News for the week of
December 8, 2003

In Features:

Artful eggs
When the Nau family looks at an egg, they aren't thinking fried, scrambled or over-easy. To this Spencerport family, each oval, white (or sometimes blue, green or brown) shell is a blank canvas just waiting to be transformed into something more beautiful. more

Christmas trees of good quality this year
With a wet spring followed by a moderate summer and mild fall, the quality of local Christmas trees for 2003 is rated from good to excellent with good availability in all sizes and types. For the Rochester region, Christmas tree sales got off to a slow start on the weekend of November 29, mostly due to wet and snowy weather. Sales are expected to pick up dramatically for the next two weekends. more

Hamlin residents overflow town hall for public hearing
The town came to the town hall Monday night forcing officials to reschedule a meeting planned to allow public comment on a proposed rental-housing complex in Hamlin. more

Local fire departments to receive federal grants
Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate (EP&R) of the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) has awarded $917,120 to 10 fire departments in New York in the 25th round of federal grant approvals under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, according to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). more

Tenny Animal Shelter holds open house
The Kathleen Tenny Animal Shelter, at 1215 Hilton Parma Corners Road, held an open house Saturday, December 6. more

In Briefly:

Area authors visit Lift Bridge Book Shop
Over 25 local adult and children's authors will offer informal readings and presentations throughout the afternoon Sunday, December 14 from 2 to 4 p.m. They will also be available to sign their books. more

Clarendon housing project gains ground
A proposal by the Urban League of Rochester to build a 20-unit housing complex in Clarendon has moved forward in the process by gaining variances for parking spaces and a side setback. more

Flag pole dedication Dec. 13 in Spencerport
Spencerport area community members are invited to join elected officials in the dedication of a new flag pole and monument. Ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 13 in front of the Spencerport Village Offices, 27 West Avenue. more

Holiday food and gift packages outreach underway
The Hamlin Bread and Thread's Christmas Angel Program is collecting new, unwrapped gifts for the children of families in need in the Hamlin area. Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so until December 19 at the following locations more

Seldon Square Apartments now open
A ribbon cutting was held recently for phase II of the Seldon Square Apartments at 125 Sunset Center Lane in Clarkson. more

Students collecting winter clothing
Students at the William C. Munn School, 2333 Manitou Road, will be collecting winter clothing through December 23 to be donated to local charities. more

In Schools:

First Triple C Awards presented
The Triple C Award, "is a way to honor the people who make a difference in our schools, including our students, our parents, our staff and our teachers," explained Churchville-Chili Superintendent Annemarie Spadafora at the first presentation of the Triple C Award at the Board of Education meeting. more

Hilton Schools awarded national, state and local grants
The Hilton Central School District has recently received more than $148,000 in local, state and national grants in the area of transportation, education and records retention. more

Holley Elementary participates in penny drive
Holley Elementary School's Student Council displays the 18 jugs of pennies they collected for CURE Childhood Cancer Association. The students recently presented the pennies to Emily Rowe, CURES's director of programs. CURE provides educational, emotional and financial support to families facing childhood cancer. more

Meeting "Coqui" the kissable frog
Holley second-grader Rebecca Whitchendahl had an opportunity to meet "Coqui" the frog during a Young Audiences performance by Felix Pitre, who recently used puppetry, music, and storytelling to bring the culture of Latin America alive for Holley Elementary students. more

SOS "Save Our Students" Task Force meets in Hilton
Fifty parents, teachers and community members met December 2 in the Hilton School District to address the issue of substance abuse prevention and underage drinking in a new effort entitled SOS "Save Our Students" Task Force. more

Spencerport singers chosen for state chorus
Spencerport High School students Shannon Ealy and Kathleen Ellis, both altos, have been selected to perform at the New York State School Music Association All-State Conference. The event was held in Rochester. more

Spencerport student performs in state conference band
Chris Russell, a senior at Spencerport High School, has been selected to perform in the Conference All-State Symphonic Band at this year's New York State School Music Association Winter Conference in Rochester. more

