November Meeting of Lockport College Women’s Club

Our November meeting of College Club will be held on Thursday,

November 6, 2025 at 80 Main. The doors will open at 5:30 for registration

and socializing. There will be a cash bar and soft drinks are free of charge

as they are included in the price of dinner. Our dinner will be served at

6pm. The dinner includes chicken and biscuits, vegetable, rolls and butter,

coffee, tea and soft drinks with assorted cookies for dessert. The cost of

dinner is $25.00. Please make your reservation with the telephone

committee or Marybeth Wilson by Thursday, October 30, 2025 before 7PM.

Our hostesses will be Judy Cummings and Darlene Loffredo. Sue Grigg

will take email reservations and her email address is smmgrigg@aol.com.

Dues of $40.00 can be paid at the November meeting or mailed to our

treasurer Anna Beth Kinyon,7259 Clarkview Drive, Lockport, New York

14094. Dues increase to $50.00 if paid after December.

During this year of celebrating the history of Lockport, we are pleased to

welcome Ann Marie Linnabery who serves as the Assistant Director and

Education Coordinator at the History Center of Niagara as our November

speaker. Ms. Linnabery has an M.A. in American History from SUNY

Buffalo and has worked for 30 years at museums in Buffalo, Lewiston and

Lockport. She also writes a weekly Niagara County history column for the

Lockport Union Sun and Journal. Her topic is “Mr. Kenan’s Neighborhood”.

She will share the fascinating life and legacy of William Rand Kenan Jr.

who went to Niagara Falls after graduating from the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill to work at what later became Union Carbide. He

and his wife moved into the Kenan House on Locust Street in 1913 after

renovating the home. One of his many interests was his herd of Jersey

cows kept behind their home! Come and learn more about the many and

varied interests of William Rand Kenan Jr., his neighborhood in Lockport,

and how his home became a cultural facility for the community we now

know as the Kenan Center.

At the October meeting, the College Club budget for 2025-2026 as

presented by Treasurer Anna Beth Kinyon was accepted by members

present. Leslie Tobin introduced two new members to College Club. We

were pleased to meet Karen Young and Heather Hare and look forward to

seeing them at future meetings. We also enjoyed the correspondence

shared by Scholarship Committee treasurer Daniele Priest from a number

of our scholarship winners. We currently have eight bright young women

receiving $1000 a year from College Club as they earn their college

degree. We also enjoyed the program about the construction of the new

Kenan Community Center and programming available there as presented

by an enthusiastic Mr. William Patti, Executive Director of the Kenan

Center.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to members and friends of Lockport College

Women’s Club for the generous and thoughtful donations to our

Scholarship Fund in memory of longtime member Rae Greco and my late

husband Bob Russell. A combined $875.00 was donated to our

Scholarship Fund including $200.00 from the Grigg Lewis Foundation in

memory of Rae who is the mother of Grigg Lewis Foundation board

member Joan Aul.

Our Annual Scholarship Fundraiser takes place in April. We are looking for

volunteers to serve as Co-Chairmen for the event. The basic format is in

place. The co-chairmen would choose the date at the Country Club and

decide on the menu. We also need a committee to help set-up the Basket

Raffle the day of the fundraiser. Working on a small committee is a fun way

to get to know other members of College Club! Please call Patty if you

would like to help out.

Members of the board would welcome anyone in College Club interested in

becoming more involved in College Club. Call us and consider joining us at

a board meeting to find out more about ways you can help. We enjoy

dessert and coffee and set up our meetings and speakers.

Our thanks to Ann VanDusen for maintaining our blogspot. The email

address is : lockportcwc.blogspot.com.

BRING A BOOK AND TAKE A BOOK! We are all readers in College

Club. We would like to encourage everyone to bring a book they are

finished with to our November meeting and take a new book home.

Look for the sign on the front tables at 80 Main in November!

See you at our November meeting. Make your reservation by October 30th.

We do not have meetings in December or January. The next Megaphone

comes out in January with all the news about our meeting on February 5,

2026.

Our next Board of Directors meeting will be on January 8, 2026. It will be

hosted by Anna Beth Kinyon. The meeting will begin at 2pm. Please let

Anna Beth know if you are unable to attend.

