HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-12 t 0 , /Li A 4• 11 1 / F Newsl etter for
Employees and Cou nty R etirees
of Tomp
t 1 ::(2 1 )ttVLI m 4111 19 c tt—\',, December 2001
Volume 14 Number 12
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corridors Editorial Board
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(turn to page three to find out who this County employee isi
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Tom Fox announces retirement
REPORT
from Mental Health
Department
fig A
FROM P
THE COUNTY
:1DMINISTRATOR -
'',.' -., -'• ,s' i 4' ‘''.
Its Stephen \ hicher p - ? '' £ i 9 ° I
-, '; - '',,,,, A .;.v. ..._ ..„...„..,„,...,,i, .. , _ „.., ,, , ...,.... ,- r --., ,,,..,...,,, .,_ ,,;,
it is a Friday morning in mid December and my day off
planned as an outside clean -up day - before- the -snow -flies, ' - �:' '
has been rained out. Rained out in mid December? Is it
just me getting old, or is there something very strange . ;€.1
AV about this weather'? It seems to me that it has been many iv
years since we have had such a mild fall. 1 suppose 1
should be grateful, but how does one prepare for the
holidays when there is no snow on the ground? Going to
pick out a Christmas tree, or worse yet, spending time
inside shopping, when it is 50 degrees out, throws my '
senses out of balance. After all, we live in a northern
climate where the seasons are supposed to make sense. I f
we wanted the seasons to all be the same we would move
to California where one day is always the same as the next.`..
As I look back on my youthful days growing up on the
Coddington Road, 1 remember snow storms so heavy that I My employment adventure with Tompkins County
got lost returning from the small barn in back of our house, began in 1977 at Mental Health, then with DSS
snow drifts so high that my brother and I dug tunnels and in 1979, then back to Mental Health where for
"igloos ", school buses unable to pick us up (we were so d the last ten years I have had the honor to be
disappointed), and sleeping under mounds of blankets an
quilts cozy warm and safe. Those were winters! Or was I the Director of Community Support Services.
just a child?
Since I'm quite certain that no child has ever
Hopefully winter will arrive for the holidays and all will be said, When I grow up I want to be a caseworker
as expected. Please accept my hest wishes to you and your
families, may you have wonderful holidays and a great at the Mental Health Department, I'm not sure
new year. how we came to have such a hardworking,
committed staff; but the County and I have
1 �" - '' Ri been blessed to have found them.
, I feel lucky to have had the pleasure of getting
x "r� r7 ° to know so many of the wonderful people in the ,
.� * e ” .' local human service network who have worked to 1
` "'� "`�' �`� - ° • make this a better community, especially the
`. people at Mental Health, D55, and Probation. I
` . - -, Y - t °` will truly miss the contact and humor I have
r .- � shared with all of you.
J�yp`
Once again the Budget and Finance Office has
been busy collecting Toys for Tots!
2
Joanie Knapp Retires from
bSS Happy Warm & Fuzzy Holidays
By Kathleen D Tompkins from the 1 ompkinss' C /ounty
xx
Health Department
By Katie Prince, Health Department
This year's Holiday Party at Public Health was
.; held on December 6, 2001. Coordinated by the
,
Public Health Administration group ( #1),
" 9 attended by all and entertained by Jangle the
f � Clown (front cover). The Viral Titres ( #3), and
i others.
