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CLAYINSIDER

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JANUARY 2010

Clay 2009 in review In the neighborhood

Bayberry Community

By Sarah Hall

The Bayberry community has come a long way since its inception in 1956.

The first planned community in Central New York, Bay-berry, located between Route 57 and Morgan Road, was originally constructed to house workers at the General Electric, Carrier and Chrysler plants in Syracuse and to give them easy access to businesses and amenities like grocery stores, restaurants and churches.

Now, many younger families are enjoying those same amenities meant for local workers more than 50 years ago, but it’s just as focused on community as it always was.

A neighborhood in the true sense of the word, the community of 1,500 homes provides numerous amenities for its residents, including holiday parades and activities, easy access to stores and businesses, a Neighborhood Watch program and outdoor concerts, among numerous other activities. Its kids attend Morgan Road and Elm-crest Elementary schools, Liverpool Middle School and Liverpool High School, and the neighborhood is home to

Happy New Year, ClayTraditions filled with history and new beginnings

By Susan E. Lindsley

January 1. A time of celebration: getting together with friends and family, starting anew. It’s a time to look back on the past year and look forward to the possibilities of the New Year. There is so much that can be accomplished. Losing weight, giv-ing up bad habits, and saving money have long been tops on the list of New Year’s resolutions. No matter what country you are in, or what ethnic background you are, New Years is a time for celebrations. But let’s start with a little background on the holiday.

New Years was originally started by the Babylonians 4,000 years ago. Back then the New Year was celebrated near the vernal equinox in March when spring begins. It made sense since spring is the time for rebirth and the planting of new crops. And it lasted 11 days! Some

countries and cultures celebrated the New Year near the harvest in the fall also.

Along the path of history, the calendar and along with it, the date of New Year’s Day has been changed. The early calendar of the Romans designated March 1 as the New Year. The calendar had just 10 months, beginning with March. After January and February were added to the calendar, New Year’s Day was changed to Jan. 1 in 153 B.C. because it coincided with the civil calendar, when politicians would begin their terms. The month of January was named for the Roman god Janus, who had two faces, one facing forward and one facing back. Jan. 1 wasn’t consistently used and a lot of people still used March 1st for New Years. During Julius Caesar’s reign, he changed the calendar to be solar based and Jan. 1 was officially New Year’s Day again.

No matter what the history of the day or the culture that celebrates it, New Years has common themes and traditions, such as turning over a new leaf. In Japan, they have forget-the-old-year parties to say goodbye to problems and concerns of the past and look forward to the New Year. The Chinese New Year celebration which is between Jan. 21 and February 20 begins with cleaning of the houses to get rid of bad luck from last year. There are parades through the streets with dancing dragons and lions to ward off evil. Firecrackers are set off to keep away the evil spirits too. In Spain, people eat 12 grapes at midnight to ensure 12 lucky months of the year. In the United States, the biggest celebration takes place in Times Square with the ball drop at midnight. Millions of people crowd the streets to ring in the New Year.

Supervisor Ulatowski talks about the town’s past, present and future

By Farah Jadran Pike fpike@cnylink.com

The Clay Insider sat down with Clay Town Supervi-sor Damian Ulatowski to talk about what the town has accomplished last year and what the municipality and community have on the horizon for 2010.

One of many things Ulatowski was most proud of was the fact that the town took on several projects in 2009 without outsourcing contracts or services. Some projects included a road cohesion plan to connect Morgan Road and Henry Clay Boulevard and a sanita-tion rehabilitation project along certain parts of Morgan Road.

The sanitation project involved a new technology that saved the town thousands of dollars by incorporat-ing an internal patch that made the line more efficient.

“We took [these projects] on as a town which can be unusual,” Ulatowski said. “We were able to control the costs, the cost was lower to taxpayers and we accom-plished it.”

The town also acquired a community development grant which enabled street repaving within Casual Estates property.

“We were able to identify a certain neighborhood that could use the funds,” Ulatowski said.Clay efficiency

Ulatowski said the town was able to make town hall and other municipal buildings more energy efficient by way of a $500,000 energy grant. Although town hall is more than 5 years old, the building underwent green renovation with new lighting and weather-proofing sys-tems, Ulatowski said.

The green renovations didn’t end there. The old town hall that is now the Onondaga Sheriff’s Depart-ment and the town’s highway building have gotten more energy efficient as well.

Ulatowski said the town partnered with National

Clay puts history on the books last year

Please see page 15.

History Camp goers hang their pine cone bird feeders, from left, Molly Kotzin, Sarah Greenia, Brandi Feeney and Grace Murphy.

Please see Bayberry page 11

Photo courtesy of the Bayberry Community Association/John Dougherty Residents of the Bayberry community who spruced up the area around the neighborhood’s entrance.

Please see Review page 4

Inside from the December chill of 2009, Clay Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski, center, stands by the town hall Christmas tree with Town information Aide Barbara Laws, left, and Dawn Brocious, administrative assistant.

PHOTO BY FARAH JADRAN PIKE

Please see New Year page 4

SU game at the Carrier Dome

Wed, Jan 6 University of Memphis 7:00 p.m. ESPN2

Sun, Jan 10 University of South Florida 2:00 p.m. TWC Sports

Wed, Jan 13 Rutgers University 7:30 p.m. TWC Sports

Sat, Jan 16 West Virginia University 12:00 p.m. ESPN

Mon, Jan 18 Notre Dame University 7:00 p.m. ESPN

Sat, Jan 23 Marquette University 2:00 p.m. ESPNU

Mon, Jan 25 Georgetown University 7:00 p.m. ESPN

Sat, Jan 30 DePaul University 2:00 p.m. TWC Sports

Tue, Feb 2 Providence College 7:00 p.m. TWC Sports

Sun, Feb 7 University of Cincinnati 2:00 p.m. TWC Sports

Wed, Feb 10 University of Connecticut 7:00 p.m. ESPN

Sun, Feb 14 University of Louisville 1:00 p.m. ESPN

Thu, Feb 18 Georgetown University 7:00 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2

Tue, Feb 23 Providence College 7:00 p.m. ESPNU

Sat, Feb 27 Villanova University 9:00 p.m. ESPN

Tue, Mar 2 St. John's University 7:00 p.m. TWC Sports

Sat, Mar 6 University of Louisville 2:00 p.m. ESPN

2009-2010 Men’s Basketball Schedule

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Snow Owls Snowmobile Club readies for the season

By Jim Horton

The members of the Snow Owls Snowmobile Club of Cicero/Clay are out in the woods and fields busily preparing for the upcoming snowmobile sea-son. The club’s members have been out building new bridges across streams, clearing trails and install-ing the various signs and trail guides to help guide snowmobilers through the Snow Owls trail system. The most important part of the Snow Owls Club is the landowners who graciously give permission to our club and all other clubs for trails to pass over their property.

“The landowners are the life-blood for the sport of snowmobiling and without their support we would have very few or no trails at all. We can’t thank them enough,” according to Michael Murphy, president of the Snow Owls Inc. Snowmobile Club.

This year, the Snow Owls and the Clay Fire Department will initiate a new program to have the length of the Snow Owls

trail system within the Clay Fire District marked with “Trail location markers.”

Clay Fire Depart-ment Chief Dan Ford and Murphy have been work-ing diligently to develop a program such as this for some time and have moved forward to have it in service for this season. The program is set up whereby signs are placed at various locations along the trail that indicate the fire district and a marker number that spe-cifically identifies a section of trail. The signs are also different colors for each different fire district.

The Clay signs will be bright yellow with black printing. In the event that a snowmobiler needs emergency assistance on the trail and gives 911 the trail marker number, the 911 center will be able to dispatch emergency responders much closer to the location of the caller. As with any emergency, the faster the response to aid the victim, the better the chances of a successful result.

At a recent meeting,

Ford explained that his department has been work-ing toward a program such as this since they obtained a snowmobile with rescue sled and trailer. They can use this equipment to re-spond either within the Clay district or as a mutual aid call. The Snow Owls trail also travels directly behind and across a portion of Fire Department property, which makes response time even better.

The Snow Owls trail system travels through multiple fire districts. Ford and Murphy are working to expand the program to the entire trail. On Nov. 30, the Clay Fire Department spon-sored a meeting at the fire-house to look for support from all the other fire de-partments the trail passes through. The response was very positive. The Snow Owls trail runs from Cicero Center Road in Cicero up to Pennelville. At each end of the trail it connects with a trail maintained by a different snowmobile club. There are some areas in the state that have systems like this in place, but this is

a first for Cen-tral New York. We do hope that it can be expanded to the whole area, but right now just trying to get it imple-mented in our area, Murphy said.

