Saturday, February 22, 2025

 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!!

Monday, January 13, 2025

 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

Monday, October 28, 2024

 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.

 SEPTEMBER 2024 

 The next meeting of the Lockport College Women’s Club will be on October 3, 2024. The meeting will be held at 80 Main Street, Lockport. We will be having an exciting meeting with Dr. Mathis Calvin III, Superintendent of the Lockport City School District. Dr. Calvin has been with the District for the past year and will be speaking as to his tenure and where he sees the District moving. As some of you may know, Dr. Calvin came to Lockport from the Oswego City School District. He has served in this capacity at both the Wayne and Stockbridge school districts here in New York. He has leadership awards from the University of Rochester, St. John Fisher University and the Rochester City School District. We help to promote higher education for the students at the high school so this will be a timely and informative meeting. 

 The meeting will begin at 6:00 PM . We will be having a dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed 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, September 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM. Remember, guests are always welcome, so bring your friends! Hostesses for this meeting are Darlene Loffredo and Judy Cummings. 

 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. 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. Volunteers are needed to help with this event to make it the success that it has been in the past. We are looking for Co-Chairpersons whose main duty is to select the menu for the luncheon, Co-Chairpersons for the Basket Raffle to help set up the day of the Fundraiser and 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. 

 Plans are underway for a new Directory to be printed and distributed this year. If you have any changes to addresses or phone numbers, please contact Patty Russell (716-433-9342) to give her the information. Also, if you have a change to your email address, please make sure that Judy Johnson-Paonessa has the information ( jljgesq@icloud.com or 716-481 9129.)

 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. 

 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. Please call Marybeth if you are unable to attend.

 June 2024

 Please join us for the final meeting of this year!! The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 6, 2024 at 80 Main. Doors will open at 5:30 and dinner will be served at 6 pm. We will be having a buffet including a variety of sandwiches and salads. The cost will be $25.00. Please make your reservations with the Telephone Committee by Thursday, May 30, 2024 before 7 pm. Hostesses will be Stacy Giansante and Anna Beth Kinyon. 

 Our speaker in June is Stacey Neri, a Recovery Coach with the Save the Michaels of the World Branch located in Lockport. 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. 

 Our Scholarship fundraiser “Sunday for Scholarship” was a big success! It was a baskets were amazing!! Thank you to everyone who contributed baskets and gift cards. The profit from the Basket Raffle was $1,225.00. Donations from members totaled $ 2,591.00. The overall profit from the Fundraiser is $4,382.00. Our Scholarship has benefited from the support of members, family and friends of College Club, local businesses and charitable organizations. Thank you to Daniele Priest and Shirley Frombgen for being Ticket Co-chairs and to AnnaBeth Kinyon for her help with the Basket Raffle and work as treasurer!! 

 At our May Banquet, we met our two Scholarship winners – Alexia Kilroy and Alexis Runfola. Alexia is planning to pursue pre-med with a future goal of oncology. She is the Valedictorian of this year’s LHS class. Due to the issues with the FAFSA application, she has not yet determined where she will be attending college. Alexis has plans to attend the State University at Buffalo to major in exercise science. Best of luck to both of our winners. Thank you once again to the members of the Scholarship Committee – Daniele Priest, Megan Menges, Ann O’Byrne, Nancy Fischer and Val Hamluk for all of their hard work. 

We also celebrated with three 50 year members – Gail Marshall, Lucille Cannata and Patricia Russell. The Club is grateful for their contributions over these many years. 

 The Board of Directors is looking for new members to step into Board and Standing Committee positions. If interested, please let Patty Russell or any other Board member know. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and to help with our fundraising efforts. There are positions with the Directory Committee, The Scholarship Fundraiser and the Basket Raffle. Thank you to Darlene Loffredo who has volunteered to take over the Sunshine Committee responsibilities. If you know of anyone who could use a card, please contact Darlene. 

 The next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for June 13, 2024 at the home of Anna Beth Kinyon, 117 Windermere Road, Lockport. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Please let Anna Beth know if you are unable to attend. Thank you to Patty Russell as always who has been our tireless leader for yet another successful year. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the June meeting.

