The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce will honor Dr. Kevin Backus, pastor of Bible Presbyterian Church, and Grand Island High School music teacher Martin Allen at the annual Citizen of the Year Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 25.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has expressed its thanks to the local businesses that have given their support to the annual Citizen of the Year Awards event.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has expressed its thanks to the local businesses that have given their support to the annual Citizen of the Year Awards event.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has named Linda Tufillaro and Wavelengths Hair Design as recipients of the Citizen of the Year Award.

The Beach House has won Niagara Frontier Publications' second annual "Best Fish Fry" contest. Following a record number of entries, the Grand Island restaurant netted 13.1 percent of the 268 votes - more than double the tally of the second-place winners.

Founders of Grand Island's Robert G. Hoch Winter Memory Walk donated a check for $10,114 to the Hospice Foundation of Western New York.

Since 1973, the Grand Island Neighbors Foundation has been providing emergency assistance to Grand Island residents who find themselves in temporary need.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce will honor Beverly Kinney and Jim Watz on Thursday, April 25, as Citizens of the Year.

Bennie and the Jets will divide $2,000 in scholarship money following the 15th annual Grand Island School and Business Corporate Bowl, held Tuesday night at the Grand Island High School auditorium.

A fundraiser for the Relay For Life is in full swing. A Relay quilt, generously and beautifully handcrafted by Sue Miles and Colleen Eddy of Grand Island, was donated to Grand Island's Relay For Life, to be raffled off to support Relay and its ongoing fundraising for the American Cancer Society.

The annual Catholic Charities Drive is ongoing through Palm Sunday.

"Striking Gold" was the theme as 56 Grand Island High School DECA students traveled to Rochester last week in search of success in the business world.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce will honor six individuals and one business on Thursday, April 25, as Citizens of the Year.

In announcing the winners, the chamber said award recipients "have given much of their time and talents in making Grand Island the wonderful community it is today."

Here is the list.

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-I-C-Lewiston, met earlier this week with James Tomkins, Grand Island highway superintendent, in the Assembly chamber. They discussed the importance of increasing state support for the region's roads and bridges.

The Kelly family of Grand Island received the Grand Island Rotary Club's Vocational Service Award at a meeting Feb. 27 at the Buffalo Launch Club.

The Kellys' own Kelly's Country Store celebrated a 50th anniversary last year.

February break came and went, and for many students it was refreshing and invigorating. In the spirit of re-energizing, Veronica E. Connor Middle School recently hosted a Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support week.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has recognized Michael Keating, Grand Island KeyBank branch manager, and Yvonne Michaels, KeyBank's client service manager for their generosity and support of the chamber's Citizen of the Year community event.

Administrators at the Grand Island School District are working toward resolving an estimated shortfall of $1,499.344 by the second week in April.

At the Feb. 25 Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent for School Business Services Joe Giarrizzo told trustees that even though the district is able to recoup 72.1 percent of school expenses from the state and that revenues are up a bit, "Expenses are skyrocketing. We are falling behind." While the district does have money in a reserve savings account, expenses are such that more and more reserve is used each year to close budget gaps.

Assemblyman John D. Ceretto helped celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday over the weekend by reading "The Cat in the Hat" to children at the Grand Island Memorial Library. The event, also a part of "Read Across America," was intended to spur imagination and a love of reading in children.

The Rotary Club of Grand Island at its meeting on Wednesday at the Buffalo Launch Club and received a presentation from Heather Maras, social worker at Kaegebein and Huth Road elementary schools, on the Grand Island Central School District's efforts to combat bullying behavior in students.

R.J. Wynne, right, president of The Miracle League of Grand Island and Western New York, accepted a check for $1,000 from Josh Heim, from M&T Bank Charitable Foundation.

Kimberly Yaeger isn't avoiding hard work in her senior year of high school.

Yaeger is among the first group of Grand Island High School students enrolled in the new International Baccalaureate program at the school that has raised the workload for participating students. That's OK with Yaeger.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has recognized Life Technologies for once again showing their support for one of the largest community events held on Grand Island, the Citizen of the Year Dinner and Awards Ceremony.

On Feb. 18, Sam's Club in Niagara Falls held its 20th year of operation celebration event.

The Miracle League of Western New York held a paver selling contest for all players and buddies, and the winner was Michael Dinsmore, who won a 32-inch flat-screen television donated by Double D Construction.

