Honor Flight Syracuse receives donation

By AndREw wEllivER

Honor Flight Syracuse received a $2,600 donation from the Town of Salina on June 12.

The presentation was made at Salina Town Hall during the town board meeting.

Town representatives presented the check to members of Honor Flight.

Among the members of Honor Flight Syracuse who came to accept the check, was Jeffrey Bastable, director of development for Honor Flight Syracuse.

Bastable and other representatives of Honor Flight were on hand to show their gratitude for the financial support.

The donation was made possible by a first-time event, a Memorial weekend car show that took place on May 27.

Michael Hart, veteran outreach coordinator for the town of Salina set up the car show and had assistance from numerous organizations and individuals.

Jazz Fest

“Without assistance from these groups, the car show wouldn’t have seen the light of day,” Hart said.

The event was somewhat lastminute but many stepped up to make the car show possible and raise money in support of Honor Flight.

PattiCallahan,externalfundraising liaisonforHonorFlightSyracuse,gave her praise to the Salina community.

“I am so impressed with the community of Salina who raised this money at the last minute,” she said.

Hart took over as the veteran outreach coordinator on May 1, 2023, and with his work and the help of many others they were able to put the car show together and had 71 cars on display.

With Honor Flight being a nonprofitorganization,donationslikethis are an important part of making their mission possible.

“Having an event where people help raise awareness for our mission is critical,” Bastable said.

The mission of Honor Flight Syracuse involves celebrating America’s veterans by transporting them to l From page 2 group for major festivals such as the Syracuse appearance.

“Joy, simplicity and ensemble. That’s the trifecta,” says Skinny washboard wizard Robin Rapuzzi. “The three ingredients for that special recipe we call hot music.”

Malfitano knows hot when he hears it.

“Back in the day people used to come to Jazz Fest all the time just to see the opening acts, and with good reason,” he said. “The festival affords us an opportunity to showcase some of the greatest young jazz artists on the planet. A major bonus for festivalgo- ers.” national Grid syracuse Jazz Fest schedule

Thursday, June 22: 4-9 p.m., Hanover Square Outdoor Stage - Harri Stojka & Acoustic Drive, Something Else! (featuring Vincent Herring, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Paul Bollenback, Dave Kikowski, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Essiet Essiet)

Friday, June 23: 5:30-10:30 p.m., Clinton Square Outdoor Stage - Postmodern Jukebox, Tower of Power, Herbie Hancock

Saturday, June 24: 5:30-10:30 p.m., Clinton Square Outdoor Stage - Tuba Skinny,

Spyro Gyra, Gladys Knight

Sunday, June 25: 12:30-4:30 p.m.,

Harvey M. Millier, iii Former World and U S champion ice dancer

Harvey (“Skip”) M. Millier, III, a master of dad jokes, died May 27, 2023, surrounded by his loving family after a brief, but courageous, battle with cancer. Born on July 25, 1948, in Auburn, Skip spent the first five years of his life in Skaneateles, until his family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs. There, Skip graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep and Villanova University, where he developed his life-long passion for Villanova basketball and Philadelphia sports.

Skip spent many years working for Weichert Realtors, and later Berkshire Hatha- dr. simon A. Ginzburg, 85 electrical engineer, avid athlete

Dr. Simon Aaron Ginzburg, 85, of Boxborough, MA, passed away on June 10, 2023. Simon was born in Russia to Aaron Samuel Ginzburg and Bronislava Ginzburg and immigrated to the United States in 1980.

He made major contributions in the field of electrical engineering with his work on fiber optic cable design on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. He was an avid athlete and completed numerous marathons and triathlons in the New England area, including the Boston Marathon on multiple occasions.

Simon is survived by his three children, Ira, Natasha and Michael and his sister Nina. His good nature, strong will, humor, kind heart and patriotism will be deeply missed. Services are private.

Obituaries

way, as a residential and commercial real estate agent. He was a fierce advocate for his clients and was skilled at finding the right property for them, whether a firsttime home buyer or experienced investor.

Skip was president of the Drexel Park Homeowners Association for several years, and was also a member and former president of his local Rotary.