Murphy wants every-one to know the Snow Owls are always look-ing for new members. You can find them online

by searching “Snow Owls Inc.” where you can join on-line or print and mail in an application. The organiza-tion will also meet at 7:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month at the Euclid Res-taurant on Route 31.

Jim Horton is the Snow Owls secretary.

Above, the entry to the Snow Owl Trail System. Left, the Clay Fire Depart-ment Protective District.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM HORTON

January 2010‘Art in the Lobby’ at Liverpool Public Library

Stop by the Liverpool Public Library and discover the wide variety of topics, materials and services available at the library. Topic for January, February and March will include: Self-Improvement, exercise, alternative health, Women’s History, Black History, winter sports chocolate, travel, gardening and fiction by Nordic Authors.ED 2 GO and Nintendo DS “Train Your Brain”

Want to keep your brain in top condition? The Liverpool Public Library can help you with new programs: Learn something new using “Ed 2 Go,” an affordable and conve-nignt way to learn right at home using your own computer. Offering hundreds of courses, with expert instructors, including topics such as: Start Your Own Business, Personal Finance, Law & Legal Careers, Basic Computer Literacy, the program has a limitless op-portunity for users.

January 2010Clay Insider, �

5910 Firestone Drive Syracuse, NY 13206

Fax 434-8883www.clayinsider.com

Farah Jadran PikeEditor

news@clayinsider.com434-8889 ext 334

Paul NagleSales Rep

434-8889 ext 308pnagle@cnylink.com

Carol EggertSales Rep

434-8889 ext 313ceggert@cnylink.com

Insider Babysitter ListRachel Shipley 699-6296 or 515-143216 years old, $5/hourAvailable Mon-Fri 3 p.m. - 9 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. and Sun 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Elea Barker 935-6492 25 years old and attending Bryant and Stratton.Mon & Wed 3- 9 p.m., Tues & Thurs 11 a.m.- 11 p.m., Fri all day

Denise Sakran 451-8586 Over 18 and Red Cross certified Can care for 2-3 children in my home.

To be on the list you must be at least 14 years of age and Red Cross certified. You may not own a child care business or operate a daycare service. If you are under 18 years of age we recommend that a parent be present when meeting the family looking to hire you. If you are in-

terested please send your name, phone number, availability and rates to news@clayinsider.com. We will publish and add to the list each month.

There is no charge for this listing.

The Clay Insider is currently delivered at no cost to the areas of Clay in the following zip codes:

13041, 13027 and 13090. If you are not in those areas and would like to receive the Insider, please

contact the editor at news@clayinsider.com.

Attention Residents!There is a Lost & Found box in town hall, located by the clerk’s desk. All items left behind in the

building or during a town meeting are collected and held. If you have reason to believe you lost something there, please stop by and

check the box, M-F 8:30am-4:30pm!

Review From Page 1

Grid to make some of the energy changes in 2009, but that he hopes to “explore what else can be done” to make the town’s buildings even more efficient.

“That’s a part of lowering the utility bill that affects the taxpay-ers,” Ulatowski said.Spreading the green

The green in Clay is two-fold, the town hopes to bring alternative technology and commercial busi-ness to the area as well as service the town within a fiscally sound budget.

“The next thing to do is try to bring commercial growth into the town of Clay,” Ulatowski said. “The way we can do that is by green technology.”

As previously reported by the Star-Review, Reva Electric Car Company has made plans to arrive in Clay by September of this year.

Ulatowski hopes the company’s presence will enhance job growth and the town’s sense of doing good for the environment, of which it has already strongly established, he said.

“I think this could really kick off green technology,” Ulatowski said of Reva’s relocation in Clay.

Ulatowski said he firmly be-lieves that “green technology is the next industrial revolution,” which is why he wants the town to be a part of the movement.

“That’s the next path for the town,” he said.

The town board has a commit-ment to ensuring Clay’s residents are aware of all the services avail-able and that the town is benefited to its fullest, Ulatowski said.

There was a modest tax in-crease, according to Ulatowski’s take on the 2010 budget, but it’s lower that the town’s 2008 tax rate.

“The town is very fiscally re-sponsible and has been or years,” he said. “We’re the largest town in Onondaga County and we’ve man-aged to balance residential growth with commercial growth.”

Ulatowski said the town has benefited greatly by the recent merger of police services by bring-ing in the sheriff’s department. He said the town is “in favor of consolidation.”

“It won’t be out of the realm of possibilities for residents to expect more consolation,” he said.Clay 2010

With many successes in the rearview mirror, Ulatowski said the town has many more items on the agenda to make the town an even better place than it already is.

Ulatowski said the town is about 80 percent of the way closer to executing the remediation of the Brownfields within Three Rivers Point near the northern part of

town. The town has sought funding and has acquired an abandoned asphalt company’s buildings on the land which are in dire need of asbestos and soil contaminant removal, he said.

It’s now a town imitative, Ula-towski said as the municipality is closer to getting a contractor that can make the land viable again.

“Why we like it, it’s two-fold,” Ulatowski said. “Not only are we eliminating a blighted area, but we are bringing it back into its promi-nence.”

He explained how the area was once a “gathering point” and how it “holds great history and culture to Native Americans.”

“Our doing in the future will be with reasonable responsibil-ity which is a hallmark of what the town of Clay has always been about,” he said.

While 2010 may appear in dim light to some areas across the state, Ulatowski said he sees a bright and “green” future for the town of Clay. He said there is much to live up to with the town’s 2008 ranking in the top 100 places to live in the country.

“It didn’t become a top 100 place to live by accident,” Ula-towski said. “I think the town of Clay likes having that mantle on its shoulders and we want to keep it there.”

The North Syracuse Junior High School will be presenting the Tony Award winning musical “Crazy for You” Jan. 8 and 9. “Crazy for You” is filled with recognizable Gershwin songs such as: “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “I Got Rhythm,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” The book by Ken Ludwig offers the fun tale of Bobby Child, the rich son of a banking family who really longs for the lights of the stage.

However, Bobby is asked to head to Deadrock, Nevada to foreclose on a theatre. When Bobby ar-rives in Deadrock he meets and falls in love with Polly Baker - who along with her father - owns the theatre. She vows to get even with the person responsible for closing her theatre! Bobby offers to help her save the theatre by putting on a show, but before he can get it organized, Polly discov-ers that he is “Bobby Child.”

From there many hilari-ous turn of events ensue. The audience will enjoy singing cowgirls, slow talk-ing cowboys, tap-dancing galore, multitude of laughs along with a host of memo-rable characters.

A cast of 40 students will bring this musical to life. The students include: Nick Yanchisin, Caroline House, Mike Dober, Franceska Dancil, Jake Natali, Trevor Miller, Matthew LaVigne, Kayla Campbell, Madison Taylor, Bailey Gildemeyer, Katelyn Leonard, Marga-ret Wood, Darian Carrow,

Kathy Nguyen, Sydney Hurn, Katie Drake, Jeffrey Stickel, Patrick O’Leary, Charlotte Brennan, Gianna Annesi, Jordan Black, Em-ily Budge, Danielle Carni-fax, Jessica DeStefano, Bailey Gannet, Jessica Gilmour, Lorin Williams, Erica Zimmerman, Brianna Zinger, Keelin Abbott, Mari-elle Austin, Brianna Avicolli, Rachel Buchanan, Kaitlyn Crobar, Danielle Elder, An-gelina Grasso, Kali Hoppe, Delia King, Bliss Wyatt and Toni Wyatt.

The Tech Crew students working behind-the-scenes to set the stage with special lighting, sound and props are: Jamie Alberici, Michelle Catalfamo, Ed Swackhamer, Breanna Savage, Adam Impellizzieri, Erik Washington, Matthew Catalfamo, Carmen Boval-ino, Kurt Dobler, Vince Scipione, Mike Mekker, Kevin Aloi, Mike Deyo, Nick James, Dan Quackenbush, Josh Jump, Ryan Buswell, Kaitlyn Jackson, Collin Hotchkiss, Mike Brisson, Nick Cavanaugh, Eddie Hickey, Ryan Coots, Elijah House.

The Production Team includes:

Director: Ms. Suzanne Tiffault; Assistants to the Director: Marie Wash-ington and Sara Boileau; Choreographer: Mrs. Lisa VanBeveren; Costumes: Mrs. Paula Lawton; Music Director: Ms. Bridget Mori-arty; Technical Advisor: Mr. John Nadler; Set Design/Construction: Mr. Timothy VanBeveren; Producer: Ms. Connie Turose; Advisors:

Students prepare forJanuary performances

NSJHS presents ‘Crazy for You’

Champagne bottles are popped, faces are kissed and everyone is ready for what the New Year might hold for them.

And resolutions, there are many. It’s the time for looking back on what we have done, taking stock of things and looking for ways to improve it. Losing weight/getting in shape

is always on the top 10 of resolutions along with financial ones.

