Seven-year-old Gavin Firmstone got a surprise ride home from Huth Road Elementary School Thursday.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has named Teddy Linenfelser Citizen of the Year for Service to the Community.

The chamber will honor Linenfelser at the 48th annual Citizen of the Year Awards Thursday, April 24, at Byblos Niagara Resort and Spa.

Teddy Klingel Linenfelser was born to Ted and Marion Klingel shortly after they and daughter Mary Ellen moved into their new house in Grandyle Village. She attended grades kindergarten through ninth grade at Charlotte Sidway School before taking the school bus off the Island for 10th through 12th grades. Her children attended Sidway and her grandchildren also went to kindergarten and first grade at Sidway.

The Erie County Legislature issued a proclamation at its recent meeting to recognize and commend the Island Dispatch on the celebration of its 70th anniversary.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has named Grand Island High School teacher Cheryl Chamberlain Citizen of the Year - Educator 2013.

The chamber will honor her at the 48th annual Citizen of the Year Awards Thursday, April 24, at Byblos Niagara Resort and Spa.

Chamberlain has been teaching with the Grand Island Central School District since 2000 when she and her husband, Gregory, moved back to where he grew up to raise their daughters Brooke and Sarah. When they moved into their home on Stony Point Road, Chamberlain was considering going back to school and her husband said, "Why don't you substitute teach at the schools on Grand Island?" This started Chamberlain's career focus in business education.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has named the winners for the Chamber of Commerce's 48th annual Citizen of the Year Awards event.

Four individuals and one business are winners:

•Nonnie Carroll - Volunteer Service

•Cheryl Chamberlain - Educator 2013

•Hizair Hair Salon - Business of the Year

•Lynn Alan Konovitz - Professional Contributor

•Teddy Linenfelser - Service to the Community

The Citizen of the Year Award dinner will take place Thursday, April 24, at Byblos Niagara Resort and Spa. Tickets will be available at the chamber office, 2257 Grand Island Blvd., or by calling 716-773-3651.

The third and last group of the third-grade Newspaper Club at Huth Road Elementary School, under the direction of Angela Hamilton, began work after school.

More than $10,000 in proceeds from the Robert G. Hoch Winter Memory Walk were donated to the Hospice Foundation of WNY.

The St. Stephen R.C. Church Holy Name Society will present a Pitmaster Barbecue from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 30, at St. Stephen School, 2080 Baseline Road. The pulled chicken or pulled pork barbecue (your choice) will include potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans.

Opposition to a proposal to rezone a parcel in the neighborhood of East River and Whitehaven roads is gaining momentum, residents said.

Grand Island's annual Father's Day Lawn Mower Race, Classic Car Show and 5K Kevin Doring Walk has been recognized by the Grand Island Relay For Life.

The Grand Island Town Board issued a proclamation on the 70th anniversary of the Island Dispatch.

Two Island companies will sponsor the upcoming Citizen of the Year Awards Dinner.

Grand Island Fire Co. Communications Supervisor Steve Morgan reports that a new Intrado Power 911 system was placed in service at the Grand Island Fire Co. Dispatch Center on Feb. 27.

The Erie County Department of Emergency Services has announced that more than 700 new recruits swelled the ranks of volunteer fire companies across Erie County during 2013. This influx of new volunteers came from across the county's 94 fire departments and will augment the more than 5,000-member strong volunteer firefighting force that currently serves Erie County's municipalities.

"One of the best ways an individual can become involved in their community and help to make it stronger is through public service, and I thank the volunteers who answered the call to perform this vital role," said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz.

Sometimes it takes a bit of vision to get a good idea off the ground.

Skip Mazenauer purchased the Grand Island Dispatch, believing he could make the publication a success and wanting to make sure his hometown wasn't left without local news from its own newspaper.

Participants in the Grand Island Relay For Life were asked to light a fire within at a kickoff meeting Wednesday at Connor Middle School.

The kickoff begins the season for the annual Relay, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Lynn Dingey, co-chair of GI Relay For Life, said the 2014 event will run at Veterans Park, May 31 at 2 p.m. to June 1 at 2 a.m. She asked those at the meeting to work to make the 2014 event "bigger and better."

Casey Dahlstrom was named the 2014 honorary survivor at the kickoff, while Mary Dunbar-Daluisio spoke on behalf of caregivers.

Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick announces his fourth annual Valentines for Veterans program was once again a great success, creating thousands of cards for local veterans and active servicemen and women.

Grand Island Town Engineer John Whitney received the Charles W. Nichols Award from the American Public Works Association, New York chapter, western branch, at its recent 2014 awards banquet. The APWA is a group of engineers who honor their peers for exemplary work; seven project awards and three individual awards were presented.

Students from Grand Island High School came out to Byblos Niagara Resort & Spa with resumes in hand waiting to hear those very words: "You're hired!"

New recycling carts will soon turn up on Island roadsides.

Republic Services will soon provide 95-gallong recycling carts to every home on the Island at no cost to taxpayers.

