Forrest Gump, Charlie Brown, Olaf make appearances

Photos by Peggy Barringer
KENDALL – Stars from the Silver Screen visited Kendall this year for the community’s annual scarecrow festival. This year’s theme was “Your Favorite Movie” and 15 characters were highlighted, including Charlie Brown and his gang.

Forrest Gump also was portrayed, sitting with a box of chocolates and his suitcase while waiting on a bench for a bus.

Olaf the snowman from the movie “Frozen” is a friendly face.

Chloe Dunn decorates a pumpkin as part of the festival. Some of the action shifted to the highway garage due to the drizzly weather.The festival also included live music, a scavenger hunt, a magic/balloon show, a pumpkin seed spitting contest, and a build your own scarecrow.

Bourke Balloon Show features Richard Hughson and Twistin’ Tim. In their balloon show the following were welcomed on stage: Grace Levett, princess; David P. as a bad guy; Elijah Bibby as the dragon; and William Lavender as a prince/frog.

The town is happy to celebrate the Scarecrow Festival with its welcome sign leading into the community.

A character from “The Lego Movie” celebrates the popular song from the movie.

Scarlet O-Chair-A makes an appearance in the Scarecrow Festival.

Ella Cole enjoyed the festival. Her grandmother, Becky Charland, is the festival main coordinator.

A llama named Domino also attended the festival and mingled with the crowd.

Students petitioned district, which says it was never cut from curriculum

KENDALL – In August five elementary students petitioned the Kendall Board of Education to keep cursive writing in the curriculum.

The students are getting their wish, although Principal Sharon Smith said cursive writing wasn’t removed from the curriculum.

Cursive will be taught to third- and fourth-graders this year, and fifth- and sixth-graders will be given trace guides and work sheets to practice at home.

“It’s one more way students can communicate their thoughts,” Smith said.

Five students – Morgan Bukatis, Grace Casey, Cayden Faulks, Cameron Faulks and Riley Casey – submitted petitions signed by about 35 people to keep cursive writing. Smith said cursive never left the curriculum.

She said parents and grandparents of elementary students no doubt remember practicing cursive writing in school. Today’s students also learn to communicate on laptop computers, iPads and other technology during a time-crunched class schedule.

“There are other communication tools available now,” she said. “We had some parents ask, ‘Why are you still teaching cursive writing?'”

She praised the students for getting the petitions signed, meeting with school officials and presenting their ideas to the Board of Education.

“They’ve learned the democratic process,” Smith said. “That was the most valuable thing they learned.”

Cindy Christ is the grandmother of Cayden and Cameron Faulks. She supported the students in their push to promote cursive writing. She is pleased with the outcome from the school.

“The students that petitioned the school board are so excited to be learning it and that they have made a difference in their school,” Christ said.

District will have ground-breaking celebration Oct. 15

Photo by Tom Rivers – Kendall Board of Education President Nadine Hanlon, left, smiles with Julie Christensen, school district superintendent, after the Board of Education accepted seven different construction bids this evening for upgrades to the elementary and junior-senior high school.

KENDALL – Two-plus years of planning for a major capital project at Kendall Central School reached a big milestone this evening when the Board of Education approved construction bids for the project.

The seven different contracts totaled $16,416,433. That was under the district’s projections and means the district won’t have to eliminate pieces of the project to stay under budget.

The district will celebrate the ground-breaking of the project with a 6 p.m. ceremony on Oct. 15 just before the Board of Education meeting. The ground-breaking will be behind the junior-senior high school near the soccer fields. That area is where an addition for the cafeteria and kitchen will go.

The board approved the following bids tonight:

General trades – Allied Builders, Inc. of Brockport for $4,987,000.
Roofing – Elmer W. Davis of Rochester for $5,782,177.
Drywall – Accurate Acoustical Corp. of Victor for $1,144,000.
Plumbing – Michael A. Ferrauilo Plumbing & Heating of Rochester for $468,000.
HVAC – Landry Mechancial Contractors of Le Roy for $2,253,500.
Electrical – Kaplan-Schmidt Electric of Rochester for $1,189,000.
Controls – Trane of Rochester for $592,756.

When the bids were approved, Board of Education President Nadine Hanlon cracked a wide smile. She was a student at Kendall not long after the open classrooms were constructed. The project will make all of the classrooms enclosed, as well as tackling numerous other upgrades.

“It’s very exciting,” Hanlon said. “It’s exciting for me to see the transition.”

The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.

The junior-senior high school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The school includes partitions to try to reduce noise and hallway distractions. The capital project would give all the classrooms four walls and their own door.

Kendall residents approved the $25 million capitol project in May 2013. The district has been working with the State Education Department since then on the final designs for the work.

The construction bids do not include costs for architectural fees, construction management, legal fees and other non-construction costs.

Contractors are scheduled to start work on the project Oct. 27, beginning in the back cafeteria of the junior-senior high school, as well as some of the underground infrastructure work at the elementary school.

Crews will continue to work in wings of the junior-senior high school during the winter and spring, with contractors busy next summer so the buildings are ready for the new 2015-16 school year next September. The project will be substantially complete then, with the final work planned for the summer of 2016.

