Star Review digital edition - Sept. 20, 2023

By JAnELLE dAvis

Liverpool High School inducted four individuals and two teams into the athletic hall of fame at and induction and awards ceremony on Friday, Sept. 15, at 4:30 p.m. in the Liverpool Athletics lobby at LHS. They continued introductions of the inductees during halftime at the hall of fame football game versus Henninger.

TheLiverpoolHighSchool Athletic Hall of Fame CommitteehistoricallyhonorsLiverpool graduates who have distinguished themselves on the athletic fields at LHS.

The first class of inductees took place in 1987.

The gymnasium lobby at LHS houses the hall of fame inductees with plaques to honor over 200 past inductees for their athletic achievements and contributions to the athletic program.

Nominations for inductees are accepted each year in April. Once the nomination is submitted, the nominee remains eligible to be inducted for the following five years.

Eligibility includes candidates to have attended Liverpool High School, a written resume submitted of his or her athletic achievements at LHS, have participated in at least one varsity sport at LHS, and be at least five years out of high school.

Among the inductees on Friday was Michael Parsons, nominated for his achieve-

ment in baseball.

He graduated in 2011.

Shawn Peake remembered Parson’s athletic achievements.

“Mike was one of the best people and baseball players to ever walk the halls of LHS,” Peake said. “My teammate who set multiple records and had some of the most success in Liverpool baseball history, passed away at 30 years old. We won sectionals in 2011. His legend will always live on.

To get Michael into the hall of fame is beyond deserving.”

Also inducted was Ben Petrella for cross country and track and field.

Graduating in 2016, Petrella held many honors, including multiple state championships.

He won the Individual State Champion in Cross Country in 2015, was the Individual State Champion in Outdoor Track in 2016, and still holds the New York State outdoor meet record.

Petrella continued his running career at the US Military Academy at West Point, where he was an Academic All-American. He graduated from USMA at Westpoint in 2020. He is currently stationed in South Korea.

Brianna Socker was recognized for her abilities in field hockey and basketball.

She graduated from LHS in 2017.

A quote from her nomination describes her dedication, “Bre was a four-year member

Fines to be hiked

By russ tArBy Contributing Writer

All village residents and business owners are invited to offer their opinions at a 7 p.m. public hearing on Monday, Sept. 25 about the newly proposed heavy penalties for tractor-trailers using village roadways.

The Liverpool Board of Trustees will conduct the public hearing on Sept. 25, at the village hall, 210 Sycamore St., to get feedback about its plan to increase fines on big trucks here.

At its July 10 meeting, the village board approved a new local law prohibiting the operation of trucks weighing more than five tons within the village. The law specifically targets “truck, trailers and tractor-trailer combinations.”

The current fine is $50, but the trustees have proposed raising that penalty to $1,200 for trucks and their loads totaling between five tons and seven-and-a-half tons. For weights between seven-anda-half tons and 10 tons the fine would be $1,700.

The penalties get progressively higher for higher weights, with the top fine listed as $4,700 for trucks and their loads weighing 22.5 tons or more.

“The newly suggested penalties align with those of New York state,” said Mayor Stacy Finney.

The new local law, which was drafted by the previous board of trustees headed by Mayor Gary White, aims to “regulate and control land use and to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents as well as the integrity of village thoroughfares.”

The law includes a notable exclusion to allow trucks of all weights to make local deliveries and pickups.

oftheLiverpoolFieldHockey team and a three-year member of the Liverpool Basketball team. She cherished her time at Liverpool both academicallyandathletically.Her teammates valued her opinions and expertise both on and off the field. The lessons she learned from her coaches and teammates at Liverpool helped her succeed both on the field and in college.”

Jeff “JJ” Ross was honored for swimming, diving, and crew.

“AtLiverpoolHighSchool JJ not only excelled in swimming and crew, but also in the classroom. He finished sixth in his class out of 524 and received many academic awards,” JJ’s father, Jeff Ross said.

His academic awards include the 2018 Section III Scholar-Athlete Award and the 2018 Academic All-American. Ross is currently a United States Army Ranger.

One of the LHS teams inducted was the Boys Varsity Cross Country Team (2015) which included Ben Petrella, Ty Brownlow, Stevie Schulz, Terrell Coleman, Ryan Comstock,DanHunt,GabeAlbert, and Coach Tracey Vannatta.

A few examples of their accolades include first place at the McQuaid Invitational, Section lll Class A Champions,secondplaceNYSPHSAA Champions, and first place NXNNYRegional,qualifying for the NXN National championship.

By KAthrynE rAKowsKi

DiaperNeedAwarenessWeek

began on Sept. 18 and runs until Sept. 24. And the CNY Diaper Bank is busy spreading the word and letting the community know how to get involved with their vital mission.

The CNY Diaper Bank was founded by Michela Hugo in 2016. After learning about other diaper bank programs, she was surprised that no one was fulfilling that need in the Syracuse area, where 47% of children are living in poverty. Diapers are an essential need for children, but it is a need that is often overlooked.

“Diaper needs are not being met and that’s why diaper banks are so important,” Hugo said, explaining that diapers are not covered by benefits like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or by Women, Infants and Children (WIC). They can cost up to $100 a month and this is often more than families can afford.

“Diapers are so expensive and families in poverty often have to choose between food or diapers,” Hugo said. “Going without dia-

Submitted photoS the Liverpool Athletic hall of fame inducted its most recent class on sept. 15.

The other team to be inducted into the Liverpool Highschool Athletic Hall of Fame was the Boys Varsity Baseball Team (2017) who included Nick Antonello, Peter Belgrader, Tommy Bianchi, Jordan Brown, Joel Ciccarelli, Jeff DeStefano, Jake Evans, Brandon Exner, Jonah Harder, Andre Leatherwood, Devan Mederios, Gerard Mouton, Zach Pieklik, Matt Rioux,

pers means risking health issues and that can lead to depression in moms, further harming their children.”

