YEAR IN REVIEW First Quarter 2019 Youth, …...Halloween, Flag at The Cap, Youth Conference 8 Holiday Toy Drive, Magic of the Season, memorials 9State that assisted the program for

Special edition, Year 2018 in Review

This newsletter is a

publication of the Town of

Hamburg Dept. of Youth,

Recreation and Senior

Services.

Phone: 646-5145

Email:recreation@

townofhamburg.com

INDEX

Vol. 8 No. 1

2018 in review

Maple Sugaring,

Men’s winter BB

champions

2

&

3

Service to Youth,

Donny Thiry Day

& Rec/Sr. Expo

4

&

5

YRSS training,

new staff, Dash &

Splash

6

&

Halloween, Flag at

The Cap, Youth

Conference

8

Holiday Toy Drive,

Magic of the

Season, memorials

9

Staff info,

partnerships,

thanks

10

TOWN OF HAMBURG 2018 YEAR IN REVIEW First Quarter 2019

PAGE 1

Youth, Recreation & Senior Services Quarterly

PAGE

The Town of Hamburg Depart-

ment of YRSS was awarded the

following grants/funding in 2018:

Youth—The Town of Ham-

burg Youth Bureau was notified by

the Erie County Youth Bureau that

the Town of Hamburg was to receive

Youth Development funding for

2018 for nearly $35,000 to support

its programs for the upcoming year.

We also received a $10,000 Prime-

time Mentoring grant.

Tennis—The

Recreation Branch of

YRSS received a

$2,500 “Growing

Tennis Together”

grant from USTA

Eastern to enhance YRSS Sum-

mer Youth Tennis program-

ming.

Football—

YRSS has re-

ceived a $6,000 grant

from the Buffalo Bills

Foundation. The

money will support our youth foot-

ball programs.

Dick’s Sporting Goods renewed a

sponsorship valued at $1,720.

YRSS received a $1,000 Connect

Kids to Parks grant from New York

State that assisted the program for

children in the Woodlawn Adventure

Camp.

YRSS earns 2018 grants for youth, recreation

Let there be games:

Hamburg Senior Services’ indoor game options increased

this winter through the generous funding efforts of Erie

County Legislator Lynne Dixon and assistance of Erie

County providing a dartboard and shuffleboard to our Bil-

liards/Game Room. We have billiards, a ping pong table

donated by former Council Member Mike Quinn, a myriad

of card games and a large screen TV, along with comforta-

ble chairs and round card tables. County funding also gave

us an outdoor shuffleboard game which will be up and run-

ning in spring 2019.

Page 2


The Taylor Road Park and cabin was the site

of a maple sugaring program on March 17

with Earth Spirit, an educational organiza-

tion that often partners with the town. Fami-

lies learned about sap collection and maple

sugaring preparation as practiced by Native

Americans, early settlers and modern day

producers. A delicious pancake brunch in-

side the cabin followed the annual event.

The 2019 event is scheduled for March 16.

April—Ecology Camp

MARCH—Maple Sugaring

Ecology Camp is held in April through a partnership be-

tween Hamburg Recreation and Earth Spirit. The camp is

held Monday—Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day for boys

and girls ages 8 to 13 at the Taylor Road Cabin. There is

no residency requirement. It will take place April 22-26 in

2019

Coaches training—Recreation Super-

visor Tim Jerome and Hamburg Village

Recreation Leader Nick Gallardo con-

ducted a training program for 14 men

and women for certification for baseball

and softball through the National Youth

Sports Coaches Association. It was held

at the HSCC. No photo available.

APRIL—Ecology Camp

Page 3


B-Ball Champs

The Town of Hamburg Department of Youth, Recreation, and Senior Services concluded its 2017-18

Fall/Winter Men’s Basketball Leagues in mid April. Wednesday Champs are pictured at, left. They

are from left: Phil Bowen, Jake Denz, Matt Krotz, Chris Walker, Joe Cellino, John Bowen and Sean

Wilson. Saturday Champs are shown at right, from left: Xavier Williams, Sean Murphy, Bryan

Legge, Ka'Ron Barnes, Jeremy Lindstrom and Mark Rouse. The Fall-Winter Basketball Leagues begin

in October and run through April. Summer Leagues run from June to August.

April

Guns & Hoses

Fundraiser at

Hamburg Town

Arena

The Town of

Hamburg Police

and volunteer fire

companies

“battled it out”

April 8 in an ice

hockey challenge

at the Town Arena

to support Lake

View firefighter

Tim Pike and his

family who had

experienced ex-

treme medical

costs over the past

year.

