The Ithaca Journal from Ithaca, New York • 2

CriY County 2A The Ithaca Journal Saturday, December 28, 1996 Local Editor Kathryn Hovis 274-9219 si activist Fneeds honor edocafc Greater Ithaca Activities Center is sponsoring the "Celebration of the Life of Alice Miller" from BOCES sets January courses ITHACA Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES is offering the following courses in January: Defensive Driving Classes, six-hour classes for insurance and v. point reduction, Saturdays Jan. L-11 and 25 and Tuesday evenings, Jan. 14 and 21. Gentle Holiday Aerobics: p.m., Mondays, i Wednesdays and Fridays, begin- vi-ningjan.

13. Holiday Aerobics: p.m., Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, beginning Jan. 13. To register for any of the Join the party Anyone who wishes to share a special memory or funny story about Miller is urged to call GIAC to be included on the program. Cost of the supper is $25, but organizer Audrey Cooper said special arrangements can be made for anyone for whom the fee presents a problem.

For reservations, call GIAC at 272-3622. June 1989 to be near family members. While she was on the school board, she served on the mayor's task force on children and youth, which looked for ways to coordinate school and community services for students. She is a member of the GIAC board, the center's Beverly J. Martin Scholarship Committee, and the school district's affirmative action committee.

Packages of wildflower note-cards, designed by Miller, will be on sale at the celebration. Proceeds from the sale and the party will enable students without the necessary funds to visit colleges that interest them and to pay fees necessary to apply to those schools. was this old man about my age in front of me. He looked through the window at a class where two students were leading the discussion. Several other students and the teacher sat at the back with their feet up.

That's the trouble with education these the man complained. 'They don't even know how to sit up, much less learn "I told that man to listen and find out what they were talking about. He did and said they were discussing the mayoral race. I pointed out that the room was still and every single person was listening and learning." After she retired from teaching, Miller moved to Ithaca in Academy in Germantown, for 21 years. Miller began her career as a third grade teacher and ended up teaching seventh and eighth grade math and science.

"I only taught one year in a way that children had to sit with their hands folded," she stressed. After a workshop on interactive, hands-on education, Miller changed her methods. "When we started working with hands-on activities, it was amazing how the children woke up and started to learn," she said. Miller has supported open education ever since. "Last fall I was standing in line to vote at the Alternative Community School," she said.

"There Alice Miller served on school board, task force By MARGARET CLAIBORNE Journal Staff ITHACA Friends and admirers of former school board member and community activist Alice Miller are invited to spend an evening with Miller and her family at a benefit buffet supper Jan. 4. The Board of Directors of the Fire guts courses call TST BOCES, 257- 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Holiday Inn. Miller, 71, has cancer.

Speaking about the celebration Friday. Miller said "I IV can't believe it. It was going to be at GIAC, but Miller it got too big. Then it was going to be at Beverly J. Martin School and now it's going to be at the Holiday Inn." Miller, who served on the Ithaca City School District Board of Education from 1992 to 1995, landmark and select 1.

State parks open boat-slip rental TRUMANSBURG Boat owners who rent 1997 seasonal slips in the Finger Lakes state plans to speak at the celebration. A former educator, she taught at the historic Germantown Anraial bin parks will receive a five-year guarantee, according to Regional hotel in Romulus 1 Director Jack Clancy. i In the past, slips have been available subject to an annual lot tery. Under the new policy, once i a slip is awarded by lottery, the boat owner will not be subject to another lottery for five years. coimt ready totakewieg Area enthusiasts in national survey i 1 he guarantee is for the same size and class of slip, and cannot be transferred if the boat is sold nmnfSn mi I By JOHN YAUKEY Journal Staff The great avian census known as the Christmas Bird Count is under way as bird watchers fan out across the Americas to help scientists study population trends.

Local participation, which is being arranged by the Cayuga Bird Club and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, is scheduled for Wednesday. This year, bird watchers will participate in 1,650 one-day bird counts in more than a dozen countries from Dec. 20 through Jan. 5, according to the National Audubon Society. The Christmas Bird Count helps scientists study population trends and tabulate their Watch-List, an accounting of birds in decline or in danger.

"It's great fun and it's extremely valuable," said Scott Sutcliffe, associate director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology-Bird counters catalogue every bird and bird species they see over one calendar day, from mid-. night to midnight. The data gathered are sent to the National Audubon Society. Locally, bird counters typically pick out between 70 and 80 species a year, Sutcliffe said. "All you need is a good pair of eyes and a pair of binoculars," he said.