Today, the CNY Diaper Bank works with 49 partner agencies in the area and has distributed over 1 million diapers in 2023 alone. Families in need can receive 50 diapers per month for each child.

Diaper Awareness Week, created in 2012 by the National Diaper Bank Network, is a time when the CNY Diaper Bank focuses on raising awareness, showing support for those in need, and getting the community involved. And there are several ways for people to get involved, Hugo said.

The Downtown Diaper Walk will be held on Thursday, Sept. 21 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at city hall and individuals, families, and groups are all invited to attend. Registration is free and can be done on their website, cnydiaperbank.org.

The first 50 people to register will receive a free T-shirt.

Mayor Ben Walsh, County Executive Ryan McMahon, and Assembly Member William B. Magnarelli will be attending as

Niko Saunders, Zach Scannell, Zach Scharett, Jake Sisto, Ryan Syrko, Owen Valentine, Joey Zywicki, Coach Fred Terzini, Coach Matt Dolph, Coach CJ Vivacqua and Coach Dan LaDuke.

“These boys were and still are a brotherhood of talented, successful young men who deserve to be recognized for their accomplishment of being

the first-ever NYS champions for varsity baseball in school history,” Christine Ciccarelli said.

LivErPooL inducts hALL of fAmErs diaper Bank raising awareness

Submitted photoS during diaper need Awareness week, the cny diaper Bank will be working to collect diapers to help those in need.

well and will present proclamations at city hall.

Walkers are encouraged to bring diaper donations. Size six diapers are the most in need, but all diaper donations are important and needed.

If you can’t make the walk, but want to get involved, groups and businesses can host a diaper drive.

Hugo said it’s an easy and effective way to spread awareness and collect diaper donations.

“It’s a very powerful way to make an impact and show support,” she said.

For resources on hosting a diaper drive, you can visit cnydiaperbank.org/diaperdrives.

And as always, something simple and significant that everyone can do is donate money for the cause. And no donation is too small, according to Hugo.

Thanks to matching grant sponsorships by the Central New York Community Foundation and Dannible & McKee, LLP, the first $12,500 raised will be matched dollar for dollar, meaning donations will go twice as far.

Every dollar donated is used directly to purchase diapers. Donations can be made on their website.

During Diaper Need Awareness Week, Hugo appreciates

Diapers l Page 2

volunteers restore a

National Grid employees were knee deep in Onondaga Lake Tuesday to preserve a piece of local history that had faded from memory.

More than 40 company volunteers spent the day unearthing the stairs at Jesuit Landing, near the Butterfly Garden of Hope on the Onondaga Lake Parkway, as part of National Grid’s Project C Week of Service.

For the past two years, thousands of employees in New York have volunteered at nonprofit organizations as part of the company day of service. To mark the third anniversary of Project C, the company dedicated the week of Sept. 11-15 to service projects so that even more employees could participate and give back to the communities we serve.

“Project C codifies the commitment we have to all of the communities in New York state where we deliver energy,” said Alberto Bianchetti, regional director of customer and community engagement. “It’s employee-driven and employeepowered, and the benefits are felt by everyone who lives here.” history of Jesuit Landing

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became governor of New York in 1929, the nation was entering the worst economic period in its history — The Great Depression.

The Temporary Emergency Relief Administration was established to provide support to the unemployed and was used to create the Onondaga County Emergency Work Bureau, a

work program that put able-bodied individuals to work on state projects. When Roosevelt was elected President 1932, TERA served as inspiration for the employment projects of The New Deal. One of these make-ready work projects was at a spot known as Jesuit Landing on Onondaga Lake. Workers built stairs from street level to access the beach that once surrounded the lake. This area on the eastern shore of Onondaga Lake takes its name from where Jesuit missionaries from Quebec first landed in the area. Other work projects from this time in the immediate area included Onondaga Lake Park, Onondaga Lake Park Marina, Salt Museum, a living history museum at the Saint

Marie mission site, Onondaga Lake Parkway, the Jesuit and Gale Salt Wells, and the Wedding Bridge.

The stairs at Jesuit Landing eventually became lost to time. Decades of industrial pollution led government officials to prohibit swimming and consumption of fish from the lake, rising water levels overtook the beach, and overgrowth of lake grass, trees and other plant life hid the stairs for decades.

Project c week of service

National Grid launched Project C in 2021 with a day of service, where employees from across the company’s New York service area volunteered at housing agencies, soup kitchens, animal shelters and other nonprofits. It has since grown

into a weeklong service event, where more than 2,500 volunteers from across the state will donate their time for the good of the communities where they live and work. Project C is National Grid’s Community Commitment to:

3 Build a better future by Connecting our communities to clean and sustainable energy.

3 Care for our neighborhoods and their revitalization.

3 Compassionately address the challenges our customers face, including environmental justice and social equity.

3 Create the workforce that will help build New York’s clean energy delivery system.

3 Collaborate with our custom-

Submitted photoS

ers, partners, stakeholders and so many others to deliver the clean, fair, resilient and affordable energy future.

Learn more about Project C at ngrid.com/project-c

Diapers

l From page 1

the opportunity to put this often silent need in the forefront.

“We want to spread awareness and show support to the families in the city who need us,” she said. “It’s important for us to shine a light on this overlooked need and help make a difference.”

More than 40 volunteers spent the day unearthing the stairs at Jesuit Landing, near the Butterfly Garden of Hope on the Onondaga Lake Parkway.

Joyce m. swayze, 80 enjoyed cooking, gardening and birdwatching

Joyce Marie Swayze, 80, of Elbridge, passed away Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, at The Commons on St. Anthony. Born and raised in Massena, she was a 1961 graduate of Massena High School and settled in the Syracuse area in 1962. Joyce held secretarial positions with Nationwide Insurance, Elbridge Elementary School and most recently with MONY. A communicant of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Jordan, she once served as the president and was a longstanding member of the Elbridge Fire Dept. Ladies’ Auxiliary. Joyce enjoyed cooking, gardening and birdwatching. Her Thanksgiving feasts, pies, and Christmas cookies were particularly loved by all. Above all, she loved spending time with

her family.