 September 2025 

Please join us on October 2, 2025, at 6:00 PM at 80 Main Street, Lockport for our first meeting of the year! Our speakers will be William Patti and Leah Sobrieski from the Kenan Center. Mr. Patti is the Executive Director of the Kenan Center and Ms. Sobrieski is the Sports and Recreation Manager at the Kenan. Mr. Patti is a Lewiston native and has a long history with theater and the Arts; he has a BFA in Theater and BA in English from Niagara University and MFA from Kent State. He has served as a teacher, Arts Administrator and Producing Artistic Director for other organizations before returning to Western New York. Before arriving at the Kenan Center, Mr. Patti served as the General Manager at Shea’s in Buffalo. Ms. Sobrieski is a graduate of LHS, SUNY Geneseo and has a Masters Degree from Daemen College. She has served as the Academic and Operations Coach for the Women’s Basketball team at Canisius College. Both are delighted to speak to us about the upcoming construction at what will be the new Kenan Amphitheater and the plans for the future of the Kenan Center and its programming as we move into the future. The meeting will be a dinner meeting with a menu of turkey, mashed potato, vegetable, tea and coffee. The cost is $30.00 and includes coffee, tea and soft drinks together with the room reservation and gratuity. Hostesses are Mary Beth Caswell and Barbara Feidner. Reservations must be made by Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM by calling the telephone committee. Sue Grigg has agreed to continue to take email reservations as well and her email address is smmgrigg@aol.com. 

The Budget will also be presented at this meeting for the approval of the club. 

Treasurer, Anna Beth Kinyon will be accepting payment of Dues at the meeting. Dues are $40.00 and will increase to $50.00 after December. Dues can also be mailed to Anna Beth Kinyon, 7259 Clarkview Drive , Lockport, New York 14094.  

Please note that Madelene Angelo has a new phone number and is no longer using the land line number in the directory. The new number is – 716-471-3451 

If you have an email address, we would like to send the Megaphone to you through email to save postage. Please provide your email address to Judy Johnson-Paonessa (jljgesq@aol.com) or to any Board member. 

We are in need of volunteers to act as the Co-Chairs of the Spring Fundraiser! Not much work there, but lots of fun – the primary duty is to set the menu for the Luncheon. We are also looking for two people willing to be Co-Chairs for the Basket Raffle - duties to include setting up the baskets on the day of the Luncheon, deciding what to do with the Door Prize raffle tickets, announcing ticket and basket winners and delivering the baskets to the winners. Any Board member would be happy to take your name! 

And speaking of volunteering, there is always room for new volunteers to serve on the Board of Directors. An important job is that of our Program Coordinators. This person or persons considers what programs and speakers would be of interest to the Club. It always is nice to have people willing to work on developing interesting programs for our meetings. 

The next Board Meeting is scheduled for October 9, 2025 at the home of Mary Beth Caswell 5886 Marion Drive, Lockport, New York. Please contact her if you will not be attending.

May 2025 

The Spring Banquet was a wonderful evening where we celebrated our Scholarship winners and honored our 25 and 50 year members. For those who were unable to attend, the Scholarship Committee Chair, Daniele Priest introduced our two winners – Lillian Bushley and Isabella Talluto. Both of our winners have impressive resumes including scores of over 1300 on the SAT’s. Our hearty congratulations go out to both! 

Lillian Bushley ranks seventh in her class with an average of 101.63. She is planning on pursuing a degree in environmental sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. She hopes to conduct research studies to improve environmental impacts, work for State policy agencies and hopes to eventually create a non-profit to support local environmental efforts. She is active in many school groups and holds several officer positions. She is the Treasurer of WARLOCKS and Student Council. She is the Vice-president of the Wind Ensemble, Advanced Jazz and Latin Club. She is also the President of STEM Club. Lillian is on the Principal’s Advisory Committee, Rotary Club, Mindworks, Recycling Club and Foreign Education Club. 

Lillian is also a student athlete and is Captain of the Varsity Tennis Team and participates in Varsity Bowling and Flag Football. She is an AP Scholar and a Scholar Athlete and a member of the National Honor Society and the Honor Societies for Science, Math, Social Studies and Latin. She is a member of the Tri-M-Honor Society. And, in addition to all of her studies, athletics and club activities, she works part-time at the Lockport Town and Country Club. 

Our second winner, Isabella Talluto, has an equally impressive resume. Isabella ranks eighth in her class with an average of 101.33. She, also, will be attending the Rochester Institute of Technology where she plans on studying Biological Sciences. Her career goal is to work in a research laboratory producing medicines and vaccines for infectious diseases. 

Isabelle has been active in theater at LHS. She has been the Stage Manager for the past two years for the Fall Play and Spring Musical. She has been part of the state crew throughout her high school career and is now with the Paid Stage Crew this year. She has been the Secretary of the Drama Club since her sophomore year. Isabella is also in Concert Choir, Latin Club, Sources of Strength and Page-Turners. She is dancer and has been taking lessons since 2014.  

