Niagara County Work Fare donates elbow grease and muscle power

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 16, 2007

Shown in the photo, bottom row, are (left to right), Bob Soluri, supervisor, Charles Matthews, and Wayne Roberts, crew leader. In the top row are (left to right) Kathryn Serianni, Lewiston Council on the Arts, Mark Miles, Kevin Thomas, Irene Rykaszewski, executive director of the Lewiston Council on the Arts, Johnny Lowe, and Robert (Cisco) Straub.

The Lewiston Council on the Arts and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows would like to express their appreciation for the many man hours donated by the Niagara County Work Fare crew, to clean out 100 years of debris from the basement of the Historic Lewiston Opera Hall in the Village of Lewiston. Currently owned by the Odd Fellows, plans for the building include developing studio space for artists while generating much needed support to maintain the historic structure. A special thank you goes to Gary Smith and Jim Hickman of Modern Corporation for arranging the donation of the two Dumpsters that were filled during the course of the cleanup. Over the years, the community-minded Odd Fellows have generously donated space for the Art Council to hold a wide range of projects and classes, most recently the Hansel and Gretel Opera Workshop for Children. “This is a wonderful example of many groups coming together to help each other and to benefit the community,” commented the Art Council’s Eva Nicklas.

Submitted by Eva Nicklas, Lewiston Council on the Arts.