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Week of June 29, 2022 Home of The Kubala Family
Proudly serving Liverpool, Salina, North Syracuse, Cicero & Clay
PENNY SAVER: CNY’S BEST BUSINESS SERVICE DIRECTORY INSIDE!
WORK BUY SELL TRADE GET IT DONE
Liverpool Public Library
Incumbents returned
Goodbye, Glenna
Devendorf wins fourth, LaMontagne wins third term as trustee
LPL director to retire
By Mark Bialczak LPL Communications Specialist
When Glenna Wisniewski was a kid growing up in Baldwinsville, she recalls, on a rainy day she might be found at her friend Jimmy Pirong’s house playing library. “We would have our books and checkout cards,” she says. “I’d say, ‘I think you need to read this.’ I’d give due dates.” Yes, she had real-life experience to draw upon. She also remembers riding her bike to the village library, located at the time in a house with creaky floors on Charlotte Street. Taking a career assessment test years later in high school, one of her choices came out as bookmobile librarian. Alas, Wisniewski already had it in her mind to study American history at Syracuse University. Funny how the pages can turn. That bachelor’s degree led to a master’s in Archives and Museum Librarianship at SU. Then came her first professional librarian position in the office of Museums and Historic Sites for Onondaga County
Submitted photo
Glenna Wisniewski will retire as Liverpool Public Library director at the end of July. Parks. Then an out-of-the-blue query letter brought a slot as a children’s librarian at the Onondaga County Public Libraries’ Mundy Branch, which was followed by a beloved slot as a bookmobile librarian out of the central branch of OCPL. “Ding!” Wisniewski says with a laugh about that revisit to the bookmobile suggestion of her high school days. “My favorite job, ever!” While expecting the birth of her daughter, Wisniewski heard of a job at the Liverpool Central School District’s Educational Communication Center, like a BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) for the big school district. “What a great schedule to be on,” she says she thought at the time.
She ended up working for the school district for 20 years. When her position was cut to half-time in 2003, Wisniewski also became a parttime substitute librarian at the Liverpool Public Library. “The rest is history,” she says. That history includes becoming full-time at the LPL when her school district position was eliminated in 2009. It winds through the LPL as adult services librarian, coordinator of children, adult and teen services and assistant director before being appointed director in 2016. Wisniewski will retire as LPL director at the end of July. She says she has many people to thank. Professor Antje Lemke at Syracuse LPL l Page 2
Village hall work approved, mansion repairs postponed By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer
As all Central New York homeowners know, every decade or so you’re bound to repair or replace your roof. At its June 22 meeting the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees approved an expenditure of $22,950 to fix the deteriorating roof at the village hall, located at 310 Sycamore St. The board - Mayor Gary White and trustees Matt De-
vendorf, Christina Fadden, Dennis Hebert and Michael LaMontagne - awarded that contract to Michael Graham & Son Construction of Syracuse. The trustees also plan to hire a contractor to fix the damaged roof on the east side of the Gleason Mansion, 314 Second St. Because the mansion — also known as the Lucius Gleason House — dates back to 1857, repairs there must agree with the historic nature of the building.
“Let’s hold off for now,” White said. The trustees and Village Attorney John Langey will determine how to proceed with the work while remaining historically accurate.
Three DWIs in May
At the village trustees’ June 22 meeting, Liverpool Police Chief Jerry Unger reported his department’s activity during the previous month via memo provided by Trustee Devendorf. In May,
LPD officers made 316 traffic stops and issued 228 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws. There three arrests made last month for driving while intoxicated. Officers investigated four accidents and made 115 residential checks and 148 business checks. They responded to a total of 749 incidents and calls for service in May. The department arrested 46 individuals last month on 61 criminal charges.
PHOTOS COURTESY LINKEDIN
Incumbent Liverpool Trustees Matt Devendorf (left) and Michael LaMontagne were returned to office in an uncontested village election on June 21.
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By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer
illage trustees Matt Devendorf and Mike LaMontagne cruised to easy victories in an uncontested village election on June 21. A total of 71 voters cast ballots in person along with nine absentee voters. Devendorf drew 75 votes, 49 on the Republican line and 26 on the Residents Party line. LaMontagne drew 74 votes, 50 on the Republican line and 24 on the Residents Party line. A single write-in vote was also noted, but it was clearly a joke suggesting support for “Rocky the Squirrel.” Initially elected as trustee in 2016, Devendorf won his fourth 2-year term, while LaMontagne was returned to office for his third third. Devendorf works as director of sales and marketing at Young & Franklin/Tactair. He previously served on the village zoning board of appeal. LaMontagne is a senior principal architect at C&S Companies in charge of that firm’s newly formed architecture and interior design service group. Previously, LaMontagne sat for several years on the village planning board. Republicans have dominated village government for decades and have enjoyed largely unchallenged control for the past 21 years.
Cicero resident enjoys franchising career By Jason Klaiber Staff Writer Originally involved in the banking industry, local entrepreneur Roger Wagner has never looked back since making the switch to fast food and fast casual restaurant franchising 30 years ago. From his main office off Carrier Circle, the resident of Cicero oversees 20 Burger Kings mainly stretching from the Canadian border down to Elmira, a dozen Moe’s Southwest Grills scattered across New York State, and now a handful of Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations. Wagner wouldn’t have racked up such a diversified portfolio, however, without first being hired by Taco Bell as an assistant manager in the Detroit metro area. Coming in response to the resume he sent along while still a dissatisfied employee at Comerica Bank in 1992, the job offer was what ultimately set him up for success in his view. “At that time, it was a great opportunity that really allowed me to go through the restaurant school of hard knocks,” Wagner said. Wagner was quickly promoted to a general manager role for the Mexican-inspired fast
food chain, and eventually he took over a project manager position that he fulfilled from a corporate office in Chicago. After an in-between stop in Washington D.C., during which he worked for the sandwich shop and cafe Au Bon Pain, Wagner returned to Chicago to run 20-plus Taco Bells. He would later serve as the company’s territory manager responsible for franchise and licensing activity in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and central Missouri. When one of those franchisees obtained Franchise
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Cicero resident Roger Wagner owns and operates more than 30 fast food and fast casual restaurant locations between Burger King, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Volume 130, Number 26 The Star-Review is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206. Periodical Postage Paid at Syracuse, NY 13220, USPS 316060. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Star-Review, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
CNY pet of the week: Meet Violet.
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sports news: C-NS, Liverpool athletes honored by section.
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Calendar �������������������� 3 death notices ��������� 10 Editorial ��������������������� 4 history ������������������� 9,11
letters ������������������������ 4 PennySaver ���������������� 6 Sports ����������������������� 11