Directors from the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, elected officials, RE/MAX North agents and friends all joined Peg Eisenhauer, broker and owner of the new RE/MAX North office, at a ribbon-cutting.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has recognized Fahim Mojawalla, owner of Creative Leather Concepts and Island Ship Center, along with Liz Wilbert of Realty USA, for their generosity by stepping up as a Bronze sponsors for this year's Citizen of the Year Awards event.

The 2013 Relay For Life season began in a full sprint with a kickoff rally Wednesday.

New teams and veteran Relayers gathered at Grand Island High School to award medals for 2012 and to begin the 2013 event, which will have an Olympic theme of "Going for the Gold."

The Grand Island Lions Club has been serving the community for more than 50 years, and though most people are familiar with our eyeglass collections, our Special Kids Picnic, our annual spaghetti dinner, and our involvement with the Miracle League Field, most are not aware of all the behind-the-scenes activities we perform and the services available through our work and our association with sight, hearing, health, and environmentally-related professionals and organizations.

Take, for example, the trip a used pair of eyeglasses takes from your face to the face of someone, somewhere in the world, who needs them but, unfortunately, can't afford them. How can we do that for just 8 cents a pair?

The Kaegebein Community Playground Committee will host "Dinner and a Show" to raise money for a new playground.

On Friday, March 1, the Playground Committee will supervise the annual Kaegebein Talent Show, with a spaghetti dinner fundraiser preceding the show.

The event will take place at Grand Island High School, 1100 Ransom Road.

The Holiday Inn Grand Island and Niagara Frontier Publications have pledged support for the annual Citizen of the Year award banquet with platinum sponsorships.

Town of Grand Island officials and local police are hoping a $1,000 reward will help resolve a spate of vandalism incidents that have taken place at the Nike Base.

On Saturday, Feb. 9, Serene Gardens, 2800 Grand Island Blvd., will host a free Japanese cooking demonstration and tasting, beginning at 4 p.m. Explore two basic staples of Japanese food, miso soup and sushi roll, with Serene Gardens' Chef Satomi Smith.

Coming off of a recent Buffalo Soup Fest award for "Best Kept Secret," Satomi will demonstrate how she prepares these dishes from the first step; making broth for miso soup, washing the rice properly, making the vinaigrette for sushi rice, etc. Following the class there also will be a sake and wine tasting.

Football and chili go together like Interact and Rotary. The latter two joined together Tuesday at Grand Island High School to make chili in advance of the Super Bowl.

Grand Island is putting out the "Open for Business" sign and taking a proactive approach to business development.

Members of the town's Economic Development Advisory Board are ramping up efforts to promote the town as business-friendly. EDAB Co-chair Tom Knight said the group's goal is to recruit new business to the Island "that are a fit and makes sense, without stepping on the toes of existing businesses."

The music department at Grand Island High School has turned its ship around 180 degrees in presenting "Anything Goes" as its spring musical this year.

Members of St. Stephen School Mission Club lovingly decorated special placemats to be given to incarcerated men and women, through the Kairos prison ministry.

The Grand Island Rotary Club, in its weekly meeting at the Buffalo Launch Club on Jan. 16, was treated to an unfolding story of the difficulties, and successes, of Muslims in Western New York reaching the public with the message of their tolerance and Americanization.

The talk was by Dr. Khalid Qazi, professor of internal medicine at the University at Buffalo, and also chair of the WNY Muslim Public Affairs Council. He led off with an example of how security difficulties kept a "MASH" unit sent by the U.S. Army to Pakistan from really helping after a devastating earthquake there in 2005, until Qazi and other medical personnel (Pakistani natives) who were also there on a relief mission, intervened.

The talk was by Dr. Khalid Qazi, professor of internal medicine at the University at Buffalo, and also chair of the WNY Muslim Public Affairs Council. He led off with an example of how security difficulties kept a "MASH" unit sent by the U.S. Army to Pakistan from really helping after a devastating earthquake there in 2005, until Qazi and other medical personnel (Pakistani natives) who were also there on a relief mission, intervened.

Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard administered the oaths of office to newly elected Grand Island Fire Co. officers on Saturday, Jan. 12, at fire headquarters, 2275 Baseline Road.

Both firematic and administrative officers were sworn to uphold their 2013 community protection duties. Howard was joined by Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick, New York State Assemblyman John Ceretto; representative of New York State Sen. Mark Grisanti, Ron Descenes; Grand Island town officials, including Mary Cooke, other special guests and family members in praising the selfless dedication of these GIFC volunteers.

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce held its board of directors meeting and installation of newly elected directors at the Holiday Inn Grand Island.