t
` Q a
E
Joanie (at right) with her granddaughters, Cassie and Tabitha � .. `'
(at left), daughter, Alison, and Paul Newman (center) '
"There are souls in this world which have „ , Y � , , ,
the gift of finding joy everywhere and of 1 �
leaving it behind them when they go.” Steven Kern. Jangle the Clown, Cindy Seliger, and Jared
- Frederick William Faber (1814 -63), Writer, Jones
author Jangle the Clown (front cover), Jane Daum
Joanie Knapp retired from DSS on Novembe
13 pp Y which also ha pp. to be her birthday 1.::
, , 3
On November 8 her co- workers threw a 3 ( ,
" surprise " retirement party. It is hard to keep z �' '
anything from Joanie, so her party itself wasn't
a complete surprise...but the people waiting for °'
her at the party were a surprise. Joanie's Y e : E',°° . '
daughter, Alison, came to the party with 4„ 4
Joanie's two granddaughters, Tabitha and 140 .2:4 '„f ''re4'',,''.4i : ',:t.4
i s - Cassie. Joanie was very surprised and pleased
to be able to share this day with not only her Lisa Chase, Katy Prince, Brenda Grinnell-Crosby, Peggy
ggy
co- workers and friends but also members of Kopsa, Patty Stamm, Alice Cole (Mrs, Claus), Karen
her family, and, of course, Paul! Johnson, Frank Croteau (Mr. Claus), and Jared Jones
Joanie provided clerical support to the We enjoyed a dish to pass luncheon with pizza
Children's Services division at D55 with flair and wings provided by the Vending Committee.
and compassion. She is greatly missed by all of A great warm (it was 60 degrees outside) and
her co- workers. Joanie gave each person she fuzzy (everyone received a bean bag baby)
came in contact with during her years with the holiday was had by all!
County a little bit of her ,joy for 14 years— ■■11
thank you, Joanie)
3
Second National Adoption Day - _ _ , , At
by Kathleen Drew, DSS
-
Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, DC, New York City,
� � 1 �:A V'r'
Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis, and '-
Ithaca. Each of these cities plus several others across the
nation participated in the Second National Adoption Day . •
on Saturday, November 17 In Ithaca, twelve children t .
and their adoptive families were permanently made -
"forever families" by Honorable M. John Sherman in a From L to R: DSS Homefinding Staff: Nalani McKenna, Tim (& Nancy)
ceremony at the Old Courthouse. Stephenson & Judy Voorheis
The Los Angeles -based Alliance for Children's Rights 1 1 1
organizes this annual event. The first National Adoption °-
Day held last November was extremely successful, with
over 1,100 children finding the permanent families they
have longed for. The Alliance provides technical ,
assistance to local sponsors, including sending t -shirts
for the adults and kids involved and a banner to publicize ' Y.
the event. Another agency that sponsors National ' t
Adoption Day, Comfort for Court Kids, Inc., provided a ;
t
teddy bear for each child. f I�
After the ceremony, the new families were honored with 1
a reception at the Human Services Building where each
child received a stuffed teddy bear and a t -shirt. There
was much to celebrate and the faces of the children
expressed the joy that everyone was feeling, like the Sarah & Meg Sladich Celebrating Adoption
beaming smiles of Meg and Sarah Sladich. Meg and
Sarah became the daughters of Cindee and Bob Sladich, NEW' YORK
who have also been foster parents in Tompkins County C
for two years. 1 7i j RECYCLE • ME
l :
Locally, the New York State Citizens' Coalition for ""` "' =.
Children (NYSCCC), Tompkins County Social Services Submitted by Linnett Warner, Solid Waste Division
Homefinding unit, and the Tompkins County Surrogate
Court's office worked together to prepare all the All New York State license plates that have the Statue of
paperwork required to make this special day a reality for Liberty on them are being replaced.
these new families. A special thanks goes to Connie
Delaney, Surrogate Court Clerk, who was instrumental After you send for and receive your new license plates,
in the coordination. the Tompkins County Solid Waste Management
Judith Ashton, Executive Director of NYSCCC said Division asks that you recycle them. Place your old
there are 600,000 children in the public foster care plates in your green recycling bin with your containers
system in the United States. Their median age is about 8; and place at the curb.
roughly 42 percent are African - American and 15 percent
are Hispanic. Some have special needs, others may have The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
disabilities, and still others must be adopted along with recommends that you deface your old plates with a
siblings. All of the children are from families whose permanent marker or cut the plates in half before
biological parents have voluntarily surrendered parental disposing of them. Another idea would be to put one plate
rights or have had them terminated by the court. in your bin at the curb on one week and the second one on
your second recycling pick up.
