On July 5, roofing material on top of Livonia Elementary School caught fire from a faulty generator — causing a roaring blaze to break out across the top of the fourth and fifth grade classrooms. As firefighters doused the blaze with thousands of gallons of water, other classrooms suffered further damage — including the loss of teaching materials and personal items.

“I was in disbelief after I heard about it on the news,” said Paula Greenman, a fifth grade teacher whose room suffered extensive damage.

“I thought things would be salvageable,” continued Greenman, “but the water, smoke and mold damage was really surprising.”

A week after the fire, once the building had been declared free of hazardous materials, school administators allowed teachers back in to assess the damage done to their classrooms — and to find out if anything accumulated over their teaching careers had survived.

“When I was finally able to get in there, and saw how little was left, I was overwhelmed,” said Pam Leader, a 32 year veteran of Livonia schools.

“I just didn’t know how we were going to get ready for our next class of students. We had all lost so much.”

Personal effects and school supplies aside, perhaps the most irreplaceable things lost were the “extras” collected over years that add to the basic curriculum — items such as ash from Mt. Saint Helens, a rock from Mt. Vesuvius, the sombrero brought back from Mexico.

Teaching aids are painful enough to lose, but other irreplacable items are what really haunts the minds of the of Livonia’s fifth grade teachers.

“I had cards and notes from thankful students and parents,” said Paula Greenman. “I’ll never be able to get those back.”

“I had a personal library of books signed by their authors,” said fifth grade teacher Jacquie Bonadonna.

“I had pictures from 25 years of different classes. If I could get one thing back, those pictures would be it.”

With items of such sentimental value, Livonia administrators were placed in a difficult position.

Fueled by a desire to save as much as possible for their teachers, there was nevertheless a need to be sure that the things being salvaged did not pose any health risks to teachers or future students.

“I’m very happy with how the cleanup process was handled,” said Bonadonna.

“Scott Bischoping and the administrative team have handled this situation with a lot of respect for our feelings and needs.” “They have made it clear from the beginning that they are here to do whatever they can to support us in moving forward,” Leader added.

While the fire cannot be said to be anything other than a highly unwanted and disastrous event, the outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous. It would perhaps be easier to list the local businesses that did not come out in support of their local school.

McDonald’s on West Henrietta Road will hold a benefit to raise money for the elementary school on Aug, 17 from 5 to 7 pm. Wegmans donated over five palettes of school supplies including everything from paper products to art supplies, and pens and pencils to organizing containers.

Michael’s Arts and Crafts offered teachers 35 percent off for an entire week of shopping, and the Livonia Public Library is offering teachers priority access to their annual summer book sale, ensuring that students will have books to read come the new school year.

“These shows of support are really wonderful,” said Deb Haefele, newly appointed interim principal. “It’s incredible how everyone has come out and said “We’ll do this for you, or we’ll do that for you.””

“It’s encouraging and uplifting to know that we’re not in this alone,” said Greenman. “A grandmother of a former student, who recently retired from teaching, offered me her book club points to restock my classroom library,” added Leader. “That’s just one example of the kind of far reaching support we are receiving.”

Fourth and fifth grade classes will return to the RJ Connell building for the new school year, with an anticipated return date to the current elementary school set for Veteran’s Day Weekend.

Deb Haefele, who retired following the 2010 school year, will return in order to ensure that the transition to the RJ Connell building and eventually back to the elementary school will run as smoothly as possible.

“I wouldn’t have come back for anyone other than these teachers,” said Haefele. “It’s such a relief to have Deb,” said Greenman. “Her gift of encouragement is making all the difference.”

Fourth and fifth graders is returning to the building that they vacated only a year ago. It is lucky however that the building is available at all.

“I’m just relieved to have a place to go,” said Bonadonna. “A lot of districts don’t even have that option open to them.”

“Our job is to make sure that the students who come to our classrooms on the first day of school feel comfortable,” said Greenman.

The post Livonia teachers prepare for school after July 5 fire appeared first on Livingston County News.

t’s the height of summer. We have cookouts, we watch fireworks — and the community seems to turn a blind eye to underage drinking.

As, until very recently, an underage drinker myself, I can attest to the fact that I took full advantage of this annual voluntary blindness. My indulgence was nothing unique either, as countless others partook in the illicit festivities which have come to define the holiday.

Now don’t get me wrong, I thought it wonderful that free reign was given to drink and be merry during the week of July 4. My chief concern was that the same license was not given the other 51 weeks of the year.

We have all heard the old arguments for lowering the legal age. It makes little sense that an individual is deemed mature enough to vote, get married, serve on a jury, and risk their lives in war all at the age of 18, but cannot be trusted to take a drink until the age of 21.