Joyce was predeceased by her father, Kenneth; mother, Josephine; stepfather, Gordon; sister, Majorie Dishaw; and brothers, Patrick Dishaw and Kenneth

“Sonny” Dishaw Jr.

Surviving are her husband of 57 years, Roger; children, Daniel (Betty), David, and Lisa (Griffith) Hannel; grandchildren, Samantha (Riley), Benjamin,

dolores daly, 98 enjoyed community service

Lindsey (Mike), Courtney, and Abby; sisters, Patricia Butler and Maryjane Southwick; brothers, Richard (Kathy) Dishaw, David (Julie) Dishaw, and Roger (Patty) Dishaw; brother-inlaw, Stanley Harrington; sister-in-law, Jill (Wayne) Swayze; and several nieces, nephews, cousins and many dear friends.

Relatives and friends may call Thursday, Sept. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Buranich Funeral Home, 5431 W. Genesee St., Camillus.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. in St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, 28 N. Main St., Jordan. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD 21741. Share condolences at buranichfh.com.

Dolores “Dodie” Mazoway Daly, 98, of Baldwinsville, passed away Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Dodie was born in Kelly Lake MN in 1924 and graduated from St. Mary’s of Nazareth Nursing School in Chicago in 1946. In 1948 she married Leo Mazoway and moved to his hometown of Baldwinsville, where they raised their five children. Leo was a pharmacist and partner in the Corner Pharmacy.

Dr. Kottmann’s office, Durgee Jr. High, private duty nursing and providing allergy shots from her kitchen were some of the jobs Dodie performed over the years.

She also enjoyed community service. She was active at St. Mary’s Church, the Red Cross, the Christmas Bureau and was on the founding committee of the Baldwinsville Ambulance Corps. She was honored by the Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce as Woman of the Year in 1969.

Dodie was predeceased by Leo in 1976 and her son Jim in 2020.

She is survived by her children, Kath and Ken Voltz, Mike and Cathy Mazoway, Larry Mazoway and Mollie and Steve Kuti, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The family would like to thank all the wonderful people at Syracuse Home at McHarrie Place for their loving care.

There will be no calling hours. A service will be held in the spring at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Baldwinsville.

dolores daly Joyce m swayze

You are not alone

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness there are some staggering statistics when it comes to suicide and suicide attempts.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 and the fourth leading cause of death for people 35-54.

The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased by 31% since 2001 and 46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition

While half of individuals who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental health condition, research shows that 90% experienced symptoms.

NAMI.org goes on to report that In 2017, suicide was: the second leading cause of death for American Indian/ Alaska Natives between the ages of 1034; the second leading cause of death for African Americans, ages 15-24; the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, ages 15-24; the second leading cause of death for Hispanic people in the U.S., ages 15-34; American Indian/ Alaska Native adults die by suicide at a rate 20% higher than non-Hispanic white adults; lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth; transgender people are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population; and 10% of young adults say they experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year.

These numbers speak volumes, but they are more than numbers, they are people. People who may have had friends, family, children, jobs, people who are no longer with us.

Throughout the month of September, NAMI will be working to shine a light on the people we have lost, sharing their stories, as well as the stories of those who have battled with mental illness and continue to fight.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to share resources and storie s in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic.

This month is used to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services.

It is also important to ensure that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention.

According to NAMI, suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background.

In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues.

Every year thousands of individuals die by suicide, leaving behind their friends and family members to navigate the tragedy of loss.

In many cases, friends and families affected by a suicide loss, often called “suicide loss survivors”, are left in the dark. Too often the feelings of shame and stigma prevent them from talking openly.

Sept. 10 has been designated as World Suicide Prevention Day.

But this is a vital issue that is well worth being aware of and raising awareness for every day.

Perhaps the greatest show of support is knowing what resources are available to those who may need help.

Whether it is talking to someone or getting directed to resources for treatment, NAMI and other organizations will be putting these resources at the forefront.

If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call 911 immediately.

If you are in crisis or are experiencing difficult or suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273 TALK (8255).

If you’re uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.

For more information visit NAMI.org.

ruminAtinG on EducAtion

There is no shortage of ideas about how to make our educational system better. Almost anyone you talk to and even people who you don’t ask have an opinion. Take the one proffered by a restaurant owner who told me that elementary school teachers do not need a college education … or to even graduate from high school. They just had to finish the grade that they would teach. This gentleman was dead serious. All I could do was wonder what happened to him when he was in school.

There are more thoughtful ideas, many of which have merit, but will languish because of the two cardinal institutional commandments: 1. We’ve never done it that way before and its corollary, and 2. We’ve always done it this way.

One hot button issue that arises is that of tenure. There is no shortage of people who question why teachers are guaranteed a job for life after a few years of work. I am here to vote for a continuation of tenure, but perhaps a system that is a bit different from the one that is in place now.

In order to make teacher tenure more professional, I would offer that the education of teachers more closely mirror the methods used to educate physicians. Practice teaching is not sufficient to prepare educators for the rigors of the classroom. A longer term association between a new teacher and experienced colleagues in a mentor relationship with consistent and rigorous evaluations along the way could be the path to tenure and a cadre of teachers who are truly professional.

I can use my own experience as an example. I was an accomplished undergraduate seeking to become a teacher through a one-year master’s program. I took the required tests, matriculated and began my journey. It was painful and awful. Not once in two semesters did one of the professors mention how one goes about writing a lesson plan, how one manages a classroom or how to deal with the many interpersonal issues that arise between teachers and students, teachers and parents and teachers and the administration.