Unfortunately this meeting was cancelled.

Saturday, April 20, 2024

 April 2024

Please join us on May 2, 2024 for our Annual Banquet to both meet our Scholarship winners

and to honor our 50 year members, Patty Russell, Gail Marshall and Lucille Cannata! 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: Chicken Cordon Bleu with poulet sauce for $35.00 or

Stuffed Shrimp with lump blue crab meat for $40.00. Dinners will include 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 25, 2023 at 7:00 PM. Hostesses are Judy

Cummings and Paula Sattleberg.

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! Please make sure and give a big thank you to

Patty Russell who really helped to put this together with lots of help from volunteers.

Let us also recognize the hard work of our Scholarship Committee – Chairman, Daniele Priest,

and committee members, Anne O’Bryne, Nancy Fischer, Val Hamluk and Megan Menges.

There will be a brief business meeting at the Scholarship Dinner to report on the success of

our Spring Scholarship Fundraiser.

This Megaphone is short! Just a reminder to please make plans to join us for dinner to meet

our Scholarship Winners. That is what it is all about!!

The next Board Meeting is scheduled for May 9, 2024 at 7:00 PM at the home of AnnaBeth

Kinyon, 117 Windermere Road, Lockport. Please contact her if you will not be attending.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

 February 2024 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2024 at the 80 Main Street, Lockport. We will be welcoming Leonard Peterson who is the Niagara County Street Outreach Supervisor for Pinnacle Community Services and Larissa Bachman who is the Chief Operating Officer with Pinnacle Community Services. This organization was formerly known as Family and Children’s Services of Niagara. They will be presenting a program that describes the drop in services offered in Lockport to the homeless youth population. Pinnacle Community Services has a center located at the First Presbyterian Church. 

Homelessness has become a problem for more and more individuals. We are pleased to present this timely program on such an issue.  

In addition to the program, Pinnacle will be accepting donations of needed items that include non-perishable food, toiletries, socks and underwear. The population that is served at the drop-in center ranges in age from 12 to 24. So items that individuals need are appreciated. Please feel free to bring donations to the meeting.  

The doors will open at 5:30 PM for registration. Dinner will be served at 6:00 PM.  The menu will be panko crusted chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables, served with coffee and tea. Cookies will be available tableside for dessert. The cost of the dinner is $25.00. Hostesses are Kim Meal and Michelle Gilbert  Please call in your reservation to the Telephone Committee by Thursday, February 29, 2024. 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). We need to make sure we have an accurate count for the restaurant of those planning on attending. Please do not call Marybeth Wilson as she is out of town. 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. 


The recommendation of the Scholarship Committee was passed at the last meeting. It read as follows: “At this time, the Scholarship Committee recommends for the year 2024 that we support awards up to $8,000.00 as applications are received and reviewed by the Scholarship Committee. Our College Scholarship Fundraiser is scheduled for April 14, 2024 at the Lockport Town Country Club. We are in need of two Co-chairs! The work is easy and delicious – choosing the menu! So please consider volunteering. It is a great way to make new friends and to help with the mission of the club. Nancy Fisher and Shirley Wagner have volunteered to sell tickets during the Fundraiser!  We can always use more volunteers. 


It’s a great time of year to start thing about the theme of a basket to make for the basket raffle or to find a donation of a restaurant or vendor gift certificate. Information on the drop-off for completed baskets will be forthcoming. Dues can be paid at the next meeting or mailed to Anna Beth Kinyon, 117 Windermere Road, Lockport, NY 14094. Dues are now $50.00. Thank you for continuing to support the College Club with your attendance at meetings and support of the annual Fundraiser. 

Next year will see a new Directory so if there are any changes to be made to your listing, please let Patty Russell or any other Board Member know. The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the home of Patty Russell, 102 Continental Drive, Lockport at 7:00 PM. Call to confirm your attendance. 


Please note that longtime member, Kathy Newman, passed away recently. A

book has been donated to the library in her memory. We are also saddened to report that Pat Kennedy, another long time member, recently lost her husband.  Prayers for these families are appreciated.