This week Lansing students were treated to a visit by author John H. Ritter, who is known for his books for young adults that mix baseball with moral topics.  Ritter is the third author that former Rochester librarian Susan Rosenkoetter has brought to Lansing in honor of her other, Dorothy Davis Rosenkoetter, who worked at Lansing schools for 18 years.  "This year has been our biggest project ever," Rosenkoetter said Tuesday morning.  "His two favorite things are baseball and music.  He's brought a guitar.  He's going to be talking about his books, talking about writing, answering questions, and playing on the guitar.  I'm really thrilled because the middle school has a wonderful Jazz band that played as the kids filed in."

	A Visit to Mbaka Oromo Primary School In next week's issue we will share our interview with Harold and Cindy van Es in which they share some of their experiences visiting Kenya over the holiday break last December, and how their family traversed a war zone to see the school and meet the community they have partnered with.

An earthquake strikes Lansing, demolishing the elementary and middle schools.  The next day roads are closed and children are forced to walk to school, at least those who live within four or five miles of the campus.  Once they get there they are put to work building mud and dung huts, hauling the dung from nearby dairy farms.  There is no lunch or snacks available.  Days or even weeks later they have constructed enough of a facility to hold classes again.  But all the computers have been destroyed, as well as books and all other teaching aids.  After a year of this Lansing learns that some wealthy people from a community in Africa have taken an interest in the town and want to build classrooms that won't melt away every time it rains here.  And then we learn that some of this blessed donation is coming from African kids.

If you can imagine this you can begin to imagine what it has been like at the Mbaka Oromo school in western Kenya.  In 2006 Lansing students did try to imagine it by living a day as their Kenyan counterparts do.  It wasn't easy.  A remarkable part of this story is that Lansing kids don't have to imagine it -- they have actually exchanged letters and school projects with the kids their age in Kenya.  By doing so they have explored and shared their little world here, and broadened it in a unique and personal way by hearing about another culture from the people they really listen to -- other kids.

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Newfield, NY: On Monday, May 5, 2008 at 8:15 AM a cat was found tied inside a bag with a brick along the bank of West Branch Cayuga Inlet Creek in Newfield.  The cat, presumably left to drown, was rushed to the SPCA and found to be in good condition.

A resident of Newfield was driving along Newfield Depot Road and stopped at a pull-off between two waterfalls just past the intersection of Adams and Smith Roads.  It was there that a bag was spotted down over the bank caught on a dead tree. The bag appeared to be moving.  The citizen climbed down and opened the bag to find a live female cat stuffed inside along with a red brick.  The bag was tied shut with a piece of rope.

Unique Local Beer, Straight From the Tank

"Some new stuff, some old stuff, some recycled stuff."  That's how the Scale House Brew pub owner Steve Fazzary describes the latest addition to his business in the Village of Lansing's Small Mall.  Fazzary opened Northeast Pizza and Beer Company  in 2006 when he bought Rogan's Pizza and opened a laundromat two doors down.  But he always envisioned a brew pub in the middle.  In mid-February his liquor license finally arrived.  Fazzary brewed his first batch of beers, and was open for business.

"The idea was to have something a little different from what everybody else is doing in town," Fazzary  says.  "This is a small micro-brew pub.  We've got the same menu as the pizzeria, so you can come in and sit down and have pizza, wings, appetizers, salads, and subs.  One day everybody's drinking pilsners, and the next day they're drinking all red ales, or bock dark -- it just varies.  Or they'll come in and try one and the next thing you know they're drinking all of them."

Fred Voss presents June Martin with framed letter from Elie WieselAs a seventeen year old Jew in 1938 Fred Voss got permission to visit his cousins in Krefeld, Germany, a young couple who were planning to escape from the Nazis.  On November 9th he heard a commotion.  He ran outside to see what was happening.  Thousands of people were watching the local synagogue being burned.  When he got back his cousin told him her husband had been taken away and that he should hide.  He tried going home, but his mother warned him to stay away from home, because the Nazis were looking for all Jewish males and taking them to death camps.  "I didn't know what to do," Voss said plaintively to a rapt audience of Lansing High School Sophomores Wednesday.  "I was as old as you are.  Would you know what to do?"

That was Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass" when Nazi storm troopers broke the windows on Jewish homes and businesses, looting and plundering them, and burned hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and Austria while crowds cheered and local fire fighters protected surrounding buildings. On Wednesday Voss honored Lansing High School English teacher June Martin, for her outstanding work in educating students about the horrors that he and millions of other victims lived through.

Why do they do it? Each time they're asked, it's the same answer: It's Easy.

It's easy for Fred Conner and Paul VanLeuken. They're the Tompkins County Red Cross Donors of the Decade and both men are proud of the fact that they've voluntarily donated 14 gallons and 19 gallons of blood respectively. Their amazing accomplishments, combined with the donations of other Tompkins County residents, have saved or bettered the lives of up to 18,933 people in hospitals in the Red Cross New York-Penn Blood Region. In a recent interview with both men, they talked casually about their accomplishments and their commitment to the Tompkins County Red Cross blood collection efforts.

Everybody loves model trains.  And when you mention the annual Fingerlakes Railfair, everyone is enthusiastic about it.  Last weekend the Cornell Railroad Historical Society hosted their 25th Railfair at Lansing’s the FIELD.  The Railfair featured model layouts in just about every scale, with 54 exhibitors and vendors at 185 tables, test tracks, and door prizes.  While the price of gas may have been responsible for a smaller show this year, the Railfair is one of New York’s largest model train shows.  ”This is still a good sized show,” says Railfair Coordinator Jim Torgeson.  “It is by no means a small show.”

Ask IMOAsk IMO

Lansing's Advice Column

Email your questions to IMO at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear IMO,

My wife and I are getting a lot of junk mail these days. It seems that our mailbox is filled with more and more each week. Is there any way to stop these companies, banks, and other institutions from sending us their junk?

Thanks,

Frank

 

Pet of the Week Hi there my name is Poptart. I am a spayed female dilute tortoise shell cat, who needs a good home with a great family to take care of me. So please come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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The Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom will offer variety of public eco-cruises on Cayuga Lake during 2008, beginning this spring. Thanks to support from the City of Ithaca and the Town of Lansing, and a Tompkins County Community Celebrations grant, the Floating Classroom will host free cruises in association with Earth Day and Water Week celebrations at the Ithaca Farmers' Market.

Eleven Lansing Central School students won top honors in the Olympics of the Visual Arts in Saratoga Springs N.Y. on April 1, 2008. The competition was founded and is sponsored by The New York State Art Teachers Association. The statewide event requires students to find solutions to different challenges using historical references, brainstorming, problem solving, and creativity.

Pet of the Week Hi there my name is Aleisha. I am a female adult black cat who needs a home with a loving and caring family who will pet and pamper me. So please come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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