This may seem like a tired topic to some, and I would be inclined to agree, if it were not for the fact that the legal drinking age remains 21.

There are those who argue in favor of the established age, and claim that it discourages drinking among youths. To this, I can say that to an extent, yes it does. I do believe however, that proponents of keeping the drinking age at 21 are to a large extent mistaken as to how effective a legal drinking age is at restricting alcohol sales to minors.

Having just left the age where purchasing alcohol required creative solutions, I can say that while at times I have been rejected, I usually walked away with something in hand.

How is this possible? The majority of cashiers who work in the establishments that cater to late night often underage patrons, just don’t care. What is required is an ID. It does not have to look like you, and it does not even have to be from this state. As long as the card reads a birthday which puts the individual at or over 21 years of age, that’s all it takes. Seldom will a cashier reject a valid United States ID.

An experiment

Just to make sure that things have not changed since I was a carefree 20 year old, I conducted my own little experiment. I attempted to purchase alcohol at five local convenience stores.

At each, I would claim that I had left my ID in the car, and if told that I was required to show an ID in order to purchase my alcoholic beverage, then I would then go, seemingly to retrieve my ID, and then come back and present the cashier with an ID that was quite obviously not mine.

At two of the stores I visited, the cashier was understanding, and only required that I give my birthday. This is did, rattling off the digits with practiced ease. This seemed to satisfy their suspicion, and I walked out of the stores with beverage in hand.

At the remaining three stores, the cashiers were not so lenient. They required that I show a physical picture ID, which after returning from my car, I was happy to do.

The glaring difference in appearance between myself and the picture on my ID did little to sway the cashiers, as the remaining three simply scanned the card, and then sent me on my way, likewise, beverage in hand.

One of the cashiers even made it clear that she did not believe that the ID which I presented to her was my own. Laughing slightly, I assured her it was me, and she sent me on my way, a knowing smile on her lips.

Admittedly this experiment encompassed only five stores, and cannot be said to be representative of Livingston County as a whole, but the result does lend itself to speculation and perhaps, some level of judgement about our nation’s current legal drinking age.

If alcohol is so easy to obtain as a minor, why then does it remain illegal?

And likewise, if the police turn a blind eye to the illegal consumption of it on the Fourth of July, why not do the same for the whole year? How can they crackdown on underage drinking one month, and forget about it the next? What is needed is consistency. Year round, unyielding consistency.

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 bullys each state into declaring its minimum drinking age as 21. While technically free to choose any age they wish, the federal government withholds substantial monetary support from any state which does not meet this 21 year minimum age.

This seems unlikely to change, but if I had my way, a certain level of salutary neglect would suffice, with the benefit not coming in the form of physical or financial gains, but rather as a show of faith in the individuals that we claim to trust.

The aim of this article is not to cover every possible argument for or against the current drinking age, but to point out a few truths.

The fact is that alcohol is easy to get. This may stand in contrast to certain preconceived notions about its regulation and controlled sales, but the fact remains that it is easy to get.

Trust me. I know.

Because of this, the legal drinking age is viewed more and more as antiquated and old fashioned. This, coupled with the fact that other such activities which would seem to require a higher level of maturity only require an age of 18, diminish the level of respect with which young people view the law. It certainly did for me.

I am young, and I admit it. My viewpoint is certainly not shared by everyone. Perhaps it will change in time, as I gradually lose my faith in youth and begin to view them as a distant social group, instead of my friends and colleagues.

As it stands now however, I would say on the whole that age underestimates youth.

We are capable of making the correct decisions regarding a mind-altering drug like alcohol, and it is possible to use something without abusing it.

MATT LEADER is a summer intern with the Livingston County News and a student at SUNY Brockport.

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Over 100 people turned out on a sunny Saturday morning for the dedication of the Blue Star Memorial By-Way July 16 in the village of Livonia.

Stressing the importance of honoring the military veterans, Senator Catherine Young highlighted the reverence with which we as a nation look upon our World War II veterans.

“When you think about the global machine of chaos that was murdering 1000’s of innocents all over the world, it was our troops that rose up and saved the world,” she said.

The senator extolled the efforts and willingness of our servicemen and women to protect our country. “Our freedoms don’t come free, and our veterans understand that very well,” she said.

The senator commended the efforts of the Countryside Garden Club, as well as the Livonia American Legion and VFW, all of which played integral roles in the realization and completion of the memorial.

“It’s things like this that remind our communities of our troops. It’s things like this that don’t let us forget,” said Young.