SUNY Brockport student receives student production award
SUNY College at Brockport junior Joel Neden received the award for Best News Reporting in the 2003 National Student Production Awards sponsored by the Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. Neden's news piece, which was for SUNY Brockport's student-run radio station WBSU 89.1 FM The Point, was named "New York Anti-War Rally." more

Swing your partner and do-si-do!
Holley Elementary students spent a week learning square dancing in physical education class with Mike Callahan, professional caller. After students honed their square dancing skills, a PTSA Square Dance and Ice Cream Social was held so students could dance with their parents and show them the calls they learned. more

Teachers get ready for their debut at McDonalds
It's every student's dream: a chance to order their teachers around. This dream opportunity takes place on Wednesday at McDonalds (Spencerport) where Cosgrove Middle School teachers will be taking orders and serving their students and other customers from 3 to 7 p.m. as a fundraiser for Erika Daugherty, an injured Cosgrove student. more

In Sports:

Blue Devils' Parrino commits to LeMoyne
Brockport senior shortstop Andy Parrino has officially committed to play Division I baseball at LeMoyne College in Syracuse for the 2004-05 campaign. After considering St. John's, West Virginia and Old Dominion among other schools, the third-team All-New York State selection decided to stay close to home. more

Fitton dedication a memorable moment
Brockport High gym was packed to honor Matt Fitton before the Brockport Boys Varsity basketball game on Friday, November 28. more

Greece Charger Pee Wee's
Crowned New York State Champions
The Greece Charger Pee Wee's traveled to P & C Stadium in Syracuse on November 29 to play the Rotterdam Raiders for the New York State Pee Wee Division Pop Warner Championship. The Chargers came away with a 7-1 win over the Raiders to complete a perfect 13-0 season. more

Life jackets on loan safety help for children
Now through February 20, 2004 the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water is looking for new locations to become lending sites for its free Life Jacket Loaner Program. The program loans out children's life jackets - from readily accessible sites such as marinas, boat clubs and other waterfront businesses - to boaters who have a temporary need for a kid's life jacket for the day or weekend. There is no cost to become a loaner site as funding comes from BoatU.S. member donations. more

Local wrestler makes elite team
Adams Basin resident Erik Schuth has been wrestling since the fifth grade. In sixth grade, at the age of 11, he took the New York State Championship Title for his weight class. Last year, as an eighth grader, he tried out and made the Brockport High School Junior Varsity Wrestling Team. Halfway through the season, he was asked to move up to the Varsity level where he finished out the season. more

Oneonta athlete earns academic honors
The Academic All-District I teams for men's and women's soccer include three Onenota State athletes. A Seniors Jack Potter (Liverpool, England/Liverpool Blue Coat) and Kelly Stevens (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) along with junior Luke Kitchen (Stroud, England/Marling School) all were honored for their outstanding accomplishments off the playing field. Stevens and Kitchen were both First Team selections while Potter was a second team selection. more

Powley leads Saints comeback
Chad Powley won two of the final six events as Churchville-Chili overcame a ten-point deficit to defeat Gates Chili 97-88 in the first boy's swim meet of the season. more

Pratt scores 18 in opening loss
Sophomore Kacey Pratt led the Spencerport Rangers with 18 points, but they opened the 2003-04 campaign with a 42-41 loss to a Rush-Henrietta team expected to compete with Hilton and Penfield for a girl's basketball sectional title. more

Spencerport teams show they care
Athletic teams at Spencerport schools will be participating in a volunteer community service/charity project through its Spencerport Student-Athletes Care Program during the 2003-2004 school year. more

St. Mary's Church and Holley Karate unite for safety
Stranger Danger Awareness workshop was held on November 19 at St. Mary Church in Holley. Sempai Larry Quaranto of Holley Karate performed the Stranger Danger Awareness program to a large group of children and parents. The children in attendance were taught stranger identification, and how to avoid strangers. more