Island Dispatch, 1999-08-20

              Island DISPATCH • AUGUST 20, 1999 20 Pages 65c Vgjl. 55 No. 18 I (716)f7fr7f%|| Expo '99 page 5 Top Honors page 6 Golden Girl! page 9 55 Years As the Voice of Grand Island Award Winning Newspapers The Official Newspaper ofthe Town of Grand Island and the Grand Island School District —Complete Community Coverage OPEN HOUSE PLANNED - Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital is scheduled for an open house next week on Wednesday, Aug. 25 and Thursday, Aug. 26 from 7 p.m. to 9 p,nw Grand Island residents are welcome to tour the facility and meet Dr. Teresa Ruth and her staff at the 2725 Grand Island Blvd. location. The business will officially open on Monday, Aug. 30. MORE BUSINESS - Scheduled to open their new office building by the end of the year, Northeastern Leasing and Finance Corporation will be located at 2695 Grand Island Blvd. Rotary, Lions golf outing draws 92 to links The first-ever Rotary and Lions Golf outing treated 92 golfers to mild temperatures and a day of golf. According to co-chairs Denny Dahl and Dick Crawford, the level of participation by both golfers, community representatives and corporate sponsors exceeded initial expectations. The tournament's major corporate sponsor was Empire Pipe Line. Iheir commitment to this outing and past support to Grand Island fund-raising will assist both the Lions and Rotary with the many charitable programs they support. Mike Williams, Dave Buckman, Greg Gaworecki, and Julie Redman of Empire received special thanks for.their participation in the tournament, not only for their monetary donation and sleeve of golf balls for golfers, but for their seventh year of sponsoring a golf event on Grand Island. Upon arrival at the Aug. 18 event, each golfer was given a complimentarycomplimentary gift bag that included a golf hat donated by Gold sponsor New Era Cap Company. Donations from Silver sponsors included golf tees, coffee mugs, pens, measuring tapes, and bottled water. Highlighting the list of donated prizes included a Buffalo Sabres autographed hockey stick that was auctioned off and purchased by Dave Wilkinson, General Manager of West Herr Automotive Group. The Occidental team of Yes Lesins, Mark Lechner, Dave Domroes, and Chris Karwas turned in a best ball score of 65. Shooting a low gross of 71 was Matt Coughlin. Coughlin also won awards for heavy hitter and longest. Pam Tennant won the women's iitle with a 102. Closest to the pin winners were Chris Martineek and Mike Lynch. The Rotary and Lions clubs also thanked the; over 60 Bronze sign sponsors for their support and participation in this event. Erie County Choices ‘99 Event People 50+ and their families, are looking forward to the Erie County CHOICES '99 event, sponsored by Coordinated Care. CHOICES has been the premier health conference for WNY's senior population and their caregivers for over ten years. CHOICES is an opportunity for individuals to get the information they need about financing health care and what community resources are available to people 50 or older in Erie County. Erie County CHOICES '99 will be held on Thursday, Aug. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Samuel's Grande Manor, 8750 Main Street in Clarence. The CHOICES program . will feature an interactive Resource Fair, Panel Presentations which expand on important long-term care legal issues, as well as health needs and financial advice, and a Luncheon sponsored by Tops Pharmacy. Mary Alice Demler of WGRZTV will host the mini-conference, which addresses the issues of Estate Planning and Substitute Decision Making, Grandparenting, Benefits through the Crime Victims Board, and Medicaid and Financial Issues of Long Term Care. Experts will be available to answer personal questions about these issues. The CHOICES Resource Fair showcases dozens of local programs and services which will give participants information needed to make informed decisions about their future. Wrapping up the day's activities is a luncheon sponsored Board suspends the rules to approve Veterans Park field sodding by Rick Forgione Despite not being on Monday's meeting agenda, the Grand Island Town Board unanimously approved the expenditure of an estimated $45,715 to buy, lay and water 187,000 square feet of sodding for playing fields at Veterans Park. During the board's workshop before the meeting, Supervisor Peter McMahon told the board that' due to a miscommunication the item was left off the agenda. However, he recommended that the board suspend the rules to allow the item to be voted on because timing was a key issue for the project. McMahon explained that if approved, the project, which would include the sodding of one football field and two soccer fields side by side, can be started this fall and be ready for play by spring. Councilwoman Mary Cooke expressed some concerns during the workshop of bringing the item on the agenda, but during the meeting voted in favor allowing for the unanimous vote needed to suspend the rules. Despite approving the project, Cooke said she was disappointed that the item appeared to be handled in such a "secretive way" and that Island residents didn't have the chance to know about the issue in advance so they could give their views in public. , Funding for the project willcome from the Capital Reserve and Open Space Fund and is broken down as follows: $27,115 for sod; $11,600 in labor to lay the sod; and $7,000 to water it ($3,000 of which is labor costs). McMahon pointed out that the quoted $47,715 figure should be lower because the board hopes to recruit volunteers to the project, which would lower labor costs. The Capital Reserve and Open Space Fund, which is earmarked for Recreation improvements and town land acquisition, currently holds a total of $97,000, of which $45,000 will be deducted for the sodding project. Last year, the board allocated $100,000 from the open space fund for other athletic fields at Veterans Park, a decision that received some criticism from residents who argued that the board was more interested in improving existing land rather than acquiring more open space. continued on page 14