Isabella has received a number of awards. She is an AP Scholar, Girls State Nominee and is the recipient of the Elmira College Key Award. She is a member of the National Honor Society along with the Science, Latin and Thespian Honor Societies. 

Isabella also works part-time as a banquet server with Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises.

 April 2025 

Please join us on May 1, 2025 for our Annual Scholarship Award and Recognition Dinner to both meet our Scholarship winners and to honor our 25 year members, Therese Lang and Delores Tracy, and our 50 year member, Sonia Werner! The Dinner will be at 80 Main Street, Lockport, New York at 6:00 PM. The doors will open at 5:30 PM. The menu has two selections: Pecan Crusted Chicken for $35.00 or Broiled Scallops with a Thai Chili Lobster Sauce for $40.00. Dinners will include potato, vegetable, coffee, tea, soft drinks and dessert. The cost will cover all gratuities as well. Reservations must be made to the Telephone Committee by Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM. Hostesses are Lois Donovan and Darlene Loffredo.

Please note that this will be the Last meeting for this year so please come and meet our Scholarship

Winners, their moms and honor our dedicated 25 and 50 year members. Please give a round of applause and great thanks to all those who have helped with this year’s fundraiser – It was a great success as usual! To date, we have raised over $4,000.00. Thank you to all of our members for their generous support through donations, creating baskets for the raffle, buying tickets and volunteering time! It’s wonderful to see such support for our Scholarship Program!  

Let us also recognize the hard work of our Scholarship Committee – Chairman, Daniele Priest, and committee members, Anne O’Bryne, Nancy Fischer, Ann Van Dusen and Patricia Kennedy.  

We have several new members!! Great news for the Club. They are as follows: Barbara Feidner, 7252 Clarkview Drive, Lockport NY (607-661-0327), Heather Hare, 35 Coolidge Drive, Lockport NY (585-729-4005), Karen Young, 135 Willow Street, Lockport, NY (716-946-8198), Robin Pettipiece, 230 Continental Drive, Lockport, NY (716-940-7175) and Nicole Zugelder, 13 Kingston Circle, Lockport, NY (716-982-5368).

If anyone is interested in receiving the Megaphone electronically and isn’t already receiving it that way, please send an email to Judy Johnson to be added to the email list. Her email is jljlgesq@aol.com. 

The next and last Board of Directors meeting for this year will be on May 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the home of Patty Russell, 102 Continental Drive, Lockport. Please note the change as to location. Please contact her if you will not be attending. 

See everyone on May 1, 2025 at the Banquet!

 February 2025

Please join us for our meeting of this year. The meeting will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 80 Main. Doors will open at 5:30 and dinner will be served at 6 pm. The menu is sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetable, rolls and butter. The cost will be $26.00. Coffee, tea and soft drinks will be available. A cash bar will be available as well. Please make your reservations with the Telephone Committee by Thursday, February 27, 2025 before 7 pm. You may also call Gail Marshall with your reservation. (716-434-4306). Hostesses will be Stacy Giansante and Mary Beth Caswell.

Our program will be timely and interesting as we are hosting two staff members from the Save the Michaels of the World Branch located in Lockport. Emily Buteyn is the Recovery Center Program Director and Amy Webster is a Substance Abuse Counselor and Recovery Peer Advocate. Save the Michaels of the World began as a grassroots effort to bring attention and awareness of the opioid crisis of addiction in this country, including the over-prescribing of addictive medications by the medical profession. The local chapter is located on Main Street here in Lockport and provides resources for families during their loved one’s journey through addiction and into remission. The Community Resources would be grateful for donations at their drop-in center and suggests packaged snacks, Solo cups, paper plates, plastic silverware or any new or used clothing for men and women.

At our February meeting, the recommendation of the Scholarship Committee was received and passed for 2025. It reads as follows: “At this time, the Scholarship Committee recommends for the year 2025 that we support awards up to $8,000.00 as applications from young women at Lockport High School planning on attending a two and/or four year college are received and reviewed by the Scholarship Committee.” Just a reminder that this total is paid out at the rate of $1,000.00 per year, per winner. Thank you to the Committee for all of its hard work – Daniele Priest, Ann O’Byrne, Ann Van Dusen, Nancy Fischer and Patricia Kennedy. We look forward to meeting the winners at the May Banquet.

We want to wish best of luck to our two winners who are graduating this spring - Sara McIntyre will be graduating from SUNY Potsdam and Katherine Miner will be graduating from MIT. We are proud of their hard work and dedication.