Town of Hamburg’s Finest support one of their own

Page 4


Hamburg’s 30th annual Youth Bureau

Service Awards & Recognition Banquet

was held April 25 at Michael’s Banquet

Facility in Hamburg. Honorees included

many distinguished citizens who have

outstanding records of service to youth, a

young man who has persevered despite

obstacles and five outstanding members of

the Youth Engaged in Service (YES)

Program.

Keith Fisher received the Michael J.

Dundon Service to Youth Award that is

given to the person who best exemplifies the

service of the late Michael J. Dundon, a longtime

executive director of the Youth Bureau.

The Youth Bureau also honored the late Mary T.

Blakeslee posthumously as it bestowed Sheila Brown and

Joseph Marszalek with the Mary T. Blakeslee Service

to Youth Award in commemoration of Ms. Blakeslee, a

longtime member of the Town of Hamburg Youth Board.

The Recreation Department recognized Deborah

Schruefer, Joel Maxson and Brad Rybczynski as

Character Coaches of the Year, in appreciation of their

service. Recipients of this award must personify the code

of ethics of the National Youth Sports Coaches

Association. Award winners display qualities that include

being a teacher during practices and being a coach on

game day only; being a positive role model who leads by

example and demonstrates fairness and sportsmanship.

YRSS Director Martin Denecke honored Elizabeth

O’Donnell with the Director’s Citation in recognition of

the hundreds of families whose lives she has touched

through the founding of the Skating

Association of the Blind and Handicapped

(SABAH) and more recently Gliding Stars,

which teaches ice skating to children with

physical and developmental challenges.

O’Donnell has been sharing her love for

skating with Western New Yorkers for over 40 years.

Jake Miller, a Frontier high school senior was honored

as the recipient of the Donny Thiry Human Spirit

Award, which honors the memory of the late Donny

Thiry. Donny loved sports but was prevented from active

participation due to physical limitations which resulted

from neurofibromatosis.

“Despite his physical limitations, he came to Hamburg

Recreation when he was still finishing high school at

Frontier. He worked the scores table at the basketball

games and did whatever else was needed,” Denecke said.

The Donny Thiry Human Spirit Award goes to the

person who best exemplifies the qualities that Donny

displayed, overcoming all obstacles in his or her path and

remaining positive and inspiring others.

APRIL

Service to Youth honorees are shown with

Jake Miller, center, recipient of the Donny

Thiry Human Spirit Award. Honorees are,

from left: Keith Fisher, Joel Maxson, Sheila

Brown, Miller, Deborah Schruefer, Brad

Rybczynski and Elizabeth O’Donnell.

HONORS

Michael J. Dundon

Award

Keith Fisher

Mary T. Blakeslee

Award

Sheila Brown

Joseph Marszalek

Character Coach of

the Year Award

Deborah Schruefer

Joel Maxson

Brad Rybczynski

Donny Thiry Hu-

man Spirit Award

Jake Miller

Director’s Citation

Elizabeth O’Donnell

YES

Gianna Puglisi

Hailey Conway

Grayson Errington

Nicolas Gelyon

Volunteer youth with the YES Program

were honored for providing an average

of 100 hours of community service over

the past year. Honorees, pictured from

left with YES Coordinator Bev Preischel

(second from left) and the number of

hours they served are: Nicolas Gelyon,

101 hours; Gianna Puglisi, 135 hours;

Hailey Conway, 131 hours; Grayson

Errington, 81 hours and Nicholas Nel-

son, 89 hours.

Youth Bureau Service Awards & Recognition Banquet


Donny Thiry Day—the 2018 Recreation & Senior Services Expo Page 5

Donny Thiry Day was held April

28 with many exciting activities

such as the Senior Fitness Extrava-

ganza in the Donny Thiry Memori-

al Gym, top, right, and face-

painting by volunteers from the

Youth Engaged in Service (YES)

Program. The Recreation Expo

was held with the support of the

Donny Thiry Foundation and

showcased the town’s spring and

summer recreation programs and

recreation sites. Also featured were

options for adaptive sports and

recreation. A Senior Services Open

House featured building tours,

activities and demonstrations.

Adult Day Services

BBQ fundraiser

The Buffalo Dolls

entertain

The Thiry family meets with Town of

Hamburg Police Officer Rickard.

Kids try out Flag Football

Page 6


Dash-n-Splash brings full day of beach activities

JUNE & JULY

McGahey joins Hamburg

Adult Day Services

Meghan McGahey joined the YRSS

as program

coordinator

in the Adult

Day Ser-

vices pro-

gram on

July 11, fill-

ing a vacan-

cy resulting

from a re-

tirement.

McGahey’s

duties in-

clude oversight of the activity com-

ponent of the social day program for

seniors whose disabilities preclude

them from participating in standard

senior activities and a chaperone in

the youth ski program.

