Feature Stories February 2012
Multi-denominational program makes Northeastern Seminary unique
by Kristina Gabalski
Northeastern Seminary (NES) at Roberts Wesleyan College combines the “unchanging essentials of biblical and historical Christianity,” with a “responsive attitude toward contemporary culture,” to prepare Christ-centered men and women for effective ministry in the church and world.
The seminary opened in 1998 with a vision to transform the spiritual climate of the Northeast and beyond. It continues to grow in prominence as a significant resource for the church community in upstate New York.
Fr. Scott Caton, a professor of History and Culture and a Roman Catholic priest (ordained in 2011), is a founding faculty member. He credits Dr. Paul Livermore with the vision to have a seminary on the Roberts campus.
“Paul Livermore is an accomplished theologian,” Fr. Caton says, “a wonderful churchman and the unsung hero of the seminary. Northeastern Seminary, humanly speaking, is Dr. Livermore’s vision. We had a clean sheet of paper and wanted to take the vision of Dr. Livermore and create something really special.”
NES is very special. Its 150 students come from more than 30 different Christian denominations, multiple ethnicities and a broad spectrum of ministry aspiration.
Northeastern Seminary is an independent, multi-denominational seminary in its approach to theological education leading to academically and professional accredited degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Theology and Social Justice, Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership, and Doctor of Ministry. Three hundred NES graduates minister around North America and abroad.
When completing market studies in preparation for opening the seminary, Fr. Caton says NES wanted to fill a void - not be competitive with Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, for example.
The seminary utilizes an innovative and integrated core program. Preparation includes theological understanding, spiritual formation and ministry skills. “Deeply rooted, faithfully responsive” are words used by the seminary to describe its program.
Historical study of Christianity
Students at NES are oriented towards renewal, Fr. Caton says. The seminary focuses on the classical Christian faith - the writings of the Church Fathers that contain a solid Christian tradition all denominations share.
“We’re giving students that kind of a dimension to Christian training,” Fr. Caton explains, “orienting students historically to the historic Christian tradition.” Students progress through the four core courses together, with church history presented in successive modules, Fr. Caton says.
Pastoral theology, Biblical interpretation, social consciousness are all, “integrated historically up to the present day,” Fr. Caton says.
When students start their study from the beginnings of the church, denominational differences that developed over time are erased. “We hold true to the spirit of classical Christianity,” Fr. Caton says, “which transcends different ideologies by going back to the roots and seeing how doctrine develops.”
“We all started in the first century,” he continues. Students from different denominations are shown “their little part of the puzzle as it develops. Everybody sees their connections with each other in a deeper, more viable way.”
Once students understand how different Christian denominations relate historically, they can “understand how their sisters and brothers look at Scripture the way they do,” Fr. Caton says.
Faith sharing
Roberts Hall on the Roberts Wesleyan College Campus houses Northeastern Seminary. Photograph by Kristina Gabalski.Another vital part of the seminary formation is the integration of a spiritual formation directly into the curriculum, Fr. Caton says.
Students participate in faith sharing groups and receive spiritual direction as part of the curriculum.
“It’s not a Bible study,” Fr. Caton notes. “It opens people’s eyes up (by) breaking down denominational differences. They see the people they are speaking to are really fine Christians,” even though they may be experiencing God differently.
Fr. Caton says the seminary works to evaluate its performance by seeking feedback from graduates.
They tell NES that their seminary experience trained them very well for practical ministry.
Because they have been given a preparation rooted in the classical Christian faith, they have the tools they need to face a world that is always changing, Fr. Caton says.
“They can apply with great wisdom all these tools,” he explains, which allows them to be “very effective” in their chosen ministry.
Fr. Caton calls the “remarkable diversity” - ethnic, racial, male/female, and non-traditional ages at NES - “exhilarating.”
He adds that “the future looks bright for NES,” and that the seminary can play a leadership role in the Christian community by “meeting the need for historic Christianity - whether or not churches know they need it. People realize these values are important. The seminary needs to lead the way. We need to be responsible; we can’t be slaves to the world view. We need to see the depth, treasure and richness of historic Christianity.”
Nurturing the spiritual life
Dr. Douglas Cullum is another founding faculty member of NES and serves as Dean/Academic Vice-President and Professor of Historical and Pastoral Theology at the seminary.
He says that during the development of the seminary, research found that more than 80 percent of recent seminary graduates were satisfied with the academic content of their (preparation) while about the same high percentage were dissatisfied with their own sense of faith in God through Christ.
Amazingly, “Some even personally felt farther away from God” after completing their seminary studies, Dr. Cullum says.
The survey was a factor which prompted NES to create a program with “ongoing attention to nurturing spiritual life that wasn’t cookie cutter or denominational,” Dr. Cullum says.
Because NES is a multi-denominational seminary, Dr. Cullum notes that it doesn’t want every graduate to come out the same way.
He described the spiritual direction that students receive at NES.
The first two years of seminary study include small “faith sharing groups” which provide an “oasis” for students where they can “stop and think about where God might be active in their lives,” Dr. Cullum says.
The small groups help students develop an ability to be attentive and to “... notice and listen to their own sense of God’s presence in their lives,” Dr. Cullum says. He explains that people today tend to be too busy, they might think of God during the high points and in low points, but “where is God in the midst of the ordinary?”
The process proves to be very beneficial, Dr. Cullum says. Data shows that more than 90 percent of graduates feel the seminary’s “emphasis on forming spirituality was the most significant thing - they are extraordinarily pleased,” Dr. Cullum notes.
It gives students a “sensitivity to God’s presence, a theological affirmation that God is always active, that human beings have the capacity to be in touch with God,” Dr. Cullum says.
A theological seminary that prepares men and women for ministry, “... has failed if it only offers a high academic education,” Dr. Cullum explains. “We need to impart content and help people be formed as servants of God in the world.”
Diverse perspectives
Dr. Cullum also addressed the growing trend over the last decade or so of older people coming to the seminary, sometimes after retiring from completely different careers. He says the average age of seminarians has risen to the mid-30s.
The NES model allows people to “develop a community of learners. The first two years are spent with the same group of people,” Dr. Cullum says. “Over that two year span, they become like a little family.”
He says the diversity of ages and denominational backgrounds adds a richness to the classroom.
“You have a 55 or 60-year old looking at a 22-year old - their rich wealth of life experience adds to the classroom experience.”
“We want people to be rooted in the truth as they understand it,” Dr. Cullum continues. When the faith sharing groups meet, students can see that those from other denominations are people of living faith, that “well-meaning good people can be people of faith (and at the same time) disagree on certain issues.”
“We realize every student is called to serve in a constantly changing context of culture,” he notes.
The seminary prepares students with strong roots that enable them to engage in a dynamic culture. “It’s that tension that holds us together,” Dr. Cullum says, “we’re not afraid of culture.”
Expanding the program
Beginning this August, NES will offer graduate-level courses toward Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees on the campus of Onondaga Community College (OCC) in Syracuse. Part of its expanding distance-education program, the courses will be offered via video conference, linking the community of learners in Syracuse with Northeastern’s Rochester campus through live video feed.
NES says students at both campuses will be able to interact with each other as well. This classroom format will incorporate on-site small group interactions and periodic chapel services to enhance community and provide instruction in spiritual formation, a distinctive of the NES education.
NES successfully launched a distance-education initiative last fall in Williamsville through the use of video conferencing.
The expansion into Buffalo and Syracuse “reflects the Seminary’s vision to prepare increasing numbers of theologically reflective, spiritually formed and professionally competent persons for ministry,” Dr. Cullum says. “We are pleased to partner with a community-minded organization like Onondaga Community College that clearly shares our vision for serving the members of the greater Syracuse region.”
Northestern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, 2265 Westside Drive, North Chili, New York 14624-1997. 585-594-6802.
2/19/12
Fire claimed village’s commercial core
The story of Hilton’s Main Street before Sunday, March 21, 1965
by David Crumb
What started out to be a quiet Sunday morning in mid-March 1965 turned out to be a colossal visitation of fire and terror as the north side of Main Street in Hilton was engulfed in flame. Anyone who was present that day will have the picture of that event well etched on their brain. Within a few hours the Main Street that residents had taken for granted, and had appreciated for its quaint and friendly ambiance, was changed forever - reduced to a pile of rubble. This was the heart of the community.
For members of the Parma Hilton community who remember the old Main Street, and for new residents who have only heard how it once was, but are curious to know more; this article is written.
