Freeville’s Station Park receives beautification award

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (CCE-Tompkins) recently presented the Community Beautification Award for Placemaking to the Village of Freeville for its Station Park project, which was completed over the summer (tinyurl.com/2d6lce5v).

CCE-Tompkins describes the placemaking award as recognition for a project that “involves any improvement or activity that reimagines and reinvents a public space to make it more appealing and useful.”

“It’s really nice to have this recognition after all of the work the community put into the project for the last few years,” said David Fogel, a member of the village’s Board of Trustees and former mayor.

Station Park is described as a “history-themed pocket park with informational signage detailing Freeville’s history as part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the late 1800s and early 1900s.”

The project was funded by Freeville and private donations. It was also funded through grants via the Tompkins County Department of Planning and Sustainability — a Tourism Capital grant from the county’s tourism program and a Municipal Parks and Trails grant.

“The park is a great way to showcase Freeville’s history, and the double function of a bus stop is a great idea,” said Janine Willis, CCE-Tompkins’ Community Beautification Program coordinator. “I think that the project — eight years in the making — is an example of how a community can come together and rally around an idea, solicit grants and donations, and make something unique and wonderful happen.”

The Tompkins County Community Beautification Program also handed out awards in three other categories, including residence, business and nonprofit. Submissions for each award were reviewed by the Beautification Advisory Committee and Beautification Program staff.

Library holds events, language lessons

The Southworth Library, located at 24 W. Main St. in the village of Dryden, will hold an event called Adventures with an Aquanaut at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The event, which is part of the library’s ongoing evening lecture and discussion series, will involve Ed Brothers telling a story about his adventures working under the sea in a submersible.

To register, go to southworthlibrary.org.

Also at the library, students from Cornell University and the Foreign Language Introduction Program (FLIP) will bring a global experience to school-aged children.

From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Cornell students and FLIP will teach Hebrew and Mandarin languages and culture. Then, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 1, the two groups will teach French and Italian languages and culture.

According to the description of the event, with an “increasingly globalized world and a high chance of encountering people from different cultures, familiarity with foreign languages and cultures is vital from a young age.”

FLIP has “introduced thousands of children” in New York state to world languages and cultures, according to Cornell. Volunteers from Cornell and surrounding communities who speak foreign languages provide “fun ways” for school-aged students to “learn about and engage with our increasingly interconnected world.”

The program at Southworth Library is designed for children in grades three through five. To register for either of the events, go to southworthlibrary.org.

Buses for Dryden Elementary School students who are interested in the events are limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. Forms are available on the library’s website and must be submitted to the school as soon as possible.

For more information on FLIP, go to the library’s website.

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Freeville United Methodist Church to hold wreath sale Nov. 26

The Freeville United Methodist Church will hold a wreath sale Nov. 26.

The cost for a one-size wreath is $30, and wreaths come with a choice of a red, burgundy or plaid bow. Wreaths are available on site or for delivery.

To place an order for a wreath, contact Paula Aiken at aikenp515@gmail.com or (607) 279-3641. All proceeds will support the church’s Christmas outreach.

Registration open for ‘Shooting Stars’

Registration is open for “Shooting Stars,” a co-ed, in-house basketball program in Dryden, which will take place every Saturday between Jan. 7 through Feb. 11.

The program aims to teach kids about basketball basics through games and skill-building activities. Program participants will learn how to dribble, shoot, pass and play basketball with their peers.

The program is for children in kindergarten through second grade. The program will run on Saturdays from 9 to 10 a.m. at Dryden High School. Register at drydenrec.com or call (607) 844-8888 option 4.

New book on the Dryden Story Walk

Family Reading Partnership recently announced that a new book has been implemented in the Dryden Story Walk.

The new book is called “A Grand Old Tree” by Mary Newell DePalma. It is a story about the life cycle of a tree, from when the tree is born to how it is useful after it passes.