And will we stick to them? On Jan. 1, our resolve is strong. And if we don’t, there is always

another year just 364 days away. So, wherever you celebrate New Year’s, whether it is in another country, Times Square, or right here in the town of Clay, enjoy it with your

loved ones because when it comes right down to it, New Years is about forgetting what is past, and looking to the future. Happy New Year!

New Year From Page 1

Please see NSJHS page 11

January 2010 Clay Insider, �

News from the Liverpool Central School District

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LHS seniors help through the holidays

These Liverpool High School Seniors served the St. John’s Food Pantry in Liverpool with their time and efforts to help feed more than 100 fami-lies during Thanksgiving and Christmas. From left, food pantry student coordinator Julia Bruno, Ally Muehlemann and Ryan Tibbetts.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

‘Liverpool Live’ visits News Channel 9

The “Liverpool Live” broadcasting class-es at Liverpool High School recently visited News Channel 9 as a guest of producer Jim Campagna. The students had the op-portunity to watch the noon broadcast and learn how a news station gathers local and national news and prepares for a broad-cast.

After the show, the students attended a question and answer session with news anchor Carrie Lazarus and meteorologist Jim Teske about topics such as being a broadcaster, college choices, internships and challenges on the job.

“Liverpool Live” student producer Jordan Harmon and student directors David Owens and Jamie Campagna, who is Jim Campagna’s son, interviewed news anchor Dan Cummings about how he got started in broadcasting and the best things about his job. This interview was featured on a later LHS morning show for the LHS student body.

The students were then treated to a great behind-the-scenes tour, lead by Jim Campagna, where they visited the News Channel 9 control rooms to see how

newscasts are produced. They also talked with news anchor Rod Wood and all the editors, reporters, floor people and camera men on the tour. The students even had the chance to visit the news van garage and see the trucks that deliver the news by satellite connections to the station.

“The visit was top notch and the stu-dents really got to see what this job was all about,” said LHS technology teacher Sean Brown. “The visual learning and hands on that the kids received on this field trip can-not be learned in the classroom.”

Brown said every single student, as well as LHS Executive Principal Greg Avel-lino who joined the students on the trip, learned something that they have brought back to the LHS television station and improved upon.

“Many of the kids are in the process of applying to communications schools and the time these professionals gave to our students was outstanding,” Brown said. “We would like to thank our friends at News Channel 9 for hosting us and spend-ing time with our future broadcasters.”

SEAN BROWNLiverpool High School senior Jamie Campagna, left, interviews News Channel 9 anchor Dan Cummings during the recent Liverpool Live field trip to the television station.

News from Dollars for ScholarsPlans are underway for our annual

Dollars For Scholars Phone-a-thon, when Liverpool High School students will call Liverpool Central School District residents, family members and friends to gather pledges for scholarships to be awarded to graduating LHS seniors in June 2010. The more money we raise, the more scholar-ships can be awarded and the closer we get to our goal of a scholarship for every college bound senior.

There will be an informational meet-ing for seniors during Academic Support sometime in February. Dollars for Schol-ars Board members, Liverpool High School personnel and recent graduates will talk about Dollars for Scholars, the Phone-a-thon and the scholarship application pro-cess. Student volunteers will be recruited to participate in the Phone-a-thon, which will be held in the LHS cafeteria on Sun-days March 7 and 14. The Phone-a-thon is a wonderful opportunity for students to provide a community service and have fun working together for a worthwhile cause.

Volunteers are treated to supper and a training session before they begin making phone calls. Students in grades nine, 10 and 11 will also be encouraged to partici-pate.

Dollars for Scholars Board member Matt Hinkey will chair the Phone-a-thon, with lots of assistance from other active Board members who continue to work hard to raise money for LHS graduating seniors. The Phone-a-thon is our biggest fundraiser and we look forward to another successful year. During these difficult economic times, we are more grateful than ever for the gen-erous support from individuals and busi-nesses in our community. When money is tight, the Dollars for Scholars scholarships make an even bigger difference in the lives of the Liverpool High School graduat-ing seniors who receive them. The board continues to appreciate the support of the entire Liverpool community as we work together for the higher education of our LHS graduates.

LHS Annex students gain real world experience It started out as a chat

between two Liverpool High School Annex col-leagues. Math teacher Mike Wolf came to technology education teacher Todd Dischinger with a problem. The calculators students are required to use in math class, which cost more than $100, were constantly falling on the floor because students had too much stuff on too small a desk.

Dischinger thought this would be a great real life problem for some of his

Design and Drawing for Production students to solve. Many students took advantage of this extra credit project and submit-ted concept sketches as requested. Two students expressed an interest in continuing the project, so Dischinger approached sophomores Zack Koster and Ben Zenker and offered them the opportu-nity to work with him and develop a solution.

These skilled students jumped at the chance

and spent the next few months designing, fabri-cating and testing several prototypes for Wolf.

There was a lot to figure out: how to hold and posi-tion the calculator, how to hold the device to the desk and what material to use. They tried rubber feet, suc-tion cups, Velcro and finally a spring clip bend to attach the device to the desk. The acrylic they tried first cracked too easily, so they switched to polycarbon-

Please see Experience page 12

January 2010Clay Insider, �

News from the North Syracuse Central School District

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NYS Commissioner of Eduction vis-its the Career Academy

By Caitlin Donnelly

New York State Education Com-missioner David Steiner visited the OCM BOCES Career Academy at the Lee G. Peters Career Training Center in Liverpool on Monday, Dec.7 as part of a “listening tour” of schools through-out the state.

“I’m new to the commissioner posi-tion, so we’re taking a tour to talk to students and teachers to see what’s going on in the schools and what sort of improvements need to be made,” said Steiner.

The visit included a student-guided tour of the facilities, followed by a ques-tion and answer session with Steiner and students from the school. Those in attendance also included Dr. Jessica Cohen, OCM BOCES district super-intendent; Karen Clark, OCM BOCES director of Alternative Education; Dr. John King, Senior Deputy Commis-sioner for P-12 Education; Tom Dunn, NYSED Communications Director; and Tony Bottar, member of the NYS Board

of Regents. During the meeting, five pre-se-

lected seniors met with Steiner and the other officials to discuss the pros and cons of the school, their experiences in the alternative education program, and their plans for the future.

All the students agreed that they enjoy the small class sizes, one-on-one relationships with teachers, career skills, and regents’ exam preparation that the Career Academy provides the students. The student participants included Sarah Newton, Ryan Misener, Cory Laris, Teddy Barbuto and Justin Hathaway.

“It’s a good idea for the commission-er to visit the schools and walk around with the students because they get to see what goes on first hand,” said Hathaway. “The might actually make some schools better by basing them on other successful schools.”

After the listening tour, Steiner will be making recommendations to the NYSED Board of Regents on how to better the education system in New

York.“We’re acting as the eyes and

ears for the board, which then takes our advice into consideration when mandating rules and regulations in the future,” Steiner said. OCM BOCES Career Academy is only one of the many public, private, charter, magnet, alternative education and other types of schools that Steiner plans on visiting during his tour.

The Career Academy is an alterna-tive education program for students in grades 9-12 from the Liverpool, North Syracuse, Fayetteville-Manlius, and Baldwinsville school districts that are at risk of dropping out of school. Career themes are incorporated into the regular academic courses, and students grades 11 and 12 participate in hands on career training each week. The school opened in 2006, and cur-rently has 130 students enrolled in the program. Career Academy graduated its first class in June of this year.

Web site gives taxpayers budget breakdownsSchool districts’ spending and aid at a click of a button

By Farah Jadran Pike fpike@cnylink.com

For community members interested in knowing more about where their taxpayer dollars are being funneled, seethroughny.net gives spending allocation information on each school district and municipality in New York.

Because of the current economic cli-mate, educational funding and spending has been redefined. With data collected from the Office of the State Comptroller, seethroughny.net provides the opportu-nity to view schools’ state aid per pupil, total spending per pupil, instruction per pupil and more.

The information is made possible with further calculations by the Public Policy Institute, research affiliate of the Busi-ness Council of New York State and the Empire Center for the New York State Policy,

Superintendents in the Liverpool Central School District and the North Syracuse Central School District have both taken closer looks at the 2010-11 budgets and realize that many things could change over the next few years.

LCSD Superintendent Dr. Richard N. Johns said if the information is provided by the Office of the State Comptroller, then the information is probably as ac-curate as possible. Since the site’s most current data is from the 2007-08 school year, Johns does not have knowledge of the numbers as he has taken the superintendent’s position less than a year ago.

Asked if the site’s gateway of informa-tion is a good thing, Johns said yes.

“I think that’s great, it’s taxpayer money, “he said.