In the beginning there was only an Indian Trail that began near Avon, New York in a small Native American village known as Canawagus. The name Canawagus means “Stinking Waters,” probably due to the sulphur springs near Avon. These people would travel north to Lake Ontario and the surrounding bays and marshes to hunt and fish in the spring and fall. Summers were too hot and mosquito infested, and winters were too dark and cold. The Canawagus Trial was a well traveled pathway for the Indians and later became the early white settler’s route north and south. This road is today known as Route 259 or South Avenue or Union Street.
Where South Avenue in Hilton abuts Main Street, local legend tells us that in the 1700s there was a giant sycamore tree that had fallen somewhere about where East Avenue meets Main Street. The tree fell across what is known as Hovey Street. The Indians instead of removing the tree just went around it to the first opening which is present day Lake Avenue. So this is the story of how Main Street was formed. Instead of going straight from South Avenue to Lake Ontario, the traveler would take a left jog until they reached Lake Avenue, and then turn right and head for the Lake. This jog would create a natural setting for a meeting and trading place, and so Main Street began to take shape.
The first name of Main Street was “The Crossroads,” later Tyler’s Corners after the area’s first settlers, the Tyler family; later still an early postmark notes the area as Salmon Creek Post Office. The first official name for Main Street and the hamlet was Unionville (about l840).
The Monroe County Map of 1852 shows Hilton as Unionville. Around 1856, Postmaster William Berridge moved his North Parma post office from North Parma (Bartlett’s Corners, intersection of Curtis Road and Route 259) to Unionville. Due to resulting confusion over mail deliveries, the name Unionville was changed to North Parma, and North Parma became Barlett’s Corners. In 1896, the village was renamed Hilton after Rev. Charles A. Hilton, a popular and departing Baptist minister.
Anyone who can, in their mind’s eye, remember Main Street before the 1965 fire will bring up a vision of one long block of two story buildings from Lake Avenue to Hovey Street. The block’s street level shops housed a variety of successful businesses. They were the Orange Green Drug Store, Madden’s Red and White grocery store, Graupman’s Meat Market, the Hardware Store, The State Bank of Hilton, Mikels or McNall’s Furniture; Barili’s Cobbler Shop; the U.S. Post Office; the RG&E; Grace and Archie Wilkin’s Pleasure Shop, and finally Bert Daily’s Barber Shop. All of these businesses would have been found in other small towns across America, but here we knew the people, and here we were recognized as part of the local scene. Above the stores on the second floor were large roomy apartments in what had once been furniture show rooms, lodges, and warehouses spaces. On the south side of Main Street were some similar buildings with Orb and Hazel Kenyon’s Hart’s Food Store, Hank Smith and Al McMann’s Barber Shop, and The Panarites’ famous Ice Cream Parlor known by a variety of names: Louie’s, Nick’s, the Candy Kitchen, and the Greek’s. A gas station in the middle of the block and then the popular Hiltonia Movie Theater built around 1913 and run in the 1950s by Ray and Lorraine Algier.
This was the Hilton that many of the village’s senior members well remember. The personalities, the seasons, the parades, the gossip, the shopping and everything else that happened on Main Street. The shape and style of this Main Street dated from about 1903 to 1965. Earlier fires changed an even older picture of Main Street long faded from living memory.
Some readers may not realize that there were two hotels on Main Street, two churches, two early houses, a village green, a wagon shop, an 1836 General Store, a very large general store with a peddler’s wagon, gas lamps, and the “famous stump.” The early barber shop was located on Hovey Street about where the entrance of the M&T bank is.
On March 12, a program will be presented at the Parma Town Hall by the Parma-Hilton Historical Society that will explore and review all of the different buildings that once graced Main Street from the earliest record until 1965. The local public is invited to attend this event and enjoy a nostalgic reminiscence in photographs and narration of how Main Street once appeared in its different phases.
2/19/12
Cabbage contest could yield scholarships
There is still time for third grade teachers to sign up for the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program, which offers youngsters a chance to learn about gardening and earn scholarship money.
“The program engages children’s interest in agriculture, while teaching them not only the basics of gardening, but the importance of our food systems and growing our own,” says Stan Cope, President of Bonnie Plants. “This unique, innovative program exposes children to agriculture and demonstrates, through hands-on experience, where food comes from. The program also affords our youth with valuable life lessons in nurture, nature, responsibility, self-confidence and accomplishments.”
Bonnie Plants trucks free O.S. Cross, or “oversized” cabbage plants to third grade classrooms participating in the program. If nurtured and cared for, kids can grow green, giant cabbages, some as large as 40 pounds.
The program was launched in 2002 and awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each participating state. Teachers from each class select the student who has grown the “best” cabbage based on size and appearance. A picture is then submitted to Bonnie Plants. The winning student’s name is entered in a statewide drawing. The winners of each state’s drawing are randomly selected by the Commissioner of Agriculture’s office, state by state.
Bonnie Plants chose cabbage for this project because cabbages were the first plants sold by Bonnie in 1918. The cabbages used for the third grade program are known for producing giant, over-sized heads, making the process more exciting for children.
Teachers interested in registering their class can go to www.bonnieplants.com. Officials at Bonnie Plants say the website is in the process of being updated and schools in the North will have more time for registering. If a class is late in registering, they will automatically go to next season’s list.
2/19/12
Magical night in Parma
Hilton-Parma families enjoyed a date night as H-P Recreation hosted their annual Family Sweetheart Dance on February 11.
Over 90 individuals attended the winter formal with musical entertainment by local DJ Marky-Mark.
Parents and their sweethearts were treated to snacks and refreshments, as well as a party favor and photo keepsake of their special evening.
Pictured: Paul Weaver is led by his two children, Kaiden, age 4, and Julianna, 8, during the Chicken Dance. To the left Dante Mesh, 5, and his friend Markus Kuzmanaski, 5, enjoy dancing to the fun song.
Provided photo
2/19/12
Hilton native Emma Lane is participating in Lovin’ Cup Idol.
She is competing against 10 plus other singers from the Rochester area.
Lane began singing at a young age and is now a veteran musician. Lane has sung with multiple bands, currently guest performing with the local classic rock group, Inside Out. She is currently writing her own country-rock album.
Provided photo
2/19/12
Dunn’s Furniture: 100 years and three generations on Main Street, Brockport
by Leisa Strabel
John Dunn in front of Dunn's Home Furnishing, February 2012. John says, "Being a part of the community is a highlight of our business, giving the customers an option from the big box store." His response when asked to note a memorable moment: "Making a delivery to a cottage on an island in the St. Lawrence River." Photograph by Walter Horylev.If there is one thing that the Dunn family men have in common, it’s that they tend to go away to school or training, but they always come back to Brockport. Actually, three generations of Dunn men – George Sr., George Jr. and John have much more in common than that – they’ve shared a business and commitment to customer service that spans 100 years.
Dunn’s Home Furnishings is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a Main Street, Brockport business – the only retail business in continuous operation during that period. While most residents and visitors probably picture Dunn’s where it has been located since 1956 – the home furnishings store actually had three other Main Street locations before George Sr. and Jr. constructed the showroom in its present location.
George Dunn, Sr., was born in Brockport in 1890. After high school graduation, George could have attended the University of Rochester on scholarship, but his father, James, was a harness maker who didn’t believe that the college degree was the best pursuit for his son. Instead, George, Sr. spent a year learning about the business world in the offices of Armour and Company in Chicago. Dunn soon decided there would be more opportunities working for himself, so in 1912 he came back to Brockport and opened a home furnishings and mortuary business with partner E.W. Allanson.
John's father, George, joins his son at the store for a photo. After being involved for 50 years in the family business, George, now 86, retired in 2000. "I think too much of my son to come down to the store to help him," George said when asked if still involved in the Main Street business. Home furnishings and mortuary business? According to George Jr., it wasn’t an unusual combination. He mentions that the Fowler family also ran a home furnishings store and funeral home in Brockport; as did the McNalls’ in Albion. George said he’s heard a couple of theories about why the seemingly dichotomous businesses would go hand-in-hand. The theory he believes is most creditable is that home furnishing stores were an outgrowth of cabinet making which would have included caskets.
In any case, George Sr.’s partner soon left to open another business and Dunn was on his own. The partners had opened their store in the Main Street building now known as Seawards Candies. In 1914, Dunn moved to 1 Main Street, currently home to the Stoneyard restaurant, and stayed there until 1943. At that time, George Sr. purchased 15 Main Street and kept his business there for 13 years.
