May 7, 2012

Is Groden in the future?

I'm not guessing that the Towns of Groton and Dryden will merge any time soon, but school districts? Maybe. This article on school budget squeezes notes that the state is pushing consolidation pretty much everywhere. At TC3, "Associate Professor of...

Posted by simon at 7:25 AM

April 4, 2012

TST BOCES survives

You probably weren't worrying too much about whether TST BOCES, which most people think of as its campus on Warren Road in the Town of Ithaca, would survive. As Dryden Daily KAZ reports, the state is fine with its continuing...

Posted by simon at 12:01 PM

March 2, 2012

Ithaca moves to acquire Newfield

I used to joke that Dryden needed to raise an army to reclaim the lots along its southern edge that we let wander off to become the northern edge of Caroline a century or so ago. It seems, though, that...

Posted by simon at 12:09 PM

October 29, 2011

Nineveh makes me tyred

All I can say is wow! (Other) Dryden bloggers have been on fire the last few days. The latest fantastic piece, Nineveh Makes Me Tyred, comes from Dryden Daily KAZ. From its opening reflections on Buffalo through its looks at...

Posted by simon at 9:47 PM

July 16, 2011

Junior Fire Academy in Dryden

I should probably set up an automatic story to point to Cathy Wakeman's always excellent and generally impossible to summarize Dryden Town Talk articles in the Ithaca Journal. This week's installment looks at Junior Fire Academy, Covenant Love Community School's...

Posted by simon at 6:17 PM

October 15, 2010

Death at George Junior

This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on a death at the William George Agency, still commonly called George Junior Republic: Alexis Javier Cirino-Rodriguez, 20, "became unresponsive after a physical incident involving intervention by the staff from the facility" around 7:18 p.m.,...

Posted by simon at 6:47 AM

October 12, 2009

School spending comparisons

One of the concerns I've heard while doing door-to-door in Dryden is the pressure of property taxes, especially school taxes. New York separates municipal governments from school taxes, so there's a limited amount the Town of Dryden can do to...

Posted by simon at 4:46 PM

September 2, 2008

Eight Square Schoolhouse teaches public

The History Center held its annual Eight Square Schoolhouse Festival on the 23rd, combining old-fashioned classes with ice cream, games, and music. Playing with stilts. Learning, 19th century style. Spinning at the schoolhouse. I'll make (once again) the radical proposal...

Posted by simon at 7:03 PM

May 2, 2008

Ellis Hollow Nursery School Open House Saturday

It's southwest Dryden education morning here, but there's also an event Saturday: ELLIS HOLLOW NURSERY SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE May 3, 9-11am At the Ellis Hollow Community Center What's it like to be a 3- or 4-year old child at the...

Posted by simon at 9:07 AM

December 20, 2007

Stone Circle celebrates St. Lucia

Posted by simon at 6:01 AM

November 28, 2007

Darfur benefit; airport bookings up

Freeville residents Siera Haley and Bec Groves-Haley appear in a picture accompanying an article on a Friday benefit for refugees in Darfur sponsored by the Northern Light Learning Center, a local home-schooling cooperative. There's also an article on increased bookings...

Posted by simon at 5:22 PM

September 11, 2007

BMX bike theft; politics

This morning's Journal reports something I've seen very rarely: a theft committed by a resident at the William George Agency, better known as George Junior Republic. A BMX bike was apparently stolen from Stewart Park in Ithaca August 13th by...

Posted by simon at 8:17 AM

August 27, 2007

Eight Square; storm damage

This morning's Ithaca Journal visits the Eight Square Schoolhouse festival, which I missed this year. It sounds like they had they usual fun re-acquainting people with the schoolhouse, which last served as a public school in 1941. I have my...

Posted by simon at 12:04 PM

August 22, 2007

School violence data released

This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the latest school violence data. Although the lead article makes a point that New York's data makes it look extremely violent because of reporting standards, an online article on discrepancies within the Ithaca school...

Posted by simon at 12:17 PM

October 19, 2006

Robo-polling Dryden?

This morning's Ithaca Journal looks at automated polling techniques being used in the Congressional race and questions about the validity of data collected by touch-tone keypad. In the print edition, Frank Row of Dryden is pictured at the top of...

Posted by simon at 12:09 PM

April 6, 2006

Local gas prices climb

This morning's Ithaca Journal explores the impact of higher gas prices on the Ithaca area. It even includes a handy list of current gas prices, though it's kind of hard to tell what they mean when a station is listed...

Posted by simon at 12:36 PM

January 9, 2006

Food pantry opened today

This morning's Ithaca Journal was quiet on Dryden, but the current issue (January 4th) of the Dryden Courier has lots of news. Freeville United Methodist Church opened a food pantry again today after five years without Freeville having one. Distributions...

Posted by simon at 10:43 PM

September 23, 2005

Stabbing at TC3 dorms

A Tuesday stabbing at the TC3 dorms will put a Spencer man in Dryden court today, charged with second-degree felony assault, as well as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Dryden firefighters took the victim to Cortland Hopital. In brighter...

Posted by simon at 1:06 PM

June 16, 2005

George Junior workers approve sweetened contract

Whether it was the rally, the 118-1 vote to reject an earlier contract, or an article about workers making less than a living wage, George Junior Republic management seems to have changed its mind about the terms they should offer...

Posted by simon at 11:17 PM

June 1, 2005

Youth Opportunity grants

This morning's Ithaca Journal has Briefly in Dryden, which lists grants made by the Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund, as well as a Golf and Walk fundraiser being held Monday to support Covenant Love Community School....

Posted by simon at 8:23 AM

May 26, 2005

George Junior workers reject contract

Voting after yesterday's rally, SEIU Local 200United members voted on a contract proposed by George Junior Republic management. The results aren't encouraging for management: "We had over 100 members turn out for the rally and their determination to fight for...

