Election moved to Sept. 15
By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
While most communities celebrate Memorial Day on the observed date of the last Monday in May, the village of Baldwinsville has long honored fallen servicemembers on the traditional date of May 30. This year, however, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the village to cancel its annual Memorial Day parade.
Village Trustee Ruth Cico, a member of the Baldwinsville Memorial Day Committee, said the village still plans to have a small contingent from the VFW and American Legion conduct ceremonies honoring veterans “in a safe and responsible manner to ensure the safety of all participants.”
“All of us at the village of Baldwinsville are deeply concerned for the health, safety and welfare of everyone in our village, country and throughout the world who are or may be affected by the COVID-19 virus. We are confronting difficult and unprecedented challenges in our personal and professional lives. In the days and weeks ahead, we need to unite and work together to succeed in conquering this threat to our health and way of life,” Cico said in a press release.
On April 16, 2020, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced April 16 that he believes New York has passed the peak of COVID-19 infections and the “NY on PAUSE” initiative is flattening the curve. Shutdowns of nonessential businesses are expected to last through May 15, and schools will continue distance learning through the end of the academic year.
The pandemic also disrupted the spring and summer election schedule. School board and budget votes will take place June 9 via mail. The villages of Baldwinsville, Minoa and Fayetteville were supposed to hold elections March 18; Liverpool was to hold its election June 16. Per the governor’s executive order, village elections have been moved to Sept. 15 and the June 23 special election for the NYS Senate’s 50th District has been canceled.
Kayak launches open
Baldwinsville may be missing out on its time-honored tradition of the Memorial Day parade, but COVID-19 has not stopped spring’s arrival. The kayak launches at Mercer Park and Community Park are now open to the public.
Users are reminded to wear masks and practice social distancing in the parking areas and the vicinity of the launches. The village recommends “allowing those at the launch and on the dock to exit the area before proceeding to enter onto the dock and use the launch ramp.
The launch at Mercer Park opened April 24 and the launch at Community Park, also known as Lions Park, opened April 30. The village installed the kayak launches in 2017 using grant funding from the New York State Canal Corporation, the Onondaga County Legislature and NYS Assemblymember Will Barclay’s office.