The memorial borrows the title of “Blue Star” from the Blue Star Mothers of America. Originally founded in 1942, the association acted as a support service for mothers who had sons serving in World War II.

Members would hang a white service flag in their window, with a blue star for each living family member who served in the military, and a gold one for those who had lost their lives during military service.

In 1945, the Blue Star Mothers began the “Blue Star Memorial Marker Program” to specifically recognize and honor men and women serving in World War II.

To this day the tradition continues, and the Blue Star Mothers of America continue to support not only the emotional and physical well being of its members, but also help to spread a general sense of patriotism and national pride in local communities.

Connie Genduso and Barbara Dougherty both of Livonia were the driving force behind the monument’s creation. A presentation by the Blue Star Mothers in March of 2011 inspired the pair to look for a way to bring a measure of continuous remembrance and respect for America’s military veterans to the village of Livonia.

Settling on the idea of a stone memorial, Genduso and Dougherty set about trying to locate a boulder of the proper size.

“We went to different locations trying to find something that would be a good size,” remembers Dougherty.

“A lot were too small, and some were even too big!” After a suggestion from Dennis Palmer of the Livonia Department of Public Works, Genduso and Dougherty sought out a boulder that had sat unused and little appreciated in the Livonia Community Park for years.

Moving the boulder took not one but two backhoes to lift the rock into the bed of a waiting village dump truck.

Both Genduso and Dougherty have a history of family members who served in the military, and as such, the memorial is especially significant to them.

“There has been a definite upswing in the level of pride and respect for veterans over the years,” said Dougherty. “It was much different during Vietnam.”

The monument is across the road from Livonia’s Forrest Vosler park honoring a Congressional Medal of Honor winner from Livonia.

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Kristian George is as tenacious as the breed of dog she passionately advocates for all year long.

On Saturday, the Livonia native led a march through her village for proud owners of American Pit Bull Terriers. Her organization Fit4Pits Advocates works to raise public awareness of the mistreatment of pit bulls. Its members appear regularly at public events with their dogs.

“Pit bulls are misunderstood animals,” said George when recounting an experience she had while walking her four year old pit bull, Diamond.

“We passed a mother and daughter, and when the daughter bent down to pet Diamond her mother pulled her away. She said that “if that dog grabs a hold of you, it will kill you.”

Other marchers shared similar experiences.

“People cross the road all the time just to avoid walking past the dog,” said Jessica Lane, who owns an eight year old pit bull named Brutis. “They’re just as good as any other dogs,” claims Lane. “They’re labs at heart.”

“A good owner equals a good dog,” added Cristie Boufford whose dog Pede was the youngest at the march. “If you raise them well and socialize them with other dogs early on, then there’s no problem.”

Although there were nearly a dozen dogs present at the march, there were no maulings or bloody attacks. The most aggressive actions from the dogs came in the form of curious sniffing and excited tail wagging.

This stands in contrast to the public perception of pit bulls as bloodthirsty killers.

The mother of two young children, Sarah Connor, admits that at first she had reservations about owning a pit bull. “I did a lot of research before we got him,” she said. “My mother thought we were crazy for getting a pit bull, but a few weeks later after she got to know Vinny, she got a pit bull too!”

The ebb and flow of popular causes is self evident. It is easy to attend a march or rally, but is much more difficult to stay the course and commit yourself to a singular goal over a long stretch of time.

Although still a small affair, the annual march has bolstered its numbers over its 3 year history. Starting with just two marchers in its first year, this past Saturday over 20’ advocates came out in support of their beloved pets.

Those seeking more information about Kristian’s story and mission can visit fit4pitsadvocates.weebly.com.

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We’ve all seen them floating gently on warm summer breezes in the fading light of early evening. We count ourselves lucky when we happen to catch sight of one, and when they first appear on the horizon we know that summer has arrived.

The 11th annual Red, White and Blue Balloon Rally last weekend at Letchworth State Park brought together over 25 hot air balloons— from single seaters to 10-person baskets. Balloonists made the trek from as far away as Florida and New Hampshire.

Sean Quigley of Portageville, who heads the rally as “Balloon Master,” makes the ultimate decision about whether or not conditions are suitable for balloon flights.

“Today’s conditions were absolutely perfect,” said Quigley shortly after landing from his one hour flight Saturday. Early morning and early evening are the best times for flight, as the heat of midday tends to cause turbulence and make flights unsafe.

Quigley, who has logged over 2,100 flights over the course of his 25 year piloting career, developed his interest in ballooning at a young age.

“I read about it in Popular Mechanics when I was 10 years old,” he remembers. “I used to send off little helium balloons with messages attached to them.”

Click on a thumbnail below to launch a slideshow by Matt Leader.

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