I spent that year listening to war stories about life in Iowa from one professor and how American GIs in

Ramblings

Korea didn’t know American History. My practice teaching was at North High School in Syracuse. I never worked harder in my life during that semester, trying to figure out how to teach a class of 35 10th graders, half of whom did not speak English. I was literally on my own since my master teacher introduced me to the class and disappeared. Did I mention that the police appeared in my classroom one day to arrest one of my students for armed robbery?

When I was hired a first year teacher, I was given five separate preparations, two of which were for what were classified as General Education students. There was no curriculum, no texts for these students. My department chair told me to get old texts from elementary school and to “punt.” I was assigned to something called on paper, team-teaching. In reality the teacher with whom I was to team simply dumped his class of 22 into my class of 27 and we met in the cafeteria. Like my master teacher, he disappeared.

It was a difficult year and I wouldn’t have given you two cents for my performance, though, by God, I worked hard at it. I did have help and the two teachers who came to my rescue, Howard Carey and Cindy Crosby, saved me that year, and helped me gather experience and strength to continue.

One thing is certain - we have to be clear about what we expect of the schools. Should all of the students who enter a school system be slotted for college? I don’t think so. College is an appropriate goal for some, but not all. And this has nothing to do with intelligence. It has to do with fulfilling the needs of the individual student as well as the larger society. In our classless society we have conjured a phantom caste system denoted by the color of one’s collar.

Schools should teach what? Communication skills that include the ability to read and to produce clear, grammatically correct written work, development of presentation abilities and the accommodation of current media? Social studies to include analytical skills to be used in evalu -

ating written and electronic media, solid knowledge of the history of our nation and its relationship to other people, cultural and social geography of the world’s peoples, as well as plain old ability to find a place on a map?

Science to include the understanding of biological, chemical and physical world, the knowledge about how to evaluate discoveries in all scientific areas? Math to include basic calculations, the types of thinking and problem solving that underlie algebra, geometry, etc.?

High on my list of must-haves is learning another language. This should start in kindergarten when minds are malleable to other ways of looking at the world. Along with what we call academic subjects should be the options to pursue careers in occupations that don’t require a college education, e.g. carpentry, plumbing, welding, cosmetology, medical assisting, landscaping, … with opportunities for internships and apprenticeships as part of the high school programs.

The challenge is how to sort the options so that students can be guided along what may well determine their life’s path.

For those exiting secondary education, i.e. seniors, there should be a mini course in life skills that includes how to find affordable, adequate shelter, how to navigate health care and money management, a gigantic subject that includes banking, investing, purchasing, etc.

And since we are now asking schools to provide what the larger society is not providing, adequate funding to hire and support professionals in mental health.

The role of free public education changes with the needs of the society in which it exists.

The flexibility and resources to respond to changing needs, both locally and nationally, are probably the best identifiers of what a school or what our educational system should have to prepare our children for the future.

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

Lakeside stairway unveiled at Jesuit Landing

At the dawn of the Great Depression, the Onondaga County Emergency Work Bureau was established to provide jobs for the unemployed.

The bureau undertook the reclamation and development of the eastern shore of Onondaga Lake. It was the largest public project undertaken by the bureau here, according to local historian Joyce Mills.

One of the construction jobs the bureau tackled was the installation of a six-step stone stairway stretching 100-plus feet along the lakeshore at Jesuit Landing, near the current site of the Butterfly Garden.

Over the years, the stairs fell into disuse and became seriously overgrown with shrubbery and littered by trash. Now, thanks to dozens of able-bodied volunteers from National Grid, the 90-year-old lakeside stairway has been cleaned up, restored and reclaimed.

National Grid Customer and Community Engagement Manager Travis Glazier, who previously directed the county’s office of the environment, knew about the steps from his work on the Onondaga Lake cleanup project and suggested restoring the stairway to organizers

com display Ads: lori lewis, ext 316, llewis@eaglenewsonline com

of the company’s annual week of service during which more than 2,000 National Grid volunteers participate in community projects state-wide.

“These steps right here, way back in the 1930s were actually access to Onondaga Lake,” said parks Commissioner Brian Kelley. “There was a beach here, and it was also a place where people would come and fish.”

But, unfortunately, the stairs haven’t been visible for decades.

“It was under feet of soil and plants, and so there was a lot of work to pull it all up,” Glazier said.

Last Monday and Tuesday, some 40 National Grid employees cleared off the old steps. On the first day they used some heavy equipment to remove much of the brush and overgrowth. The next day, the volunteers wielded picks, shovels and rakes for finishing touches.

s everal local bests

Syracuse’s monthly restaurant guide, Table Hopping, published the results of its 18th annual Reader’s Choice Awards in this month’s edition. Several Liverpool-area businesses were voted as the “Best” in their categories.

Francesca’s Italian Kitchen at 207

Classified Advertising: Patti Puzzo, ext 321 ppuzzo@eaglenewsonline com

Billing questions: alyssa dearborn, ext 305, adearborn@eaglenewsonline com

Legal Advertising: luba demkiv, ext 303, ldemkiv@eaglenewsonline com

Publisher: david tyler, ext 302, dtyler@eaglenewsonline com creative director: Gordon bigelow, ext 331, art@eaglenewsonline com

Oswego St., was deemed best place for lunch. Avicolli’s, 7839 Oswego Road in Clay, was voted best takeout restaurant.

Flamingo Bowl, at 7239 Oswego Road, was cited as best bowling alley. The Retreat, at 302 Vine St., won two awards, one for best outdoor dining and one for best happy hour.

And, of course, Heid’s of Liverpool was voted best place for a hot dog.

Purple Zebra

By the way, next time you sate your coney craving at Heid’s, save room for dessert at Heid’s Sweet Treats.

I recommend the house specialty, a Purple Zebra!

That colorfully named confection features a twist of premium 12 percent French vanilla and black raspberry custard in a cone. Hey, it looks almost as good as it tastes!

