This morning's Ithaca Journal includes Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk column, in which she reports on Girl Scout Troop 869, which meets at the Freeville Methodist Church. The troop has performed a lot of service in the past few years:
Over the last year, the girls of Troop 869 have painted the playground bleachers at Dryden Elementary School, collected 5,000 cell phone minutes for service people to use from Iraq and organized the purchase of playground toys for the elementary school, which needed to be replaced as a result of the construction of the new playground two summers ago.
They're currently focusing on safety, raising money to attend a national sing-along in June, holding a Kid's Night Out on the 26th, preparing for a Valentine's Day flower sale, and planning an event on February 26th for Girl Scout International Thinking Day. In Boy Scout news, Wakeman also reports on Philip Pamel's becoming an Eagle Scout, and the Dryden Barbershop is creating a cookbook of recipes from the men of Dryden.
An article from the celebration of Ezra Cornell's birthday notes the contribution of some Dryden residents:
Other friends of the young university included John McGraw, who gave McGraw Hall; Jennie McGraw Fiske, his daughter, who gave the chimes now in the library tower;
Jennie McGraw-Fiske also gave Southworth Library in the Village of Dryden.
In state news, Governor Spitzer and the state legislature have taken a few steps toward budget reform, requiring disclosure of member items in the budget before they are voted in, and sorting out a process for the hard question of "how much money do we really have?" I'm especially glad to see the member items piece, which should help New York move beyond the era of "slushpork", borrowed money under the tight control of the individual legislative leaders and the governor.
Posted by simon at January 17, 2007 7:54 AM in Ithaca Journal , history , politics (state)