In Memory of Eugene F. Burns

Eugene F. Burns

Eugene F. Burns, 82, formerly of Johnson City, went to be with the Lord Sunday morning, November 14, 2010, at Willow Point Nursing Home. He was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Bernice Burns. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Patricia Burns; his children and spouses, James and Lynn Burns, David Burns, Diane and James Mays, Donna and John Burchell, Beverly Burns, Robert and Marie Burns; ten grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren; also several nieces and nephews. He was a member of St. James Church, Johnson City, and a Eucharistic Minister. He was an avid hunter, gardener, and loved to assemble model planes. Eugene was very devoted to his wife and family. The family would like to thank the staff of N2 at Willow Point Nursing Home for the care given to Eugene. Funeral services will be held at the J.F. Rice Funeral Home, Inc., 150 Main St., Johnson City, Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. at St. James Church, where a funeral mass will be offered. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Johnson City. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. until time of service. In lieu of flowers, those wishing may make memorial contributions to the St. James Church Memorial Fund, 147 Main St., Johnson City, NY, 13790, or CHOW, 3 Otseningo Street, Binghamton, NY 13903, in Eugene F. Burns' memory.

Kids to raise funds for CHOW

November 9, 2010, 7:10 am

Clayton Avenue Elementary School fifth-graders are holding a “Kids for CHOW” event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City.


Anyone donating to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse at the event will receive a hand-painted picture from one of the Vestal students. All donations will be given to CHOW to help feed those in need during the holiday season.

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Choruses for CHOW Benefit Concert Dec. 4

From Broome County Coucil of Churches:


The 7th Annual Choruses for CHOW Benefit Concert will be held Saturday, December 4, at 2 p.m. at the Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church, 380 Main St., Johnson City.

The concert, which raises money for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) of the Broome County Council of Churches, will feature the following groups which are all non-profit organizations:

--Southerntiersmen Barbershop Chorus

--Binghamton Downtown Singers
--Bronzissimo! Bell Choir

--Carousel Harmony Chorus and Young Women in Harmony Chorus

--Endwell Community Chorus

The concert is sponsored by the Southerntiersmen Barbershop Chorus.

Tickets purchased in advance are $8, or $10 at the door, and can be purchased by calling the Council of Churches at 724-9130, or by contacting a chorus member.

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Chorus concert to benefit CHOW

November 11, 2010, 9:13 am

The seventh annual Choruses for CHOW benefit concert will be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 380 Main St. in Johnson City.

The event, which raises money for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, will feature the Southerntiersmen Barbershop Chorus, the Binghamton Downtown Singers, the Bronzissimo! Bell Choir, the Carousel Harmony Chorus, Young Women in Harmony Chorus and the Endwell Community Chorus.

The concert is sponsored by the Southerntiersmen. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. You can purchase tickets by calling the Broome County Council of Churches at 724-9130 or by contacting a chorus member.

— Jennifer Micale

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Thank you to Mary Palmisano's family for asking for donations to the Council

Mary (Tedeschi) Palmisano, 98, of Endwell, died at her residence Sunday, November 7, 2010. She was predeceased by her husband John F. in 1979; a daughter Grace-Marie Harvey in 2010; her parents, Joseph and Isabella Tedeschi; brothers, Frank, Martin, Michael and Louis Tedeschi and a sister, Grace Suggs. She is survived by a daughter and sons-in-law, Isabel and Louis Montone, Boynton Beach, FL and Wayne Harvey, Endwell; her grandchildren, John Harvey, Vestal; Catherine and Scott Denmon, Endicott; Christopher Montone and his fiancée, Linda Watson, Germany; Robert and Nancy Montone, East Aurora, NY and Lisa Montone, Cary, NC; eight great grandchildren; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Florence Zucco; Phyllis and Gene Ash, all of Endwell and Lucille and Michael Rossi, Deltona, FL; a brother, Anthony Tedeschi, Endicott; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Vito and Mary; Dominick and Doris; Nicholas and Mary and Cosamina; also several nieces and nephews. She was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Church, Endicott and was co-owner of Palmisano's Market, Binghamton. Some of Mary's memberships included Alhambra Sidona Caravan #212 Sultana Auxiliary, St. Ann's Club, Catholic Daughters of America, a Republican Committee Woman and was a Meals on Wheels volunteer. The Palmisano family wishes to thank Dr. Lazarus Gehring, the staffs of Endwell Family Physicians and Good Shepherd Village at Endwell, for their loving and compassionate care given to Mary. Funeral Services will be held Friday, 9:30 am from the Allen Memorial Home, 511-513 East Main Street, Endicott, followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church at 10 am. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Johnson City. The family will receive friends at the Allen Memorial Home Thursday from 4-7 pm. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in Mary's memory may be made to Broome County Council of Churches, 3 Otseningo Street, Binghamton, NY 13901.
Published in Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin from November 9 to November 11, 2010

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Kids to raise funds for CHOW

November 9, 2010, 7:10 am
Clayton Avenue Elementary School fifth-graders are holding a “Kids for CHOW” event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City.