As the site provides municipal in-formation as well, Johns said he, “as a taxpayer, wants to know how money is being spent any time money is spent by government.”

Johns said he believes the more infor-mation the district can provide to taxpay-ers, the better.

“One of my key marks of my adminis-tration is transparency,” Johns said.

Having been active in his position long before and during the 2007-08 school year, North Syracuse Central School District Superintendent Dr. Je-rome Melvin said he found the data “very interesting.”

An example of the data reported that NSCSD’s spending per pupil was $14,673 matched with the average of $16,882 in Upstate New York for similar districts that contain between 4,501 and 1,000,000 students enrolled. LCSD has a reported $17,772, which comes in at almost $1,000 more than the Upstate average.

“We certainly budget very carefully and in a meaningful way,” Melvin said. “But we can’t avoid the fact that we only have 10 buildings. It’s a plus and a nega-tive.”

Melvin said that the low cost per pupil is “good from a financial perspective, but not when there’s over capacity in certain areas.”

The district does however show fiscal responsibility with taxpayers’ money as indicated by the Web site’s data collec-tion, Melvin said.

The Web site provides such compari-sons as state aid per pupil and federal aid per pupil. A ranking designated for districts with population between 4,501 and 1,000,000 students in Central New York ranked Syracuse City School Dis-trict first as it received $12,657 state aid per pupil. Liverpool’s $7,373 state aid per pupil third in the ranking, and North Syracuse ranked fifth with $6,097 among seven schools in the category.

Spending data for each school district in the sate is available at the Web site, including village, county and town informa-tion as well.LCSD and NSCSD side by side

Local revenue per pupilNSCSD - $7,805, ranked 19th (out of

49 Central New York schools)LCSD - $10,088, 8thState aid per pupilNSCSD - $6,097, ranked 42ndLCSD – $7,373, 36th

Please see Web site page 12

Main Street kids fill food pantry in North Syracuse

Students, families, and staff of the North Syracuse Early Education Program at Main Street School recently held a food drive to support the community food pantry located at St. Rose church.

A full truckload of food was collected. Preschool stu-dents assisted in sorting and boxing donated items. As they worked they practiced sorting and counting skills as well as language and social skills.

Visit the school online at nscsd.org.

Main Street students John, Mary, Kyle, Quinn, Richard, Drew and Karma use wheelbarrows to move donated items to boxes for delivery.

January 2010 Clay Insider, �

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Northside Collision achieves I-CAR Gold Status

Northside Collision is pleased to announce that six of its stores have been certified as Gold Class Businesses with I-CAR. I-CAR is an international not-for-profit training alliance and certification organization that is universally recognized by both the insurance and collision repair industry. The group provides ongoing training in the latest methods of collision and mechanical repairs.To achieve I-CAR Gold status, Northside technicians completed the required training courses and they will keep current in their field through continuing education to maintain Gold Class status. Northside provides all training during business hours, making it a unique auto body employer.

More information on this program and the benefits of working with a Gold Class Busi-ness can be found at I-CAR.com.

Northside Collision Centers is in its 35th year of business and has locations in Bald-winsville, Camillus, Cicero, Clay, Dewitt and Mattydale making it the largest collision repair organization in Central New York.

CXtec announces promotion of Liverpool man

CXtec, a global provider of new and certified pre-owned data networking and voice equipment, has promoted Matt Gra-ham, of Liverpool, to director of CABLEx-press sales.

Graham has been with CXtec for six years and is responsible for providing lead-ership, vision and direction to the sales force for the continual growth of the cable business and associated product lines.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College.Graham was also recently announced as one of the 2009 recipients of theGreater Syracuse 40 under 40 awards.About CXtec

For more than three decades, CX-tecR has provided new and pre-owned networking, voice and cabling and data

center technologies, and helped custom-ers reduce the cost of their networking infrastructure and technology equipment. CXtec offers cash, credit or trade for used hardware and its equal2newR hardware is backed by an industry-leading war-ranty. As an ISO-certified company, CXtec is committed to maximizing value for its customers through needs-based, custom-ized solutions.

The year 2009 marks the eighth con-secutive year CXtec has been ranked in the VARBusiness list of North America’s Top 500 Technology Integrators. The company’s World Headquarters is in North Syracuse, N.Y., and its Technology Certifi-cation and Distribution Center in Syracuse. For more information about CXtec, please visit cxtec.com or call (800)767-3282.Seasonal Gifting; Oneself

About this time of the year, many of us think we have our shopping done, others haven’t started, but we are likely to all be back in the stores sometime between now and the big gift-giving day. It is almost too late for Internet/phone orders (unless, of course, you want to purchase some stocks), so you know you will have to return to the stores. Voltaire told us that “self-love is the instrument of our preservation.” What are you doing for yourself at this point?

Self-investment can be a form of self-love. There are many ways to do it in your own portfolio. Perhaps it is time to give yourself a stock you believe in but might not be recommended by your broker, or a type of investment you always wanted to try, but it didn’t seem right at the time. Perhaps you could take the $200 you want to spend on a new toy or day at the spa and add a little extra to your Roth IRA this year. Maybe you know you want to go back to school when you retire to learn a little more about that subject you always wanted to know more about. So open a 529 plan for yourself, and contribute to it slowly. You could always change your mind later, and “give” it to some-one in your family, or use the money with some penalties.

Last week I gave to myself by taking a break from writing. It was an un-intended break, I was a day behind in traveling while working, and then was caught up in reunions and Christmas parties between destinations. All week I had been planning the article about giving to yourself at Christmas time too, little did I know I would act on it. While it isn’t the type of investment that is generally covered in this section, it was still a gift to myself. Know that it is okay to do things that others don’t always consider traditional.

The job market is still not “recovering fully”, many people in high-sala-ried professions are still out of work. It is a tough environment for spending money. So if being around all the merchandise is making you think you “need” things you didn’t know existed last week, perhaps it is time to place your money somewhere you know it will go towards your future. Happy New Year!

Point of view

Clay resident graduates from NTTSClay resident Timothy May, 28, is a recent graduate of National

Tractor Trailer School in Liverpool. He has begun a new career as a tractor-trailer driver for the Swift Transportation. Prior to his gradua-tion, Timothy worked for a local retail store.

May completed N.T.T.S.’s Commercial Drivers Course, which included Department of Transportation rules/regulations, hours of service, trip planning, and behind the wheel instruction on a variety of equipment operated on secondary roads, city streets, and interstates.

N.T.T.S., established in 1971, and has trained over 17,000 new drivers, is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, and offers daily, night and weekend courses certified by the Professional Truck Driver Institute at both its Liverpool and Buffalo campuses.

Information on campus tours, courses, schedules and financial aid may be obtained by contacting director Kimberly Sather, at 451-2430 or visit ntts.edu.

Timothy May

Buying local in Onondaga CountyCentral New York’s farm

families are challenging their neighbors and their communities to try to pur-chase their entire Thanks-giving and Christmas meals this year from farmers and other food producers inside New York State.

“Buying your food locally is good for you because you get the freshest fruit, veg-etables, dairy and meat pos-sible when they come from a farm right here in Central New York,” said Onondaga County Soil & Water Conser-vation District (OCSWCD) Interim Executive Director Mark Burger. “You also know that your food was produced under the strictest environmental and health standards in the world.”

“It’s good for the econ-omy, too,” said OCSWCD Board Chair Tom Trinder, who owns an award-win-

ning organic dairy farm in Fabius. “Agriculture is New York’s number one industry. When farmers do well, the whole community reaps the benefits. Unlike global corporations, farmers spend most of their income within a few dozen miles of their farms. Currently, direct sale to local customers is the fastest growing sector of the farm economy. We need to encourage this expansion.”

“Well-managed fam-ily farms protect our open spaces from suburban sprawl and from intensive development, which can cause water pollution, traf-fic congestion and higher property taxes for everyone,” said Trinder.

“Buying locally grown food helps the environment by reducing the fuel bill for your food,” said Burger. “The farther away your food is

produced, the more it costs in terms of environmental impact -- including acid rain, smog and global climate change -- just to get it to your table. The best part of all is that you can get ev-erything you need, from the turkey to the whipped cream on your pumpkin pie from local farmers.”

New York farmers grow potatoes, yams, sweet po-tatoes, squash, sweet corn, beans, cranberries, peas, pearl onions, sausage for stuffing, sage for seasoning, flour for bread, rolls and pie crust and a wide variety of apples, cherries and other pie fillings. New York winer-ies make many varieties to complement any meal.

“So make a statement with your food budget this Thanksgiving,” said Burger. “It will help your wallet, your community and the envi-ronment at the same time. And you will ensure your family of the highest quality, best-tasting Thanksgiving meal possible.”

