COMMUNITYCONNECTIONS Contin u ed From Page 6
newly created world wide web. From Ithaca College, Chantelle moved to Cyrus, a local web development company, where she helped to create websites for all kinds of clients — large and small — such as a local real estate company, an online bookstore, and a dating website. “Cyrus was a really fun job. I learned a lot about business, creating so many different kinds of sites to meet the expectations of such different clients.” Chantelle then joined a San Franciscobased start-up, but after a few years, the company was sold, and she returned to Cornell to complete a master’s program in information science in professional studies. “The MPS program at Cornell gave me the flexibility to take courses in related areas. I was able to take classes in the Business School, which was a huge opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship.” After graduating in 2013, Chantelle joined Stayful, another San Franciscobased internet start-up focused on boutique hotel booking. But by 2016, Chantelle was thinking about creating her own start-up in her own hometown. “I had become hooked on teaching group fitness classes. Indoor cycling was my first love, so first I envisioned a cycling studio in Collegetown. Over the years I had trained in and taught
some of the Les Mills exercise classes — BODYPUMP, RPM and BODYFLOW, so over time, the vision evolved into something bigger.” Chantelle and business partner Sue Manning (also a programmer) spent time mulling over various components of an optimized business plan with a mentor from the Small Business Development Council, a program from the Small Business Administration. In 2017, Chantelle and Sue opened the doors to FLX Fitclub, in temporary digs in the Clinton West Plaza. Almost as soon as their door was opened, old and new fans rushed in, and the business grew quickly. Now Chantelle celebrates group fitness in FLX Fitclub’s current home of two years. Almost 30 classes are taught each week, from early morning into the evenings, and on weekends. Ironically, this ideal location — adjacent to GreenStar, with plenty of parking, located beside the inlet — is in the same building where Chantelle worked so many years earlier when she was employed by Ironics. Only now has she optimized the use of that old familiar space into an optimal area for group fitness andinto a business that is good for their participants, good for conscious waterside development, and good for Chantelle and Sue. As Chantelle figured out, when we optimize, all stakeholders can prosper.
4TH OF JULY Contin u ed From Page 3
3-4 p.m.: Roof Top Revelers 4-6 p.m.: John Rogalia and the Swamp Boys 6-8 p.m.: Tribal Revival 8-10 p.m.: Hotdogs and Gin (Doug and Eamonn Hubert)
Branchport/Keuka Lake Independence Day Celebration
The annual Independence Day celebration attracts hundreds of families to the park on Hooper Road to enjoy the holiday with some family fun. Every year the event features a 5K run and walk, vendors, live entertainment, and children’s games, and every year it is capped off by the biggest fireworks display in the Binghamton area. The public pool and carousel are also popular attractions on the Fourth of July.
Where: Branchport Firehouse 3686 NY54A, Branchport, NY 14418 (barbecue and parade); Finger Lakes Museum 369 Guyanoga Rd, Branchport, NY 14418 (firework show) July 4, noon - 10 p.m.
Watkins Glen Area Fireworks
All-American Old Fashioned Small Town Independence Day Celebration. Noon: Chicken Barbecue at the Branchport Firehouse (Drive through only) 2 p.m.: Parade 10 p.m.: Fireworks, behind the Finger Lakes Museum Discovery Campus
After taking a year off for the pandemic, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present the traditional July 4 fireworks show with media partner Seven Mountains Radio. The display is expected to begin at approximately 9:45 p.m. on July 4.. Prime viewing locations will be at Clute Park and locations on or around the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The pyrotechnics display will be presented by Young Explosives.
Town of Union Fourth of July Spectacular 2021 Highland Park,801 Hooper Road Endicott, NY 13760 July 4, noon - 9:30 p.m.
Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, 214 N. Franklin St. Watkins Glen, NY 14891 July 4, 9:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.
THE TALK AT
YOUR LETTERS Re: Climate Czar
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enjoyed reading your cover story today on Ithaca’s new climate czar, Luis Aguirre-Torres, but I was surprised to read this quote by him in the interview: “it’s mostly white people who have the luxury of being environmentalists.” Being an environmentalist is something we all do wherever we’re at – it means being a good steward wherever we are. So, to make that statement is to miss the point entirely and it’s dangerously misguided. It discounts, for example, the work that Black and brown communities are engaged in in so many of our large cities nationwide to plant community vegetable gardens so they have locally sourced produce and it discounts the work internationally of black and brown people around the globe in underprivileged nations like Pakistan, for example, which has set out to plant 10 billion trees (Reuters.com). Beyond that, it denigrates white people, particularly non-wealthy white people and rural white people who are often taught an inadvertent piece of environmentalism: “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” This is resource conservation out of frugality or lack of income and is not uncommon though not as glaring a headline in today’s media coverage of race in America. In any case, if someone wants to bring race into a conversation about environmentalism, it should be done without divisive rhetoric.” David Galvis McDermitt, Danby, NY
Celebrating the most American of freedoms
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he 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew what they were getting into. As we celebrate the 4th of July 245 years later with flags and fireworks, it’s easy to forget that these patriots risked death to give a new nation life. If you’ve never read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety, this is a good time to do that. More than two centuries later, it’s still a good read. These rebels, who would be accused of treason by Great Britain, wrote the document in a reasoned manner, attempting to convey to the world that their cause was a just one. At its most basic, it’s a demand for a divorce, with one party explaining why this marriage can’t be saved. What’s fascinating, though, is how the list of complaints about the king of England not only cited justification for the break-up, but also telegraphed the principles the new nation would insist upon in establishing its own governance. The entire document was a bold stateJu ne
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ment, speaking truth to power. As it established its own future, this new nation would have to find a way to guarantee free speech, particularly in regard to criticizing government. The Declaration of Independence lists more than two dozen examples of why the king “was unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” The new United States of America would need to create a check on those who abused their power. That would come from a free press. Much of the Declaration is devoted to examples of the king ignoring the colonies’ needs and maintaining a stranglehold on new legislation to address those needs. Clearly, the United States would have to guarantee petition and assembly. Memorably, the Declaration states that all men are endowed by their “Creator” with certain “unalienable rights.” This was an acknowledgement of a Higher Power without a specific reference to any religion. This new nation would go on to guarantee freedom of faith. Freedom of speech, press, and religion. The rights of petition and assembly. Today, we see all five nestled together in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It took a war for independence and 17 years, but those aspirations became the cornerstone for a young and vibrant country. Fast forward to the 21st century. A new survey of citizens around the globe by legal public-policy center Justitia has assessed how citizens in 33 countries feel about freedom of speech. It found that most citizens in most countries feel free speech is important and positive, but they waver when presented with scenarios in which free speech offends others or hampers society. In order, Norway, Denmark, the U.S., and Sweden top the list: Citizens of these nations say they are steadfast in their support of free speech. At the bottom of the list: Tunisia, Kenya, Egypt, and Pakistan. In a telling passage, Justitia quotes free-speech expert and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger as saying the U.S. is “the most speech-protective of any nation on earth, now or throughout history.” The report also notes that a 2015 Pew research study determined that no nation in the world was more supportive of free speech and a free press than the U.S. At our best – and not without lapses – we walk that talk. In 1776, our founders published a Declaration of Independence, but also a declaration of intent. Those early Americans sought “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” by creating a nation founded on freedom. But those freedoms must never be taken for granted, and our collective vigilance is essential. On the most American of holidays, let’s be sure to celebrate the most American of freedoms. -Ken Paulson, NYPA
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