Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 137

10F OUR TOWNS, WAYNE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2001 In the Blair household, activism was part of the family upbringing i) r- Kelsey Evans of Penfield qualified for the state competition with her all-around score. Among gymnasts ages 12 and older, Danielle Kasinowski of Spencerport took first place all-around and in all four events. Competing at Level Six, Shannon Spusta of Macedon took first place all-around in the 7-through-9 age group. Sherree Burruss of Pittsford took first place all-around in the 10- and 11-year-old group. Gretchen Schroeder of Fair-port placed first all-around among those 12 and older.

Spusta, Burress and Schroeder all qualified for the state competition. Competing at Level Seven, ages 7 through 10, Nicole Allen of Penfield placed first all-around and on the bars, beam and floor. Samantha Mateer of Webster took third place all-around with a first-place finish on the vault, among 11- and 12-year-olds. GTC girls qualify for state meet The girls gymnastics team from the Gymnastics Training Center of Rochester, which is located in Penfield, competed in the American Dreams Meet last month in Watertown, Jefferson County. Competing at Level Five, ages 7 and 8, Holly Przbyla of Rochester placed first all-around.

In age group 9 through 11, Natalie Blauvelt of Pittsford placed first all-around, with first-place finishes on the uneven parallel bars and floor exercise. Lauren Reed of North Rose took first place on the balance beam. Brittany Lariviere of Victor placed third on the vault. Ashley Mayberry of Macedon placed third on the vault and bars. III Let Comfort Window Show TURN ON mm m.

mm irr ENERGY EXPERTS AGREE windows doors account lor 50 of your fuel dollar loss. Isn't it time to stop paying for heat loss? Windows Doors Siding Sunrooms FREE ESTIMATES (716) 235-7839 Rochester 1380 Scottsville Rd. Civil rights protesters leave a Baptist church in Jean Howard's N.C., in May 1963 before a demonstration against segregation BY STAFF WRITER SHEILA RAYAM Improving other people's lives has always been a part of Jean Howard's life. Growing up as one of three children in her family in the Warnersville neighborhood of Greensboro, N.C., Gloria Jean Blair learned at a young age about discrimination, opportunity and social activism. The rural area that was the family's home was where Howard's father, the late Ezell Blair, was also raised.

"We were kind of on the outskirts of things," says the 50-something Howard. "The more prestigious (black) community was on the other side of the tracks where I went to high school. My dad taught at that high school." The Blair family could easily have lived in the more distinguished community, but Dad decided to raise his family in his old neighborhood. "It was important to him that we understand how he grew up," says Howard, whose mother, Corene, was also a schoolteacher. It was also important to Corene and Ezell Blair that their children felt free to ask questions, especially at dinnertime.

"We could talk about anything at the table," says Howard. "But everything was discussed with respect." Although she minded her mouth around her elders, Howard describes herself as a strong-willed child. She was opinionated and inquisitive, a trait that occasionally frustrated her teachers. Having opinions and respectfully questioning authority was OK in the Blair household, and at times inside the walls of her school. But outside those walls, Howard still lived in the segregated South.

She says that her parents taught her to navigate her way around a place and time in which it was considered inappropriate for a black person to speak freely. "They taught us how to live in a society where you can think, but won't be able to say it." Living in the South during the '50s meant that black and white people could live in proximity to each other, but wouldn't mingle in public, says Howard. They didn't go to school to- Murphy Funeral Services A higher standard of service with a cost-conscious approach. Ontario Palmyra Macedon 524-4621 597-4566 986-7781 gether, shop together or drink out of the same water fountains. It also meant she couldn't skate at the whites-only rink near the Blair home.