McGahey holds a Bachelor of Arts in

Speech and Hearing Sciences from

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

and is a resident of the Town of

Hamburg.

Organizers of the Town of

Hamburg’s 28th Annual

Dash-n-Splash Mary T.

Blakeslee Family Fun Run

held July 28 report partici-

pation was close to the pre-

vious year’s number of total

runners and walkers – 132 -

and the event went off

seamlessly during fair

weather. The run-walk

course travels from Frontier

Middle School to the Ham-

burg Town Park, ending at

the beach. Proceeds benefit-

ed the Town of Hamburg

Recreation Foundation and

the Town of Hamburg

Youth Foundation.

Dash—Overall winners of the

‘Dash’ were Kelly Reinhard,

Splash—First place winners of the Sand Castle/

Sculpture contest were from left: Matt Burger, Kel-

sey Robertson and Zachary Robertson.

Prestigious regional summer sports tourneys in Hamburg

Hamburg hosts NSA Championships June 15-17 at the Hamburg

Recreation Center (Nike Base) & Orchard Acres. The National Soft-

ball Association Girls Championships are for 10-U, 12-U, 14-U and 16-

U for all of NYS. Winners are to advance to the NSA World Series.

The NSA Fastpitch Softball Tournament is held in Hamburg July 13,

14 and 15.

The New Era Baseball Tournaments are held at the Hamburg Recre-

ation Center (Nike Base) on the weekends of July 13, 14 and 15 and

July 27, 28 and 29.

YRSS trains employees in customer service

YRSS instituted a Customer Service Training Program for full and part-time

staff. One hour employee training sessions were held

with the goal of improving communications and un-

derstanding between the public and staff. The interac-

tive program focused on the skills of professionalism,

approachability, knowledge of product/service, clear

communication, patience and confirmed customer

satisfaction. The Program was developed by YRSS

leaders who attended a leadership development pro-

gram presented by Patrick Crotty of PXC & Associates. Among those attend-

ing the program was John Zoda who was then charged by YRSS Director

Martin Denecke with further developing a program.

Meghan McGahey,

left, with Senior Pro-

gram Coordinator Ro-

sanne Witryk.

Page 7


Adaptive Football helpers

YES volunteers assisting with the

Adaptive Football Clinic met with Buf-

falo Bills DE Eddie Yarbrough at rear.

Shown with him are from left: Madison

Giordani, Hailey Conway, Desiree

Giordani and Josh Walters.

Thiry Gym enhanced

The Donny Thiry Memorial Gymnasium has

been enhanced with the installation of new

LED lighting in September and floor refinish-

ing in December. The new lights are brighter

and will create energy savings once the initial

investment is paid for. The floor was refin-

ished and lines for Pickle Ball were painted

on during the process—no more tape needed,

here. We thank B&G for their assistance.

Sultry Summer blends into Awesome Autumn

Adult hockey champs, Team Nowak,

from left, kneeling: Wayne Bloom, Yasu

Takahashi and Nick White. Standing:

Jake Schiffman, Louis Terri, John Garv-

in, Jesse Hackett and Antonio Sparra.

Absent but on the team was Andy Fer-

rentino. Recreation Supervisor Marc

Collins is shown test driving a new

scooter donated to YRSS for seniors

with mobility issues. Gayle Hardick

was instrumental in facilitating the

donation received at the end of Sep-

tember.

Hamburg’s NFL Flag Football League Champions (12 to 14 year old age

group) for fall 2018 were, from left, front row: RJ Roach, Brayden Palinski,

Ryan Collins and Abby Couzens. Back row: Nathan DiGaudio, Evan

Meader, Michell Horucy, Michael Maggiore and Coach Max Avery.

Niagara Falls was just one of the great locations visited by Bike Patrol dur-

ing the 2018 season from Spring through Fall. This was in September.

Page 8


Halloween Public Skate, Hamburg Flag team at the stadium & Youth Leadership

Halloween fun, to youth leadership to football—

Families enjoyed the annual Halloween Public Skate, top, left

and right. Town Tot participants at right, dressed in creative

fashions for their Halloween Party; and below at left, NFL Flag

Football teams scrimmaged with a counterpart Buffalo team

during half time of the Buffalo Bills vs. Jags game at New Era

Cap Field Nov. 25. They are, from left: Kneeling, Noah Cervoni,

Erin Hinphy and Chase Mata. Standing: Jocco Pericozzi, Patrick

Stanton, Steven Lewis Dickey and Nick Shea with Coaches Max

Avery, Erik Hibit and Robert Anderson.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

Hamburg High School students Tyler Herman and Abby

Kane, student members of the Town of Hamburg Youth

Board, attended the WNY Youth Bureau Association

Youth Leadership Forum with YRSS’ Marty Denecke &

Nicole Dayka, far left, in November. Joining them was Jil

Accurso, right, social worker for Hamburg Central Schools.