The annual event grew out of concerns over what were traditional Christmas bird hunts. At the turn of the century, ornithologist Frank Chapman, like many conservationists, was MARGUERITE NICOSIAJournal Staff STEADY STREAM: An Ovid firefighter mans a hose on the teen fire departments from surrounding counties assisted door of the historic Romulus Hotel, built in 1880. Seven- with mutual aid and back-up Friday afternoon. Firefighters from 17 companies battle 5-hour blaze to another party. The seasonal slip rate is $30 I per foot tor non-electnc slips and $35 per foot with electric for boats more than 18 feet long.

For boats 18 feet and under, the sea- sonal slip rate is $450. Applications are being ed Jan. 1-15 for the following state parks: Treman, Lodi Point, Sampson, Seneca, and Falls. Applications can be "obtained at these parks or at the Finger Lakes State Park Region, 'Administration Headquarters, '2221 Taughannock Park Road, PO Box 1055, Trumansburg, NY or call 387-7041. Waste neighbors can get help ITHACA Businesses near the Recycling and Solid Waste "Center on Commercial Avenue "may be eligible for compensation "for some negative impacts of the The Tompkins County Solid -Waste Division has created a I compensation program to deter- mine whether any significant 'impacts exist, to eliminate or minimize any impacts and to compensate appropriate property and business owners for impacts not eliminated.

The program will examine things such as potential water and air pollution, traffic and fnoise, and the attraction of pests rodents. k. Property owners who believe that they have experienced negative impacts from the center's t-operations may call Barbara Eckstrom at the Tompkins County Sold Waste Management Division at 273-6632 or Homemakers goffer support ITHACA The Displaced j'Homemakers Center of Tomp- kins County offers a Divorce and Separation Support Group for seeking information, encouragement and friendship. I The group meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Details are available at 272- 1520.

CMSA extends show tb February ITHACA The Community School of Music and Arts Hon day Open Show and Sale has been extended through reb. 3, thanks to the many local artists who have agreed to showcase and sell their work. The public may visit CSMA's Whiton House Gallery, 130 Prospect on the corner where Aurora Street turns into Route 96B, to view more than 64 paintings, sculptures, and other mixed media pieces. Proceeds from the 30 percent commission go toward CSMA's scholarship fund for students in need. For more information call the CSMA at 272-1474.

This column appears daily and con- s.imtr Hiwif ttorttc ty and the City of Ithaca. If you know of like to report, please mail that mmmhimo in vnur rtimmuniiv viu information lioy uiuniy onrji, civ The Ithaca journal, us n. aiaie Ithaca, AT it by dialing 272-4248; or e-mail it to ithjounwl(ddarityconnectom. Joining the flock Anyone interested in participating in the local Christmas Bird Count is encouraged to call the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at 254-2473. Listen to the full message.

concerned about the annual slaughter of birds. On Christmas Day, 1900, Chapman acted on his concerns, organizing 27 friends in 25 locations for the first ever bird count. What started as a quiet protest has grown into an international institution. Now more than 45,000 people in an Mcuca, cvciy anauiaii province, Central and South America, the Caribbean and several Pacific islands all regions where North American birds winter participate in the annual event. The vast majority of data are gathered by amateur birders, who have proven themselves extremely helpful to professional ornithologists over the years.

"The data they gather are invaluable to us," said Andre Dhondt, a Cornell professor of ornithology and bird population studies. "The more people who participate the better we are able to study population trends." Because birds are highly sensitive to environmental threats, these bird counts also serve as an early warning system not only for the health of avian habitats but for the wider IrffEPORT TO A jTHE COiyiMUNITY agency in 1997: More funding to provide services such as emergency transportation, help with overdue utility bills and prescriptions. Critical issue for 1997: Duplication of services. There's no way at present to check if clients are receiving the same assistance from several agencies. "Readers may choose between the word of one of Ithaca's respected citizens or the tramp with a price," commented the reporter.

The Owego Record, in covering the story, added that Tompkins County roadhouses were said to be famous for their hot Tom and Jerry, a popular Christmas drink concocted of eggs-Jamaica rum, sugar and This column is based on the eolations of the DeWitt Historical Societ and written by Gretchen Sachse, Tonip-Ions County Historian. Facing crisis, Salvation Army fights to fill needs By J.R. CLAIRBORNE Journal Staff TOWN OF ROMULUS The town of Romulus lost a hub of the community Friday when a fire destroyed the restaurant on Route 96 known as the Romulus Hotel. For about five hours Friday afternoon, firefighters from 17 fire companies, including Trumansburg and Enfield, battled the blaze that consumed the place in the center of town once known for its "chicken on the rough" Friday afternoons. Ithaca firefighters also helped out, covering the Ovid fire station while firefighters there worked in Romulus.

