementary School.

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