Remember that every meeting is a guest meeting, so bring a friend. We have two new members join this year – Barbara Feidner and Jennifer Yotter. Please welcome them.

Our annual Scholarship Fundraiser - “Sunday for Scholarship” will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2025, at the Lockport Town and Country Club. Tickets and information will be arriving by mail soon. We are in need of two or three volunteers willing to sell raffle tickets for about an hour prior to start of the event. Please call one of our chairpersons if interested – Lucille Cannata, Shirley Frombgen or Daniele Priest. The Basket Raffle is an important source of revenue at the event. Please create a basket or purchase a gift card (please place it in a simple frame) to help out. Completed baskets and gift cards can be brought to the March meeting.

The next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for March 13, 2025 at the home of Patty Russell, 102 Continental Drive, Lockport, NY. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Please let Patty know if you are unable to attend.

Remember that we will be continuing the Bring a Book, Take a Book at the upcoming meeting! So please bring a book with you to 80 Main Street and browse and share either before or after the meeting.

I would like to encourage all of you to visit the wonderful exhibit at the Kenan Center – “Secret Weapons of World War II – Women, Books & Music”. The exhibit runs until March 31, 2025. It is sponsored by the Lockport Public Arts Council. It is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and this Exhibit provides an opportunity to remember members of the Lockport community who served and honors the significant impact of women during World War II. What a great way to celebrate Women’s History Month!!

 January 2025 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 6, 2025 at the 80 Main Street, Lockport. This promises to be another exciting program as we welcome John Montague from the Buffalo Maritime Center. Mr. Montague will be talking about his work with the Maritime Center and the planning and construction of the Seneca Chief. The construction of this historic reproduction has been made to commemorate the historic opening of the Erie Canal. As you may recall, this year is the Bicentennial of the opening of the Erie Canal this fall. Mr. Montague will also be talking about launch and ‘sea trials’ made in preparation of this fall’s “Wedding of the Waters” trip. He has also written Volume 1 of the Maritime Center’s book, The Erie Canal: Perspectives at 200. He will be bringing copies for purchase if interested. He is in the process of completing Volume 2. Mr. Montague is a Professor Emeritus at Buffalo State where he set up the design history program at the College. Mr. Montague is one of the Co-founders of the Buffalo Maritime Center and has been active with the redevelopment of Buffalo’s waterfront. It will be an interesting and informative program. 

 The doors will open at 5:30 PM for registration. Dinner will be served at 6:00 PM. The menu is Pork Flat-iron topped with apple-cashew compote served with mashed potatoes, vegetable and rolls and butter. Coffee and tea will be served. The cost of the dinner is $26.00. Hostesses are Gail Marshall and Judy Johnson Paonessa. Please call in your reservation to the Telephone Committee by Thursday, January 30, 2025. You may also make an email reservation with Susan Grigg at smmgrigg@aol.com. Reservations may also be made by calling Gail Marshall (716-434-4306). Please do not call Marybeth Wilson as she is away for the winter. Every meeting is a guest meeting, so bring a friend. We had a great turnout at the last meeting so let’s do it again!! It sounds like an interesting program.

 Please make every effort to attend the February meeting as we will also be hearing and voting on the recommendation of the Scholarship Committee with respect to the number of scholarships the Club will be giving this year. 

 There are a couple of changes to the Directory – the first is that the spelling of Paula Sattelberg’s name is Sattelberg. Gail Niparts has resigned from the Club. Charlotte Lasher has a new address: Amberleigh #229, 2330 Maple Road, Williamsville, NY 14221. Her phone number is 716-276-3449. Nancy Smith has passed away and a book has been donated to the Lockport Public Library in her memory. 

 Our College Scholarship Fundraiser is scheduled for March 30, 2025 at the Lockport Town Country Club. We have Tri-Chairs for the event - Lucille Cannata, Daniele Priest and Shirley Frombgen. Ticket Co-Chairs are Daniele Priest and Shirley Frombgen. Table Decoration Co-Chairs are Anna Beth Kinyon and Patty Russell. We still are in need of Basket Raffle Co-Chairs – duties are setting up and arranging the baskets on the day of the fundraiser. We have two volunteers to sell split club tickets – Mary Beth Caswell and Delores Tracy. We are in need of volunteers to sell Basket Raffle Tickets on the day of the Fundraiser. Please let Patty Russell or any Board member know if you are able to help out.are in need of two Co-chairs! The work is easy and delicious choosing the menu! So please consider volunteering. 

 Thank you for continuing to support the College Club with your attendance at meetings and support of the annual Fundraiser. 