Posted by simon at 3:38 PM

May 25, 2005

George Junior workers rally

When I last visited SEIU Local 200United, they were just getting started with negotiations for George Junior Republic direct care workers and sounded optimistic. It doesn't seem to have worked out as well as they'd hoped. Today, SEIU Local 200United...

Posted by simon at 12:33 PM

May 23, 2005

BOCES honors, seat belts

It's another quiet weekend for Dryden in the Ithaca Journal. This morning there's a list of students honored at the May 19th BOCES recognition ceremony, including students from Dryden and Ithaca. There's also mention of state police safety checkpoints, including...

Posted by simon at 8:34 AM

May 21, 2005

Guidelines for letters

This morning's Journal, except for a DWI arrest, is pretty quiet about Dryden. Their editorial lays out the ground rules for letters to the editor, noting that the opinion page "is a forum for ideas - grand and absurd -...

Posted by simon at 8:00 AM

May 1, 2005

Stone Circle Spring Fair for children Saturday

Stone Circle School will be having their Spring Fair next Saturday, May 7th, from noon to 4:00pm at the Foundation of Light (map): Celebrate spring! Dress up and act in a play, dance around a May pole, make crafts, play...

Posted by simon at 7:24 AM

March 16, 2005

George Junior contract negotiations in progress

I stopped by the event SEIU Local 200 had tonight at the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home. One of the things that frustrates me about labor negotiations is that they're rarely considered news until there's a crisis, and I thought I'd...

Posted by simon at 10:12 PM

SEIU Local 200 community outreach at VFW tonight

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 200, which represents workers at George Junior Republic, will be having an informational session tonight at the Dryden VFW from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. It sounds like community members are welcome to stop by, rather...

Posted by simon at 2:08 PM

February 3, 2005

Final suspect convicted of kidnapping

This morning's Journal reports that Mao-Sheng Lin was convicted of kidnapping in a robbery of the Song Tao restaurant in November 2003. Lin had disappeared after posting $200,000 in bail and was returned from Texas in November 2004. Two other...

Posted by simon at 8:18 AM

January 31, 2005

Village annexation prospects, nurseries

I've been painfully slack in getting the Dryden Courier over the last few weeks. I bought last week's on the Tuesday night before it disappeared, misplaced it, and just got to the current issue tonight. There's still one more day...

Posted by simon at 7:48 PM

January 5, 2005

Montessori School, Varna Fire Company profile

In this morning's Ithaca Journal, Cathy Wakeman looks at the opening of the Integrative Montessori Nursery School, which will be having an open house Friday through Sunday: The public is invited to visit and learn about this new classroom at...

Posted by simon at 8:52 AM

January 4, 2005

McLean activities

With the holidays, I almost missed an issue of the Dryden Courier. Fortunately, I picked one up today. (The new issue will be out tomorrow.) This past week's issue leads with a story about after-school programs for kids in McLean....

Posted by simon at 12:11 PM

New BOCES head, county legislator salaries

This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES has named Ellen O'Donnell as its new superintendent. O'Donnell is currently the superintendent of the Chenango Forks Central School District. An article on Tioga County notes that renewing your car registration by...

Posted by simon at 8:57 AM

December 22, 2004

Victorian Christmas, Kitchen Cupboard

This morning's Ithaca Journal catches up to the Victorian Christmas event the Village of Dryden held December 3rd, exploring how it and the wreaths along West Main Street came about. Cathy Wakeman celebrates a warm fire and a cup of...

Posted by simon at 8:47 AM

October 23, 2004

Stone Circle School, letters

Today's Ithaca Journal is pretty quiet about Dryden. It notes today's Stone Circle School open-house from 1:00 to 3:00pm today (map), and there's a dart from Murray Cohen, who writes "The world might be better off without Saddam but it...

Posted by simon at 11:52 AM

October 19, 2004

Stone Circle School open house Saturday

Tonya Engst writes to report that: Stone Circle School is having a fall open house on Saturday October 23 from 1-3 PM, with a sample morning circle at 2 p.m. All are welcome to visit the 160-year-old school house, enjoy...

Posted by simon at 5:54 PM

October 1, 2004

Keeping farms alive; McLean crossing guard

Today's Ithaca Journal explores the many issues around land-use planning and agriculture in Dryden. The article looks at farmers' concerns about disappearing ag land, their financial needs, and different possible ways of addressing the issue. There's also an article on...

Posted by simon at 5:37 PM

May 13, 2004

School happenings in The Shopper

Dryden school elections, budgets, and news dominate the Community News section of this week's The Shopper. There are advertisements from Paul Lutwak, Margaret DeGaetano, and Anderson Young, candidates for the board, as well as an ad from David Branagan opposing...

Posted by simon at 8:27 AM

May 3, 2004

SPCA facilities, Stone Circle School

Today's Dryden news in the Ithaca Journal is friendly stuff. The Journal takes a look at the new SPCA building on Hanshaw Road, which is nearing completion. It sounds like an enormous change from the old building, which will still...

Posted by simon at 7:43 AM

April 30, 2004

School grades, expenditures

The print edition of today's Ithaca Journal contains a "Grading Our Schools" supplement which lists test results for schools and school districts in the area, including Dryden, Ithaca, and many more. It also lists spending per pupil for the 2000-2001...

Posted by simon at 12:47 PM

November 9, 2003

Eight Square Schoolhouse

I hesitated before adding the DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County to my "Organizations" links, since they're based in Ithaca, not Dryden. Unfortunately, the Dryden Historical Society doesn't have a web site, and the DeWitt folks do cover Dryden as...

Posted by simon at 6:39 PM