HAMMONDSPORT HAPPENINGS

• Saturday, Jan. 19, Bostwick Club will hold their once-a-month dinner and fellowship in the dining room of the Masonic Temple on Main Street at 6:30 p.m. The Food Committee for the evening includes: Bob and Pat Shuart, George and Barbara Brayer, Jerry and Jackie Holcombe, and Fred and Betty White. Officers of the club this year: Presidents: Shuarts; Vice Presidents: Holcombes; Secretary and Treasurer: Dick and Janet McCandless.

• Retired teachers and staff of Hammondsport Central School will gather for breakfast and fellowship on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 9 a.m. at the Chat-AWhyle restaurant in Bath.

• On Thursday, Jan. 10, the Hammondsport Women's Club met at Beverly Webster's home, who was hostess for the evening. Maureen Cohn and Carol Young assisted with hosting. Speaker was Ethel Strickarz, who talked on Z-Coil footwear. The next meeting is on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Ann Green in Hammondsport.

•Cindy Tollerup, Transportation Supervisor at Hammondsport Central School, asks parents of children riding school buses to please have a sweatshirt in their child's backpack in case a bus breaks down. She reminds parents that it can get very cold in an unheated bus. She also wants to remind parents that there is a student drop-off zone out in back of the school starting at 7:35 a.m. Mrs. Beth King watches the children inside the school until their classes begin. This bus loop is closed to traffic from 7:30-8 a.m., which allows for activities such as mandatory fire drills. This helps maintain the safety of the students there at that time. So everyone, please stay out of the area in the morning.

• Seventh graders taking Spanish have all published articles, according to Barb Demmin of Hammondsport Central School. For the first time ever, both sections of Spanish 7 compiled a newsletter, with articles written by both groups, at the end of 2007. Principal Tad Rounds showed a copy of the newsletter, complete with color photos, at a recent meeting of Hammondsport Central School faculty, who were excited by the excellent student product. Now both the seventh and eighth graders are working on bilingual scrapbooks, with each student writing in Spanish and English about something significant in their lives. The project will be in bound copy form by the end of the second term. The students working on it are very excited about its outcome.

• If you have walked down the second-floor hallways at the Curtiss School, you've probably noticed the Wall of Fame for Fact Masters - and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Fact Masters is a program sponsored by the Parent- Teacher Organization and Wise Guys Pizzeria in the 'Port. Boys and girls at Curtiss School have an opportunity to master their basic facts in math - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division - to earn the title Fact Master. As an FM, they get a stylish blue Master of Math Tshirt as well as a gift certificate for a large cheese pizza at Wise Guys. So far congratulations go to Kyle Graves, Logan Rosekrans, Aaron Lowin, and Alyson Binnert. Any Curtiss Schooler wanting to try for a gift certificate, just come join Miss Tranter on Friday morning at 7:50 a.m. everyone gets a prize just for coming. A special thanks go to the PTO and Wise Guys Pizzeria for making Fact Masters possible.

Hammondsport church news:

• St. Gabriel's Catholic: Maureen O'Neill, Pastoral Administrator: Rev. Peter Anglaaere, Sacramental. Mass schedule: Saturdays 5:30 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m.

Christmas in the Park fund-raiser was a success. Baking dog biscuits with chairpersons Lorraine Barker and Maureen O'Neill were new parishioners Laura Rice and Bill Howe, long-time parishioners Mary Ellen Peck and Christine Kolodziejczak, and our youngest Lydia Shippee. Helping Lorraine on the beef barbecue were Lucy Perkins, Carol Simmonds, and Liz Turissini. Manning the table event in the evening were Judi Bergh, Anne Green, Luther and Lucy Perkins, Alex Megen, Diana Sermonis, Arlene Victoria, Barb and Bill Yahn. We are happy to report we sold out on all foods - not bad for the church's first time ever participating in this village event.

• St. James Episcopal: Located on the corner of Main and Lake Streets. The Rev. Sandra Curtis, Rector; Sunday Eucharist and Sunday School are at 9 a.m., followed by Coffee Hour. Thursday at 12:15 p.m., Holy Eucharist; Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry is open on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m.

On January 12 at 4 p.m., a spaghetti and lasagna dinner was served as a fund-raiser.

• First United Methodist Church: The Rev. Paul Rowley, Minister: 8:30 a.m. Service: 9:45-10:45 a.m., Sunday School; 11 a.m. Service. On the 5th Sunday of the month, the two services are combined with a 10 a.m. service for all.

Church member Sarah Rowley will be on a shortterm mission trip (about five months) to Nairobi, Kenya, leaving in mid- January and working through SIM (Serving In Mission) and Overcoming Grace, an African group working especially with disabled persons. All of us can support Sarah with our prayers and encouragement. For more detailed information, e-mail sarahrowley23@yahoo.com or contact the church office.

• The First Presbyterian Churches of Hammondsport and Pulteney: Interim Pastor Anne Waasdorp at both churches: Pulteney at 9:30 a.m.; Hammondsport at 11 a.m. In Pulteney, Bible Study and Prayer on Thursdays at 10 a.m. for both churches. I n Hammondsport, adult Sunday School has resumed in the undercroft, led by Jim Walling, at 10 a.m.

Guest speaker at the Sunday, Jan. 6, Epiphany of Our Lord service in both Pulteney and Hammondsport was Sara Tiffany. Pastor Ann Waasdorp was on a short vacation.

Hammondsport Deacon of the Month of January is Orren Baisch.

Sunday, Jan. 20, will be the annual meeting in Hammondsport to hear annual reports, nominate and elect nominating and auditing committees for 2008 and conduct any other business as may

appropriately come before + the meeting. Please have all reports done ASAP and submitted to Pastor Ann or Linda Kressly, Session Clerk.