George Jr. (older brother James was killed in World War II) headed off to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to study engineering. He switched his major to business and after graduating went to work for Sears Roebuck, the largest retailer in the world at the time. After marrying and starting a family, George Jr. decided that Brockport was a much better place to raise a family than Detroit and he came home to join his father in the business.
George Jr. knew at least a bit about his father’s business. As a youth and a teenager, his parents encouraged his attention to his studies and his participation in school sports, but if there was any free time, it was to be spent working at the store – not hanging out getting into trouble. “There was always something to be done,” George Jr. says, “helping on the truck, unpacking, keeping cleaned up.”
When he returned to the business as a partner, George Jr. studied for his mortuary license also. The Dunn’s continued to be in the funeral business until constructing their new building in 1956.
“We were Catholic,” George Jr. explains, “so we did all the Catholic funerals. The Fowlers were Presbyterians, they did all the Protestant funerals. It became apparent over time that Brockport’s population was going to be more Protestant. It wouldn’t matter if I had the nicest funeral home in New York State, I was only going to have a small share of the business.”
Dunn's on Main Street, Brockport, circa 1957For those who think of Dunn’s as a furniture store – for a very long time it was actually a home furnishings store. The Dunns sold paint, draperies, domestics like linens and towels, house wares and gifts. “When we built this building in 1956, less than 20 percent of our business was furniture,” George Jr. says.
But changing with the times has been what has kept Dunn’s Home Furnishings in business for a century. As the dynamics of the home furnishings business changed, so did Dunn’s. If the chain department stores could offer linens and draperies in a more convenient and cost-effective way, then Dunn’s could do something big box stores can’t do well – display and sell furniture.
Unlike some other types of retail businesses, there are still a good number of independent furniture stores, George says. Part of it is the personal touch – many people don’t want to buy furniture from a stranger; many people also don’t like the high-pressure sales tactics of the chain furniture stores.
The store George Sr. and Jr. built in 1956 was designed to attract foot traffic, with the gift merchandise right up front on Main Street. George Sr. was quite talented at draperies and that was an important part of the business. George Sr. stayed active at the store until his death in 1970.
Dunn's, Brockport, 1994. Sketch by Donna KelseyAs the business changed to more furniture and less furnishings, the third generation of Dunns was growing up. John remembers well working in the store as a youth – “it was an opportunity I didn’t appreciate at the time,” he says.
John followed in his father’s footsteps to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. But like his father and grandfather before him, he eventually returned to Brockport, joining his father in the business in 1985. “He was a real mentor,” John says of his father, “I learned the ropes from him.”
Most Brockporters probably consider Dunn’s the anchor of the downtown shopping district. It is not only the oldest retail business, but the largest in terms of square footage. The Dunns hope that their relationship with the other Main Street businesses is symbiotic – they all benefit from each other’s presence. “Any amount of traffic downtown is a benefit to all the stores,” John says.
from the Brockport Republic-Democrat newspaper May 1929George Jr. stopped playing an active role in the store in 2000, but he’s still interested in the dynamics of the business – he recently read about how other industries have tried to consolidate furniture making and selling into just a few powerhouses, but the effort has failed.
For John, steering the business into its second century of operation, it’s all about the customer. He keeps a copy of a quote, which he has adopted as his own personal mantra on his desk – “we must always be responsible to the people who allow us to exist.”
He is grateful to all the customers who have remained loyal to Dunn’s over many years, through recessions and Main Street construction projects. He is also grateful to long-time employees like Sue Arican (33 years) and David Reed (23 years).
John and his wife, Wendy, have 12 year-old twins. Will one of them be the fourth generation of Dunn’s Home Furnishings? It’s impossible to tell at this point. But based on the store’s enduring success, it’s a possibility the community would love to embrace.
2/12/12
Hilton Apple Fest Logo contest underway
The Hilton Apple Fest is holding a contest to select this year’s festival logo. The winning entry will be applied to sweatshirts, tee shirts, and other memorabilia. The winner will also receive $100 and a sweatshirt featuring the chosen logo.
The logo must be an original creation, and cannot be copyrighted. Entries should emphasize the value of the Hilton Apple Fest to the artist and the community in its entirety. The theme is limited only by your imagination, and experienced Apple Fest patrons may have plenty of memories to create from. Multiple entries per person are encouraged.
Logo designs must be submitted via post mail. All entries become the property of Hilton Apple Fest. All submissions must be received no later than Wednesday, March 14. Send entries to: Hilton Apple Fest, Att: Logo Contest, P.O. Box 1, Hilton, NY 14468.
Further details about this year’s Apple Fest and an archive of the past 22 winning entries are available online at www.hiltonapplefest.org.
Provided information
2/12/12
One man’s dream came true
Franklin Adams, better known as Mike is a quiet unassuming man who had a dream he has brought to reality.
His love of the Ford Motor Company and his appreciation of business as it was in years past gave him the idea to build his own garage one day. Somewhere in the mix, after having had the opportunity to work for Ray Badge at the dealership known as Badge Motors, he decided that not only would he like to have his own garage, but he also wanted to dedicate it to two Ford dealerships, Cabic & Badge and Badge Motors.
Cabic & Badge first opened their doors in 1931 at 3570 Latta Road in North Greece.That Ford dealership owned by Ed Cabic and Ray Badge flourished for over thirty years.
The building consisted of a small showroom, office, parts room and the work areas in the back. The dealership quickly became well known for their high quality of service and workmanship. The friendly atmosphere created a great spot for men to chat with friends while waiting for their cars.
n those days, everyone knew each other so taking the car to the garage took on a social air as well. Mike smiled as he remembered taking his 1957 in for inspection. While he was waiting, the fire whistle blew. All the men were firemen so as they dashed by Mike, they hollered, “Don’t forget to close the door when you leave.” No car inspection that day. Yes, those were the good old days without a doubt.
In 1964, Cabic and Badge on Latta Road closed with Ray Badge re-opening a short time later at a new location on Lake Avenue in Hilton. Badge Motors operated at that location from 1964 until 1971. It was during that time that Mike had an opportunity to work directly with the men he admired. Familiar names such as Ken Speer, Dave Griffin and Bill Stark were tossed around as Mike related stories of working there.
It was not unusual to arrive at work to see several farm trucks waiting to be tuned up for the coming season. The men would arrive to pick them up, making payment, but in addition on any given fall morning, bushels of all sorts of produce would mysteriously have been delivered before daybreak.
In 2006, Mike’s son, David, built the dream garage behind their home in Parma. When one enters the spotless building, aside from all the modern day tools, one takes a step back in time. The garage is filled with old tools and memorabilia acquired from gas stations or dealerships of the past as well as the many donations by family and friends. Mike knows the history of each and will happily relate their origin to you. As you look around one expects to see Ed Cabic, corn cob pipe in hand, or Ray ‘Bub’ Badge or Ken ‘Senator’ Speer, stick their head out from under a hood to see if they can help you. Time seems to stand still.
Franklin, “Mike” and his wife, Anne “Rocky” Adams are life-long residents of Parma. They belong to several antique car clubs. It is not at all unusual for Mike to pick up several first place awards at the Hilton Apple Fest car show. He has restored several cars receiving national recognition through magazine articles, one of which featured his 1937 Ford Station Wagon, a “Woodie,” on the cover. His latest venture is a Model A Tow truck built to honor the Cabic & Badge dealership, a true expression of love and admiration by one guy for a couple of men who crossed his path and made a difference.
Writers note: My dad, Jack Lowden, bought my first typewriter from Cabic & Badge for $5 in the mid-forties. How I wish I still had it - I would give it to Mike Adams.
Submitted by: Marilyn K. Wright, Hilton
2/12/12
Chili Webelos learn about first aid
Members of the Chili Volunteer Ambulance helped Webelos Dragon Den of Pack 292 in North Chili and their siblings learn about first aid, emergency preparedness and helped the scouts complete the Webelos “Readyman” activity pin.
The boys in the den finished earning all 20 of the Webelos activity pins and earned the last part of their “Arrow of Light” award by completing this activity.
Provided photos
2/12/12
Great Backyard Bird Count perfect for new birders
T
thinkstockhe results of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) provide a snapshot of the whereabouts of more than 600 bird species.