Last word

“The goal here at the end of the day is to have something for everybody, and this project right here certainly ties into the historical part of it, access and historical part of it.”

Why to watch in October Farming Around the Lake: Rain – too much – or too little – of a good thing

Really, this column should not be necessary.

If you’re a baseball fan, you are doing your level best to ignore the wall-to-wall football-palooza which strikes every September and never lets up until the new year, for decision time is near.

Yet honesty dictates that a good portion of you will care little about who emerges from the post-season that’s about to get underway.

Why bother? No Yankees or Mets or Red Sox around. It’s rare not to have these primary protagonists involved (especially the Yankees), but it was clear, by the homestretch, that they weren’t going to make it.

Thus, you already know that whoever ends up winning the whole thing, you’ll hear a lot about record-low ratings, as if that’s the only metric that counts and that casual fans want these guys around, even if it’s just to boo them.

Well, they might not want to hear this, but I think this only makes it a more compelling narrative, because on one side you’ve got two superpowers and, on the other, a whole heap of hungry teams.

It’s the National League that has the glamour teams. Atlanta, on a record pace for team home runs with Matt Olson breaking 50 and Ronald Acuna Jr. maybe the first-ever 40-60 guy in MLB history, is the clear favorite based on the tear they’ve been on since June.

Then there’s the Dodgers, ignoring all kinds of injuries to its pitching staff to rule the NL West once again, and thought to be the only team possibly capable of keeping the Braves from the World Series.

Of course, we all thought this a year ago about the Braves and Dodgers – and we ended up with Philadelphia and San Diego in the NLCS. A short series is the best time to upend a possible superpower, as the Phillies and Padres proved.

Yet it’s hard to think that a Milwaukee team full of pitching but little pop could stop the Dodgers. The Cubs are a nice story but not quite the 2016 model. And given that they’ll have to go to game 162, the other possibilities – Giants or Reds or Marlins or Diamondbacks – might be worn out.

So yes, an NLCS between Atlanta and L.A. would be epic. But we’ve seen them many times before, and they both recently won it all, so there’s little desperation except that created by ultra-high expectations.

Move to the American League, and it’s an entirely different narrative. Almost everyone is hungry or desperate to turn around some kind of bad history or reach a new mountaintop.

Baltimore has not sniffed the Fall Classic for 40 years. Just the thought of late-October games at a raucous Camden Yards is delicious to consider, even if ownership does things like nearly fire play-by-play guys for telling the truth.

Minnesota is riding a long and painful post-season losing streak. Tampa Bay has never won it all. Neither has Texas, and both the Rangers and Rays have recent memories of coming awfully close.

Toronto has gone 30 years since Joe Carter went deep off Mitch Williams. Most of all, Seattle is the only MLB franchise to never experience the World Series, and we’ve all seen the kind of passion Seattle sports fans can show when there’s a chance at glory.

Only Houston is familiar – in fact, the one constant, having reached the ALCS six straight years while going all the way twice and close to all the way two other times. Of course, the shadow of 2017 and the sign-stealing will never endear the Astros anywhere outside Texas, even if they’ve kept winning long after it was done.

In short, there’s plenty to root for or root against, depending on your taste. Maybe you appreciate the sustained high level put up in Atlanta, L.A. and Houston, or are tired of them and will be glad to see anyone else battle their way to the Fall Classic.

Epic and memorable championships were earned many times by teams far from glamorous locations, like the Reds’ title in 1975 and the Twins’ in 1987 and 1991. What’s so bad about that happening again?

Maybe that’s the point. Just when you might not expect something special to happen…it does.

Phil Blackwell is sports editor at Eagle News. He can be reached at pblackwell@ eaglenewsonline.com.

Support for Legg

To the editor:

I support Chris Legg for Skaneateles Town Supervisor. Chris has been a councilor on our Town Board for the past four years, and I was so pleased to hear that he is now running to be our town supervisor. Chris is a dedicated public servant. He served in the Navy for 22 years as an officer, at the Pentagon and as commander of a large ship. More recently, he has been a teacher at BOCES and volunteered for numerous local organizations, such as SkanRaces, Sea Scouts, Rotary and Baltimore Woods. Chris has shown that he listens to constituents and is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars through his current work on the town board. The transfer station, hamlet committees and water department have all benefited from Chris’s tireless efforts to reduce costs and improve services for Skaneateles residents. I will be voting for Chris Legg for town supervisor in November.

susAn wuLff SkaneateleS

Support for Demasi

To the editor:

When I first met Ralph Demasi, more than 40 years ago, he was starting up a new contracting business after having left the Fortune 500 company he was with. He was searching for something that would bring him closer to home and get him

directly involved in the local community. I’d say he found what he was looking for. And the success he enjoyed came directly from his ability to connect with people and assist them in their personal situations. This approachability and thoughtfulness is one of his trademarks. He is simply great with people.

Ralph built and inspected homes throughout Syracuse and upstate for many years afterwards and then decided to go back to school. In his 50s he still graduated with honors from SU Law. After graduation he planned to assist veterans and their families. A large part of his military service had stuck with him. (If you ever get the chance, ask him to tell one of his many war stories. He’s one of the best and certainly the most self-effacing storyteller that I know.)

Ralph helped to guide my own military career and the decisions I made in various leadership positions. As I look back on it, his prior service greatly influenced my decision to join the Air Force. I know Ralph is looking to continue his record of public service, as he runs for Skaneateles town justice.

I encourage you to consider my longtime friend and mentor, not just for his hands-on familiarity with the NY State justice system, but for his exemplary commitment to serving his friends, family and neighbors.

rhys hunt, coLonEL, usAf (rEt.)

By JoE PAdudA

For most of us, rain can be both a nice thing and inconvenience, canceling a tee time or postponing a kids softball game, spotting up a freshly-waxed car, or greening up the garden and making for a happy lawn.