Anyone donating to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse at the event will receive a hand-painted picture from one of the Vestal students. All donations will be given to CHOW to help feed those in need during the holiday season.


— Jennifer Micale

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Holiday Train to make Nov. 27 stop

November 9, 2010, 7:58 am

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will stop at the Binghamton East rail yard on Conklin Avenue at 9:15 p.m. Nov. 27. The event will help the Broome County Council of Churches and its Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse feed the needy during the holiday season.

The brightly-lit train will stop in Binghamton for about a half-hour and collect food and cash donations for CHOW. Entertainment will include music by Canadian artist Melanie Doane.


— Jennifer Micale

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Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Benefits CHOW

Published: 11/08 3:32 pm

 

From Broome County Council of Churches:

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will stop at the Binghamton East Rail Yard on Conklin Avenue at 9: 15 p.m. Saturday, November 27, to help the Broome County Council of Churches and its CHOW Program feed the hungry during the holiday season.

The public is invited to this holiday event where the brightly lighted freight train will bring awareness to Broome County in its fight against hunger. Entertainment will include music by Melanie Doane, a product of a musical family and one of Canada’s most talented and diverse musicians and entertainers who plays the guitar, violin, mandolin, ukulele, piano and bass, and has six Top 40 charting singles in Canada.

The brightly decorated freight train appearance helps collect food and cash donations and donates it all to CHOW (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse). The holiday train is a special attraction for children who are encouraged to bring their families along for the festivities. Spectators are encouraged to bring food items or a cash donation to the show.

Since 1999, the Holiday Train program in Canada and the U.S. has raised $4.8 million and generated almost 2.3 million pounds of food for local food programs like CHOW. This year the Holiday Train will stop in 40 towns and cities in eight U.S. states.

The Holiday Train will stop in Binghamton for about 30 minutes, so bring the family for entertainment and a good time, and benefit CHOW at the same time.

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Thank you Heiss family for thinking of CHOW during your time of loss

William J. Heis Jr., 78, of Johnson City, died Friday, November 5, 2010 at Our Lady of Lourdes. He was predeceased by his parents, William and Irene Heis. He is survived by his loving partner, Joan Sexton, Johnson City; cousins, Trude and Irwin Benjamin, Conklin; his best friends, the Sexton Girls, Barbara and Kenneth Bohling, Owego and their children, Keith and Susan Bohling, Albany, NY, Matthew and Julianne Bohling, Seattle, WA. He was a graduate of Binghamton University and a retiree of the IBM Corp. Mr. Heis has been known in the area for his participation in theatrical productions with the Ti-Ahwaga Players and the Civic Theatre. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 11:00am at the Barber Memorial Home, Inc., 428 Main St., Johnson City. Burial will be in Vestal Hills Memorial Park. The family will receive friends at the Barber Memorial Home on Tuesday from 10-11am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CHOW, 3 Osteningo Street, Binghamton, NY, 13903.

Published in Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin from November 7 to November 9, 2010 Email

Chaplain tends to members of the flock serving time

By Valerie Zehl •vzehl@gannett.com • November 6, 2010, 5:50 pm


On Sundays, Cris Mogenson can be found serving behind an altar or in a pew with his family.

On weekdays, look for him in jail.

For a decade now, Cris, 49, has served as coordinating chaplain in Broome County's correctional facility.

Only once did an inmate get in his face.

"It sounds like you're trying to threaten me," Cris snapped. "Listen, I'm the only friend you've got in here."

That lion became a lamb.

Now, Cris looks with a parent's pride at the former prisoners he calls "success stories."

He fights exasperation with the ones he sees behind bars again and again. It can be frustrating, this jailhouse ministry, but it's his calling and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He did try.