Anyone can participate in this free event and no registration is needed. Watch and count birds for at least 15 minutes on any day of the count, February 17-20. Enter your results at www.birdcount.org, where you can watch as the tallies grow across the continent. The four-day count typically records more than 10 million observations.
The 2011 GBBC brought in more than 92,000 bird checklists submitted by participants from across the United States and Canada. Altogether, bird watchers identified 596 species with 11.4 million bird observations.
Although it’s called the Great “Backyard” Bird Count, the count extends well beyond backyards. Lots of participants choose to head for national parks, nature centers, urban parks, nature trails, or nearby sanctuaries. For information, including bird-ID tips, instructions, and past results, visit www.birdcount.org.
The count also includes a photo contest and a prize drawing for participants who enter their bird checklists online.
The stylized graphic above depicts some of the birds that could be seen on a winter day -- from left, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, purple finch, goldfinch, cedar waxwing, blue jay, red headed woodpecker and in center on tree trunk, a nuthatch. Other common winter’s day sightings could include chickadees, juncos, titmice, hawks, geese, crows and starlings.
2/5/12
Historically significant general store ready for owner to restore it
by Kristina Gabalski
Those working to save the 1836 Clarendon stone store say significant progress is being made in their efforts.
The Clarendon Town Board recently agreed to sell the stone store, located at the intersection of Route 237 and Route 31A for one dollar to the person who presents the best plan meeting their criteria. Town board members also authorized the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee (OSSPC) and the Landmark Society to begin marketing the property.
“I’m pleased that the town board is willing to make this possible by cooperating with anyone who comes forward with an appropriate plan,” Clarendon resident and OSSPC chair Erin Anheier says. “The Landmark Society is working with us to market the building and I am hoping we reach the person who is willing and able to bring the building back to use. I like to say that this building isn’t empty, it is filled with opportunities.”
The stone store, which contains approximately 3,200 square feet, operated as a general store until 1975. It was then used as an apartment building and has been vacant since 2007.
Landmark Society officials say it is one of the oldest structures in the town and a unique surviving example of an early 19th century commercial building, executed in Medina sandstone.
“There are very few buildings like this left in our entire region, let alone in Orleans County,” Caitlin Meives, a preservation planner with the Landmark Society says. “It’s an important part of the community’s history and culture. It served as a general store and social gathering spot for the hamlet for almost 150 years. It sits at a prominent, heavily traveled intersection and, because of its historic character, really has the potential to serve as a unique marketing tool for the town/hamlet.”
Anheier says the town has already lost the beautiful stone Universalist Church, the stone school house, the stone blacksmith shop, the stone mill - all within the hamlet. “The more I learn about this building and the varied and important roles it has played in the history of Clarendon, the more I am convinced it should be saved,” she says. “If the building is demolished, it will be an irreversible and sad moment. Clarendon will have lost its most well-known landmark and people in the future will forget, or never know, how important it was to the growth of our community.”
The town owns the building and plans were made to demolish it, but in July 2011, the town board granted local citizens in partnership with the Landmark Society one year to market the property and find a new owner to rehabilitate it and bring it back to the tax rolls.
Since last July, the OSSPC has spearheaded local efforts to clean out the building, make immediate necessary repairs and have the property surveyed. With a $500 donation from the Landmark Society and funds raised by OSSPC, Bero Architecture, PLLC, was hired to prepare a report of the building’s condition and recommended repairs.
Meives says Anheier and Town Historian/Code Enforcement Officer, Melissa Ierlan, “have been absolutely instrumental in rallying the troops to get things done and bring increased attention to this property.”
“I am gratified that many residents came forward last July to tell the Town Board that they felt the stone store was important to them,” Anheier says. “Since that time, I have spoken to so many people who don’t live in Clarendon but have driven by the building. It has made an impression on them and they tell me they also hope it will be saved. A small group of volunteers have given countless hours to help reach that goal.”
With assistance from the Landmark Society, OSSPC members also completed the research and paperwork for a nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The nomination has been submitted to the NY State Historic Preservation Office and is pending approval by the NY State Review Board, which meets in March.
“I am very optimistic that the building will be placed on the State and National Register of Historic Places,” Anheier says. “The tax credits this will make accessible can make the rehabilitation of the Stone Store more attractive from a financial standpoint. But mostly, I hope to see the building rehabilitated so that it will once again be a focal point of the hamlet, and remind people of our proud past.”
For a plan to be considered by the Clarendon Town Board, it must include the planned use of the building, details of the rehabilitation plan and the timeline for the completion of the plan. It must return the front facade to a more historically appropriate appearance and restore the building to a condition allowing a Certificate of Occupancy, officials say.
The town board will give preference to a plan which includes commercial space or offices on the first floor and the same or storage on the second floor. Commercial or office space on the first floor and an owner occupied apartment on the second floor would be an alternate use. Town board members say it will also consider conversion of both floors to a single family home. Multiple apartments will not be considered.
The Landmark Society will assist with marketing the property, Meives says, through its own outlets and also through a national website that markets historical properties and will also lend expertise as the town considers offers from potential buyers.
2/5/12
Local Marine remembers Iwo Jima
by Rick Stacy
Bergen resident John Conlon, a Marine Private First Class at the battle of Iwo Jima, holds open a page from Eric Hammel's book "Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific" showing a group photograph taken on Mt. Surabachi by Pulitzer prize-winning photographer Joe Rosenthal. The photo was taken after Rosenthal's iconic flag raising image. Conlon is fourth from the right. Photograph by David Knox.It’s March 18 and John Conlon is celebrating his twenty-first birthday. The year: 1945. The place: the black, volcanic sands of Iwo Jima. He hasn’t bathed, shaved or had a hot meal in almost a month. He has already charged up Mt. Suribachi, whose summit was the site of a flag raising that became the iconic symbol of Marine’s victory for all time. Conlon had watched it go up.
“My outfit, Fox Company, was already up there,” recalls the eighty-seven year old Bergen resident. “They decided that the flag they had raised up first wasn’t big enough so they got a bigger flag. After they put the flag up, Rosenthal, the photographer, said, ‘Come on now boys, gather around and get your picture taken. The people back home like to see what the boys are doing.’ And that’s the way I got in the picture.” This picture of Conlon and others from Fox and Easy Companies in front of the famous flag was taken right after it was raised. Conlon is fourth from the right, with his rifle raised. Most of the men in that picture never made it home.
“On the third day the flag was raised,” says Conlon. “Everybody clapped and everybody yelled. But there was a lot of war going on after that. We were supposed to take the island in 72 hours. It took 36 days! Before we went in, the Navy blew the place. The Air force blew the place. But the Japanese, some 22,000 of them, were down in the ground. There was forty miles of tunnels. They just watched us in there and laughed at us. From all the bombing they killed two hundred men at most.”
On Ship
Conlon wrote his mother while still on the ship and said he didn’t know if he’d live to be 21 or not. His general gave him some advice: ‘John,’ he said, ‘when you get off the ship I want you to look right straight ahead and don’t turn around, just keep right on going. Don’t stop to help anybody. Don’t make any buddies because when you do, you help your buddy and lots of time you’re gonna get killed with them.’ And that’s what I did on Iwo Jima,” says Conlon. “I never got close to anybody. I did what I was told. And to this day I’ve never had a (close) man friend. But I lived.”
But on the ship, Conlon had a friend in his platoon, Les, who was from Niagara Falls. “He was close to me, this fella,” says Conlon. “When we were climbing down the ship’s ladders to the Higgins boats to get to the beach, he said to me: ‘John, I’m never gonna live through this. I want you to go to Niagara Falls and see my parents when you get home.’ I said, ‘Oh what are you talking about. You’ll be fine.’ Well, the flag was raised on the third day, and Les was killed on the sixth day on the beach. He stepped on a mine. The beach was loaded with mines. It blew him into a million pieces.”
About ten years ago all the bodies that were buried in Iwo Jima were exhumed and brought back home. Les’s body was brought back to Niagara Falls to be buried. Conlon was one of his pallbearers. “I did what I told him I’d do,” says Conlon.
Hitting the Beach
Marine Pfc. John Conlon in 1945. Bergen resident, John Conlon, a Marine Private First Class was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division at the battle of Iwo Jima.Conlon doesn’t recall why he chose to become a Marine. “I just don’t know to be truthful about it,” he says. “I was working in a slaughterhouse in Byron with my dad butchering cattle and I hated it. I just wanted to get away. And my mother took me down to Rochester and I enlisted.”