In his early life, Skip was a World and U.S. champion ice dancer, first competing and performing with his sister, Ann, in 1966 in Lake Placid. Skip and Ann were silver medalists at Nationals in 1970, earning a spot on the US World Figuring Skating Team. Together, they traveled the world with the U.S. team, including “behind the iron curtain,” competing in world and in- ternational competitions. They were part of an elite group of skaters that introduced ice dancing to the Olympics. Skip enjoyed passing on his ice-skating knowledge and skill to his many students over the years.

Skip was a true sports enthusiast and athlete, and he found joy in coaching little league and attending almost every one of his children’s games and meets. He was a dedicated and passionate tennis player, and enjoyed playing daily with his friends. He also found great joy in introducing the sport to his granddaughter, Ainsley.

Skip met the love of his life, Sally, in 1977 while he was living in Lexington, MA, and teaching skating in Boston. They married on May 30, 1981, and built a fabulous life together, filled with dinner parties, travel, tennis, dancing, dogs and their two children, of whom Skip was so proud.

Skip was fortunate enough to return to Skaneateles in 2020 to be nearer to his beloved granddaughters, Ainsley and Lily, with whom he shared his love for dogs and ice cream. Skip is survived by his wife of nearly 42 years, Sally Pearson, daughter Samantha and son-in-law Mike Balestra, son Gunnar and daughter-in-law Emily, granddaughters Ainsley and Lily, sisters Ann O’Neil and Margaret Everett, and

william E. snow, 93 WWII veteran

William “Bill” E. Snow, born in Baldwinsville, passed away peacefully on Jan. 13, 2023, at the age of 93, where he lived at the Veterans home in Port Charlotte, FL.

several nieces and nephews.

A private service and burial will be held for immediate family to honor Skip’s life. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to the U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund or to a charity of your choosing.

To send condolences, visit robertdgrayfuneralhome.com.

To send condolences, visit robertdgrayfuneralhome.com.

He spent 42 years in Panama City, FL, including five years at SIMS Veterans home. He worked in many capacities and could fix or build anything - he loved helping people. His smile will be missed.

Bill proudly served in the US Navy during WWII on the USS Midway and the Army National Guard Reserves in Upstate New York.

Bill is predeceased by his son Michael D. Snow and survived by his devoted wife Grace of 70 years, his daughter’s Marlene Snow and Pat Bailey.

His final resting place will be Riverview Cemetery, 70 Tappan St., Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13027, where a military grave side service will be held on June 29, 2023 at 11 a.m.

OuR vOicE

Commencement

As graduation ceremonies and celebrations begin locally we look at the word commencement, which has two related but also distinct meanings.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, commencement means a graduation ceremony. But it also refers to the start of something such as a journey.

At this time of year as local high school students take their diplomas and throw their caps in the air, the graduation ceremony is perhaps the most obvious and immediate meaning that will come to mind.

Walking across the stage in cap and gown, taking their diploma is the culmination of years of work, late nights of homework, seemingly endless exams and reports.

Those moments, when they walk down the isle and listen to the speeches from school staff and administration and valedictorian and salutatorian addresses, the moment when they walk across the stage and take their diploma, those are just the first half of the commencement equation.

When they have their diploma in hand and have come off the other side of the stage, that is when the other meaning of commencement truly beings.

This other definition, to start or begin something, has both literal and more metaphorical meanings.

These young adults will be starting many new things in the days, weeks, months and years ahead of them

This day marks the start of an entirely new chapter of their lives.

For some this will take the form of secondary educational opportunities, heading off to college.

For others this may mean the military.

And still for others this may mean entering the workforce.

Whatever the journey may be and wherever it may take these young adults, each will have their own unique experiences and discover new interests, new friends, have new experiences and broaden their horizons in ways they may not have yet anticipated.

This definition of commencement holds incredible potential.

While their paths may be mapped out in a general way, college, work, et cetera, as cliché as it is, the future is unwritten, a blank page, where each will begin to write a new chapter of their own life story.

This can be an overwhelming, but hopefully an exciting prospect.