It’s rather more than that for the 57 farms around Skaneateles Lake. As Dirk Young of Twin Birch Dairy told me, “A dry year scares you to death, a wet year starves you to death.”

The crops you’re more likely to see around the lake are corn and soybeans; wheat, oats and hay are also grown, with cover crops such as rye and clover planted to protect and renew the soil.

This year the rainfall was a bit unusual – or perhaps just the new normal. Two to three inches fell right after that late frost in the spring followed by a pretty dry period (very little rain in May or early June). Hay needs rain earlier than most crops…according to Dirk, “The hay crop was affected by little rain…we got about half the crop we normally do.” That’s made things a bit more challenging as cows eat a lot – about 30 pounds of hay per day, plus 25 pounds of grain.

Corn needs about 25 inches of rain, an amount that historically hasn’t been a problem; on average we get about 44 inches of precipitation (rain and snow). Of late things haven’t been as consistent with historical patterns as farmers would like, with more long dry periods punctuated by some long very wet ones.

There’s no normal any more, it either rains for two weeks straight or it doesn’t. And, we’ve had some pretty wet years driven by major storms – remember the mid-August deluge two years ago?

According to Jim “Skinny” Greenfield, ideally much of that rain falls when the ears are growing kernels; that’s a bit later this summer. If the rain doesn’t come, the

couple exchanges vows

Clift Park, with beautiful Skaneateles Lake as a backdrop, was the setting for the marriage of Alyssa Katherine Rottger and Daniel Michael Maines on Friday evening, March 24, 2023. The ceremony was officiated by US District Judge Brenda K. Sannes, chief judge for the Northern District of New York, and attended by the couple’s parents and their beloved Australian Shepherd/Lab dog, Zara. A sumptuous dinner was then enjoyed by all at the Krebs Restaurant in Skaneateles.

A week-long beach living celebration was held in April at the Aphrodite House in Kill Devil Hills, NC, and attended by friends and family from across the country. It culminated with a faux ceremony by the bride’s sister, Rebecca Rottger. The matron of honor was Kayleigh Christiano, sister of the bride, and the attendants were Rebecca Rottger, Rose Doriski, Sophie Alton, Maggie Smith and Abbie Giacona. Best man was Nolan Maines, brother of the groom, and groomsmen were Nicholas Rottger, brother of the bride, Mike DeMonte and Justin Mercer. With the words from Rebecca, “and now by the power vested in me by absolutely no one,” a raucous celebration commenced with a low country seafood boil and music and dancing well into the night.

The bride is the daughter of David and Amy Rottger of Skaneateles and granddaughter of Donald Rottger of Cheektowaga, N.Y. The groom is the son of Thomas and Cheryl Maines of Brockport, N.Y., and the grandson of Constance Piper of Melbourne, FL.

Alyssa graduated from Skaneateles High School and Buffalo State College and earned her master’s degree from Cortland State University. Danny graduated from Brockport High School and Cortland State University and earned his master’s degree from LeMoyne College. They are both employed as teachers in the Marcellus School District and currently reside in Marcellus.

MiLESTONES

OPINION Farming l Page 11

THE MAILBAG

c-ns, LivErPooL footBALL undEfEAtEd

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

Through three weeks, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool ootball teams remain without a blemish.

The Northstars made it 3-0 last Friday night at Union-Endicott, building a big early margin on the way to a 42-27 victory over the Tigers while, at LHS Stadium, the Warriors rolled past Henninger 34-6.

When the first state Class AA football rankings of the fall were released, C-NS was at no. 10, two spots behind Christian Brothers Academy and fourth among those contesting for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association title later this fall.

But while CBA had to stage a fourth-quarter comeback to prevail 49-40 over the same

Corning side the Northstars handled 48-8 a week earlier, C-NS put away Union-Endicott, a state Class A finalist in 2022, by scoring all 42 of its points in the first half.

A pair of early touchdowns had the Northstars in front 14-0 before a scoring blitz late in the second quarter started by Miy’Jon McDowell Reid’s short scoring run.

Then the passing game struck twice, Jaxon Razmovski finding Tristan Johnson for a TD strike and, after U-E got on the board, throwing deep to tight end James Magda to set up Leonzo Zimmerman converting from 10 yards out.

And when Connor Bednarski recorded an interception on U-E’s next play from scrimmage, the Northstars had enough time to score again, Razmovski’s second TD pass to

Johnson in the waning seconds leaving it 42-7 at the break.

Though C-NS didn’t score in the second half, it played strong defense until the Tigers were able to net a pair of late touchdowns against the Northstars’ reserves.

As that went on, Liverpool was just happy to have a nice evening of weather, a contrast to what happened a week earlier, when its game at Elmira was abandoned in the second quarter to persistent rain and lightning.

It was “Orange Out” night, with the student section dressed in orange as the school honored its Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and the football team produced a fine all-around performance against the Black Knights. After a scoreless first quarter, the Warriors scored twice in the second to build

at 14-0 halftime margin, then nearly doubled that margin to 27-0 in the third period to put the game away.

Owen Brown led the way, gaining 135 yards on 24 carries and finding the end zone three times. Tymir Scott added 49 yards and a TD as John Sindoni was 12-for-27 for 121 yards and a TD pass to Jordan Grandinetti.

Liverpool’s defense, which gave up 44 points to Ballston Spa in its Sept. 1 opener, kept Henninger off the board until the fourth quarter and only allowed 210 total yards. Tyler Vivacqua made four of five extra points.

Now the Warriors have back-to-back games on the road, starting Saturday at Utica Proctor, where the game will kick off at 10:15 a.m., the morning after C-NS ventures to PelcherArcaro Stadium to face 0-3 Baldwinsville.

Liverpool, C-NS boys soccer play to 0-0 draw

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

If that scoring line – or lack of scoring – between Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer seemed familiar, that’s because it always seems to turn into a defensive battle between these two neighbors and rivals.