Answering an altar call in 1979 at the Maranatha Church of the Nazarene near his home in Bergen County, New Jersey, started him on a course he resisted with all his might.

"I had a real wrestling with God," he says. "For me, if I didn't enter into full-time ministry, to call myself a Christian would be a fraud."

His eye was on a career in medicine, but like Jonah dumped on an unexpected shore, he soon found himself a seminarian.

In 1992 he was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene. His first assignment: a Latino congregation.

"Here's a kid who flunked Spanish in high school, and my first church is a mile from the border of Mexico," Cris jokes.

He served as pastor elsewhere, including at the Free Methodist congregation near his current home in Windsor, but the "adminis-trivia" of heading a congregation took him from the hands-on work he loved most.

He had worked the front lines of the battle for men's souls before -- with prisoners during college and as a drug and alcohol counselor at the Salvation Army facility on Griswold Street in Binghamton -- and he felt drawn to jail ministry again.

One phone call alerted him to an opening with his present employer, the Broome County Council of Churches, where he's a listening ear to the prisoners and those who deal with them.

Part of his job has him intercepting little ones when they get off the school bus because Mommy can't be there. She was just put in jail.


His border collie ("We jokingly call her 'the borderline collie,' he says) came to him by way of a prisoner who suddenly found himself in no position to care for the canine.

"I can't do that too often, obviously," he says, hands splayed. If he could, though, he probably would. He's known to be that kind of guy.

He just about gushes when he talks about the Jail Ministry staff and volunteers, 100 or so individuals who make him shake his head in admiration when words fail him.

Elizabeth Hayes, part of the Jail Ministry team, points out that they could confine their efforts to working with prisoners while they're incarcerated. Instead the team chooses to reach out for the greater good. She designed and wrote grants for a reentry program, which supports prisoners when they get out of jail.

"He's interested in giving Christmas to the inmates and to their children," she says. "He includes the families and takes an interest in what happens after their time in jail is ended."

One of her and Cris' favorite programs is also that of their boss, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sellepack, executive director of the BCCC.

"In their literacy program, they have inmates read books into a voice recorder to be converted into a CD, then they send the book and CD home to the inmates' children," "Dr. Joe" says.

Cris deals with a very tough population at the jail, including many with mental illness, Dr. Joe points out, yet Cris can see beyond external barriers to the hearts of those he serves.

County Sheriff David Harder is in charge of the jail.

Of Cris, he says: "Very hardworking and always ready to help other people, despite his own problems."


Those problems come in the form of an ongoing sorrow: Son Bradley has an incurable mitochondrial disease and autism that tightly circumscribe his life. Brother Wesley, 18, and sister Kristin, 16, attend the Oak Tree program at BOCES. Both have been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

"I like Daddy to read to me," says Bradley, 11. Cris is their youth leader at the Windsor United Methodist Church they and their mom, Cheryl, attend.


"It's nice to have another clergyperson in the congregation," says Pastor Douglas Clark.

Cris switched his ordination over to the Free Methodist Church in 1997, and now fills in at Presbyterian, Lutheran and other pulpits as needed. He tends to the flock of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at Southern Tier AIDS Program (STAP) retreats. His extended family of faith also includes Baptists, Catholics and Muslims -- such as fellow chaplains Father Stan Gerlock and Imam Kasim Kapuz."We're very ecumenical," Cris says with a grin.

His calendar bulges with board and other group meetings, and he's regional manager of the American Correctional Chaplains Association, overseeing the Northeast from Virginia to Maine. His hours at home are precious, and precious few.

"I know he looks forward to the opportunities when he can take the boys fishing," Cheryl says.

He talks to his kids about God's love, about seeing themselves and others as God sees them -- the same message he brings into the hearts of prisoners.

"I tell them we're a mirror reflecting God's image, but sometimes that mirror is cracked or tarnished," Cris says. "But it can be repaired."

Volunteer information

If you're interested in donating time to the Jail Ministry or other projects of the Broome County Council of Churches, call (607) 724-9130 or visit broomecouncil.net.

At a glance


Name: Cris Mogenson.

Age: 49.

Hometown: River Edge, N.J.; now lives in Windsor.

Family: Wife Cheryl; sons Bradley, 11, and Wesley, 18; daughter Kristin, 16.

Most unexpected hobbies: Civil War reenactor; actor in dinner theater at church; musician and music collector -- everything from the Bulgarian Women's Choir to Pygmy Water Drums to Kansas -- but Celtic is his all-time favorite.

