By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
Normally, the year-end issue of the Messenger is a retrospective of the year’s top news stories. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, which upended our way of life in many ways, 2020 is a year many of us would prefer to forget.
Fred Rogers, host of the long-running children’s television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” often shared his mother’s wisdom in times of trouble.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping,’” Mr. Rogers said. “To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
In lieu of rehashing the events of 2020, we are choosing to highlight the helpers — the people and organizations whose efforts supported the members of the community most in need and buoyed their neighbors’ spirits.
Read on to meet the individuals and organizations who embodied the #BVILLESTRONG spirit in 2020:
Mutual aid organizations
There is no shortage of volunteer-driven organizations in Baldwinsville whose members are always willing to extend a hand to those in need. This year more than ever, the efforts of mutual aid organizations and food pantries were pivotal to the survival of the community.
To name a few of these organizations:
- Baldwinsville Community Food Pantry, which operates out of the First United Methodist Church
- Veterans Food Pantry, run by VFW Albert Glenn Richardson Post 153
- Baldwinsville Meals on Wheels, which serves more than 800 meals each week to 110 clients
- Baldwinsville Rotary Club, whose Backpack Program provides breakfast and snacks for children in the Baldwinsville Central School District
- Baldwinsville Volunteer Center, whose Household Essentials for Living Pantry (HELP) Project provides toiletries, cleaning products and other household items for the area’s food pantry clients
In addition to these organizations, the “Baldwinsville Helping Baldwinsville Covid-19” Facebook group brought together over 3,300 members to share resources and support during the pandemic. Founded by Pam Milac, the group has become a hub for Google Classroom tips, a virtual marketplace for items such as food and toilet paper, and directory of local businesses.
B’ville’s #BlackLivesMatter activists
In the wake of police killings of Black people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tony McDade, 17-year-old Jadyn Godin of Baldwinsville felt called to action.
“I realized I can’t be quiet about this. Even if it’s not happening to me, I can’t be quiet about it or else nothing’s ever going to change,” Godin said.
Godin organized a Black Lives Matter rally in Baldwin Canal Square on June 2, drawing more than 75 people. Officers from the Baldwinsville Police Department even joined the peaceful march.
“[Officer Martin] Knaul asked everybody to take a knee and I was like, ‘This does not happen everywhere,’” Godin said.
The New York Times linked to the Messenger’s coverage of the Baldwinsville rally in an interactive feature documenting hundreds of similar protests across the country. The NYT feature can be found here: nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/13/us/george-floyd-protests-cities-photos.html/.
Godin is not the only Baldwinsville youth advocating for racial justice. Ella Smith, a 2020 Baker graduate and SUNY Oswego student, sold prints of her painting “We Can’t Breathe” to benefit Black Table Arts, a Minneapolis-based organization that promotes community and leadership among Black artists, authors and other creatives.
“It’s important to empower those who are trying to stand up and not let the morale of everyone who’s fighting to get down. If you have privilege, use it. If you have a voice, use it,” Smith told the Messenger in July.
After attending Godin’s protest June 2, Maggie Solomon, 15, placed a plywood sign reading “Black Lives Matter” on the fence in front of her family’s Baldwinsville home. By August, the sign had been vandalized twice. Maggie’s message for the vandal was simple.
“Black Lives Matter does not mean ‘all lives don’t matter.’ It just means that right now Black lives are in danger and they face prejudice every day,” she said.
Heart, Home and Community
If you dropped off a donation for the HELP Project, sent a gift to a graduating Baker senior or watched a video of the village tree lighting on Facebook or PAC-B, chances are Shelley Hoffman and her Heart, Home and Community initiative were behind the scenes.
During the various stages of shutdown in Onondaga County, Hoffman kept Baldwinsville up-to-date with her live weekly interviews of local figures. Among her guests are local officials such as County Legislator Brian May, Baldwinsville Police Chief Mike Lefancheck, and Lysander Town Supervisor Bob Wicks; as well as representatives of community organizations such as the Baldwinsville Public Library, Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce and the Baldwinsville Christmas Bureau; and local businesses like JessiCakes, the Painting Café and the Savvy She Shed.
Hoffman and fellow B’ville mom Kasi Killian also started the “Honoring Our Senior Students” Facebook page, which allowed community members to “adopt” graduating seniors. The Heart, Home and Community space on Oswego Street in the village of Baldwinsville became the hub for cards and gifts for the grads.
Honorable mentions
There’s not enough newsprint to name everyone who helped their neighbors get through 2020, but we’ll try to squeeze in a few honorable mentions.
• Female Charitable Society: After a fire devastated the FCS loan closet on March 1, the bicentenarian organization rallied, first regrouping at its storage and repair building and finally reopening at 10 River St. in the fall. The loan closet contains about 2,400 pieces of medical equipment such as canes, hospital beds and wheelchairs, available for residents of the Baldwinsville Central School District to borrow.
• Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce: Throughout the pandemic, GBCC continued supporting local businesses with its #BeeLocal spotlight, virtual “Coffee Talks” and the Taste of B’ville FAB (Food and Beverage) Fest, which was reworked as a social media contest. GBCC also paused billing of its dues for 60 days in the spring to give its members a chance to get back on their feet.
• Van Buren Deputy Supervisor Mary Frances Sabin: Town Supervisor Claude Sykes was in Arizona when the pandemic brought life to a screeching halt in March. “M.F.,” as Sykes fondly calls his second-in-command, “[got] the ball moving in the right direction and getting the town set up to do what we need to do following the guidelines issued by the state,” Sykes said earlier this year. Sabin is also chair of the town’s land use committee, which authored the new property maintenance codes approved in the fall.
• Baldwinsville Public Library: With COVID restrictions and regulations changing almost weekly, BPL has adapted to curbside services and beefed up its online programming for library patrons of all ages. Offerings include weekly storytimes and crafts for the little ones, Dungeons & Dragons for teens and virtual book clubs for adults.