But slaughtering took on a new meaning for Conlon on Iwo. It was some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific theater of the war with more casualties than the total Allied casualties on the D-Day invasion. Over 19,000 Marines were wounded and almost 7,000 killed taking the island.
Conlon landed with the 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, and was the fourth or fifth wave in. “We went in on Red Beach One. That’s right at the foot of Mount Suribachi. There was some shooting going on but nothing much. From there on, things were quiet in the morning –real quiet. I lay there on the beach, all morning. The general of the Japanese had gone to school in our country,” Conlon says. “He told his men not to fire. ‘Let them all come in the beach and when I give the word you open up,’ he said. When noon came they opened up on us and you never saw so many dead bodies in your life. They killed thousands of Marines that first afternoon.”
“There was a Marine that came over from the states. He had all kinds of hashes and stripes on his uniform. A big, handsome man,” Conlon recalls. “He was so gung-ho. Boy he rode our ass on the ship. He’d put a white pair of gloves on and inspect your rifle and if there was one spot on it he made you clean it for a week. He was so mean. He’d say: ‘If the Japs don’t kill me my own men will.’ He knew that he wasn’t doing right. I felt so sorry for him that he had to be like that. Well, when we hit the beach who do you think was the first guy I seen up in front of me that was dead? It was him. He had a bullet right there (points to forehead). Do you know I cried? I lay beside him for three hours because the shooting was so bad. He was in the way of the bullets. He was protecting me. I put my arm around him and I laid there until the bullets slowed and then I moved. I opened his pocketbook and he had a picture of his wife and a little boy and girl. I said, ‘He’ll never see them again. Daddy’s not coming home any more.’ That was so sad. I never felt anything that hurt so.” Even these many decades later, Conlon pauses, overcome by the poignant emotion of that memory. “Why couldn’t he have been nice?” he says. “Why couldn’t he have been nice. He had had a diamond ring on him that was a big as his whole finger. It just sparkled. Well somebody had come along and cut that finger right off. It was gone.”
Moving up Mt. Suribachi
Marine Pfc. John Colon's favorite photo of himself taken during the battle of Iwo Jima is on the cover of Eric Hammel's book "Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific." Photograph of book cover by David Knox.During Marine training at Camp Pendleton, Conlon had scored second highest in his outfit on the machine gun. “Course there were others better than me. They were all crack shots,” he says. On Iwo Jima he was a rifleman. “I went in with a M-1 (Garand) . They weigh about eight pounds.” Conlon pulls out a large book on Iwo Jima and points to the cover which shows an alert Marine crawling up Mt. Suribachi. “That’s me on the cover,” he says. “The sand was probably two feet deep all over the island from the volcanic ash. Of course your shoes are all full of sand. And the island was so hot. No matter where you put your hand on that island it was hot. You could take your hand and scoop out a hole and set your C-ration can in it and it’d warm it right up.”
“You see the guy behind me (He points again to the book cover.) He was killed. I took his rifle and threw the other one down. He had a Carbine and his had a lot more ammunition in it. It was lighter and you could throw it right over your shoulder and get away from all that weight. After the shooting started I got rid of my pack, it weighed seventy pounds. I got rid of everything,” says Conlon.
At first he wasn’t catching any fire because he was down low. “The bullets were going right over me. But the closer you went in the more fire you got,” he says. What was going through his mind at that point? “I don’t know what I was thinking. I know I was darn busy, but I never had the fear of death. I believe the Lord was walking right beside me. I really believe this.”
“My buddy Pete and I were going up the mountain and all of the sudden he dropped down. He had a bullet almost cut his right ear off. My shoulder was right next to his. It only just missed me. It threw his helmet on the ground and ripped his ear right off. The Navy Corpsman was right there and he patched him up and that was it, he went back on the ship, the lucky dog. The Corpsman who helped him was John Bradley, one of the ones who raised the flag,” Conlon says.
“The Italians were the best fighters we had with us, them and the Indians,” recalls Conlon. “There were only four Indians but they were Cracker Jacks. They have a certain gift. I had one Indian in my battalion, Ira Hayes, a little Indian. He’s in the big monument (in Washington, D.C.). He’s the one that raised the flag.” Conlon didn’t like the movie about the flag raising ‘Flags of our Fathers’ because it wasn’t true to form. “The portrayal of Ira Hayes was not true. He was only about five foot high. Very humble. He was quiet, real quiet. Then he got drunk and you couldn’t shut him up. But he enjoyed life. We were over in Hawaii on Maui, that’s where we were before we went to Iwo Jima. Ira Hayes would go out every Sunday and get drunk downtown. Then he’d get on the four corners and start directing traffic, a crazy guy. The MP’s would put him in jail and the guys would have to go down and pick him up. But he was a peach of a guy. You know what the best movie was? It’s the one with John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima). That was just about the way it was.”
Burial Duty
After a few days Conlon was put on burial duty. “Right away there were bodies all over the place. They had to get them in the ground. They gave me forty Marines to bury. We had to go out and pick up the bodies in an Amtrak. We had to go all over the island to get them, up on the mountains, everywhere. I was in charge of that. We buried them in mattress covers –a great big cemetery. They had a bulldozer dig a trench and they laid them there side by side,” Conlon says.
“There’s so much work to that,” he says. “You take their rings off and all their possessions and everything was put in bags. The bodies all had to be finger printed. Then they spray them with a spray you know because it was so hot and there were the maggots. You know what I couldn’t understand? They claimed there was no bugs or bees or anything on Iwo Jima. There wasn’t a tree or anything. So how could you get maggots on a body with no flies? But every time you picked up a body, maggots would just drop right off, if it lay there very long.”
“There was a guy called John Basilone. Basilone was the greatest hero that ever lived. At Guadalcanal, I forgot how many Japs he killed. He got the Congressional Medal of Honor. One day while on burial detail, I’m standing there and they come over and they put a body right at my feet. They said, ‘John, do you know who this is?’ I said, ‘No not really.’ ‘That’s Basilone,’ they said. ‘Oh My God,’ I said, ‘you mean to tell me that he got killed?’ He was one of the first ones to hit Iwo Jima on Red Beach 2. He had a baseball hat on and carried a 45. He had said, ‘There ain’t a Japanese bullet that can pierce my body.’ Well, it wasn’t a Jap bullet but it was something worse. When they landed, Basilone said, ‘We’ve got to get the guns off the beach.’ Well it was just a matter of minutes and up he went. He was hit by a mortar. It blew him all to hell with four or five other Marines."
“There were so many mines,” Conlon recalls. “We’d go around and try to find them. Once, I was walking along the beach and this guy was hit by one. He was right in front of me. It took his right leg completely right off. On his leg was half his rear end. It lay over there like a hind quarter of beef. We put twenty packages of sulfa on his wound to stop the bleeding and everything. He said to us: ‘At least I’m gonna get the hell out of here.” I often wondered if he survived. They’d take the wounded to hospital ships, two or three great big ships out in the ocean. I mean you are talking about thousands of guys wounded. Thousands! There was just a stream of guys headed down to the beach walking toward the ships –if they could walk.”
Claiming the Island and Clearing Caves
Cave by cave, tunnel by tunnel, Conlon and his fellow Marines took control of the Island. Sometimes they used dogs to flush out the Japanese. “When you were asleep, that dog was awake. But you don’t sleep,” adds Conlon.
Conlon ate and slept, when he could, in the field. “I was pretty scrubby looking. All I ate was C-rations and K-rations. I had nothing. I got rid of my pack right on Red Beach One. All my clothes were in it. Everything was in it. I was trying to save my life. I didn’t need all that excess,” Conlon says. “All hell is breaking loose all the time. The bullets never stop. At night they throw up those little parachutes with flares to see. But the Japanese were so sneaky. I’d hear them hollering: ‘Hey Joe, Hey Joe.’ They were trying to draw you over. It was always ‘Joe.’”
“One night, this Marine got way ahead of us. I don’t know how the hell he got there, but they got him. He probably stepped in a cave to get out of the rain. But he screamed and yelled all night. We tried to get to him up there. We were sitting on one side of a cliff, the water was dripping down on top of us, a creepy place. But you could hear him in the distance screaming and yelling. Three or four other Marines tried to get to him. One was killed and another was wounded trying to get to him. He screamed and screamed all night. The next morning we went up and went in the cave and there he lay, on his stomach. They had taken a bayonet and cut big chunks of meat out of his butt and his back. Big chunks of meat! They took his wrist and they twisted it right off until it just hung down. Tortured him terrible. He had red hair. I would say he was probably twenty. The poor thing. And then they put a bullet in him right there (points to head), to give him a break from the pain. That poor thing went through hell. After that we never took anybody prisoner. We killed everybody. Before we used to let them surrender if they wanted to surrender. After that we killed everybody. That was it. There was nobody going to be left alive when we got done,” says Conlon.
