Ripley, the once forgotten child of New York State, on the outskirts of civilization, more a part of Pennsylvania than New York due to the proximity to shopping, lower taxes and job opportunity; left in the dust, literally, with its country roads; strangled by high New York State taxes and a $54 million state deficit, unwilling or unable to entice business to stay; collapse of the school merger and needed solutions to educate the children of the community; these were some of the issues Greg Edwards, Chautauqua County Executive, faced when engaging the Meeder’s Restaurant crowd on Tuesday morning this week.
With small groups of people around tables, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, Mr. Edwards addressed the concerns and sometimes anger of the Ripley community. “Why hasn’t anything been done to build up Shortman Road,” local resident Ray Williams asked. Mr. Edwards replied, “I’ve been pushing for a Welcome Center at the Shortman Road exit. Pennsylvania has one for less than 50 miles of their state along the I-90 corridor. New York State has almost 400 miles on Interstate 90. We should have a Welcome Center here.” When asked why people would stop at a welcome center with no restaurants, motels or businesses in the area, he talked about the business project that has been in the works for some time now. “One hundred fifty acres of land has been secured behind Regal Trucking on Shortman Road,” he said. “An enormous amount of effort has been invested in this project. The DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and archeological studies have been completed, water and sewer is being put in. The land will be “shovel ready” by the end of summer, and that’s important to prospective businesses, to have the site ready for development.” Although a firm offer has not been made for the prime property, distribution and transportation businesses have expressed interest. Business like this will bring other businesses to the town, building up the Shortman Road interchange, and eventually the village itself, Edwards believes.
When questioned about property taxes in the area, Mr. Edwards pointed out that our property tax has decreased for the past several years. “How will the wind mill project impact me,” asked local businessman Bob Bentley. “It will create a direct cash influx to the property owners,” explained Edwards, “as well as substantially lower property taxes.” As to how much the wind mill project would lower taxes, he deferred to Town Supervisor, Peter Ryan, who stated, “We’re being very careful about the process, making sure it’s done right. If the project is approved, and we’re a ways from that, it could result in a significant tax reduction for property owners.” A lighter tax burden would not be the only benefit to the town. In order to bring the component parts of the wind mills into position, roads would need to be widened, strengthened, and in some cases rebuilt. “Cross road intersections will need to be built up in order for the trucks to make the turns,” Edwards stated. As for roads in general in Chautauqua County, he said some tough decisions need to be made on the delivery of services to the roads in the county. “Who should be in the business of highway construction, maintenance and plowing is one of the issues that is being analyzed,” he said.
The fate of Ripley’s school is still in the balance. “Only two school mergers have happened in New York State in the last 10 years,” commented Mr. Edwards. In discussion with Ripley School Superintendent John Hogan and Business Manager, John Frey, he learned that options are still being pursued for Ripley’s students, even though the Westfield/Ripley merger was voted down. “Mergers aren’t on the horizon and tuitioning out our students was not approved,” commented Mr. Hogan. “We’re exploring other opportunities for our high school students at this time.”
Greg Edwards briefly addressed the crowd by saying his folks regularly go to Meeder’s on Friday nights and that he has long enjoyed the village as a fisherman. “With the addition of the Wine Trail, Quincy Cellars has become one of the places I regularly suggest people go to have a unique winery-dinner experience,” he added. “The pride this town has taken in the Veterans’ Monument was almost overwhelming as evidenced by the emotions I expressed at the dedication ceremony.” He went on to say the Memorial Day parade this year was one of the most well attended and delivered he has seen to date. He concluded by saying, “The town has tremendous potential due to its location and I have been working hard to capitalize upon [that potential] for the residents and the county.”
It’s hard to solve a community’s problems in just over an hour, but Greg Edwards tried his best to assure the people of Ripley that progress is being made on a number of fronts. “It was one of the liveliest groups and most informative community conversations I have had to date.”
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tribute to Carlyle Neckers
Carlyle Neckers, music teacher in Ripley during the 1960s, recently passed away at the age of 96. I hadn’t thought much about him until I saw his obituary in the Jamestown paper. Then of course the memories started floated back.