Self-assessment from 1979: "Jesus freak, driving a VW van."

Previous jobs: Volunteer firefighter; emergency medical services technician; residential director of inner-city rescue mission, then its executive director; chaplain at Herr's Snack Foods factory (quote from fellow Jail Ministry teammate Father Stan Gerlock: "So you were the chip monk.")

Personal experiences he doesn't talk much about: Having heard an "almost-audible" voice counseling him to stop what he was doing and go to the school -- where circumstances converged at that instant to put him into his first pastoring position.

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Thank you for your genosity to the Council, Mrs. Kennedy!

D. Jean Kennedy, 89, passed away the morning of November 2, 2010 at the Lourdes Hospice unit after a brief stay. She is survived by her niece Dorn Black of Vestal, and Dorn's daughters Darcia and Danielle Black of Raleigh, N. C. Also surviving are her cousins: Craig and Marge Waldo of Apalachin, NY and their children; Donald and Jewel, who were extremely supportive during her battle with Parkinson's Disease; David, Barbara, Douglas, Mark, and Nanette; and Gary Waldo of Bath, NY and his children: Dwight, Duane and Deborah. Jean was a kind and generous person, and will be missed by many; human and canine friends alike. She was a graduate of Westminster College, and SUNY Albany with BA degrees, and received her MSLS from Syracuse University. She taught Social Studies in Candor, Port Jervis and Vestal, and was librarian in the Vestal Schools and retired as Coordinator of Library Services from the Vestal Central School System.She was an Elder of First Presbyterian Church in Endicott, and a former member of Delta Kappa Gamma.
Funeral Service will be held Friday evening, November 5, at 7:00 p.m. at the Coleman & Daniels Funeral Home, 300 E. Main St., Endicott. Reverend Janice Devine, Co-Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Endicott, will officiate. The family will receive friends on Friday from 6:00 p.m. until service time at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. The burial will be held on Saturday at Riverhurst Cemetery at the convenience of the family. Contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund of the First Presbyterian Church of Endicott, 29 Grant Avenue, or the charity of one's choice.

Published in Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin from November 4 to November 5, 2010

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Obituary asking for donations to CHOW

Harriet "Polly" Humphrey

Johnson City resident Harriet "Polly" Humphrey, age 94, died peacefully in her sleep on November 3, 2010 at Lourdes Hospital. Please join the family on Saturday, November 6th, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, located at 734 River Road in Chenango Bridge, NY, for an hour of remembrance to begin at 12:30 pm. There will be a church service immediately afterwards, to begin at 1:30pm. Family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, or to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW). Polly was born in Scranton, PA, on September 13, 1916. After graduating from Scranton High School in 1934, Polly married the love of her life, Ed Humphrey, in 1938. Her beloved "Eddy" preceded her in death on October 23, 1996, after 58 years of marriage. Also preceding her in death were her sisters Elizabeth Pell and Gertrude McGeehan. Without question, Polly's greatest joy was found in spending time with the wonderful family she and Ed created, as well as with friends and extended family. Polly is survived by her sister Margaret Hamilton; oldest son, Jack Humphrey (wife Dorothy) of East Syracuse, NY; daughter Peggy Knox (husband Dave), of Chenango Forks, NY; and youngest son, Bill Humphrey (wife Kathy), of Chadds Ford, PA. Beloved family includes grandchildren Tracie (Dan) Begeal, Todd (Kris) Humphrey, Jeff Humphrey, Josh (Jenn) Humphrey, Jennifer (Jim) Van Luvender, Heidi (Dave) Young, Becky (Bill) Morgan, Meredith Holden, Paige Holden; Great Grandchildren Emily Humphrey, Andrew Begeal, James Van Luvender, Beth Van Luvender, Kaitlyn Van Luvender, Aimee (Scott) Hogan, Madeline Humphrey, Leah Humphrey, Catherine Humphrey, Autumn Morgan, Amanda Morgan, Sara Morgan, Roger Hart; Great Great Grandchild Zachary Hogan; and many beloved nieces and nephews. Polly's family would like to express the following: "What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch. Ninety four years was still too soon for us... we were not ready to say good-bye. But little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget."

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Six songwriters to perform at showcase Saturday at Binghamton's Cyber Cafe West

November 3, 2010, 2:35 pm

The latest edition of the Songwriter Showcase at Cyber Café West has lined up six performers for Saturday night.