“I probably killed about thirty-seven Japs, that I know of,” says Conlon. “That’s not a lot, not when there’s twenty-two thousand there. I never liked killing anyone. If I didn’t have to, I didn’t. He had a mother too. In other words, if I didn’t have to kill him, I let somebody else do it. I’d kind of look the other way. I mean, I could kill anybody, but it’s just the idea of the thing, you know? After all, he was just there doing a job. And as for that guy that was tortured, that was just an incident. It kind of fired everybody up. Everyone didn’t see him lying there with chunks of meat missing. It was just five or six of us. There are so many things that happen in war. That was the first war I was ever in.”
Flame-throwers were used to flush the Japanese out of the caves. “They even had flame-throwers on the tanks,” says Conlon. “A guy had a flame thrower on his back and was clearing out a hole and he just missed me. It was pretty hot. It really scorched me.” Conlon pulls up his sleeve revealing the scars on his arm.
They went through the caves only once. “We’d find all kinds of barrels of sachi, and kimonos left there from the prostitutes that had been there. The prostitutes had left before we got there. But toward the end they were all hungry and there was no water and they were happy to come out. They just surrendered. They about had it. They were happy it was over,” he says.
Bringing in the Planes
Once the island was coming under control, the planes that were returning from their bombing runs were able to land. “The Navy Seabees (Construction Battalions), they did a lot of work on the island. They took care of the airfields and everything. They built all that. They were the best. They were working right there under fire. They had to get the airfield done because that was what the fighting was all about,” says Conlon. “One day a guy was running a small bulldozer up on the beach. He hit a mine. It took that bulldozer and put it upside down. The guy on the seat got thrown right off and he lay there, blood was coming right out of his eyes. I don’t know if he lived or not.”
“There was always four Mustangs that would follow a B-29 and one would land at a time. Boy they were a great plane,” Conlon recalls. “Some of those B-29’s coming in crashed and burned. One guy came in and landed his plane and said, ‘Thank God for the Marines,’ because the ocean was full of B-29’s and Mustangs that didn’t make it back. They ran out of fuel or were shot up and their plane was damaged. They needed Iwo Jima to land on. We took Iwo Jima so they could land there short.”
“The B- 29 crews, when they landed, they put up their tents. We had just gone back to the ship. The Japanese came out and got after the pilots at night and chopped them all up with swords and cut all their tents up. We had to come off the ship again and clean that up. That was a mess. You see, your not going to kill all those Japs, there were so many tunnels. There’s gonna be some left there. There probably is today,” Conlon adds with a smile.
Upon reflection, Conlon feels they should have never taken the Island in the first place. “When we got back into Hawaii, there was only a half a dozen of my company that was left. It came over the radio that Franklin D. Roosevelt had just past away. Well then Truman was put in. Truman was tough. Truman used the atomic bombs. If they had waited just a little bit longer, see, Iwo Jima would’ve never had to be taken at all, cause that ended the war. It was really a tough thing, but it ended the war,” he says.
Saddle Up
“They dropped the atomic bomb and that ended the war, otherwise it’d probably still be going yet,” Conlon says. “That’s when they sent us to Japan. I was there for a year. Got things all straight over there. The first thing, we pulled in with the train loaded with Marines and right beside us was a Japanese train. We reached out and shook each other’s hands. They were happy the war was over.”
“We took over a Japanese camp over there. They built a nice little building and six of us took that building over and we all took turns taking care of the boiler. It was good duty. Every day there was ten Japanese that came in and picked up all of the papers, cleaned the showers and did whatever needed to be done. Nice guys. They thought the world of me. They loved the American soap, they’d always grab a hold of that,” he says.
“Then there were the guys who fell in love with some of the Japanese girls. I tell you, some of them Japanese girls were beautiful and they could speak good English. Frank, a little Italian guy, he went with this Japanese girl and she was absolutely beautiful. And they were in love. I remember when it was time for us to leave, she said: ‘Bye Franky, don’t leave me, don’t leave me.’ And that’s the last he ever heard of her. I stopped down to see him one day when we were back and I never saw anyone so depressed. I mean, why didn’t he send over for her?” Conlon says.
“But there were a lot of girls who were pregnant from the (American) guys, from the Marines and the Army. And that’s always the way, in Germany, in France, that always happens,” he says.
While in Japan, Conlon became friends with some Japanese who had a stable of horses. He has always loved horses. “I raced horses for years,” says Conlon. “I had 16 horses racing at one time. In fact I have good one racing now His name is Yankee Ben. Boy he can trot,” he says.
“These Japanese had some beautiful horses,” Conlon recalls. “They had everything. They had a regular stable, saddles and everything. Since I had this nice job taking care of the boiler, and I had all these other men to help, I could go out everyday and ride horses. I had a couple horses I taught to jump over there.”
“You know it’s been a lot of years since I was there,” says a thoughtful Conlon. “But all the time I was in Japan I never saw one thing out of the way, by either one of us. With the Japanese we got along just fine – with everybody. I never saw anything that went so smooth.”
2/5/12
What’s new at the library?
Staying relevant in a rapidly changing world
by Terra Osterling
Victor Lipka from Hamlin reads an e-book on his Nook E-Reader device at the Seymour Library E-Readers Made Easy Program. Area public libraries are adapting to the rapidly changing world of technology and meeting patrons' needs in unique waysOne of the hottest gifts during the 2011 holiday season was the e-reader. Amazon reports selling over one million of their Kindle devices per week throughout December, not to mention the countless millions sold of Sony’s e-reader, Barnes & Noble Nooks and other e-reader devices.
For people who enjoy reading, a new world has arrived. And in that new world is a familiar place: the public library. While rising demand for access to technology and non-print media has spurred significant change for libraries, their relevance remains constant.
Donna Haire has been the director of the Newman Riga Public Library in Churchville for 28 years, a time period that she says has seen “incredible, incredible change.” E-readers add a new facet to book-borrowing and regularly Newman Riga hosts a class on downloading e-books from Overdrive – a web-based service used by the Monroe County Library System to meet the book-borrowing public’s increasing demand for access to e-book titles.
“We’ve watched our video collection morph into DVDs and our Books on Tape morph into Books on CD. We stand on the brink of more change, watching Books on CD morph into downloads,” says Haire, as she considers the shifts that have occurred over her career. To cope, Newman Riga keeps their collections basic. “We embrace the fact that we cannot afford to be ‘state of the art.’ Books remain our focus.”
Lisa Rice (second from the right), evening librarian at the Newman Riga Library, answers questions from library patrons during her session on how to download e-books to a personal computer. Photograph by David Knox.Even so, the Newman Riga Library also offers for check-out several portable and easy to use Playaways, a device pre-loaded with a digital audio book. Four computer workstations are equipped with basic office programs and supply internet access. Free wireless hotspot is also available on-site for internet access on personal devices (laptops, e-readers and smartphones), as it is at most member libraries in the Monroe County system.
The expense of Playaway devices, DVDs and Books on CD, computer equipment, not to mention print materials, is significant.
With state aid to Monroe County libraries flat over the last decade after being slashed to 1993 levels, and town aid flat for the past three years, Newman Riga is run purposefully like a small business on a modest annual budget of $180,000 and a wisely invested endowment. Haire draws on a philosophy that combines “fiscal prudence” and focus on the core mission.
An expansion in 1989 doubled the size of the library to about 3,200 square feet, with most of it today still dedicated to what Haire calls the library’s reason for being: books.
“When money is limited, we can’t be all things to all people. We stick with the basics, those fundamentals that … fall under the general heading of education.” Repairs, projects and programs are all second to providing access to print material, computers and the internet.
“Our board has tried hard not to reduce our book budget,” says Haire, and in turn Newman Riga specializes in reader’s advisory (i.e., recommending the right book to the right patron) and promoting a summer reading program, with all prizes donated.