The capitol project will be 90 percent funded with state aid. Kendall’s local share already is saved in a capital reserve account.

Press release, Orleans County Undersheriff Steve Smith

KENDALL – A Kendall man is dead, apparently after being accidentally pinned underneath the lawn tractor he was working on.

The incident occurred at a private residence in the 16900 block of Roosevelt Highway (State Route 18) and was reported to Orleans County 9-1-1 at about 4:20 p.m. Kendall Fire Department first responders found Stephen C. Ergott, 62, pinned under the machine and already deceased.

Upon investigation it appeared that Ergott had used the forklift on a larger tractor to lift the lawn tractor and suspend it off the ground so he could do maintenance on the under-side. At some point the lawn tractor apparently slipped off the forklift and fell to the ground, pinning Ergott underneath.

The on-scene investigation was conducted by Deputy R.M. Flaherty, assisted by Deputy J.J. Cole, Sergeant D.W. Covis, Investigator D.E. Foeller Jr., and Chief Deputy T.L. Drennan. That investigation has since been joined by the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester.

File photos by Tom Rivers – The Kendall Junior-Senior High School is eyed for most of the estimated $25 million in a capital project that should start next month.

KENDALL – The school district will open construction bids on Wednesday for a project that will bring the school campus into the 21st Century.

Kendall residents approved the $25 million capitol project in May 2013. The district has been working with the State Education Department since then on the final designs for the work.

The district will open the bids at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with the Board of Education expected to approve seven different contracts at its 7 p.m. meeting on Sept. 24.

The work could start in October in the back cafeteria of the junior-senior high school, as well as some of the underground infrastructure work at the elementary school.

Crews will continue to work in wings of the junior-senior high school during the winter and spring, with contractors busy next summer so the buildings are ready for the new 2015-16 school year next September.

The $25 million capitol project will be 90 percent funded with state aid. Kendall’s local share already is saved in a capital reserve account.

The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.

The junior-senior high school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The school includes partitions to try to reduce noise and hallway distractions. A capital project would give all the classrooms four walls and their own doors.

The project makes improvements at the two school buildings, including a reconfiguration of the classroom wings so each room has four walls and a door. That will go a long way to improving the learning atmosphere and security for teachers and students, said Julie Christensen, the district superintendent.

Another classroom disrupter, the cafeteria, will be relocated to a wing of the building occupied by the current weight room and another classroom. Right now, the cafeteria is in the middle of the building.

Provided photo – These students will be submitting petitions to the Kendall Board of Education this evening to have cursive writing taught in the elementary school. They say they want to be able to read the Bill of Rights, letters from their grandparents and be able to give their signatures and read others’ names. The students include, from left: Morgan Bukatis, Grace Casey, Cayden Faulks, Cameron Faulks and Riley Casey.

KENDALL – Five elementary students will tell the Board of Education this evening they want to learn old-fashioned cursive hand-writing, believing it will help them learn, be creative and read important documents, including the Bill of Rights and letters from their grandparents.

The students have created posters and secured about 35 signatures on petitions, asking that the district teach cursive to elementary students. The students pushing the issue include Morgan Bukatis, Grace Casey, Cayden Faulks, Cameron Faulks and Riley Casey.

“I don’t think the politicians and school administrators feel it is necessary because they are so into technology,” said Cindy Christ, grandmother of the two Faulks brothers.

She will join them at the BOE meeting at 6 p.m. this evening. She knows school leaders feel pressed for time with a busy curriculum. But she thinks cursive writing is valuable for students.

Provided photos – The Kendall Community Chorus performs in many events around the holidays and then later in the spring and summer.

KENDALL – Mary Campbell wanted to give Kendall area residents a chance to sing together in 2008. She got word out about a community choir, but wasn’t sure how many would show up.

Fifty people joined and that number has been steady since then. The choir isn’t slowing down. The Kendall Community Chorus is starting a new season and singers are welcome for the Monday evening rehearsals from 7 to 9 p.m. or on Saturday mornings from 10 to noon. The group meets at the Kendall United Methodist Church. (It won’t be there this Monday because of Labor Day.)

“We have a good time,” said Campbell, a retired music teacher from Medina and Kendall. “There’s no pressure. It’s more for the social.”

The chorus will be preparing for its biggest concert of the year on Nov. 21 at the David J. Doyle Junior-Senior High School. The concert will feature Christmas music and Broadway tunes. In the past six years, proceeds from concerts have benefitted the Kendall Park Gazebo Fund, the Kendall food cupboard, the 2012 Kendall Bicentennial, and the Kendall Fire Department Ambulance Fund.

The chorus also sings at nursing homes and other community events. It leads off the Kendall Firemen’s Carnival Parade in July.

“We open up the parade with ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and ‘God Bless America,'” Campbell said. “I don’t know anywhere else where that happens at a firemen’s parade.”

The chorus also performed a flash mob patriotic musical medley at the Brockport Wegmans store and at the Hilton Tops. They have sung at three Rochester Red Wings games.

The group draws singers from Kendall, Holley, Hamlin and Hilton. Campbell said more singers are welcome.

“Just show up and you can join,” she said.