The featured singer/songwriter, BettySoo, is a nationally touring musician whose latest album, "Heat Sin Water Skin," draws from folk, gospel, country and more.


Also on the bill for the 9 p.m. show will be Brittany Garrison, Joanna Yaeger, Hunter Davidsohn and Spencer Rowell. Greg Meisner will perform a 20-minute preshow at 8:30.

Admission is free, but organizer John Kanazawich suggests a donation of $5 and 1 item of nonperishable food. The concert also will be collecting food and funds for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse and WHY-Hunger. Cyber Café is located at 176 Main St. in Binghamton.

To learn more, go online to http://www.songwritershowcase.org/.

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Bank to hold shredding events

November 1, 2010


REGION Chemung Canal Trust Co. said that it will host document-shredding events from noon to 3 p.m. at the following branch office locations to help people reduce their exposure to identity theft:


* Saturday, Route 17C, Owego (next to the Owego Treadway Inn).

* Nov. 13 at 100 Rano Blvd., Vestal (in the Weis Markets shopping plaza).

The events are being presented in conjunction with Rogers Service Group and WIVT-TV.

The events are open to individuals only, not businesses. There is no charge for the service, but the sponsors are asking that those who attend bring nonperishable food items for donation to Tioga Opportunities and Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.

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Valerie Zehl Neighbors: AmeriCorps provides a way to give back to community

November 1, 2010, 5:45 pm

Jason Fleischer and Marsha Bailey are Binghamton University graduates now serving at the Council of Churches through AmeriCorps. "I'm developing skills myself while helping to feed people," Jason says. "It's a win-win-win situation all the way around." (VALERIE ZEHL/Staff Photo)

After Susan Beaudoin, of Apalachin, graduated from St. Mary's College of Maryland, she faithfully shipped her resume to potential employers but -- nada.

Then a position back home caught her eye.

Now she's in her second half-time term of paid service with AmeriCorps because she loved the first one so much.

"I'm currently working to promote local foods," Susan, 23, said. "And I'd like to continue in that line of work."

About 75,000 opportunities are available annually for adults of all ages and backgrounds through the organization's three primary programs: AmeriCorps State and National (working with more than 2,900 nonprofit and community groups), AmeriCorps Vista (to fight poverty) and AmeriCorps NCCC (a residential program for young adults with projects in public safety, disaster preparedness and relief, environment and youth development), explains Andrea Todd from the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, D. C.


Locally, Habitat for Humanity uses the talents of two AmeriCorps VISTA members, says Mary Vivona, who works out of the Endicott office. She won't have openings again until next summer, but suggests any interested adults check out opportunities at the AmeriCorps website, www.americorps.gov.


Some positions offer an opportunity for relocation, depending upon where they are, she points out.


Jason Fleischer, 22, came from Middletown to attend Binghamton University and he's staying here to serve in AmeriCorps State at the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW).


"I like Binghamton and wanted to give back," says Jason, who lives on the West Side.


Those who have student loans or who are anticipating more schooling appreciate the possibility of a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $5,350.


Whitney Point-based Rural Health Network of South Central New York works with Susan, Jason and a hefty volume of other members.


"This contract year, September 2010 through December 2011, we have 12 full-time (1,710-hour) positions, 10 half-time (907-hour) positions, and 11 part-time (303- or 455-hour) positions," says Julie Pitts, RHN's administrative services coordinator. "Current full-time members receive a living allowance stipend of $11,800 during service, college loan forbearance on most federal loans in good standing and health insurance."



Maybe the best news is that RHN is almost always recruiting for positions at 20 sites in Broome, Tioga and outlying counties. They include the Southern Tier AIDS Program in Johnson City, and the Hope Dispensary of the Southern Tier and Dr. Garabed A. Fattal Community Free Clinic in Binghamton.


Marsha Bailey, of Binghamton, serves in programs at the Broome County Council of Churches, working with seniors and the housebound to help them make good food choices.



"It gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day," says Marsha, 28. "I learn from them, and they learn from me."



CHOW director Ed Blaine appreciates having Jason there, particularly when AmeriCorps picks up half the tab for the full-time worker's wages.



"It allows us to focus someone who can run with it on a certain project," he says. Jason subs for him at meetings as needed, as well as rounds up and guides volunteers in the warehouse and the community garden in Conklin and other tasks.



"I'm developing skills myself while helping to feed people," Jason says, "So it's a win-win-win situation all around."

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