Howard wanted to become an ice skater when she grew up simply because she wasn't allowed to skate as a child. "I could walk to the (ice rink) and I could see white people skating, and I wanted to be able to do that," she recalls. "We couldn't use the (rink) to ice skate until I was in high school." Things were beginning to change in the Ezell Blair Jr. You How To 100 FINANCING NO DOWN PAYMENT NO EQUITY NEEDED NO PAYMENTS FOR 90 DAYS iti 2EH 51 1 1 mm k. I V-HC choose from fmiityjt.

kj and more HOURS: 9-6 SUNDAY Nurserymen a All uii aidii: unia lr i kd i 2 Master Gardeners 4, lr 1 TV i Xjf F650GS VMS its" Jean Howard helps single parents get on track iiVA rc A-amr V11) r. I' "We prayed before they went to the sit-in," recalls Howard, who worried for her brother. Aside from being arrested, Blair who changed his name to Jibreel Kahzan in 1968 would come out unscathed. Blair and his three classmates became part of history as the Greensboro Four. Their action launched the sit-in era of the civil rights movement.

Like her brother, Howard was a protester. And she, too, was arrested during a sit-in at the Cafeteria in Greensboro in 1961. "In my family, you were going to participate because I grew up in an activist family," says Howard. It was not unusual, for instance, for the Blair family to put up visitors who came to Greensboro for sit-ins. By the time she entered Bennett College in Greensboro, Howard wanted to better understand social issues in the country.

She decided to pursue a degree in sociology. While at Bennett, Howard to Berkeley Street in Rochester. Ask Howard how she feels about her current job and a smile spreads across her face. "I love my job. It's just exciting.

What I love best are the successes that I have seea" One of those successes is for-'mer resident Theresa Huff, a city resident and mother of two who graduated from Wilson Commencement Park in 1993. "She has in many, many ways given me so many opportunities in my life," says Huff, who is an administrative assistant at United Way. Huff is also a member of the park's 29-member board of directors. "She became more of a friend than just someone of authority. She became a mentor to me.

A lot of people look up to her." Kevin Quinlan of Fairport placed second on the horse, rings and vault and third on the floor, bars and the high bar. Clay Thomson of Macedon took second place on the rings and vault and third on the floor, bars and the high bar. Tony Christopher of Webster took first place on the vault and third on the floor, rings, bars and high bar. In age group 10 and 11, Josh Beaney of Greece placed first on the vault; second on floor, bars and high bar, and third on the horse and rings. Tyagi, Gardner, Quinlan, Thomson and Beaney all qualified for the state competition.

In Class Five, age group 10 and 11, Max Norris of Canandaigua placed third on the vault, floor and high bar. He qualified for states. In Class Four, age group 10 and 11, David Beyerlein of Ironde-quoit placed second on vault and third on the bars and rings. He, too, qualified for states. In Class One, ages 16 through 18, Chris Kolb of Fairport placed third on the horse and bars.

Anthony Morreale of Penfield placed second on floor and vault and third on rings, the high bar Maimit File photograph hometown of Greensboro, in the town. would get a taste of living on her own in the North. In her sophomore year, she was recruited to work at a summer camp in Port Jervis, Orange County. The camp for children from Harlem was sponsored by the New York City Mission Society. Howard worked at the camp for three summers.

After graduating from Bennett, she took a job organizing the camp's winter program in Harlem. Howard got engaged during her first year in Harlem to a young man from Brooklyn whom she met while he attended North Carolina They moved to Springfield, where Howard worked as an adult program director at the YWCA while her husband, James, attended graduate school. When James Howard finished graduate school, the couple moved to Detroit, where he worked for Ford Motor Co. In 1976, after Howard received a master's degree in education from Indiana University, James received a job offer from Xerox Corp. that brought the Howards to Rochester.

Wilson Commencement Park graduate Gina Lane is one of those people. The mother of one keeps in contact with Howard. "She has really inspired me," says Lane, a youth advocate with the Hillside Work Scholarship Program who left the park in 1997. "To see Jean being an executive director, it just gives me hope as an African-American woman that I can climb that ladder." For Howard, helping people help themselves is worth all of the early mornings, multiple meetings and late nights. "When you like your job, you never feel bogged down," says Howard.

"You just can't put a price tag on liking what you do." and all-around. Kolb and Morreale qualified for states. In the Elite Group, Tommy Walsh II of Webster placed first on floor, vault, high bar and all-around. He qualified for states. Dolphins host local competition The Rochester Dolphins Synchronized Swim Club hosted the Niagara Junior Association Championships last month at the East Rochester High School pool.