So it was again last Tuesday night at LHS Stadium, with regulation and overtime passing without any resolution in a 0-0 draw.

Having earned the no. 12 spot in the first state Class AAA rankings of the season, the Warriors had shut out its first three opponents while starting 2-0-1. That wasn’t the case for

the Northstars, who were 2-1-1 but had given up goals in each of its previous four games.

Now they were together – and were greeted by a constant, relentless rain that was present from opening kickoff to the final whistle two hours later. Through 80 minutes of regulation, both sides gathered up opportunities, yet could not convert. And though the pace picked up in the 20 minutes of overtime, again it was scoreless. Having blanked opponents for 200 total minutes this fall, Liverpool goalie Jacob McQuatters made seven saves, but C-NS counterpart Niko Servider earned his first shutout by stopping all eight Warriors shots.

With the rematch not until Oct. 10, both sides moved on – C-NS with two more games during the week.

Against West Genesee Thursday at the Gillette Road complex, the Northstars were again kept off the board, the 1-0 defeat a bit of payback for the Wildcats after falling to C-NS in overtime in last year’s Section III Class AA final. Here, the Northstars again managed a scoreless first half. Yet as it saw all five of its shots turned back, the presure picked up on the other end until Christian Long’s secondhalf goal decided it, negating Servider’s seven saves. As for Liverpool, it met Class AA no.

3-ranked East Syracuse Minoa on Saturday afternoon and maintained the shutout streak – even though it resulted in yet another scoreless verdcit. The 0-0 decision this time was the Warriors’ third draw in five games, meaning it had played 460 minutes of shutout soccer going into Tuesday night’s home test against Nottingham. C-NS did not feel as good after Saturday’s action, having lost 1-0 to Central Square, a second-half goal winning it for the Redhawks as the Northstars would have tough tests at Jamesvile-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius this week.

C-NS boys volleyball to meet Liverpool this week

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

Humbled again by Faytteville-Manlius Sept. 8 in a three-set sweep far more lopsided than the 2022 Section III Division I final, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team began the long road back.

During last Tuesday night’s match with Syracuse City, the Northstars got a strong challenge, but was still able to win in three sets, tak-

ing the opener 25-21 and the next two sets by equal 25-19 margins.

Jack Waite did it all with 24 assists, seven digs and five kills. Waite’s passes went to Carter King, who had eight kills, and Phillip Greer, who also got five kills. Josh Luce had eight digs, Colin Deitz adding three aces and three kills. On Friday night, C-NS hosted Section V’s Webster Schroeder and played close in the first and third sets, but still lost a 25-22, 25-17,

26-24 decision. King had eight kills, but no one else had more than Deitz’s total of three kills as Luce had 10 digs and Waite six digs to go with his 16 assists.

Liverpool would face C-NS on Tuesday, exactly a week after its own match against F-M that resulted in a 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 defeat to the Hornets.

Jack DeForge managed six kills, while Ben McHerron had four kills. Kellen Conway

picked up 11 assists and Shah Shank had 10 digs as Connor Sugar got 26 assists for F-M and Chris Cleary, up front, had seven kills and three blocks.

Two nights later, at East Syracuse Minoa, Liverpool was swept by the Spartans 25-23, 2515, 25-21. Most of Conway’s 12 assists went to DeForge, who got 11 kills. Sean Frawley added three kills as Conway had eight digs and Shah Sahak added six digs.

Liverpool girls soccer falls to F-M, West Genesee

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

Despite a late start to its regular season, the Liverpool girls soccer team had not let the rust affect it too much, winning 2-0 over Rome Free Academy in its Sept. 9 opener. But when league play got underway last Tuesday at rain-soaked Fayetteville-Manlius, the Warriors were overwhelmed by the reigning Section III Class AA champion Hornets in a 4-2 defeat.

F-M saw Morgan Goodman nab two more goals and an assist, but get some help from Elyssa Barnhart and Una Vlasak, each of whom

also found the net. Ashley Seidberg added an assist. Back at LHS Stadium Thursday night, Liverpool faced Baldwinsville, who was eager to bounce back, too, after getting routed at home 5-0 by West Genesee two nights earlier. For 80 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of overtime, neither side could get on the board. Finally, in the second OT, it was the Warriors unable to keep Kelsey Dwyer from putting in the game-winner.

The 1-0 defeat left Liverpool at 1-2 going into Saturday’s game against West Genesee, who had emerged as the main Class AA challenger to

F-M thanks to its 4-0-2 start. And the Wildcats stayed unbeaten, blanking the Warriors 2-0 as Anna Nelson netted one goal and assisted on the other, by Jami Tessler, overcoming 12 saves from Liverpool goalie Grace Sleeth . This week’s games for Liverpool includes a Tuesday visit to Bragman Stadium to face Cicero-North Syracuse, who had its own game with West Genesee Thursday night in Camillus. The Northstars were strong on defense, yet could not break through on the other end against the Wildcats. So it ended as a 0-0 draw, the Northstars absorbing nine shots from WG’s attack but

seeing Natalie LaPoint and Meghan McGrath stop all of them.

None of this compared to what C-NS went through Saturday, beaten 7-0 by an East Syracuse Minoa side that had it to 5-0 by halftime and saw its star forward, Leah Rehm, pile up four goals, with sister Bailey Rehm getting three assists.

Aside from the Liverpool game, C-NS also travels to Baldwinsville Thursday and then visits Oneonta’s Wright National Soccer Complex for weekend tournament games against Oneonta and Elmira.

Liverpool volleyball rallies past C-NS in five sets

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

For the first time this fall, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse and girls volleyball teams went head-to-head last Wednesday night, and it proved one of the most memorable chapters in their long-time rivalry.

The Northstars looked like it had the match under its control – and then it did not, with the Warriors, down two sets, rallying and pulling out a five-set classic to stay undefeated.

Nothing early indicated that this would happen. C-NS dominated the opening set and won it 25-15, and even when Liverpool put up a challenge in the second, the Northstars did enough to double its margin 25-22.