An excellent source of information on local food resources in the Central New York area is the Cookin’ In the ‘Cuse blog at http://jbbsyracuse.typepad.com/cookin_in_the_cuse/2009/06/syra-cuse-firstthink-local-buy-local-be-local.html. It lists local sources for dairy products, grass-fed meats, produce, wines, grains and cereals, coffees, teas and chocolates.

The mission of the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District is to promote excel-lence in the wise use of our rural and urban natural resources.

Have a new business opening in the area?

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January 2010 Clay Insider, �

News from the Baldwinsville Central School District

REAL ESTATE MATTERSby Donna Rausch

Revitalizing an old listing

Your home has been on the market for six months,and it just isn’t moving. What can you do to introducesome extra energy into the sale?

The first thing you should do is to have a frank talkwith your agent in order to get feedback. What arepeople thinking? Ask yourself: Does your home lookits best? Is it accessible for agents to show on shortnotice? Is the price in line with the rest of the market?Do you need to consider neutralizing any strongdecorating features that may not have wide appeal?Think about it.

Getting your home sold is a collaborative effort. Itis important that it is marketed aggressively, but youmust do your part to ensure that buyers see a homethat is as appealing as it can be.Try new ideas that willcreate better results.Donna Rausch is the Branch Manager of the Liverpool office ofRealtyUSA. Donna is an Associate Broker, holds the prestigiousCertified Residential Specialist designation as well as the SeniorsReal Estate designation. Donna and her 3 experienced associatescan be reached at 315-622-2111 x124 for additional informationregarding any Real Estate Matter.

Elden students spread holiday cheer

On Dec. 16, 2009, teacher Aaron Bullis and his fourth-graders from Elden Elementary School spread a little holiday cheer at the Silver Fox Senior Social Club in Baldwinsville. That morning the class cut a tree down and brought it to the club, where they decorated it with stockings they made for each club member. After eating lunch with the members, the students sang holiday songs and read “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The visit was a lesson in generosity for the fourth-graders. Bullis explained that the day before the outing he and his students discussed the importance of putting the needs and wants of others first to cultivate a caring attitude.

Silver Fox Senior Social Club member Ginny Loweecey enjoys a moment of friendship with Elden Elementary School fourth-grader Cameryn Wil-liams.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Fall athletes score high in the classroom All 12 fall athletic teams of the Bald-

winsville Central School District have qualified for recognition from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for outstanding academic achievements. In order to qualify, a varsity team must have a team composite grade point average above 90 percent. All 12 fall varsity teams met this standard. These team averages will now be ranked against other New York teams in the same sports for possible additional state recognition. Congratulations to the following teams and individuals who qualified:Varsity Boys’ Cross Country, 97.253 grade point average

Andrew Biedermann, Patrick Colligan, Justin Dalaba, Andrew Fleming, Jonathan Hingre, Andrew Hoover, Gregory Johnson, Theodore Kaminski, Nathan LoParco, Connor Martin, Antonio Martinez, Ronald May, Casey McAllister, Zachary McCaleb, Adam Pacheck, Ethan Pacheck, Charles Parker, Kevin Pregent, Matthew Purdy, Shaun ThompsonVarsity Girls’ Tennis, 95.977 grade point average

Kaili Alberici, Sarah Corcoran, Melinda Davis, Madeleine Fiello, Rebecca Guzzo, Taylor Harris, Taylor Haynes, Nicole Lead-er, Kelsey Leitgeb, Hannah Mautz, Lauren Mautz, Leena Mian, Colleen Morgan, Amari Pollard, Madison Price, Michelle Saintey, Rachel Taylor, Katie Tryniski, Kel-lie TryniskiVarsity Girls’ Swimming, 95.825 grade point average

Paige Altman, Ghena Binzer, Whitney Brand, Joclyn Butler, Elizabeth Collins, Victoria Connor, Megan Eubank, Laura Farleman, Carly Gummer, Gabrielle Hood, Elena Margrey, Kaitlyn Martin, Dana Mitch-ell, Hannah Murphy, Kelly Noll, Charis Parker, Margaret Walsh, Abigail Whiting, Sharon WolffVarsity Girls’ Cross Country, 95.813 grade point average

Cassandra Alencewicz, Jaimee Balloni, Kristen Biedermann, Kimberly Contant, Kimberly Cushman, Lydia Darling, Cath-erine Felberbaum, Sarah Hall, Maria Halstead, Julia Johnson, Holly McMahon, Heather Mendiola, Kylie Mosher, Abigail Nelson, Anne Peterson, Danielle Petti, Ashley Shaheen, Lara van Braam, Erika WilcoxVarsity Boys’ Soc-cer, 95.578 grade point average

Kyle Beckhusen, Alexan-der Bono, Matthew Boyle, Andrew Coughlin, Sean Coyne, Jonathan Go-odridge, Michael Guardino, Daniel Knight, Jacob Lunduski, Adam Lauko, Stefan Merchant, Matthew Miles, Kyle Mulligan, Trevor Pauldine, Jonathon Price, William Skinner, Kevin Thompson, Anthony VecchioVarsity Girls’ Soc-cer, 95.207 grade point average

Jasminn Bean, Emma Firenze, Jacqueline Firenze, Kathleen Gildemeyer, Laura Hanford, Amanda Ingersoll, Claire Monnat, Margaret Monnat, Lauren O’Connor, Lauren Roberts, Jamie Schmidt, Ashley Squairs, Lowyse van Fulpen, Lana Vecchiarelli, Erin Ward, Amanda WolgemuthVarsity Boys’ Foot-ball, 94.541 grade point average

Tyler Candee, Casey Colligan, Michael Guinta, Thomas Lawrence, Nicholas Manning, Jacob Margrey, Stephen Mitchell, Bernard

Paprocki, Curtis Stanard, Mark Stanard, Eric Tommarello, Carter Twombly, Matthew VargaVarsity Girls’ Field Hockey, 93.622 grade point average

Anna Andris, Nicole Bourdon, Taylor Cherney, Nicole Contant, Grace Crowell, Andrea Davaro, Sierra Earle, Lindsey Halstead, Jennifer Hennigan, Natalie Lynch, Laura Passamonte, Lindsay Varga, Elizabeth VenturaVarsity Boys’ Golf, 93.114 grade point average

Lucas Ciulla, Connor Dowd, John Mau-rer, Robert McCall, Brendan Polsin, Earl Strodel, William Ward, Daniel WrightVarsity Girls’ Volleyball, 93.063 grade point average

Allegra Lee Bell, Jenna Blujus, Megan Collins, Elizabeth Giromini, Carrie Hack, Ashley Marsh, Lauren McVey, Brianna StewartVarsity Boys’ Volleyball, 92.573 grade point average

Peter Cuppernull, Daniel Dubiel, Matthew McKee, Shane Rahrle, Jarret Reaume, Kevin Saintey, Ryan Shelton, Christopher ThayerVarsity Girls’ Gymnastics, 92.010 grade point average

Samantha Cammuso, Casey Dev-lin, Alexis Diaz, Lauren Fisher, Lauren Furcinito, Virginia Kamide, Sara Perrone, Chelsey PitcherVarsity Fall Cheerleading, 92.339 grade point average

Shaina Brook, Krista Brower, Kelly Carr, Kendal Glynn, Lindsey Hirsh, Melissa Hunter, Julianne Landon, Amanda Mackey, Beata Rubacha, Angelica Santana, Bailey Sweeting, Taylor Toomey

Although the New York State Public High School Athletic Association does not recognize all of the sports that Baldwinsville offers, based on local criteria the fall varsity cheerleaders also qualified for this award.

Baker students participate in SU Body Image Project

By Kelly Cary

Health classes at Baker High School in Baldwins-ville recently participated in a project entitled “Body Talk,” coordinated by Har-riet Brown, an assistant professor in magazine journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. New-house School of Public Communications. Brown has been collecting posi-tive and negative audio stories, many anonymous, from people concerning their feelings about their bodies and food. Brown

will use some of these stories on a website she is developing and others for National Public Radio’s “51 Percent, The Women’s Perspective.”

The students recorded their stories as podcasts in the school’s computer lab, and Baker’s library media specialist Pat Wilson compiled them into one submission for Brown. For some of the students, the project was their first experience with pod-casting. Health teacher Jeanna Gates said the op-portunity to use the tech-

nology for this project tied in nicely with a nutrition unit the health classes were completing. Gates said her students and teacher Corinne Price’s students had been study-ing body image and eating disorders with this unit, and most were excited to share their thoughts and experiences regarding these issues in a person-al, yet anonymous way. Students’ recorded stories included subjects such as food cravings, the persua-sion of the media in mak-ing food choices, meeting

weight require-ments for certain athletic teams and living with a family member with an eating disorder.

