VFW postponing 'Hometown Heroes' banner program in Village of Lewiston

Trustees vote to purchase new garbage truck

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

After several attempts to find a path forward, Veterans of Foreign Wars Downriver Post 7487 has opted to postpone incorporating the Village of Lewiston into the “Hometown Heroes” banner program.

Cmdr. Paul Harrigan had attended a handful of municipal meetings seeking input from the Board of Trustees, while also receiving guidance from Lewiston advocate Lee Simonson and Beautification Committee members Tasia Fitzpatrick and Susan Hofert, in an effort to determine where – and how – banners could be placed in the village. … Without adding to “sign clutter.”

The “Hometown Heroes” initiative honors military members by way of an autobiographical tribute placed on a pole along a driving route – Ridge Road in the Town of Lewiston, for example. Neighboring communities including the towns of Niagara and Porter have adopted the program.

“We've come to the conclusion we're going to postpone the ‘Hometown Hero’ banner project for the season, just because there's a lot of logistics still to figure out,” Harrigan told trustees at Monday’s work session. “And even with that, I kind of had a heart-to-heart with my crew. We thought we'd have the ability to maintain all the administrative (duties),” including accepting applications, working with (and driving to) the Medina Print Shop, and overall sign maintenance. “Simple truth is, we're a small group and it's just a little bit beyond what we can do. So, we had to do that honest assessment.”

Though no banners will fly in the village this year, “We'll keep doing our due diligence and trying to see; maybe do it for next season. In the meantime, the town is still very much up and running, so people could go to the town, still apply” for a banner that way, Harrigan said. “Another factor, of course, was we lost (the recently deceased) Margie (Maggard), who was kind of our coach on a lot of these logistics.”

Deputy Mayor Vic Eydt said, “Just keep pushing.”

Mayor Anne Welch said, “Obviously, we have our Memorial Day (tribute) coming up. We love our veterans, and we always have a big turnout for our parade and our ceremony and our luncheon. I’m looking forward to that again this year.”

In his most recent proposal, Harrigan suggested banners start on Route 18F (end of Ridge Road) – where the town markers cease – come into the village by DiMino’s Lewiston Tops, around Academy Park, and up Portage Road to Center and Eighth streets. There would be no banners from Eighth to Fourth streets, along the business district. “Hometown Heroes” would continue to be displayed on Fourth Street, south to Artpark, and north toward 18F (Lower River Road) until the village limit.

Up to 100 telephone poles were in consideration for use along that route.

Maintenance – and body corrosion – is the new norm with the existing Village of Lewiston garbage truck.

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Board approves bond for new garbage truck

Following discussions with Department of Public Works Superintendent Anthony Mang at last month’s session, the board voted 4-1 to bond payments for a new garbage truck. Trustee Tina Coppins voted “No,” suggesting a better deal could be found within the five-year repayment process.

This bond resolution authorizes “the acquisition of a garbage truck and apparatus for use by the village, at an estimated maximum cost of $310,000,” and “authorizing the issuance of serial bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $310,000 pursuant to the local finance law to finance said purpose, such amount to be offset by any federal, state, county and/or local funds received.”

The DPW is acquiring a Curbtender Phoenix 25-cubic-yard rear-load packer with transmission-mounted power take-off with coupled pump and a 2025 Peterbilt 548 cab. As of three weeks ago, the vehicle had only accrued 3,627 miles.

Welch said, “We are going to purchase a new garbage truck, because our other one is on its last legs. We need to do it now, to get under the (environmental) requirements for the state.”

She again noted the cost of a new garbage truck is less than the expense of using a third-party garbage collection company.

“It’s always a better price for us to do this ourselves,” Welch said.

Mang said, “The truck’s going to be equity.”

Though no interest rate was available as of the board’s vote, Treasurer Stephanie Longwell said the bond projections came in lower than what would be offered with a lease: “It was way better.”

Eydt said the existing garbage truck could net upward of $35,000 at auction to offset some of the new unit’s acquisition fees.

The 13-year-old Village of Lewiston garbage truck.

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Fire department points

Trustees voted to approve a resolution approving Lewiston No. 1 Fire Co.’s 2024 length of service award program certified points.

Eydt said this is a step further enabling firefighters to request compensation from the Town of Lewiston.

“Basically, in a nutshell, the town does supply money for service awards to two, three other companies, and they’re looking at upping it,” he said.

Welch said, “We’re very grateful to have these volunteers in our fire company, and this is one small thing that we can do for them.”

Longwell explained, “Each member who is a part of the program gets a certain amount of points for meetings, training, calls.”

New Italian Festival slated for July 2026

The board approved a proposal from Carmine Bianco of Pax Romana to use Academy Park for an Italian festival from July 17-19, 2026.

Bianco explained, “I'm a teacher at Niagara Falls High School. I had Carmine’s restaurant on Pine Avenue. Right now, I’m still looking for a place, but it's all about location. I’ve been running the Italian festival since 2012 in Niagara Falls. It's getting real hard to do that with everything. Not even the crowd – the crowd’s great, but just with the city. So, I'm looking for different venues – and I don’t think it’s been done here – but I have been doing it a long time.”

“We've been successful every time,” he added. “It's always a great turnout.”

Welch said, “We’re glad to have you, and we look forward to it.”

Bianco said he would invite Lewiston’s Italian eateries and food vendors to participate in the festival.

Other news

Trustees voted to approve the following motions:

•A facilities use application from Catching Dreams Charters Inc. for use of Lewiston Landing Park to host a fishing tournament fundraiser from 7-11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1.

•A request from No Sleep Entertainment LLC to conduct a paranormal investigation from 7 p.m. to midnight March 6 inside the Red Brick Municipal building to be featured in a TV series.

Historian Russ Piper was set to be interviewed to offer his unique perspective.