Barbara Maleski from Brockport and Pauline Brown from Hamlin learn how to navigate the Monroe County Library System to download e-books on a laptop computer at the Seymour Library E-Readers Made Easy program.The small business strategy and focus on books has paid off. In fact, circulation at the center-village library has increased over the years, with 28,000 materials checked out in 2011.
While the wave of technology washed out card catalogs a decade ago to make way for computer workstations, libraries continue to function both as the local depository for books and non-print media, and as a community-based education hub.
“Our role has not been diminished by these changes, but has become more important as people try to sift through an abundance of information and technology,” states Becky Tantillo, director of the Parma Public Library, where e-readers have been embraced along with other new technologies.
“We held classes last year in the spring and summer (on downloading library books for e-readers), and will probably do it again.” Tantillo will also personally assist patrons with downloading to an e-reader from Overdrive if online instructional YouTube videos linked to the library’s home page still leave users perplexed.
The Parma Library’s website, Facebook page and six desktop computers showcase the library’s role in accessing technology.
“The limited space in the library prevents us from adding more desktops (computers) for our patrons, so to expand the number of patron access computers, we recently purchased five laptops.” Tantillo adds that the laptops will be available for patron use in February and will connect to the internet via the library’s free wireless hotspot.
The Parma Library also recently increased the number of large-print books available in response to high demand, circulating in all over 142,000 items in 2011.
Matt Krueger, Adult Services Librarian at the Brockport Seymour Library, demonstrates to his patrons how to download e-books as part of his E-Readers Made Easy program. Photograph by David KnoxAgain, computers and books (even downloadable) cost money and the Parma Public Library experienced the same reduction in state aid as all Monroe County libraries. But their 2012 budget is up 10% from last year, thanks to a partial restoration of the materials budget. Patrons didn’t suffer from the cuts in prior years as the library’s endowment fund was used to supplement materials purchases.
“This is only a temporary solution,” concedes Director Tantillo, acknowledging that the fund balance will be needed for potential future improvements, such as to the library’s HVAC and structure. Outside efforts also help the library to make ends meet, including the “Friends of the Parma Public Library”-run used bookstore located across the street, where half of the profits go to the library. Money raised by the Teen Advisory Board through candy sales was used to purchase a café table set and wall art for the teen section.
“They’re in here a lot,” Tantillo says of local teens. “They jump on the computer, log into Facebook, and borrow all kinds of things,” including Japanese manga (a style of comic art), checking out “stacks at a time.”
The youth of the community benefit from much of the Parma Library’s programming. The Teen Advisory Board pushed to have the “Get Locked In @ The Parma Public Library” program last fall where 21 teens attended a night of scavenger hunts, movies, games and food. It was so successful that another lock-in is planned for February. Tantillo highly values this relationship, saying, “These teens essentially become ambassadors for the library.”
Youth-oriented services provided by the Parma Library don’t stop there. “We do have a large home schooling population,” explains Tantillo. To help support that segment of the community, the library offers a Family Book Discussion group during the day and grant-purchased “subject kit bags,” filled with books and CDs on topics such as music and art, are available for check-out.
A popular evening story time held last fall, in addition to the standard twice-weekly morning story time, fills a need for working parents and their children of all ages. So popular was the evening story time that registration has opened for another series.
Barbara Dodson from Brockport works on her smartphone e-reader device at the Seymour Library E-Readers Made Easy program. Photograph by David Knox“Often it is listening to the needs of an individual patron and meeting that one person’s needs,” says Tantillo, reflecting on the library’s role in the community.
The idea of the library as a community hub was a major focus when the Seymour Library in Brockport relocated to its 18,000 square foot facility in 1996. Here a patron can use one of more than a dozen desktop computers yet still thumb through the repair manual for a 1980-1987 import car.
“It isn’t just about the books,” confides Patty Good, interim library director at the Seymour Public Library. “It’s not the same as it used to be … which makes it exciting!”
Benefits of having built a facility in the last 20 years include both being well-prepared for the technology shift, and positioning the library as a community meeting place.
Meeting rooms (space offered free of charge) are used by local non-profits, scouting troops and groups of all ages. The library also hosts an active community on its Facebook page. Interim Director Good emphasizes the point saying the Seymour Library strives to be “a community place -- ‘your’ place to come.”
The Teen Scene, renovated and expanded in 2010, is café-like: along one wall are four desktop computers equipped with quality headphones and situated at a high countertop with stools. Restaurant-style booths along a glass partition separate the teen area from the rest of the library. A large section of Young Adult books flanks an open area of soft seating and a coffee table stocked with board games.
There is a room for local history research and in one corner of the children’s book wing an area for stimulating pre-literacy play. And there are lots of electrical outlets throughout the library for patrons visiting with their laptops to access the free wireless hotspot.
In what has become a familiar link among libraries, the Seymour Library hosted an “E-readers Made Easy” class in January, with pre-registration for the session filled well in advance. Additional classes will likely be offered as Good feels that this provides the opportunity to demonstrate for patrons the library’s role in the new technology landscape. The Seymour Library, which circulates nearly 200,000 materials a year, even has an e-reader available for check-out.
A long capital campaign provided the funds for the new construction in 1996, and aggressive fundraising continues to be the norm. With a budget of over a half million dollars, the Seymour Library still relies on help from outside sources. A “Friends” group has in the past purchased fixtures, furniture, Playaway devices, office equipment, and food, t-shirts and prizes for youth programs.
The annual $25-per-ticket “After Hours” is an evening-long food, wine and entertainment event that raises money for additional major purchases – the 2011 event proceeds were earmarked for new computers, computer seating and an electronic message board. Community groups and business owners contribute to the library’s financial well being, including donations for specific needs such as new book purchases or needed equipment.
The costs to keep up with technology advancements, as well as rising costs for employee benefits and retirement plans, will continue to strain library budgets. But based just on the activities and programs of these local libraries, the return for communities cannot be overstated.
Aside from overdue fines and nominal hold fees, every book and non-print item available for check-out, computer equipment and software for use on site, wireless hotspot internet access, as well as entertaining and educational programming, continues to be free and open to the public.
Whether it is the pre-literacy play area at the Seymour Library, a teen lock-in program at the Parma Library, or the one-on-one relationships built over book recommendations at the Newman Riga Library, it is obvious that the Kindle won’t be putting libraries out of business anytime soon. If anything, e-readers might introduce new patrons to their local library.
“The library will continue its commitment to provide free and open access to information for all people,” says Parma Public Library Director Becky Tantillo. “The role of the library in the community is to inform, educate and enrich lives. These values are timeless.”
Editor’s note: The libraries asked to participate in the content of this article were chosen to represent the various size facilities within the readership of Westside News Inc. newspapers, Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald.
1/29/12
Share your memories of Eastman Kodak Company
E-mail your memories of the Rochester photo giant to
Please include your name along with your address & phone number (address & phone number not for publication).
The memories will be compiled on this website.
1/22/12
Memory by Walter Horylev...
I spent 33 years of my life at Kodak and I do have a lot of fond memories, like:
•Spending noon hours playing competitive Bridge or Gin Rummy (5 per side) or Hearts.
•Spending part of my lunch hour perusing sale items in the tool section of the nearby Sears store on West Ridge Road.
•Going to the homes of fellow workers in our group for a Friday lunch and trading the location weekly. That came to a screeching halt when we were over 45 minutes late coming back from Brockport.
•Playing Christmas music with the Off-Beats, fellow musicians from CP&P and Photo Technology, during lunch time in the cafeteria of B-69 and having everybody joining in on the carols.
•Watching explosions going off from an office window in B-65 when they were forming a base for the foundation of B-69 next door.
•The Friday afternoon rush to get to Lake Shore Country Club and dressing while driving; it was first-come, first-up on the tee and with a late starting time you might not get 18 holes in.
•Walking all over Kodak Park East to meetings; rain, snow or shine.
•The noon hour basketball games in B-28. We even had girls playing eventually and they looked slightly nervous when we said we were ‘shirts’ and they were ‘skins’.
•The long hours, even Saturday and sometimes Sunday, spent on making the Instant program technically successful. Although it failed for other reasons this project generated a whole new cadre of engineers who learned that the good old days of less urgency were over. It was inspiring to see so many people from different divisions working together, even the brass coming in on the weekend, for a common cause.
•The time I was tricked into leaving my office ostensibly to have a photo taken in B-28 and coming back to find it decorated by my basketball buddies.
•The feeling that you could talk to so many experts in various fields to find out information about almost anything. They were the Google® of that time.