She welcomed people to come to practice this Saturday to join the group or the Monday a week after Labor Day.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Descendants of Philip LeFrois are pictured today in the Town of Murray in the front yard of Steve Babcock after his great-grandfather Philip LeFrois’s hitching post was moved from his homestead to Babcock’s. Local contractor Jim Babcock removed the post and transported it to his brother’s property. Babcock is pictured at left, kneeling. He is joined by Phil Sargent, Sargent’s grandfather Ron Ayrault, Steve Babcock and Jerry LeFrois.

MURRAY – A hitching post that spent about a century in Eagle Harbor today was moved to Phillips Road in the Town of Murray. It is now in the front yard of Steve Babcock, just south of Route 104 near the Murray Superette.

The hitching post belonged to Babcock’s great-grandfather, Philip LeFrois. His local descendants wanted the post to stay in the family. They reached out to the property owner, Kevin and Joanie Kent, and they agreed to let the hitching post go to Babcock’s.

Mrs. Kent is a hospice nurse. She cared for Babcock’s wife, Annette, when she battled ovarian cancer. Mrs. Babcock died on Sept. 25, 2002 at age 44.

Her husband thanked the Kents for letting the hitching post go.

“I’m very family-oriented,” Babcock said. “Having a historical piece that goes back several generations is pretty awesome.”

Babcock had help moving the hitching post today. His brother Jim, a local contractor, had the hitching post, which weighs about 800 pounds, out of the ground, transported and reset in Murray in about an hour.

Steve marveled at the artistry in the hitching post. A quarryman who was a friend of his great-grandfather carved spear points on each side. Steve said he will try to get a ring for the post and would like to have the spot nicely landscaped with a plaque.

Photos by Sue Cook – Frannie Hicks, left, dances with her daughter Tara Hicks, Joan Weed and Marilyn Gilbert, far right.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

KENDALL – Friday night, Kendall kicked off their 3rd annual Homegrown Days with “The Lego Movie” on the Town Hall lawn. About 150 people came to the viewing, which was the first of three weekend events.

The fire hall hosted Saturday’s event due to the rain. Originally a street dance was scheduled to take place in front of the fire hall. However, rain and chilly weather pushed the event indoors. Nearly 100 Kendall residents came out to the dance.

“It’s an event to get people to get together,” said Kendall Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata. “It’s to meet people and renew friendships.”

The band Country Class provided music for the event. Pictured from left: Al Ramsay, Richard Vernon, Bruce Huchzermeier and Larry Weed.

The weekend’s theme is to celebrate Kendall through community events. The tradition began on the town’s bicentennial and has continued since. The events are free to the public and provide a gathering place for people to get together to see familiar faces and make new connections.

The fire department sold beverages as a small fundraiser. The Concordia Lutheran Church sold ice cream.

“It’s nice to see the people get together,” said Church Council President Alan Lambert. “You see people you don’t get to see all the time.”

Country Class, led by Kendall resident Larry Weed, entertained the crowd throughout the evening with a mix of country, ’50s and ’60s music. They were also the featured band last year.

Larry Weed performs with his band.

“It kind of brings the whole community together,” Weed said. “You know people, but you don’t really get to talk to them that much. It’s a great thing. It’s a quiet town and a great town. The people are good. I know if anything happened the people would come together and help each other out.”

The Lawn Chair Ladies do a dance to “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

The Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies also stepped in during an intermission to perform a set of dance numbers. The group practices dance numbers from March until August to perform at parades and other events. The group formed for the Kendall bicentennial.

Kim Corcoran led the Lawn Chair Ladies. She said the group was originally founded to add something to the bicentennial parade after seeing the Saranac Lawn Chair Ladies on Youtube.

Corcoran, front right, leads the group in another dance.

“I also think it’s that baby boomer thing,” said Corcoran. “We just don’t want to quit. We don’t want to say die. We want to keep as active as possible.”

The Homegrown Days will conclude Sunday morning with a nondenominational community worship service at Gazebo Park at 10 a.m.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

KENDALL – A Waterport woman is hospitalized after crashing her car this morning in the Town of Kendall.

The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. in the 15500 block of Roosevelt Highway (State Route 18). Norma J. Webster, 80, was operating a 2004 Buick sedan traveling east on Rt. 18 when she failed to negotiate a curve just east of Transit Road.

The car ran off the south side of the roadway and struck a tree. Webster, the sole occupant, was trapped in the wreckage for approximately 45 minutes before being extricated by Kendall firefighters. She was then flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Mercy Flight helicopter.

The incident was investigated by Deputy A.L. Jenks, assisted by Deputy J.J. Cole.

Photos courtesy of Brittany Kennedy

KENDALL – Brittany Kennedy returned to West Kendall Road home yesterday to see a black bear by her house. The bear went up on her porch and sifted through a recycling bin and grabbed a coffee can. It was flipping it around when it noticed Kennedy in her vehicle. The bear then took off for the woods.

Orleans County dispatchers think there are two bears in the county. Whenever they get a call they notify the state Department of Environmental Conservation. If residents see a bear, they should leave it alone. The bears are unlikely to confront a person, a dispatcher said.