Island Dispatch, 1997-01-17

              Island DISPATCH D** years "As the voiceof Island" %JZmwm< ■ X-PBESS^^ Cleaners 2273 Grand Island Brvd TOWN HAU. SQUARE •talmno Ov*-*cr S Opormtwtr CALL 77KLEAN or 773-4114 Weekend Schedule!:. * see back page * January 17,1997 20 Pages 650 Vol. 53•N0. 41 (716) 773-7676 1st Baby 1997 on grand island! PROUD PARENTS AND FIRST BABY - Kevin and Maura Rustowicz of Tracey Lane were waiting and waiting and so were we but daughter Margaret Mary Hogan finally made her debut at 2:07 p.m. on Jan. 8. Margaret qualifies as Grand Island's first baby born this year and her parents qualify for a number of gifts from area merchants. (See page 4 for the Island's participants). She'll have plenty of help from her siblings: Michael, 6, Katie, 4, and James, 21 months. Maura is the daughter of Richard and Mary Beth McCowan. Her father has served six years on the school board. Maura and Kevin are teachers with Niagara Wheatfield school district. Kevin's parents are Edward and Mary from Cheektowaga. Lake effect snows grip region by Bert Brochey Anyone with a snowplow, shovel or snowblower was in big demand this past weekend as Western New York was pounded with severe lake effect snow. Last Friday, Niagara and Erie County roads were blanketed with up to a foot or more of snow. That coupled with winds near 50 mph, reduced visibility to near zero and caused whiteouts on many of the County's roadways. Early Saturday morning, heavy snows again began falling, erasing what little headway local snowplow crews had gained late Friday night. Late last week, the Weather Channel sent their T.V. crews to Buffalo so they could witness lake effect snowstorms first-hand. It was the Weather Channel's first visit to W.N.Y., and the timing could not have been better. With frigid winds blowing across unfrozen Lake Erie, the lake effect snow machine drifted into the more traditional snowbelts Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, a Haesely Trucking snowplow operator at the Summit Park Mall in Wheatfield said that crews had about half the mall's parking lot done around 4:30 a.m. when another lake effect hit, dumping six to eight more inches of snow in just hours. In Erie County, Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello imposed a driving ban Friday to help city snow removal crews clear the streets. It was lifted at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Early Saturday morning, radio reports also said that Grand Island was closed completely, but according to Grand Island Highway Superintendent Norm Mrkall, the Island's roads were never closed. He wasn't sure where the report came from and that it could be that Grand Island was included in Buffalo's driving ban. Mrkall said that instead of the regular six or seven trucks plowing, the Highway Dept. had nine trucks working during the brunt of the storm. He also said that the snowplow operators really did a great job. They come in and do their job, no complaining. They know it's winter, and the long hours are part of it. Mrkall also said that he's certain other highway departments in the area are in the same boat as his, borrowing sewer and water department workers to help out during emergencies. He said his crews, like many others, don't have the luxury of alternating crews. The person you see plowing at nine in the morning is probably the same person you'll see plowing at midnight. !T NEVER ENDS-Even after this weekend's bone-chilling snowstorm, Erie County work crews were still orking late Monday to clear the snow that kept drifting back onto the roadways near the many open roads that border Erie County's highways, (by Bert Brochey) Life Tech is generous supporter Life Technologies, Inc., has emerged as the first major corporate contributor to the Veterans Park Recreation and Cultural Center project. LTI recently announced to its employees and to the ad hoc project committee that it will contribute $100,000 to the project. In making the announcement, V.W. (Brink) Brinkerhoff, 111, Vice President of Operations, acknowledged that LTI was "Stepping forward early in the fundraising stage to lend solid support to the project and o helpfully catalyze the contributions of other Island businesses." LTI recently completed a $4 MM expansion of its operations on Staley Road and now employs a 400 person full time staff. About one third of the LTI employees live on Grand Island. Brink further commented that "It was a natural fit for LTI. The Recreation and Cultural Center is a great way for us to demonstrate our community support with a focus on children and wellness, while providing our own employees with a great opportunity to participate in the vast array of services and activities offered by the center." All of Grand Island thanks LTI for its generous support and its > community leadership! Pictured from left are Brink Brinkerhoff, 11-Vice President of Operations at Life Technologies, Russ Certo and Chuck Rader-Veterans Park Recreation and Cultural Center Corporate Fundraising Committee Members. 1996 The year in review See page 13 for a glance at August, September, November and December 1996 Grand Island events.