Kelly Cary is the school information officer for BCSD.

Baker High School health students work on their podcasts for a body image project being coordinated by a professor at Syracuse University. The project features recorded sto-ries from people about how they view their bodies and food.

January 2010Clay Insider, 10

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The All New

By Farah Jadran Pike fpike@cnylink.com

Former professional wres-tler and Liverpool High School graduate Marc Mero dropped the puck at the high school face-off between Liverpool and West Genesee Dec. 15 at the New York State Fair-grounds.

Mero, also a former Warrior hockey player, had Tuesday night’s game on his radar as well as some local speaking engagements. In the World championship Wrestling, Mero was known as “Johnny B. Badd” when he entered the pro circuit in the early ‘90s.

He later moved on to the World Wrestling Federation in 1996, now known as the World Wrestling Entertain-ment. In that arena, he wres-tled under the name “Wildman Marc Mero,” and later became “Marvelous Marc Mero.”

After battling some bouts of drug and alcohol abuse during his wrestling career, Mero realized there was more to life, his life in particular. As he progressed through his professional wrestling career,

he witnessed many changes in his life, many close to home.

Through his experiences, Mero knew his journey and new outlook on life would benefit others. He is now the founder of the non-profit organization Champion of Choices for which he travels the country “trying to make a difference in their lives.”

Mero began the organiza-tion in August of 2007 after his close friend Chris Benoit faced a dire tragedy while killing his wife and family and then committing suicide in June of that year. Mero said Benoit is “one of 31 friends he had that died or killed them-selves because of drugs or alcohol.”

“I was so sick of being that person that said, ‘You know someone should do some-thing about this,’” Mero said. “I wanted to be the person that did something about it.”

On Mero’s Web site, championofchoices.org, he talks about the ups and downs he experienced in the athletic arena, but also many life-changing events that have shaped the person he is today.

“The reason I decided to write this is that I have learned so much through tragedy,” Mero said in his life story.

Mero spoke at LHS in the morning Dec. 16 and later that night at Trinity Assembly of God, located at 4398 Route 31 in Clay, to the Inside Out Youth Group.

Mero said Champion of Choices will visit Indiana in January and then he is off to Russia the following month for his first international speak-ing engagement. There may be plans in the near future for Mero to return when he finalizes some speaking tours at other Central New York schools in North Syracuse and Fayetteville.

LHS grad returns to present Champion of ChoicesFormer pro wrestler Marc Mero drops puck at hockey game; speaks at high school and local church

Warriors on ice

FARAH JADRAN PIKE

Right, Warrior sopho-more Anthony Eno moves swiftly after a pass he sent flying to a teammate during the Warriors face-off with West Genesee Tuesday Dec. 15. The Warriors battled to a 4-1 loss to the Wildcats at the State Fair Coliseum.

January 2010 Clay Insider, 11

Worship Listings

Is your church, synagogue or place of worship in Clay missing? Send us the information at news@clayinsider.com and we will include it next month.

In good faithImmanuel – ‘God with us’This month’s article was submitted by King of Kings Lutheran Church Pastor Rev. Dr. Paul A. Herpich.King of Kings Lutheran church is located at 8278 Oswego Road, Liverpool

As I write this column, Christmas is one week away. I have lit three candles on the Advent wreath and watered our Christmas tree. The promise and hope of these sea-sons of the church year adds shape and meaning to my faith. I will preach Christ-mas Eve on the confession of the Christian faith found in John’s gospel: “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth…”

God in the flesh. God living in our midst as one of us. God taking on the full nature of humanity. God experiencing the pain, suffering, and loneliness that characterizes

many of our lives. I find this confession of the Christian faith to be most profound and personal.

In Matthew’s gospel we read that Jesus will be known as Immanuel - God with us. The doctrine that is connected with this confession is the incarnation. God - in the flesh - in the person of Jesus. What won-derful good news! God has chosen to live among us; to teach us about the meaning and purpose of life.

For that reason, getting to know Jesus - his way of living, his actions, his teach-ing - has become all-consuming for me.

I have found the meaning and purpose of life itself in his words. I experience freedom and hope as I live in relationship with him through his death and resurrec-tion. I live a forgiven and abundant life in relationship with the one who is Immanuel - God with us.

When you read these words the church will be celebrating the season of Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the magi to this child in Bethlehem. One key image for this season is light. As the star led these travelers to Jesus, so we confess that Jesus is the light of the world. In these

short and dark days, this confession of faith also brings me life and hope. Each one of us faces darkness; sometimes dai-ly. The anguish and pain, the disappoint-ment and fears, the sorrow and despair of life can be a most difficult burden. The Christian faith confesses that in Jesus, the Light has shined. I have been given the promise to dispel this darkness, and to overcome the darkness in the person of Jesus. I find this to be the very best of news. My life finds order and makes sense because of the one who is Immanuel - God with us - Jesus.

the Liverpool Central School District Office (former Craven Crawford Elementary). Bayberry is also home to churches, busi-nesses and a green area maintained by the town.

Bayberry Community Association Presi-dent Debbie Magaro-Dolan said she and her husband were happy to find a home in the neighborhood.

“I grew up in Liverpool, and when we were looking for a place to live, we wanted to stay close,” Magaro-Dolan said. “It’s a great community, and there’s a lot close by – the city of Syracuse, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes. As for Bayberry specifically, there are a lot of great qualities that made us want to buy a house here. It’s good, quality housing, the BCA keeps things nice, there are good schools – it’s just a really great place.”

Indeed, the BCA is a great draw for many neighborhood residents. Bayberry is one of just a few local communities that still has a homeowners’ association, and Magaro-Dolan said the BCA does everything it can to promote a neighborhood atmosphere.

“We do focus a lot on families,” she said. “We have a Halloween parade and a visit from Santa every year. We have a snow sculpture contest. But we’re starting to focus

on the social connections for adults, too – we’re going to have a bowling night and some other things.”

Everything the BCA does, Magaro-Dolan said, from neighborhood events to encouraging neighbors to maintain their homes, is focused on making Bayberry a true community.

“We want you to know your neighbors,” she said. “We want to have everybody be happy in their homes and happy to be here.”

For more information about Bayberry, check out the Bayberry Community Associ-ation’s Web site at bayberrycommunity.org.

“In the neighborhood” is a new monthly feature in which the many neighborhoods in the town of Clay are profiled. If you’d like to see your neighborhood in this feature, e-mail Sarah Hall at shall1023@gmail.com. Just tell us the neigh-borhood and why it’s a great place to live, and we’ll do the rest.

Bayberry From Page 1

Mr. Nadler, Mr. Morse and Mr. Kelson; Publicity: Mrs. Glenda House.

Tickets will be available for purchase starting Jan. 4 at the North Syracuse

Junior High School book-store or from Ms. Suzanne Tiffault in the Music Depart-ment. Ticket prices are as follows: $6, students/seniors; $8, adults; $10

reserved seating (available only through Ms. Tiffault). For additional information, contact the North Syracuse Jr. High School at 218-3600.

NSJHS From Page 4

By-gone winters on Horseshoe Island

Remembering Clay

By Dorothy Heller

Though neither our ancestors nor we were around in 1854, the earliest map of Horseshoe Island does show a school on the corner of Bonstead Road, which the children attended. It shows mostly forest and a few houses on the lower part along the road. The schoolhouse that was lost in the tornado of 1983 was built in 1880 and used as a school until 1952. Think of the children walking to school and think-ing about Christmas.

In a few years, there were a dozen farms on the Island. Of course, they grew everything they needed, some coopers making barrels from the vast forest, making butter, preserving, drying (learned from the local Natives).

Fishing, and hunting. They would go to the Center of Town in Clay for supplies at the three stores. Eventu-ally, trains made it easier to go to town and ship their farm products to New York City.

In winter, besides their chores, the children probably went ice skating on the Oneida River. It still freezes over in a cold winter. They probably had homemade skates and I have heard they made homemade skis from barrel staves. Transportation was by snowshoes. Also, the horses would be hitched to a sleigh – no snow plows in those days. The snow would be packed down for the sleigh ride with the bells ringing.

Two more recent memories are the blizzard of 1966 when the

residents were stranded on the Island for days: and the rescue of a deer who had fallen through the frozen River in the 1990s by Mr. White.

Old-fashioned Christ-mas – of course everyone cut down his own tree – if not on his own property, maybe off to Pine Plains. It would be decorated with real candles, popcorn chains, cranberry chains, pinecones, hand-made decorations made in the one-room school house, beads, etc. Gifts were prob-ably hand-made since this was a farming community and money was scarce. Lots of wooden toys and knitted scarves and mit-tens.

