Island Dispatch, 2005-07-22

              Island Dispatch $1.00 24 Pages July 22, 2005 Vol. 61 No. 18 For Home Delivery of the Island Dispatch Call 773-7676 Niagara ff! Df Frontier C/ Publications proucf publishers of Island Dispatch Lewiston-Porter Sentinel Grand Island Penny Saver Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune wrww.wnypapers.com Curbing Loosestrife page 5 New Eagle Scout page 11 Biking for Lynette page 24 Lions picnic brings smiles to kids' faces by Karen Keefe Bright sun, blue sky. Volunteers all in place. Hot dogs and hamburgers ready for the grill. Boats, ship-shape. Tom Schultz, chairman of the picnic, made sure he and his crew were all set. All that remains for a successful day? Kids. About 1,200 of them, filling nearly 40 busloads. They descended on the Buffalo Launch Club for the 47th annual Lions Club Special Kids Picnic on Wednesday. They came from places such as School 84 in Buffalo, the Cantalician Center and Heritage Center, and even private individuals, Schultz said. Boat Rides a Favorite They enjoyed the food, face-painting and fire trucks. They took rides on ponies, golf carts and minicars. But most of all, they loved the boats. This is a big event, but attention to every little detail accomplishes small miracles: Smiles on faces of kids who have challenges many would consider daunting. Many of the youngsters at Wednesday's picnic were in wheelchairs. Some spoke haltingly or walked Michael Laßrake (bit), Jamie Sacco (center) and Anton Hinds (right), students from School 84 in Buffalo, enjoyed a boat ride in the Niagara River, then had a nice picnic meal at the Lions Club Special Kids Picnic on Wednesday, (photo by Barbi Lare) Beaver Island: Rules, rules, rules Lifeguards who say 'no' are not trying to ruin your vacation by Karen Keefe Beaver Island State Park is a jewel at the southern tip of Grand Island - a summer haven that, for a $7 entry fee per carload, is still a bargain. You can picnic, swim, snack or just lay there and soak up some rays. The many benefits, plus the string of 90-degree days this summer, have brought big crowds, according to Park Manager Bill Huntoon. But some patrons have observed that for the serious swimmer, the park is not always a day at the beach. Shallow water; many rules The water is shallow - shallower than it was in the 1950s and '60s. You can walk out 50 yards from shore and still be only waist deep. Yet the list of safety restrictions has lifeguards calling out commands every 10 minutes or so. "No throwing sand." "No throwing seaweed." "No T-shirts." "No glass bottles." "No floatees." "No swimming after 7 p.m." "No swimming beyond the ropes." These are discouraging words that are not looked at too favorably by some beach-goers. Can Beaver Island's beach be that dangerous? Rules are to Protect Huntoon said depth of the water is not the determining factor, because a person can drown in a bathtub. "As far as the 'burdensome rules,' a lot of that is to protect us," Huntoon said of the park management. "As we've gotten older, our society has become more litigious." He said the rules are to protect the taxpayer and to "protect ourselves from ourselves." "The public does not understand that, and they get very upset when you try to explain," he said. . Lifeguards in P.R. | "We spend time actually | training the guards in public service and being able to deliver a negative message in a positive way to try to get some compliance," he said. Huntoon said, decades ago, parents used to take matters into their own hands when youngsters exhibited bad behavior. "Now, if somebody gets hurt, mommies and daddies turn around and yell at the state of New York because it's their fault," he said. "In fact, it's probably Mom's or Dad's fault little Johnny or Mary got hurt." "So, we literally have to put up signs that say, 'No, no, no.'" He said the staff has been trained to say % "no," too. "Because if you bring a glass con- tamer on the beaqh, you are going to break it and somebody's going to get cut on it." The Pruchnowski family of Cheektowaga builds a sand castle on a recent weekend at Beaver Island State Park's beach, (photo by Dennis Keefe) Bill Huntoon continued on page 2 continued on page 22 ".415, " ~ i |§|§f|j§sf for aii your §||||f|§l Real Estate jjgmsa Needs! Buying or Selling a Home on Grand island? Before You Call Anyone... Go T0... www.GrandlslandNYhomes.com 1 or cail JJZ-mSJ