The Homefinding unit at DSS is always looking for new
foster parents. If you are interested in finding out more If you have any questions about curbside recycling, call
about what it takes to be a foster or adoptive parent, the Solid Waste Management Division's Office at 273 -
please contact Judy Voorheis at 274 -5266 or 5700 on Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30
jvoorheis @tompkins- co.org. 4 p.m.
ATUPA Teens Win Award enforcement program. Over the past four years, the
Submitted by Cynthia Gruman, Public Health Sanitarian Governor provided more than $8.5 million in funding to
help reduce youth smoking in New York.
8 Local governments perform compliance checks in 35
g. counties, including Tompkins County, and New York City.
T In the remaining counties, the State Health Department
district office staff performs the inspections.
a ,. g3
4 " . In the years since Governor Pataki provided funding to
•, ' '� : . '` support the compliance rate across the program, the vendor com
=�s� �� � PP P g P
. ,, ' state has been continuously increasing from 81% in 1998
' to 88% in 2000. The Tompkins County compliance rate
` has decreased slightly from 95% in 1998 to 92% in 2000,
but these compliance rates are still well above the state
*gy 3 .., rates.
Cynthia Gruman, Sanitarian and ATUPA Compliance Officer, and Steven
Kern, Senior Sanitarian The American Cancer Society estimates that in this year
alone, there will be nearly 10,000 new cases of lung cancer
One of five local American Cancer Society awards and some 9,300 deaths from lung cancer in New York.
honoring anti - tobacco heroes was awarded to the four Smoking is the cause of 87% of lung cancer cases, and
teens who have worked this past year in the Adolescent 30% of all cancer deaths.
Tobacco Use Prevention Act (ATUPA) Program in the
Environmental Health Division of the Tompkins County For information about the dangers of tobacco or how to
Health Department. The award was presented to the teens quit smoking, call Dianna Bennett in the Tompkins County
in a ceremony in Elmira on November 14, 2001. Health Department's Health Promotion Program at 274-
6711.
The ceremony was held on the eve of the American
Cancer Society's 25 Annual Great American Smokeout. N.Ni
Because the teens must remain anonymous, the award was Gpv1‘
accepted on behalf of the teens by Cynthia Gruman, Ki,t1S
Sanitarian and ATUPA Compliance Officer Steven Kern, a Household
Senior Sanitarian." 143 Hazardous
Waste
The award is presented to individuals or groups who �� Management
demonstrate leadership and a commitment to informing ' Program
the public about the dangers of tobacco use through
education, advocacy and other efforts incorporated into Submitted by Linnett Warner, Solid Waste Division
their day -to -day- lives. The Tompkins County Solid Waste Management
Division's DEPOT has been in operation for 14 months.
The ATUPA teens working for the Health Department are The DEPOT is a Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
recruited and trained by the ATUPA Compliance Officer The DEPOT has a household hazardous waste collection
in the proper protocol of conducting compliance checks day every third Saturday of the month except for the
with the law. The teens are accompanied by the months of December, January and March. To use the
Compliance Officer as they attempt to purchase tobacco facility you need to obtain a solid waste permit, that costs
from retailers and tobacco vending machines in the $5 for residents and $15 for businesses. Potential
County. participants must call us at 273 -HHWM (4496) to get an
application. A business needs to call us and set up an
The teens must be between the ages of 15 and 17 and have appointment.
the maturity to conduct these compliance checks. Great
care is taken to insure that every compliance check is A total of 1,978 participants have attended the HHW
conducted uniformly and fairly. collection days.
The ATUPA law is a state public health law passed in
1997 that forbids the sale of tobacco products, rolling
We collected approximately 11,585 gallons of paint -
related materials, 1,970 gallons of pesticides, 910 gallons
papers or pipes to persons under the age of 18. This law
is part of Governor Pataki's aggressive youth tobacco
of auto material, 1,010 gallons of aerosols, 785 gallons of
corrosives and 5,150 feet of fluorescent tubes.