Page 9


In Memoriam 2018

Dec. 31,(2017)—Peter Yacobucci,

former facility manager with over-

sight of golf course & Arena.

Feb. 20—Michael Bartlett, direc-

tor of the Town of Hamburg Devel-

opment Corp for 24 years.

April 25—Ellen Denecke, mother

of Martin Denecke.

May 29—Michael Denecke, broth-

er of Martin Denecke.

July 25—Jim Boswell, longtime

Senior Van driver.

July 28—Jane McAnaney, mother

of Recreation Advisory Board

Member Pat McAnaney & Laura

Hahn, Locksley Park Assn. presi-

dent.

Aug. 5—Mary Margaret DiMaria,

mother of Adult Day Services’ Joan

Kruszka.

Aug. 11—Evelynn Chiacchia, mother of Recreation Advisory

Board Member Dan Chiacchia.

Aug. 15—Jeffrey Biehler, friend &

supporter of Hamburg Town Park.

Oct. 5—Former Town of Ham-

burg Council Member & Town

Supervisor Patrick Henry Hoak.

Oct. 16—John T. McFall Sr.,

father of Recreation Advisory

Board Member John T. McFall, Jr.

Nov. 24—Carolyn Green, longtime

YRSS employee & manager of the

Stay Fit Dining Program at Creek-

bend Heights.

Signs of the Season—

The Hamburg Youth Bureau held its annual Toy

Drive in conjunction with the WNY Holiday Pro-

ject. Above and right, YES volunteers are shown

organizing toys prior to distribution to families in

need. Below, YES also assisted at the Hamburg

Rejuvenation Committee’s Christmas in the Cabin

below with activities. Bottom, YRSS’ Tim Jerome

was the Jolly Old Elf at the Cabin. Far left, AMP

fall grads posed with YRSS Director Marty De-

necke and Erie County Social Services Directory

Timothy Hogues, back row.

DECEMBER

TOWN BOARD

James Shaw—Supervisor

Thomas Best Jr.—Council Member

Beth Farrell —Council Member

Michael Mosey—Council Member

Michael Petrie—Council Member

TOWN OF HAMBURG

YOUTH, RECREATION &

SR. SERVICES DEPT. STAFF

Martin C. Denecke—Director

Joseph P. Wenzel—Deputy Director

Recreation Staff

Curt S. Herrmann—Sr. Rec Supervisor

Luke T. Sullivan—Rec Supervisor

Timothy M. Jerome—Rec Supervisor

Amy Brown—Recreation Attendant

Senior Services Staff

Joseph S. Pietras—Sr. Rec Supervisor

Marc C. Collins—Rec Supervisor

Adult Day Services Staff

Rosanne Witryk—Sr. Prog. Coordinator

Meghan McGahey, Program Coordinator

Youth Staff

Nicole Dayka –Youth At Risk Coordinator

Beverly Preischel—YES Coordinator

SPECIAL THANKS TO

The following organizations for their sup-

port. Their help and generosity allows us

to continually provide quality services.

Special Donations

Dani Fit

The Donny Thiry Foundation

The Hamburg Oktoberfest

The Rotary Club of Hamburg

The Stahlka Agency

The Town of Hamburg Lions Club

The Hamburg Kiwanis Club

The Watermark Wesleyan Church of

Hamburg

Grant Funds

Buffalo Bills Youth Foundation

Federal Transit Administration

Erie County Legislator Lynne Dixon

Erie County Youth Board

National Recreation & Parks Assn.

NYS Connect Kids to Parks

United States Tennis Association

Major Sponsors

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Pizza Hut

Tops Friendly Markets

Facility Use

Braymiller’s Lanes

Buffalo Bills

Frontier Central Schools

Hamburg Central Schools

Hilbert College

Kissing Bridge

St. Francis High School

The Hub (Watermark Wesleyan Church)

Newsletter designed

and written by

Eileen A. Hotho—

Editor

Page 10


THERAPEUTIC POOL—Rental of the town’s therapeutic pool is

available to established, independent, wellness professionals (physical

therapists, chiropractors, fitness trainers, etc.) as a site for low impact

therapy and training options. For information, please call 598-0880.

646-5145 (www.hamburg-youth-rec-seniors.com) [email protected]

YEAR IN REVIEW First Quarter 2019 Youth, …...Halloween, Flag at The Cap, Youth Conference 8 Holiday Toy Drive, Magic of the Season, memorials 9State that assisted the program for

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