On Feb. 10, the Grand Island Board of Education worked through a varied agenda, including information on Grand Island's 2014-15 budget and a report on the three-year capital improvement project. All board members were present, including Donna Tomkins and Paul Krull via Skype.

Regarding the New York state budget, the board unanimously approved a resolution to get rid of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, GEA. Each year since 2009-10, foundation aid to school districts has been frozen at 2008-09 levels. In addition, aid may be taken from school districts and applied to the New York state budget to close deficits.

Saturday, Feb. 8, dozens of walkers, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers braved the elements to take part in the fourth annual Robert G. Hoch Winter Memory Walk on West River Parkway

The LaSalle Yacht Club has turned its Pasta Sauce Off benefit over to two successful fundraisers who are all of 11 years old.

A 17-year-old girl from Grand Island is the recipient of a bedroom makeover thanks to a team of local volunteers.

Rehearsals continue for the St. Stephen's Parish Players performances of "Bye Bye Birdie" in the St. Stephen School cafetorium.

Scout Sunday (for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts) was celebrated at the 9 a.m. Mass Sunday, Feb. 2, at St. Stephen R.C. Church, 2100 Baseline Road.

Students in the fourth-grade class of Kaegebein Elementary School teacher Katherine Chadwick presented three performances Jan. 31 of a musical play called "Make a Difference."

The Grand Island Dance Center's Dance Ensemble had a very full performance season. The last performance of the season was at Niagara University for the halftime show.

Locating a new cell tower got a little easier with the passage of an amendment to town code.

The Grand Island Town Board changed its regulations on setbacks required for towers, reducing the minimum radius needed within the tower's fall zone.

The move followed a public hearing on the matter that took place last month.

Section 407-169 (C) of town code was amended to read: "The tower must be set back a minimum from any residentially zoned property or any front yard line, and from any residential dwelling, school or historic structure, by a minimum of the lesser of one and a half times its height and any antenna attached thereto, or one and a half times the tower's highest pre-engineered breaking point, as certified by a licensed engineer in a manner acceptable to the town engineer."

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, Grand Island Fire Co. rescue personnel responded to a motor vehicle accident involving a car and school bus on East River Road and Edgewater Drive.

The Village Inn and SATO, Serene Gardens' new restaurant in Buffalo, were winners again this past Sunday at the fourth annual Buffalo Soup-Fest, held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Niagara Frontier Publications Publisher Skip Mazenauer was presented the Niagara University Family Business Center Vision Award on Jan. 29. The award recognizes businesspeople who are successful, lead a family- or privately owned Western New York business, are committed to benefiting the community, and who have created something when others did not foresee an opportunity.

High jinks on the high seas is the setting for Grand Island High School's annual musical.

"The Pirates of Penzance" will be presented Thursday, Feb. 6; Friday, Feb. 7; and Saturday, Feb. 8, on the high school stage. This ambitious production is one of Gilbert and Sullivan's best known comic operettas.

The 2014 Grand Island Relay For Life will hold its kickoff event Feb. 5, and those who attend should go ready to rock.

Organizers of the GI Relay have adopted "Rock-Out Cancer" as the 2014 theme for the fund drive to support the American Cancer Society. The kickoff for 2014 will take place at Veronica Connor Middle School's cafeteria, 1100 Ransom Road, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m.

At the kickoff, awards recognizing achievement from the 2013 Relay will be handed out as well.

Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard has announced the Civil Enforcement Division reached a four-year high in revenue, topping $1 million for the county's 2013 General Fund account.

As the sheriff is the state-mandated enforcement officer for all courts in New York State; the C.E.D. performs service and enforcement functions for its civil courts, including the service of summonses and subpoenas, collection of money judgments, and enforcement of court orders, including warrants of eviction. Service/enforcement and mileage fees, plus a "poundage" fee of 5 percent on all money collected are forwarded monthly to the county comptroller.

A proposed law to require public assembly permits had another hearing at Town Hall.

Local Law Intro No. 3 of 2013 - Public Assembly Permit would regulate parades and special events having more than 200 persons in attendance.

New York State Fire Training Instructor Mark Butler administered the oath of office to newly elected Grand Island Fire Co. officers on Saturday, Jan. 11, at fire headquarters, 2275 Baseline Road.

Members of the Grand Island Fire Co. took their oaths of office to newly elected officer positions during ceremonies at fire headquarters Saturday, Jan. 11. Both firematic and administrative officers were sworn-in.

The Grand Island Board of Education held its monthly meeting on Monday evening, Jan. 13, in the new Professional Development room in Grand Island High School. Part of the district's three-year multimillion dollar project, the former senior cafeteria has a new ceiling and lighting, three SMART boards, which are used for teacher and staff training, and some new furniture. The public premiere of the room is one of the many visible changes to the high school, including the STEM addition on Ransom Road where, despite last week's blizzard, work has progressed and is "on schedule," according to Vaughn Maracle of Campus Construction Management.

Earlier this month, State Assemblyman John Ceretto joined with friends and supporters in mid-winter salute to the Niagara Wine Trail.