5
•
CLASSIFIEDS Announcements:
For Sale: I If you would like to welcome new employees in the
County Corridors, please remember to submit names
For sale: Roland EM 10 Keyboard with stand. One year and their departments to Michelle Pottorff at the
old, comes with manual. Asking $250. Call Nancy at Board of Representatives Office.
898 -3930 (days) or Jeff at 533 -8762 (evenings).
Another year has gone by and we are still looking for
Services: new members to serve on the Corridors Editorial
Board. If you would like more information please
Tioga Technical - Don't kill your computer! Let me help contact Iretta Ellis at the Information Technology
with troubleshooting, training, upgrades - whatever it takes Services Department.
to get you and your computer working together again. Call
James Keegan at 273 -7957 evenings or weekends.
Tynyk Originals is proud to announce that selected items CLASSIFIEDS
are now available at Contented Country Gifts located at Classified ads up to 25 words in length are free to County
297 Jersey Hill Road, Danby: one of the most unique employees, retirees and their immediate families. Ads may be
shops in the area! Custom gifts and home decor items are for any purpose, however personal ads will not be accepted.
still available by calling 564 -9244 evenings or weekends. No County addresses or telephone numbers may be listed
If I can't make it, you don't need it!! in your ad, however, we do need your full name and
County telephone number submitted with the ad in case
Tense? Stressed? Achy? Therapeutic Massage can put there are questions. Submit your ad to County Corridors c/o
relaxation and comfort back into your life. For an Michelle Pottorff, Board of Representatives, Courthouse,
appointment or information call Richard Reed at 753 Ithaca, NY 14850 via US or interdepartmental mail or e
6383. to: mpottorff@tompkins- co.org
Kinetic Performance - specializing in Motorsports NOTE:
engines, carburetion and general racing fabrication. Call If you would like to modify your classified or want to
Dayton Umholtz at 277 -6462 evenings or weekends. run it again, you must re- submit it!
French Tutor — Call Sarah at 257 -3047. Please leave a DEADLINE: i TUESDAY OF THE MONTH
message. Articles to be considered for the January 24t issue,
ttArar.) must be received by noon on Tuesday January lsr
Submit articles via e-mail as an attachment or on disk
in any file format that is readable by Word for
Well, the season is upon us. Chris Mouse Windows '95. Send disk and hard copy to County
and I have been thinking about stuffing stockings Corridors c/o Michelle Pottorff, Board of
for the teensy mice. We've got lots of little Representatives, Courthouse, Ithaca, NY 14850. Please
packages of cheese all tied up with red and green include a contact number in case questions arise.
ribbons, colored pens and pencils, erasers, crayons COUNTY CORRIDORS
and coloring books. Once again the teensies have Articles and opinion pieces for County Corridors are selected by the
Editorial Board based on their interest to Tompkins County employees
asked us to tell "Santa" not to put tangerines and and retirees. They do not necessarily express the opinions of the
walnuts in their stockings. But we remember Editorial Board. Material is solicited from current employees,
finding them in the toes of our stocking every retirees and others. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit
submissions, except in the instance of copyright materials.
year, and it just doesn't seem right without them.
We wish the teensies appreciated this tradition. EDITORIAL BOARD
We guess we have to grow up before we get all Michelle Pottorff (Editor) Board of Representatives
mushy with memories, but when those mushy Iretta Ellis (Chair) Information Technology Services
Bill Chopp Department of Social Services
memories hit home they surely cause a Strong Sharon Cooper Sheriff's Office
compulsion to keep doing the same old things in Liz Croop Department of Mental Health
Katy Prince Health Department
the same old ways. Vickie Wagner (Artist) Department of Assessment
Mrs. Chris Mouse Donna Deputron (Distribution Coordinator) Bldgs. 6 6rnds
6