The season's first competition for girls 14 and older included teams from Rochester, Keuka, Buffalo, Oswego, Tonawanda, Aurora and Orchard Park. In the trio performance, Jessie Conti of Brighton, Emily Isaac of Penfield and Lisa Palmieri of Henrietta took third place. The team of Justine Blaho-Gnam of Macedon, Jennifer Kaminska of Fairport, Jamie Olken of Brighton, Sandy Specter of Fairport, Conti, Isaac and Palmieri qualified for a performance held last weekend in Troy, Rensselaer County. STAFF REPORTS FROM PAGE IF included work with poor young people in New York City and with a YMCA in Massachusetts. Jean and her husband, James, settled with their two sons, Russell and Randall, in Pittsford in the mid-1970s when James got a job with Xerox Corp.

Their daughter, Ingrid, was born here. Although it was her first time in Pittsford, Howard was no stranger to Rochester. As a child, she came here with her mother to visit her great aunt, Betty Lee. In 1978, Howard began working at United Cerebral Palsy Association of the Rochester Area. During 12 years at UCP, she held several positions, including director of residential services.

Hundreds to ir luuii m. 1 Daffodil i oa bj 71 6 223-1 222 124Pittsford-PalmvraRd. South by the time Howard entered high school in the 1950s. And by her senior year, desegregation laws were in place. But there were still unwritten rules.

Her brother, Ezell Blair would challenge those rules with the support of his entire family. On Feb. 1, i960, Blair and three other freshman teenagers at North Carolina University sat at a Woolworth's lunch counter meant for whites only. In 1990, she heard about Wilson Commencement Park and decided to interview for the job of executive director just to see what it was all about. "I thought it was going to be a housing program for single parents in Brighton, because the address I had to respond to was on Aliens Creek Road in Brighton," says Howard.

"I thought, 'It's about time they got something like this out there in When I interviewed, I found out it was going to be in the city." She decided it was time for a new challenge and accepted the job at Wilson Commencement Park. Howard, who is now divorced, moved last August from Pittsford Tim Hanna, 13, and Craig Hanna, 11, of Penfield, earned their brown belts in Shotokan karate last month. They have been studying the martial art for six years at the Bay View YMCA. GTC boys take first home meet The boys team from the Gymnastics Training Center of Rochester, which is located in Penfield, competed in its first home meet of the season last month Competing in Class Six, age group 7 through 9, Dhruv Tyagi of Fairport placed first on the parallel bars and high bar and was second on floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings and vault. Chris Gardner of Lyons placed first on the vault; second in floor, horse and bars; and third on the rings.

MaCedOn, NY (1 mile east of Lollypop Farm) RECREATION NOTES Twenty students Penfield brothers earn new belts earn brown belts CounwCurtains -RF. TAIL SHOP Create Your Own Special Look Without Spending a Fortune! Enjoy a custom look at your window on a ready-made budget. We'll show you hundreds of ready-made ways wilh curtains, toppers, shades, sheers lots of lace decorative rods hardware accessories, too! Quality and style you can trust affordability you'll appreciate The following Martial Arts America students were promoted to new belt ranks last month: Yellow belt: Jacob Eggleston of Rush, Tommy Larkin of Honeoye Falls, Lizzie Mas-zerowski of Rochester and Kareem Tawil of Pittsford. Orange belt: Adrian Esposito of Rochester, Erik Weslowski of Pittsford, Brenda Blain of Lima and David Nixon of Bloomfield. Green belt: Alex Duffy, Katherine Duffy and Morgan Marin, all of Pittsford, and Tom Hyldahl of Henrietta.

Blue belt: Katie Cornell of Rochester, Nickalos Rauscher of Henrietta and Mike Floeser ofPittsford. Purple belt: Laura Jackelen of Pittsford, Emily Patterson of Rochester and Nicole Rauscher ofHenrietta. Advanced brown belt: Carley DeFranco of Rush and James Cornell of Rochester. Hours: Fri. Sal Thu.9:30-8, Sun.

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