Absorbing all this, the Warriors inched ahead in the third set and stayed alive, 25-20.

The fourth set was even closer, C-NS getting to the brink of a match win but Liverpool converting the set point it needed to take it 25-23.

In the final-set race to 15 points, a match point was thwarted. Then, at 14-14, the Warriors gained the serve and were able to get the clinching point and win it 16-14.

Allyson Crandall led Liverpool’s back line, amassing 25 assists and 16 digs to go with three kills as Addie Tanton helped with 14 assists and five digs.

Not only did Sophie Sageer have a teambest 13 kills, she led the Warriors with 19 digs, just ahead of Lily Cornell’s 18 digs that went with four kills and Sarah Daniels had 17 digs. Sageer added three aces as, along Sageer on the front line, Lauren Poland managed 12 kills and Sarah LaTocha finished with eight kills.

Both sides had won last Monday night in three-set sweeps, C-NS by routing Henninger 25-8, 25-6, 25-4, Liverpool by getting past Central Square 25-20, 25-21, 25-21.

Of the two matches, the Warriors had a far more challenging proposition, but still made it three wins in a row as Sageer led with 10 kills, 10 digs and seven aces.

Elliana Vangelov managed seven kills and six digs, with Madison Ames adding three kills and five digs. Tanton earned 15 assists and Crandall eight assists as Lauren Ragonese manged 12 digs and Poland contributed six digs.

As that went on, C-NS got eight aces from Grace Schmid, seven aces from Ellie Blumer and six aces from Hannah George against Henninger. Grace Turell had a team-best six kills

and Blumer finished with six assists.

Then, after the Liverpool loss, the Northstars went to Fulton a night later and could not recover, falling by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23. Natalie Frost led Fulton with 15 kills as Alyanna Dashnau added 18 assists and 10 digs.

The Warriors would face Jamesville-DeWitt Friday night and make it five wins in a row, sweeping past the Red Rams 25-6, 25-17, 25-14.

Crandall managed 17 assists and Tanton earned 15 assists, while up front Madison Ames broke through, earning 11 kills to complement eight kills and four blocks from Poland, six kills from Sageer and five kills from Vangelov. LaTocha added four kills.

Liverpool cross country team gets sweep of C-NS

By PhiL BLAcKwELL

In recent years, the Liverpool cross country teams had achieved plenty, but still did not possess full bragging rights over its neighbors from Cicero-North Syracuse

All of that changed last Wednesday afternoon at Long Branch Park, where in a tense girls race the Warriors were able to edge the Northstars 2730 and the boys were able to roll to a victory.

Going first, the girls race would see Liverpool’s Taylor Page work her way in front and stay there, finishing in 20 minutes, 13.3 seconds to the 20:25.3 from C-NS’s Kennedy Jones.

Kaitlyn Hotaling gave the Warriors a thirdplace time of 20:43.8. The Northstars countered with Cameron Sisk finishing fourth in 20:48.4 and Sophia Graham fifth in 20:53.1.

Then Charlotte Warner crossed in sixth place for Liverpool, posting 22:06.4, only to have C-NS

get Katy Harbold in seventh place in 22:15.6.

All the Northstars needed was another top-10 finisher – but the Warriors swept the rest of it to win.

Kailyn Barth led that Liverpool charge, earning eighth place in 22:38.8. Then Addison Miles got ninth place in 23:16.2 and Paige Baker, 10th in 23:21.5, clinched the Warriors’ victory.

The boys race wasn’t as close, Liverpool routing C-NS 17-43 with a clean sweep of the top four led by Brady Ruediger, who beat the 17-minute mark as he crossed the finish line in 16:59.2.

Ruediger was nearly a full minute ahead of Joshua Vang’s second-place 17:42.8. Roman Murray went 17:50 flat for third place, with Nate Aurello getting fourth place in 18:08.4.

Tyler Graham paced C-NS as he ran to fifth place in 18:14.7, with Nolan Zinsmeyer sixth (18:33.8) and Donovan Niedzwiecki sixth in 18:38.8. Rhett Andrews (18:40.6) also got to the

top 10 for the Northstars in between Liverpool standouts Andrew Corrigan (18:39.1) and Mason Dineen (18:43.9).

Now both teams would find themselves at the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Invitaitonal on Saturday, running on the same course as they would in November for the Section III and (perhaps) the state championships, too.

It was Liverpool’s boys victorious in the Varsity 1 race with 41 points to runner-up Mexico’s 54. Ruediger, in 17:00.2, was second, only behind the 16:40.7 from Beaver River’s Connor Zehr.

Vang made his way to sixth place in 17:27.3 and Murray was seventh in 17:40.5. Niedzwicki earned 12th place in 18:26.5 and Corrigan got 14th in 18:31.3, with Nate Aurelio (18:46.7) two spots ahead of Mason Dinneen (18:50.9).

Finishing second in the boys Varsity 2 race behind Guilderland, C-NS had Tyler Graham get seventh place among team runners (10th

overall) in 18:07.3, with Andrews 11th on the team side in 18:21.6 and Zinsmeyer (18:52.7) in 17th

In the first race of the morning, the Liverpool girls put up 63 points in Varsity 1, beaten only by Sayville’’s total of 30 points as Page ran her way to third place in 20:17 flat, with Hotaling sixth in 20:41.4. Warner finished 16th in 22:16.2, with Barth (22:30.2) and Rose Piorkowski (22:41.3) in the team top 25 with Baker (22:50.5) and Gianna Galleli (23:19.2).

When it raced right after, C-NS’s girls took third in Varsity 2, edged out for the runner-up spot by West Genesee, though both were well behind Guilderland.

Jones finished eighth in 20:28.6, Sisk taking 11th in 20:51.8 as Harbold made her way to 15th place in 21:09.6, with Graham 24th (22:03.9) among team runners.