R RIAG A C E E H A C L E T P
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• Food • Flea Market • Classic Cars Antiques & Collectibles ★
June 4, 2017
Boy Scout FundraiSer
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Troop 375 June 17 • 9 am - 4:30 pm
6000 Sweden Walker Rd., Brockport, NY CALL FOR DETAILS
Issue No. 23
585-637-6224
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www.westsidenewsny.com
West Edition
Distributed to Bergen, Clarendon, Holley-Murray and Brockport-Sweden
Community service comes easy to Sam Lobene by Maggie Fitzgibbon Community service comes easy to Sam Lobene. It’s in his blood. His father and uncle, Mike and Jim Lobene, have served the Spencerport Fire Department for decades. His late grandmother, Joyce Lobene, served as a trustee and mayor of the Village of Spencerport. Sam joined the Spencerport Explorer Program when he was 12 years old as part of the Junior Explorer Program. Now at 17, Sam is a member of the Spencerport Fire Department as a restricted firefighter (a restricted status is given to fire fighter who is only authorized to work the exterior of a building fire). Sam is set to graduate from Spencerport High School (SHS) in June. During their final year of school, SHS seniors must complete a project. According to the Spencerport Central School’s website, this assignment is a “year-long, independent project that is reflective of the basic academic, organizational and communicative competencies required for success at the post-secondary level and is consistent with New York State’s ‘College & Career Readiness’ initiative.” Each senior must complete a written paper along with an activity or product on the topic of his or her choice. Sam said that his advisor explained that his project should center on a topic or hobby that he enjoys. “My advisor told me that I should write about something that I’m passionate about. And that was easy for me to do. I hope to some day be a paid firefighter. I chose to write about the history of firefighting and then decided to do a fundraiser to benefit the National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation,” Sam explained. As part of his research, this past spring Sam and Mike took a trip to New York City where they visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum along with New York City Firehouses. His goal was to learn about how the events of the September 11 tragedies impacted the United States and how fire fighters were involved in the rescue efforts. He also learned about the process
of becoming a paid firefighter, civil service tests, and fire companies. “I was only two years old when 9/11 happened so I don’t remember much except that my mom and dad were very sad. As we were walking around the 9/11 Memorial, I thought to myself, that these people who passed just thought that they were going to have a regular day without realizing what the outcome of the day would be,” Sam said. “The memorial was very intense to see. I was speechless as I read all of the names of the people who died. Now I understand the dedication that the firefighters had to stay and work through the rescue efforts.” Sam’s paper focused on the history of firefighting and how it has evolved. Part two of Sam’s project came on Saturday, May 13 when he implemented a boot drive fundraiser in the Village of Spencerport from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Sam and fellow volunteer firefighters stood in downtown Spencerport at the intersection of West Avenue and Union Street with their fire boots in hands and collected donations from people driving through the Village. “We were scheduled to be in the Village until 3 p.m. but we stopped early because the amount of donations we received were incredible,” Sam said. Over $5,400 was collected during this three-hour period. Doug Hanson is a teacher at Spencerport High School and the Senior Project Coordinator. He noted how Sam’s project aligns with the objective of the senior project. “The senior project is designed to allow students to pursue a passion. We encourage students to complete a community-based project,” Hanson said. “Sam’s project is a perfect example of this and his fundraiser was by far the most successful senior project ever completed.” Sam’s senior project is completed and he’s ready to walk the stage at graduation. His future plans include college he’s set to study Fire Protection Technology at Monroe Community College in the fall. The family legacy continues. Donations for Sam’s fundraiser for the Fallen Firefight-
Sam Lobene collects donations for the Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation for his senior project. Provided photo. er’s Foundation continue to be accepted. Contributions can be mailed or dropped off at the Spencerport Fire House, Station 1, 175 Lyell Avenue, Spencerport, NY 14559. Please mark National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation on any checks. In 1992, the United States Congress created National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation. Located in Maryland, this non-profit organization provides resources to assist injured or deceased firefighters and their survivors in rebuilding their lives and work within the fire service community to reduce firefighter deaths and injuries.
Lake Ontario water levels begin to reach stable conditions The International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board assessed current and expected conditions to determine the best outflow release strategy to address high water level and associated impacts throughout the system. Months of high precipitation produced the highest recorded water levels on Lake Ontario since reliable records began in 1918. The level was stable for several days as a result of drier weather and increased outflows, and barring significant additional rainfall, the Lake Ontario level may have halted its rapid rise. The Board has been maximizing the outflows from Lake Ontario, and has been balancing water levels upstream and downstream to minimize flood and erosion impacts to the extent possible. The Ottawa River flow has continued to decline since reaching its record-breaking peak on May 8. As a result, less water is entering the St. Lawrence River at Lake St. Louis (near Montreal), and more outflow from Lake Ontario has been able to be released into the St. Lawrence River, while still keeping levels downstream from exceeding the flood levels experienced since the beginning of May. Lake Ontario outflows have now reached 10,200 m3/s (360,200 cfs). These extremely high outflows are now
impacting navigation conditions in the St. Lawrence Seaway between the Thousand Islands and Massena, New York /Cornwall, Ontario. With these higher flows, the Board also had to consider not only maximizing relief on riparians upstream and downstream but to also consider the impacts on the commercial shipping industry. To assist the Board, the Seaway agencies have adopted mitigation measures to ensure the safety of ships transiting this section of the St. Lawrence River. If outflows are increased further, unsafe currents would halt shipping, causing a break in a long time scheduled chain of multigoods transiting between overseas and the Great Lakes and impacting all those industries and jobs that rely on Seaway shipping. The Board continues to provide maximum relief to shoreline communities while also attempting to a lesser extent to maintain the Seaways safe operations. If weather conditions remain as expected, the Board will continue to release an outflow of 10,200 m3/s (360,200 cfs); a flow equivalent to the record maximum weekly flows passed in 1993 and 1998, for several weeks in an effort to reduce the high level of Lake Ontario as quickly and safely as possible. If the drier conditions of the past weeks continue across the Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River basin, Lake Ontario
outflows are expected to soon surpass inflows, at which time Lake Ontario’s water level will begin to decline. However, owing to the huge surface area and large volume of water on Lake Ontario, it will take several weeks to significantly reduce levels, and longer to return to more average water level conditions. The Board therefore advises continued caution and preparedness for sustained high water levels in the weeks to come. On May 25, Lake Ontario reached 75.88 meters (248.95 feet), 84 centimeters (33.1 inches) above its long-term average level for this time of year. The level at Lake St. Lawrence was 6 centimeters below average, while the level at Lake St. Louis is about 22.52 meters (73.88 ft), 106 centimeters (41.7 inches) above average. At Montreal Harbour, the level is 140 centimeters (55.1 inches) above average. Downstream, the flooding which has caused evacuations around Lake St. Peter is prolonged. The Board continues to monitor the system. Outflow changes, photos and graphs are posted to the Board’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InternationalLakeOntarioStLawrenceRiverBoard and more detailed information is available at http://ijc.org/en_/islrbc. Provided information