Memorial Day News
Written by Tom Tharp on May 29, 2022
The Vice President was in Buffalo to memorialize the oldest victim of the TOPs Friendly Market shooting on Saturday. Ruth Whitfield was laid to rest after a service at Mt Olivet Baptist Church. In addition to hundreds of family members and friends, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff flew from Washington DC to memorialize Whitfield. Also at the service was attorney Ben Crump, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, New York State Senator Timothy Kennedy, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and others. Vice President Harris was not scheduled to speak but Al Sharpton invited her to come up. Whitfield was remembered as a loving, caring and giving person. Harris spoke of the shared pain the community had.
The end of June is set to be a bit wetter in LeRoy this summer as the town board has had to push back the opening of a new splashpad near Wildwood park because of water transportation problems. Supervisor James Farnholz says Monroe County keeps changing the way they want the water brought in. Water running off the splashpad has been a concern with several options available. The water could be run off into the woods and down into the ground. A cistern could be built. Or a channel running the water from the pad to the nearest storm drains on Gilbert street The Board says it will choose option 1, let the water run off and see how it goes. The splashpad was supposed to open Memorial Day Weekend.
For the first time since it opened, veterans, family members, and area residents gathered at the WNY National Cemetery in Pembroke to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country as part of Memorial Day Weekend. Several hundred people gathered for the ceremony Sunday which included a 21 gun salute, honor guard flag presentation, and special remembrances.
A new statue is set to light the way in the Batavia Peace Garden. Lady Liberty, at least a 6 foot facsimile of her, was installed by the Friends of Batavia Peace Garden with the help of Ken Barret Chervolet, Cadillac Inc and Superior Garden Decor. Just as she stands tall on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, a replica of Lady Liberty will now greet visitors to the Batavia Peace Garden for current and future generations.