 Other volunteer opportunities include becoming a member of the Scholarship Committee. Members serve for a term of five years. The Committee will normally begin to meeting in mid-January to early February to review applications and interview the candidates before making a selection of a winner or winners. This is an important role if interested since the primary function of the Club is to promote education for the young women of Lockport. 

 The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at the home of Mary Beth Caswell at 7:00 PM. Call to confirm your attendance

 OCTOBER 2024

The next meeting of the Lockport College Women’s Club will be on November 7, 2024.

The meeting will be held at 80 Main Street, Lockport. Our speaker is Marina Goody who is

both a florist and the owner of Goody Girl Flower Farm. This is an organic flower farm that

opened in Niagara County in May 2021. Ms. Goody has an inspiring story of how she

turned the loss of her employment during the pandemic into an opportunity to start her own

business based upon a final project from a business class. She creates floral arrangements

for special occasions as well has hosting flower arranging workshops at the farm. She is a

recipient of a Small business Association Award in 2024 for her work. 

The meeting will begin at 6:00 PM . We will be having a dinner of Panko Parmesan Chicken, roasted

 red potatoes, green beans and rolls and butter. Coffee, tea and soft drinks will be available. The

cost is $26.00, which includes our meal, room rental and gratuity. Please call in your

reservation to the Telephone Committee by Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 7:00 PM.

Remember, guests are always welcome, so bring your friends!

Our last meeting was both informative and impressive with the presentation of Dr. Calvin,

Superintendent of the Lockport City School District. We are looking forward to another

interesting program.

Hostesses for this meeting are Ann O’Byrne and Mary Beth Caswell.

They will arrive at 5:30 to check people in and take payment. Please consider signing up to

be a hostess at a future meeting. It’s a great way to meet members.

If interested, please try and remember to “Bring a book and take a book.” This is a way for

members to exchange books that they have read for new reading material.

You can bring your annual dues to the meeting. Remember that dues at $40.00 through

December and will be $50.00 after that. Dues can also be mailed to Anna Beth Kinyon,

7259 Clarkview Drive, Lockport, New York 14094. This is a new address for Anna Beth.

Remember, it’s really easy to be a member in good standing! The only necessity is to

remember to pay your dues and support our annual Fundraiser. Of course, we love to have

everyone attend meetings regularly. It’s a great way to meet people and hear an interesting

program about things in and around Lockport and Niagara County.

Our Annual Scholarship Fundraiser will be held in April with a specific date to be

determined. We have Tri-Chairpersons for the Scholarship Fundraiser!!! Thank you to

Lucille Cannata, Daniele Priest and Shirley Frombgen for volunteering. Ticket Co-Chairs

are Daniele Priest and Shirley Frombgen. Table Decoration Co-Chairs are Anna Beth

Kinyon and Patty Russell. We are still in need of volunteers for Chairperson positions for

the Basket Raffle and to help set up the day of the Fundraiser and we need volunteers to

help sell Basket Raffle tickets at the Fundraiser. Volunteering is a great way to meet other

members and to help make the Fundraiser a success.

New Directories have been printed. Thank you to all who have picked up their copy.

Directories will be available at the November meeting. If anyone is interested in a digital

Directory, please let Patty Russell know so that she can provide a copy digitally.

Darlene Loffredo is our new Sunshine Chairperson. If you know of a member who is in

need of a card, please let her know. Thank you, Darlene!

We are always looking for new volunteers for our Standing Committees or to serve on the

Board of Directors. One Committee you may be interested in is the Social Committee.

Currently, Mary Beth Caswell and Ann O’Byrne serve on this Committee. Duties include

arranging for each meeting, including the menu. Currently, our meetings take place at 80

Main and we have six meetings per year. This does not include the Scholarship Fundraiser

which is a separate event. Other duties include recruiting hostesses, getting the reservation

number from the Telephone Committee and calling in the head count to 80 Main.

Attendance at Board meetings is needed by at least one of the co-Chairs. Please let Patty

Russell or any Board Member know if you are interested in helping out.

Lockport College Women’s Club is going to have a Facebook page to help get the word out

about our group. Leslie Tobin has offered to create the Facebook page. Thank you, Leslie!!

We have news from the Scholarship Committee. Our winners for 2024 are Alexia Kilroy

who is attending Colgate University and Alexis Runfola who is attending SUNY Buffalo.

We have two new members of the Committee – Ann VanDusen and Patricia Kennedy.

Other members are Daniele Priest, Ann O’Byrne and Nancy Fischer.

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on Thursday, October 10, 20204 at the home

of Marybeth Wilson, 7 Berkley Drive, Lockport, New York. The meeting is at 7:00 PM.