I’ve searched the old yearbooks, at least the ones I have, and he appears in 1961 as the chorus teacher. I would have been 10 years old then, and not yet exposed to his rich and salty sense of humor. But three years later, in February 1964 the Beatles hit America and Mr. Neckers broadside. It wasn’t music he assured us, it wouldn’t last. He went so far as to state, “They won’t last 10 years.” The girls all clamored they would last forever! Yeah, yeah, yeah… We were all right. In ten years the group disintegrated, and yet their music lives on. I wonder if he ever remembered that prediction.
I remember Mr. Neckers as a fun guy, making musical notes easy to understand and chorus a pleasure. He would tease and cajole us into singing his choice of songs for concerts, songs I later recognized from Broadway shows or classic movies. “Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheep, cheep, cheep, talk-a-lot-pick-a-little-more…” with the counterpoint Good Night Ladies from a hilarious scene from The Music Man. Ridiculous in the 9th grade, but a classic I later learned. He introduced to me to a whole world of music that I didn’t understand at the time. I vaguely remember a music history class of his, but I wasn’t paying much attention I guess. But over the years, bits and pieces come back to me.
He appears in the RCS yearbooks from 1961 until 1968. He guided us through dozens of Christmas and Spring concerts, and trips to Chautauqua Institute to compete with the other local schools. Like most of the teachers I had, I never thought of them as whole people. They were one-dimensional, without history or substance outside the school day. Mr. Neckers life is a study in a life well lived. From having a grandpa who served in the Civil War, to operator of a general store, to semi-pro basketball player, he was an interesting man in all respects it seems.
I’m saddened by his death, even though I didn’t know him well. He touched my young life briefly, dropped some pearls of learning, and went on to bigger and better things. I’m glad he passed my way. Rest in peace Mr. Neckers. You made this world a better place.
To read more about his life, go to http://www.lifestorynet.com/memories/50124/.
I’ve searched the old yearbooks, at least the ones I have, and he appears in 1961 as the chorus teacher. I would have been 10 years old then, and not yet exposed to his rich and salty sense of humor. But three years later, in February 1964 the Beatles hit America and Mr. Neckers broadside. It wasn’t music he assured us, it wouldn’t last. He went so far as to state, “They won’t last 10 years.” The girls all clamored they would last forever! Yeah, yeah, yeah… We were all right. In ten years the group disintegrated, and yet their music lives on. I wonder if he ever remembered that prediction.
I remember Mr. Neckers as a fun guy, making musical notes easy to understand and chorus a pleasure. He would tease and cajole us into singing his choice of songs for concerts, songs I later recognized from Broadway shows or classic movies. “Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheep, cheep, cheep, talk-a-lot-pick-a-little-more…” with the counterpoint Good Night Ladies from a hilarious scene from The Music Man. Ridiculous in the 9th grade, but a classic I later learned. He introduced to me to a whole world of music that I didn’t understand at the time. I vaguely remember a music history class of his, but I wasn’t paying much attention I guess. But over the years, bits and pieces come back to me.
He appears in the RCS yearbooks from 1961 until 1968. He guided us through dozens of Christmas and Spring concerts, and trips to Chautauqua Institute to compete with the other local schools. Like most of the teachers I had, I never thought of them as whole people. They were one-dimensional, without history or substance outside the school day. Mr. Neckers life is a study in a life well lived. From having a grandpa who served in the Civil War, to operator of a general store, to semi-pro basketball player, he was an interesting man in all respects it seems.
I’m saddened by his death, even though I didn’t know him well. He touched my young life briefly, dropped some pearls of learning, and went on to bigger and better things. I’m glad he passed my way. Rest in peace Mr. Neckers. You made this world a better place.
To read more about his life, go to http://www.lifestorynet.com/memories/50124/.
Pride and a Bit of Prejudice
Pride and a Bit of Prejudice
Thomas Wolfe wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again,” and while, unlike his character, I don’t write about the warts and blemishes of my home town, I will concede it is hard to go home again. After a forty year absence, people change. Or do they? I draw upon memories of my school years in Ripley. By the age of 20 I had left the area, only to return for the annual visits to family. My experiences of my hometown were colored by a teenager’s perspective. After the roller rink closed down, after the movie theaters in Westfield and North East ceased to exist, there wasn’t much to do here. We hung around Meeder’s, gossiped and made plans for bright futures. We instinctively separated into groups: the “in crowd”, the in-crowd wannabes, the jocks and their girls, the brainiacs, the geeks, etc. You get the picture. There was nothing worse than wanting to be a part of one group and realizing you probably wouldn’t break out of the caste system you were in.
