Bath Guardian Angels ready for Sprng
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER ADVOCATE

BATH - The fledgling Guardian Angels chapter that graduated 12 area residents in November 2007 will be taking wing soon, according to its local leader.

Patricia Gilbert, the Bath resident who partnered with Guardian Angels founder Curtiss Sliwa to found the local chapter, said last week regular Guardian patrols will start in the village within the next few weeks.

The local Guardians are likely to begin walking village sidewalks once spring weather draws cooped-up residents out of their homes and into the sunlight.

"We've been out a couple times already, but not much," Gilbert said last week. "The last time we were out, it was freezing, and we didn't see anybody else. We were the only fools out walking around."

The Bath chapter has been holding regular training sessions since its graduation last year. In addition, Gilbert said, she herself has been helping Elmira residents start their own chapter.

Guardian Angels will be easy to recognize once they begin foot patrols. They will be wearing the iconic red berets and jackets designed by Sliwa when he founded the Guardian Angels in New York City in 1979. "You're making a statement to the people of Bath," Sliwa told the graduating class as he handed out diplomas.

Since its founding, Guardian Angels chapters have sprung up in dozens of American cities, as well as in Japan, Great Britain, South Africa, New Zealandf and Canada. Sliwa last year noted the organization also is moving into rural areas - such as Bath - as inner city crime migrates into the country.

Bath Police Chief David Rouse has welcomed formation of the Guardian Angels in the Village of Bath, although he has cautioned members should avoid making citizens' arrests and alert local police when they observe alleged criminal activity.

Sliwa has maintained Guardian Angels members would "Exercise our right to make a citizen's arrest."