Christmas Dinner: let’s think venison (deer still live on the island in large

Please see Horseshoe page 12

January 2010Clay Insider, 12

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ate. To hold the calculator on, they tried a lip, rubber bands and Velcro. The final design used the Velcro.

The boys spent their free time making a class set of devices for Wolf to use in his class, and they were a huge hit. No more calculators falling on the floor! In addition, inventory control was easier because Wolf could see at a glance if all the calculators were in place. Because the calcu-lators were positioned in a

more upright position, they were easier for students to use and see.

The design was so successful that Dischinger, Koster and Zenker formed a company and applied for and were awarded a utility patent, which basically pro-tects the design and con-figuration of their device from being copied. At this point they are waiting for a company to buy their idea and produce their design.

In the meantime, the

rest of the math teachers were envious of Wolf, and wanted calculator clips for their classes as well. Dischinger approached colleague Karin Dykeman, who teaches a Material Processing class in the LHS main building. Could her class use experience in plastics fabrication? Would the students be interested in producing more of the calculator clips for the other class-es?

Experience From Page 5

Federal aid per pupilNSCSD - $534, 38th LCSD - $599, 33rd Total spending per pupilNSCSD - $14,673, ranked 46th LCSD - $17,772, 21st Effective property taxNSCSD – 1.57 percent, ranked 22nd LCSD – 2.05 percent, ranked 3rd Administration per pupilNSCSD - $187, ranked 49th LCSD - $321, ranked 44th Instruction per pupilNSCSD - $6,795, ranked 40th LCSD - $7,761, ranked 25th

Instructional support per pupilNSCSD - $688, ranked 40th LCSD - $1,076, ranked 9th Medical insurance per pupilNSCSD - $1,779, ranked 30th LCSD - $2,296, ranked 11th

The information provided has data from the 2007-08 school year. More categories are available at seetho-rughny.net. State and area rank-ings are also available.

Web site From Page 6

numbers) or a wild turkey. Recipes from “The Methodical Cook,” written by Mary Randolph 1831. Remember all was open-hearth cooking.

Turkey, after it is stuffed: put in a pot over the fire and cook slowly, covered until done. Set on the turkey in time, that it may stew, as above; it is the best way to boil one to perfection.

Ham (from the smokehouse): boil it well, take off the skin and cover the top thickly with bread crumbs, put it in an oven to brown and serve it up. (Dutch over – open fire)

Winter squash (from the root cellar): cut the crooked neck portion into 1-inch slices, take off rind, boil them with salt in the water, drain them well before they are dished, and pour melted butter over; serve them up very hot.

Flummery: one measure of (home-made) jelly, one of cream, and half of wine, boil 15 minutes over low fire stirring all the time; sweeten it and add a spoonful of rose water; cool it in a mould, turn it on a dish, and pour around it cream.

Apple Pie, (apples from the root cellar): Put a crust in the bottom of a dish, put on it a layer of ripe apples, pared and sliced thin – then a layer of powdered sugar. Do this alternately until the dish is full; put in a teaspoonful or two of rose water and some cloves – put on a crust and bake it.

Would you like to have lived in the “Good Old Days?”

Dorothy Heller is the town of Clay historian.

Horseshoe From Page 11

Special Olympics State Winter Games to be held in SyracuseHundreds of volunteers needed for February events

Special Olympics New York officials have announced that the State Win-ter Games will be held in Syracuse in February of 2010. State Winter Games showcase the achievements of Special Olympics athletes and is one of three an-nual state games and 4,000 competitive experiences held each year throughout New York.

On the weekend of Feb. 5 and 6, in Syracuse, more than 400 Special Olym-pics New York athletes and coaches from across the state will join the State Winter Games. Athletic competitions will be held in Alpine and Nordic skiing, speed and figure skating, floor hockey and snow-shoeing. More than 450 volunteers from surrounding communities are needed to support the event and are key to its suc-

cess. Co-honorary chairs of the State Winter

Games are Onondaga County Executive Joanne Mahoney and James Gaspo, pres-ident of Citizens Bank. Co-games organiz-ing committee chairs are William Fisher and Ann Rooney, also from the Onondaga County executive’s office. Citizens Bank and Wegmans Food Markets are premier event sponsors.

All State Winter Games events are free and open to the public.Event schedule: Opening Ceremonies will be held at 7

p.m. Friday Feb. 5 at the Oncenter Com-plex, featuring the Parade of Athletes, en-tertainment and the lighting of the Special

Please see Volunteer page 14

Bville senior wrestlers honor teachersThe senior wrestlers of the Baldwins-

ville Central School District varsity wres-tling team honored their favorite teachers before their first home match on December 8. The students presented teachers with a teacher appreciation t-shirt and a special

certificate. The players honored teachers in recognition of all that they do to help athletes succeed in the classroom. The senior wrestlers and the teachers each one chose to honor are:

Please see Honor page 14

January 2010 Clay Insider, 1�

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Events & Announcements

Weight mattersStart the year off right and achieve your weight loss goals. Weight issues can

cause a host of problems, such as heart attack, diabetes and stroke. Weight issues often stem from emotional problems such as sadness, anger or guilt. Weight Mat-ters, a new weight loss support group, focuses on both the physical and emotional issues that surround weight loss. Learn healthy strategies for losing and maintaining weight, what emotional triggers cause binge eating and how to make healthy food choices.

Above all, receive support from other individuals contending with similar issues. Weight Matters meets from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday Jan. 11 and Monday Jan. 25 in Bay-berry. For further information, call Monica Gullotta at 622-5596.

MOMS Club of CiceroWe are looking for stay-at-home moms or moms that work part-time, to join our

group. Our activities include weekly play dates, field trips and a monthly MOMS night out. We are a charitable organization supporting our community and our moms. If you live in Cicero, Clay, North Syracuse, Liverpool or Baldwinsville, contact us at orgsites.com/ny/momsclubofcicerony.

CNY SPD Parent Connections Support Group A support group for Parents of children with Sensory Processing Disorder will be

held at 7 p.m. Thursday Jan. 21 at the Beacon Baptist Church, E. Henry Clay Blvd., Clay.The topic will be: “Autistic-Like: Graham’s Story,” to be followed by dicussion.

For more information about our group please visit the Web site at cnyspdpar-ents.com.

Meetings Guitar League to begin in JanuaryGuitar League will meet monthly from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Monday of each month

beginning Jan. 4 at 312 Lakeside Road in Syracuse. For more information call 407-8463 or visit guitarleague.com. The first meeting is free. Yearly and monthly memberships are available. All guitar enthusiasts are welcome.

Know someone who has accomplished something out-

standing? Send their story and photo to the Clay Insider

at news@clayinsider.com for our new “Local Accom-

plishments” page!

Are you yoga fit? The younger we are the more pliable and flexible our muscles and joints are. YogaFit Kids encourages kids to explore their natural abilities in an active, safe and fun way that honors diversity of each students’ flexibility and strengths.

YogaFit Kids is a fun, playful class where kids can move energy through their bodies and bring into their minds.

The class is designed for children ages 4 to 10 and will meet at the town of Clay-

Old Town Hall Meeting Room, 4483 Route 31, Clay, from 6 to 7 p.m. every Thursday Jan. 14 through March 4.

The fee is $40 per particpant. Instructor Florence Drago, a pilates, dance and fit-ness professinoal, will lead the kids’ winter session.

Registration is needed. Call the town’s park and recreation office at 652-3800, ext. 139 or e-mail recreation@townofclay.org.

Staying yoga fit through winter

Recreational gymnastics will be held through the Clay Town Park and Recre-ation Department every Saturday from Jan. 9 to March 13.

There will be a class for kids ages 3 to 5 from noon to 1 p.m. A class for kids 6 and up will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. as well.

The fee is $60 per participant and space is limited for each section.

Registration is needed. Call the town’s park and recreation office at 652-3800 or e-mail recreation@townofclay.org.

Visit the Web site, townofclay.org, for more information.

Recreational gymnastics in Clay

An exploration art course will be held for kids ages 6 to 12 from 6 to 7 p.m. Jan. 25 through March 1 at Bear Road Elemen-tary.

The course is designed to inspire and engage children in activities that will expose them to many different materials, styles and expression.

The course fee is $50 and includes all art materials.

Registration is needed. Call the town’s park and recreation office at 652-3800. ext. 139 or e-mail recreation@townofclay.org.

Visit the Web site, townofclay.org, for more information.