I thought things would be different when I got to be an adult. I thought people would move beyond the petty distinctions of their youth. I thought adults would be more willing to put aside their differences and work together for the “common good.” Sounds kind of like Utopia, doesn’t it? Or maybe I’m just being idealistic.
The nice thing about having been away, besides gaining a new perspective on the world, is my new appreciation of home when I came back. Of course there are problems here, and it’s not perfect, and not everybody cooperates and works together; but this town has potential. After the heyday of the 40s, 50s and 60s were over, and the rapid exodus of businesses began, people thought, and still do to some extent, that this town was dead. Au contraire! This town is coming to life again! Now I admit, I am an incurable Pollyanna, and I choose to concentrate on the good, but look around you. The veterans drew hundreds of people together in creating the monument in the center of town; the churches have programs to help everybody from the elderly, to the kids, to the down-and-out; the fireman’s auxiliary, Project Love, Community Development Corporation, the library, the scouts, and etc. etc. etc. are ALL working to make this a better place to live. Now it’s true that sometimes they work at cross purposes, and sometimes they are working for the same thing, but separately, but these organizations and more are clearly interested in making this town a better place. Healing the divisions of the past, groups of people are making herculean efforts to improve our lives. All we have to do is participate and take advantage of what’s being offered.
Now, there are people who will always point out the problems, but very rarely do they offer solutions. Unless we’re willing to actually DO something about the shortfalls of the community, perhaps we should be less judgmental of the people who are trying the best they know how to make improvements. There are personalities and ideas that just seem to clash, but I’m seeing progress here in my hometown. I’m working toward that progress in my own small way. Wherever you are, I hope you’re doing the same.
A thought to leave you: Work harder, be better, love more. If we all got what we deserved, we wouldn’t get much.
Thomas Wolfe wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again,” and while, unlike his character, I don’t write about the warts and blemishes of my home town, I will concede it is hard to go home again. After a forty year absence, people change. Or do they? I draw upon memories of my school years in Ripley. By the age of 20 I had left the area, only to return for the annual visits to family. My experiences of my hometown were colored by a teenager’s perspective. After the roller rink closed down, after the movie theaters in Westfield and North East ceased to exist, there wasn’t much to do here. We hung around Meeder’s, gossiped and made plans for bright futures. We instinctively separated into groups: the “in crowd”, the in-crowd wannabes, the jocks and their girls, the brainiacs, the geeks, etc. You get the picture. There was nothing worse than wanting to be a part of one group and realizing you probably wouldn’t break out of the caste system you were in.
I thought things would be different when I got to be an adult. I thought people would move beyond the petty distinctions of their youth. I thought adults would be more willing to put aside their differences and work together for the “common good.” Sounds kind of like Utopia, doesn’t it? Or maybe I’m just being idealistic.
The nice thing about having been away, besides gaining a new perspective on the world, is my new appreciation of home when I came back. Of course there are problems here, and it’s not perfect, and not everybody cooperates and works together; but this town has potential. After the heyday of the 40s, 50s and 60s were over, and the rapid exodus of businesses began, people thought, and still do to some extent, that this town was dead. Au contraire! This town is coming to life again! Now I admit, I am an incurable Pollyanna, and I choose to concentrate on the good, but look around you. The veterans drew hundreds of people together in creating the monument in the center of town; the churches have programs to help everybody from the elderly, to the kids, to the down-and-out; the fireman’s auxiliary, Project Love, Community Development Corporation, the library, the scouts, and etc. etc. etc. are ALL working to make this a better place to live. Now it’s true that sometimes they work at cross purposes, and sometimes they are working for the same thing, but separately, but these organizations and more are clearly interested in making this town a better place. Healing the divisions of the past, groups of people are making herculean efforts to improve our lives. All we have to do is participate and take advantage of what’s being offered.
Now, there are people who will always point out the problems, but very rarely do they offer solutions. Unless we’re willing to actually DO something about the shortfalls of the community, perhaps we should be less judgmental of the people who are trying the best they know how to make improvements. There are personalities and ideas that just seem to clash, but I’m seeing progress here in my hometown. I’m working toward that progress in my own small way. Wherever you are, I hope you’re doing the same.
A thought to leave you: Work harder, be better, love more. If we all got what we deserved, we wouldn’t get much.
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