•All the training sessions that were provided to engineers, new and old. It was a great way for me to get up to speed in learning a new technology, photo science, back when this wasn’t a college course.
•The long coffee breaks, morning and afternoon, and the same people always sitting at the same tables with the same companions, day after day for years, like in church pews.
•B-28 was a home away from home with a magnificent stage where on special nights speakers gave presentations and gifts, especially power drills, were given away, an excellent cafeteria, a rifle range, bowling lanes, basketball courts (the evening leagues were great fun, I only sprained my ankle once in 30 years), a running track, a pool that was used for drying Coloramas, a gift shop and plenty of darkrooms for color and B&W processing and printing.
•The Kodak Camera Club held numerous photo competitions and classes that provided a tremendous learning experience for me and many others; these activities helped create a number of personal friendships and produced some outstanding photographers. (Every employee of Kodak Park was a member of the Camera Club but, of course, most did not participate).
•My least fond memory: The day when B-65 and B-69 were imploded. I was with a large crowd slightly northeast and two blocks away from the buildings when the huge cloud of dust and debris from the blasts was carried right at us, engulfing us in a blinding brownish fog, as if to say: “You were a part of me, now I’m a part of you.”
Walter P. Horylev
Hilton
2/5/12
Memory by Den and Mary Eichas-Gavigan...
Kodak employment began February 14, 1964
All five of us remember February 14, 1964, the day that Ken began employment at Eastman Kodak Company, full time, reliable, you could count on, work. This meant grocery money every week. Additionally, every March, Kodak shared profits by distributing a bonus.
Each year on Dividend Day, the three children and I (JoAnn, Victoria and Christopher) made a snowman announcing our joy. This year, 1969, as a bit of humor, we hung a pail because as a five year employee, Ken would get a full, 100 percent bonus. Wearing Ken’s hat, gloves, and holding one of our maple sap buckets, we displayed our gratitude and appreciation - and waited for ‘Dad’ to bring the check home. Some of the money stayed at Kodak, saved, and this year the part coming home would help pay for JoAnn’s orthodontic braces.
Because of this consistent Kodak employment, we were able to give our children educational travel experiences, sports programs, educations, and weddings. This gave Ken and I tremendous satisfaction.
God bless George Eastman and his Kodak for all it made possible for us.
Ken and Mary Eichas-Gavigan
Parma
2/12/12
Memory by Maisie Rife Strassner...
Living the Kodak life
I am 95 years old, and my family goes back with Kodak Park, to about 1912.
I lived on Steko Ave. off Dewey Ave. for about 60 years (have seen changes). My memories are some good ones, plus what my parents told me. When I was small, it was Lewiston Ave., not Ridge Road. During WWI, Kodak supplied workers with small lots and seeds for gardens. During the Depression, instead of laying off workers, they divided workers into groups. One group worked three days a week, the other two days, then the next week they rotated.
Also, instead of not giving a dividend, they just reduced it. At least we got something. Dad always said it was a blessing and no one went hungry.
I remember when I was little, once a year the workers put on a minstrel show - how great it was.
Friday night was basketball, in old Building 28, with dancing after, then free ice cream in the old 28 cafeteria. Jackie Brightman was the basketball man then. My father managed the Kodak Park soccer team for many years and all the trophies were on display in the Building 28 show case. Leigh Rife was his name. Shifty Gears was our baseball great.
As children, when we were hurt, we went to Kodak medical and Dr. Slater took care of us.
…the five o’clock whistle … the big coal pile on Ridge Road … George Eastman started Kodak Park School, now #41 … Sunday dinners in both old 28 and new 28. Then new Building 28 was built, with new bowling lanes, Camera Club, the auditorium, for movies and plays … I could go on and on -- wonderful memories.
Maisie Rife Strassner
Victor Lane
Hamlin
2/12/12
Memory by Mary Lou Rockow...
Kodak Memories
My grandfather, James A. Noble, was an Eastman Kodak executive who rose from office boy to an assistant manager at Camera Works and worked for Kodak for 45 years. He was credited with a number of technical developments at the plant including a lacquer formula he devised in 1914 that was still in use at his retirement in 1953. He also designed a camera bellows and equipment to manufacture bellows. In a newspaper article written at his retirement he was quoted as saying: “One of the most rewarding aspects of my career was the opportunity for encouragement of young employees. I have always told young people who have come to me for advice to put forth every helpful idea they get, for it all aids in gaining plant management recognition.”
James Noble was a Kendall native and through night study he completed a New York Central course in telegraphy, served as manager of the Pinnacle Club in Rochester and worked for a Cleveland electrical firm. At Kodak, he began in the Camera Works spool department and rose to the position of foreman and head of several departments. In 1938 he was named superintendent of process and became superintendent of manufacturing in 1944, general superintendent of manufacturing in 1946 and assistant manager of the plant in 1952.
I remember the summer home that he and my grandmother had on Conesus Lake and the wooden Chris-Craft inboard he would give us rides around the lake in when we visited.
One of my first jobs was as a “mail girl” (only young girls were hired for the job at that time) at Eastman Kodak. There was a large group of young people who would sort and deliver the mail throughout the building on State Street. I did the 19th floor. We would sort the mail for our area and organize the mail in a large cardboard box we would carry with shoulder straps. We’d race against one another to see who could get their mail delivered first. We’d run up the stairs instead of using the elevator!
On Lomond Shores on Lake Ontario, where I live now in a family home, there were many early cottages built with materials from Kodak Salvage. Cypress wood used for shipping by Kodak and discarded after use was reclaimed from Salvage and used to build many of the early cottages along the lake. Other discarded items such as electrical lights removed in building renovation were reclaimed by Kodak workers and re-purposed for domestic use.
One very big and special memory I have of working there reflects the Kodak philosophy to encourage workers to share their ideas for innovation and facilitation of work tasks. Workers in the mail room had to scan the incoming mail envelopes. The set up to scan items only allowed for one person to work at a time. I suggested that if the light on the scanner were raised, two people could access the light mechanism. The suggestion earned me $500!
Mary Lou Rockow
Kendall
2/12/12
Memory by Donald 'Barefoot' Post...
At core of Kodak employment are the friendships made
I am writing in response to your request in the January 29 Hamlin-Clarkson Herald seeking memories of Kodak. I worked at Kodak 37 years and my most precious memory is of the many friendships I developed there. I even met and courted my wife there. As a member of the Kodak Camera Club I developed and printed over a thousand pictures in my day without cost. I watched Shifty Gears strike out the batters and Tommy Castle hit one into the George Eastman Tree in right field at the lighted Kodak ballfield, a novelty in its day. The Kodak team was world champion twice. I ate delicious meals at the Kodak cafeterias. I couldn’t wait to read the Kodak newspaper, “The Kodakery,” which featured articles on company doings and on company people. I worked for Kodak Construction which built many of the buildings. I worked on buildings which no longer exist but their demolition cannot destroy their memory.
I enjoyed the memories of past Kodak people in your last issue. A book could be written on Kodak ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’. The physical aspects might be destroyed but the memory of the greatest company in the world will never be destroyed.
Donald ‘Barefoot’ Post
Brockport
2/19/12
Winter Farmers Market offers fresh and local products
Ed Fraser, owner of Fraser's Garlic Farm in Churchville and president of the Highland Park Farmers Market Association, shows a customer a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin. Ed is also an expert with garlic and enjoys teaching people how to grow, harvest, store and use garlic. In its second year, the Highland Park Farmers Market Association, a local farmer-led initiative, is running the Highland Park Winter Farmers Market.
Ed Fraser, owner of Fraser’s Garlic Farm in Churchville, is the president of the group. According to Del Ippolito, the Market Manager, the Highland Park Winter Farmers Market is an opportunity for local farmers to sell their crops during the winter and provide some of the finest food available in the greater Rochester region.
John Bolton, owner of Bolton Farms, a hydroponic greenhouse facility in Hilton, bundles spicy micro greens for a customer at his Highland Park Winter Farmers Market booth. His product line also includes fancy lettuces, herbs, greens, chards, green beans and heirloom tomatoes.
John Bolton, who owns Bolton Farms, a hydroponic greenhouse facility in Hilton, said his product line is picked the morning of the market.
The market has been held weekly from this past November and runs through May 2, 2012 on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Cornell Cooperative Extension Building, 249 Highland Avenue, Rocheser.
Photographs by Dave Knox
1/22/12