Take an art exploration

January 2010Clay Insider, 1�

Olympics Cauldron. Olympic Village, a rec-reation area for athletes and the public, will be open at the Oncenter prior to Opening Ceremonies. After Opening Ceremonies, floor hockey pairing games will be held at the Oncenter to division the athletes for the following day’s competition. Athletic competition will begin at 8:30

a.m. Saturday Feb. 6 in six Olympic-style sports, including floor hockey at the On-center Complex, speed and figure skating at the War Memorial Arena, Alpine skiing at the Toggenburg Mountain Winter Sports Center in Fabius, Nordic Skiing at High-land Forest Park in Fabius and Snowshoe-ing at Thornden Park in Syracuse. Volunteer duties: Set up and break down sports ven-

ues, present medals, distribute lunches, sell merchandise and help with Opening Ceremonies and Olympic Village. Staff the following athletic venues:

Alpine skiing, Nordic Skiing, figure skating, speed skating, snowshoeing and floor hockey.

The deadline for volunteer assign-ments given is Jan. 27; after that date

walk-in volunteers are welcome. For more information on volunteering, please visit specialolympicsNY.org and click on Winter Games, email volunteer@nyso.org or call (800) 836-6976.

Special Olympics New York, which does not charge athletes to participate, provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-style sports for more than 47,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

“Special Olympics aims to demonstrate that when people with and without intel-lectual disabilities are brought together by its year-round program of training and competition; myths are dispelled, attitudes are changed and new opportunities to embrace and celebrate people with intel-lectual disabilities are created,” said Neal J. Johnson, president and CEO of the organization.

Premier Sponsors Citizens Bank and Wegmans Food Markets are joined by these additional sponsors: NYSUT, A Union of Professionals; Civil Service Em-ployees Association; Knights of Columbus; Wal-Mart and media sponsor Galaxy Com-munications.

Volunteer From Page 12

OCM BOCES receives $469,012 rural development grant

John Herholzer – honored Gail Lam-bert, Baker High School special education teacher

Kurt McArdell – honored Thomas Man-ning, Durgee Junior High School special education teacher

Brandon Grunder – honored Sheila Hea-

ton, Baker High School science teacherNick Jacobs – honored Paul Mizer,

Baker High School technology teacherMichael Lukasiewicz – honored Robert

Miller, Baker High School art teacherJoseph Senf – honored Michael Scuderi,

Baker High School math teacher.

Honor From Page 12

FARAH JADRAN PIKEOutside Clay Town Hall in December 2009.

Happy New Year from the Clay Insider

Grant Will Help Install Interactive Video System in 11 Rural School Districts

Rep. Dan Maffei (NY-25) joined USDA Rural Development State Director Jill Harvey Monday Dec. 14 to present a $469,012 Distance Learning and Tele-medicine Grant to the Onondaga Cortland Madison Board of Cooperative Educa-tional Services (OCM BOCES).

OCM BOCES will use the grant to install an interactive video conferenc-ing system that will connect its Syracuse campus with 23 schools in 11 rural Cen-tral New York school districts. The video-conferencing system enables students to take courses that are generally not avail-able at their schools, including advanced placement classes and college courses. The system also provides a cost-effective method for professional development and job retraining. Video conferencing pro-vides students with excellent instructional opportunities, including collaborations with other students across the state and nation, virtual field trips to museums and organizations like NASA, and interactions with professionals from a variety of fields. The 11 districts involved in the project are Tully, Onondaga, McGraw, Marathon, LaFay-ette, Homer, DeRuyter, Cincinnatus, Chit-tenango, Fabius-Pompey and Cazenovia.

“Providing new opportunities for our students to excel, no matter where they live, is incredibly important,” Maffei said. “To be able to bring such cutting edge technology to small schools and rural areas across the area is exciting, and I’m pleased that even in tough economic times we are making important investments in our students and our future.”

“One of Rural Development’s primary missions is improving the quality of life in our rural communities and supporting innovative educational initiatives is one of the ways we achieve that objective,” Harvey said. “The OCM BOCES project will directly improve educational opportunities for more than

9,000 students in small, rural Central New York districts and I am pleased – and proud – that my agency is able to support such a worthwhile effort.”

“On behalf of OCM BOCES, the 11 districts, and especially the students that will be able to reap the tremendous benefits of the video conferencing technology and support, I would like to thank the USDA for selecting our organization to receive these funds,” said Dr. Jessica Cohen, OCM BO-CES superintendent. “OCM BOCES’ Central New York Regional Information Center has long been providing superior technological opportunities to our 23 component districts and beyond, but with this additional money to serve our rural districts, we open doors for our students to take advantage of opportuni-ties they may not otherwise have.”

The DLT Grant Program is administered by USDA Rural Development’s national office and provides access to education, training and health care resources in rural areas. Matching funds are required on the part of the recipient and OCM BOCES provided $786,010 for the project, which has a total price tag of more than $1.25 million.

Nationally, 111 projects in 35 states received more than $34.9 million in DLT funding this year. Four New York proj-ects, including OCM BOCES, received $1,350,052 in funding.

USDA Rural Development’s mission is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for rural resi-dents. Rural Development fosters growth in homeownership, finances business development and supports the creation of critical community and technology infrastructure. Further information on rural programs is available by calling the state office at 477-6400 or by visiting USDA Rural Development’s Web site at rurdev.usda.gov/ny.

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Clay adds to rich history throughout 2009Take a look at what’s been done and what’s to come

By Dorothy Heller

Following is a list of some of the projects and events related to Clay His-tory for 2009. Many are ongoing and/or are contin-ued from previous years.

The Cub Scouts of Den 4, Pack 620, under the leadership of Jim Palokiewicz, constructed 10 benches for the Clay Historic Park and finished painting them in the spring – green to match the Railroad Station. Their idea was to have a place, espe-cially for the seniors, to rest while touring the Park and to contemplate Clay’s His-tory. They also did a spring cleaning of the grounds.

The Spring Conference of the Association of Public

Historians of New York State (APHNYS) was also a “quadricentennial” cel-ebration of Henry Hudson’s exploration and Samuel D. Champlain’s exploration of the New World. It also commemorated Robert Fulton’s 200th Anniversary of his steamboat. Paul Stewart, a presenter, was able to supply me with information on Clay’s denouncement of slavery before the Civil War. Each municipality was asked to provide a quilt block with an explanation represent-ing their area for a quilt to be hung in the State Capital. Clay’s represents the New Town Hall.

Olakunle Akinpelu of Boy Scout Troop 203 constructed two new signs

for the Clay Historic Park under the leadership of Jim Palumbo. Assisted by his troop with donations of ma-terials from the community and financial help of the Clay Historical Association, an entrance sign and a site map are now erected in the Park. He was awarded his Eagle Scout Badge in July.

The Clay Fall Festival in September was a big success as usual. Demon-strations, exhibits, games, food for all ages, tours and music were available. About 30 members and parents of Cub Scout Wolf Den of Pack 116 under the leadership of Steve Perrigo, attended, including many visitors from other parts of the state.

History Camp for children ages 8 to 12 was held in July. They were taught and made a craft related to Native Americans, plants and birds, candle-making, homemade ice cream, farming implements and an American flag. Their favorite old game was the hula-hoop.

On the South side of Oak Orchard Road is an historic

marker to commemorate the Oak Orchard site. It was well known to the Haudenosaunee Natives as a crossing place when hunting and fishing. Also, from archaeological digs, remains of campsites were found, including skeletal.

Tully Mayor Beth Green-wood and Historian Lynn Fisher brought a number of people to tour the Clay Historic Park in Septem-ber with promises to bring more town people later.

The October Sympo-sium on the Mohawk Valley History was very enlighten-ing since that was the way West after the Revolution-ary War. The Founders of Clay traveled via the Mohawk Valley in the early 1800s to settle what is now Clay.

Lysander Historian, Bonnie Kisselstein made a presentation to the Clay Historical Association in November on the History

of the property previous to being Radisson, its use during World War II – for munitions. Please take note that a section of what is now Clay came from Lysander.

The “Three Rivers Project” is progressing. For many years it was a historic Indian area at the junction of the Three Rivers. The project now includes the 27 miles of waterfront, the old Cibro Tank area and the former Three Rivers Hotel Prop-erty. Grants have been obtained for clean up and traffic study among other things. Recently the final draft was sent to the State on the “Local Waterfront Revitalization Project” (LWRP) and the land were inventoried. Grants are being sought presently for analyzing the potential use of the contaminated area – known as a “Brownfield Opportunity Area.” The

Project is moving slowly but continually with a vision of a beautiful planned com-munity.

The renovation of the old Clay Hotel, a well-known landmark for more than 100 years, is com-plete. You may remember years ago that it was known for its sauerbraten, which was written on the side along with paintings of Schultz and Dooley. It now has a restaurant down-stairs and a banquet room upstairs. The beautiful red building can be seen from a long distance when trav-eling on Route 31.

Finally, Clay was part of history as one of the few towns in Onondaga County that went with the new vot-ing machines on Election Day Nov. 3.

Dorothy Heller is the Clay Town historian.

The Oak Orchard land marker.

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