Firefighters poured water on the fire to bring about puffs of smoke, but the fire refused to surrender and flashed back with flames as high as the two-story buildings on both sides. "I've seen a lot of fires in my time," said Seward Irland, deputy fire coordinator for Seneca County. "This ranks among the more serious of them." Problems with the local water system forced tankers to shuttle water from ponds at Vineyard Road on Route 414 and Boyce Corners on Route 96 in Ovid, Irland said. The building was considered a total loss, but is partially covered by insurance, said its owner Ivo Pocai. The restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported, Irland said.

No cause has been determined. Ryan McNally, 13, who lives across the street from the restaurant, saw the fire when he came out of the building next door at 1:45 p.m. and spreading, McComb said. Pocai, of Waterloo, was among those gathered to watch the fire, with his family. Pocai had closed the restaurant as usual two weeks before New Year's Day for a short break.

He normally reopened New Year's eve, he said. The owner for the past 19 years, Pocai said he had invested "a lot of hours and a lot of sweat." Wanting to keep the look and feel familiar to many, Pocai never refurbished but only repainted the old hotel, said daughter Tricia Sutliffe. Fred Vaughn, a 15-year resident of Romulus, said the atmosphere and food were a big draw. "It was one of them places where people would drive for miles to get here," he said. The building was built about 1880 and was a community landmark.

"It's very old and precious to us, especially since we just celebrated our bicentennial in 1994," said Ann Morgan, assessor for the towns of Covert, Lodi, Ovid and Romulus. "It's always been an eating establishment or hotel." Without the restaurant, Pocai has lost a business and six people have lost their jobs, including Bonnie Brainard, who cooked there. Her husband, Al Brainard, who's a firefighter at the Seneca Army Depot and an EMT for South Seneca Ambulance Corps, said he and his wife planned to use the money she would have earned when the restaurant reopened to help with Christmas spending. "Now there's nothing left to make up," he said. "That's tough." Name: The Salvation Army Address: 150 N.

Aurora Street, Ithaca Number of Employees: 4 Phone: 273-2400 Business Hours: 9 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. Chief Executive: Ronald Deborah A. Lugiano, majors Key services: Vouchers for clothing, household goods, weekend meals; Kitchen Cupboard through Area Congregations Together, pastoral counseling. Major accomplishments in 1996: Continuing to provide all services to the community despite the tremendous budget deficit.

Major challenges facing the MARGUERITE NICOSIAJournal Staff A SMOKY BLAZE: One of two cranes spray water from behind the hotel. Tankers refilled over and over again from nearby ponds to fight the fire. "As soon as I came outside, I saw smoke outside the window and fire," he said. McNally's aunt, Kelly McComb, said Ryan ran into the house and "just told my sister to get off the phone because the hotel was on fire." Outside, they saw flames coming out of the southeast corner of the building Cayuga's monster thrilled New Year's revelers By GRETCHEN SACHSE Special to Vie Journal On New Year's Day 100 years ago, Ithacans did not brave the wintry weather to count birds as they do today. They had, as it were, other fish to fry.

Each year brave souls would travel the banks of Cayuga Lake waiting to catch sight of the green-eyed sea serpent. For years people shivered with terror as the tales of the horrible monster were related. According to an old resident, 1897 marked the 69th annual "the cold north winds blow their chilly selves across the placid lake and ruffle its composure, until one would think that the lake itself is agitated by reason of its fearful guest. By selecting these times for his visit, the old boy knows that human courage cannot well brave the fury of a gale and the sight of him also, so he is safe." Following is the latest and most authentic version (in 1897) by an Ithacan of unquestioned veracity and whose account was corroborated by a companion and a tramp: "I was taking a pleasure drive this morning along the east shore of the lake with a friend, when I chanced to look out on the lake, and there about two hundred feet from the shore, I saw what at first glance filled me with fear, but at the same time riveted my gaze. I immediately guessed that it was the famed sea serpent.

I quickly alighted from the carriage and with my companion walked to the shore. We were at McKinney's at the time. The head of the animal was large and its body long and it disported in seeming glee among the white- caps. It was certainly the sea serpent. I never saw an animal of its description before and it tallied with accounts I have read of the serpent" The gentleman's friend and a tramp, who witnessed the incident, also claimed the story to be true in every detail.

The tramp claimed that he threw stones at the animal causing it to lash the water with its tail in fury. Later a Journal encountered the tramp who, for the price of a mug of malt extract, disclosed his belief that the animal was a muskrat. Then Now appearance of "Old Greeny," a fact substantiated by a careful inspection of The Journal's files. "The members of THE JOURNAL staff have been living in daily anticipation of the monster's appearance, and have actually shunned assignments which would take them near the water's edge for fear of being compelled to shudder and tremble at the sight of him," reported the newspaper on January 5, 1897. The sea serpent waits until.