Whether it is college or the workforce or the military or a gap year or a year taking part in any number of student exchange or civic and volunteer opportunities, this is a time to start something new and a time when these graduates will begin shaping their lives in new ways preparing for careers and everything else their future holds.

But even as they commence, this is also a time to look back.

These ceremonies mark the culmination of not only the work of the students, but also the parents, families, educators and innumerable others that have helped them on their journey and assisted them in preparing for this moment. So as they step into the bigger world, they will be ready for all that lies ahead of them.

This network of support, parents, teachers, the whole community, has proven to be incredibly valuable on their journey to this special day.

For their support, all of these people deserve a moment of praise and recognition for all they have done to help prepare the next generation to lead the way into the future.

And of course congratulations is due to the students and all their hard work, commitment and determination to persevere no matter how challenging circumstances became.

HOw

OF sMOKy AiR And MusHROOMs

Cough, cough ….what are they burning up there?

A silly question as the news tells us that these wildfires located in our friendly neighbor-to-the-north are partially a normal part of nature, partially the result of poor forest management, although how one manages huge swaths of native forest is a pretty good question ... and other accidental or not accidental occurrences. The smoky and crunchy drift of wildfire particulates into our neck of the woods being the result of an unusual pattern of air movement.

How many of us remember the TV and print ads telling us “Only You can Prevent Forest Fires?”

Even as a child, watching Smokey the Bear, I wondered how I could prevent forest fires, since there were no forests in Brooklyn. There was a maple tree that grew in front of our house, the only tree on the block, but I didn’t think that counted. I did keep an eye on it, though. We recently experienced what so many in the western part of our country have experienced - being downwind of wild fires. The difficulty breathing, watery eyes, etc. tells us that being downwind is not a good thing and it gives us some sense of what air pollution is about, however generated. It tells us what happens when we are not applying what we know about forest management, climate change, etc.

Science, as it is designed to do, reevaluates facts and data and has acknowledged that nature needs fire, a reality which native cultures recognized and accommodated as a natural part of life. We have yet to incorporate that knowledge into action. We are not only ignoring science but also pre-scientific knowledge. Cough, cough.

Speaking of nature, it has recently been noted that we humans and mushrooms are fairly close genetically. Actually, the news is that mushrooms have more DNA in common with humans than they do with plants. In the not-too-distant past, when we studied how we divide up life on earth, it was decided that there were two ways of being a living entity: plant or animal. And…mushrooms seemed to resemble plants more than they resembled humans. This is not true anymore. Here comes science again, correcting or, more appropriately, adding to knowledge.

Now I am not a botanist or zoologist, but those who are have, with some fairly decent research, divided the living world into more than plants and animals. There are now five “kingdoms:” monera, protista, fungi, plants and animals. (This information was good as of this morning, but who knows, science moves fast.) You will notice that the fungi now have their own kingdom. Why? Probably because they are everywhere. If you think that insects are ubiquitous, fungi have the insects beat by miles and miles of mycelium.

Mushrooms, in whatever form they appear, were once considered plants. They are not. Plants make their own food. Fungi do not. Fungi exist by consuming nutrition from other living and non-living organisms’

From the mycorrhizae that support the life of the largest trees to the tiniest yeast spore, fungi are integral parts of all life on earth. When you eat bread or cheese or dink beer or wine, when you take medicines like penicillin … you are interacting with fungi. Fungi are what makes that sock that got wet and hid behind the dryer the source of horrible odor. Fungi make the green color under the constantly wet area around the garden hose, or pop up as possible edibles next to the hollyhocks. Fungi are also the cause of plant diseases. The mint that used to take up a good portion of my garden has been decimated by a fungus. Oh, and byy the way, oregano is a mint.

Fungi are always around, even when they are not sensed. After a particularly damp summer, you can watch mushrooms of all shapes and sizes enthusiastically appear in lawns and woodlands. We can expect to see changes in the appearance of fungi as the climate changes. If you take a bit and read about the structure of fungi, it exists in at least two forms - its socalled roots or main body, which mostly lives out of sunlight., and the fruiting bodies, what we see as mushrooms, which produce spores for reproduction. It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but that’s about

Fungi l Page 7