Maverick Molaro, 3, tries to create a bubble at the Fun Bubble kids’ activity station. (Photo by Brian Quinn)
By Brian Quinn
For Video News Service
The town of Alabama Bicentennial Celebration Saturday afternoon didn’t require much travel from Lexi and Joe Molaro of Alabama, and their son, Maverick. The trio simply had to walk across Judge Road from their home and they were on the grounds of the Alabama Volunteer Fire Department.
Once they arrived, Maverick, 3, was ready to try to create a large bubble at Bubble Fun, one of the children’s game stations, before moving on to other games. He’s done something similar, playing with bubbles at Stokoe Farms in Scottsville.
“He loves doing this there. They have one of these stations,” Lexi Molaro said while watching Maverick play at the celebration. “He likes the bubbles, so he was brought right to them. He gets drawn to so many things. We were going to try the face painting, maybe the horsey rides. They’re a little big and intimidating. He likes videos of them.”
Maverick went ahead with his dad to throw a ball.
“He loves all kinds of stuff like this. This is all perfect,” Lexi said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on.”
Lexi Molaro said Maverick is a little too young to understand and appreciate what a bicentennial is.
“You’ll see him all around the activities … and sticks,” she said as the 3-year-old picked up a stick and started playing with it. Lexi and Joe Molaro were thinking about seeing some of the historical presentations that took place Saturday at the Alabama Volunteer Fire Department on Judge Road. She said she found out about the celebration from Joe not long before it began and they headed right over.
Katie Weaver paints the face of Tyson Coy, 2, of Oakfield during today’s bicentennial celebration in Alabama. (Photo by Brian Quinn)
Alabama Town Historian Dawn Fisher said in addition to the vendors and kids’ activities, there were horse-and-wagon rides.
“We had the commemorative piece from the Sons of the American Revolution to celebrate the service of Amos Starkweather,” she said. There was a car cruise late in the afternoon and music by Craig Wilkins and his band.
“It’s looking great. It’s a beautiful day and we’re very happy,” she said. “We’ve got people that live in the community, people that came out from the area. We’re greatly appreciative of everybody that’s here today, celebrating our event.”
Fisher made a presentation on Starkweather, who served during the Revolutionary War, enlisting in April 1782 with the 8th Company, 1st Connecticut Regiment. Even after the American victory at Yorktown in 1781, sporadic fighting continued. Starkweather and his wife had 13 children. He moved to Canaan, then to Worcester, both in New York, before coming to Alabama in 1830. Starkweather, his son, Schuyler, and son-in-law, Isaac Deuel, were involved in purchasing land in 1840 and later building the Alabama Hotel. Amos Starkweather (1763-1844) is at Wheatville Cemetery in Alabama.
“Take a look at some of the cemeteries that are nearby – cemeteries that maybe we drive by every day, that we take for granted,” Fisher told the community members listening to her presentation. “Maybe you’ll see the flags flying there. Those flags represent a person that represented our country. They served our country. It’s really important – not just this year – to celebrate America 250, but just take the time to stop and to really thank that person and really be grateful that we live in the United States of America.”
Holland Land Office Museum Executive Director Ryan Duffy told the public about some of the other Revolutionary War soldiers who ended up moving to this area, including Gideon Dunham, who later lived in Oakfield, which was then part of Elba; Jesse Safford (Pembroke); Nathan Tinkham (Pembroke); Elijah Blodgett (Oakfield, when it was part of Elba); Roswell Graham (Batavia); James Bennett (Bethany); Isaac Davis Bishop (Stafford, Le Roy); and Benjamin Wright (Bergen).
Buster, an alpaca, gets some refreshments while another alpaca, Zander, looks out at the passers-by this afternoon. (Photo by Brian Quinn)
Outside, where most of the vendors were, Debbie Johnson and Roberta Tracy were sitting next to a pen that housed two alpacas – Zander and Buster.
The fleece shorn from Buster and Zander is used to make products – such as socks, hats, gloves and mittens – that Johnson can sell at events such as the bicentennial.
Debbie Johnson, left, and Roberta Tracy sit near some of the items Johnson was selling. (Photo by Brian Quinn)
“What we do is, after we shear them in May, we send it in to a co-op and then they’ll tell me how much I have that I can place an order for the socks and the hats and the mittens, and all that,” Johnson said. She said she has close to 70-something alpacas. The co-op is in New England, and the co-op meets her at alpaca shows, such as one scheduled for the fall in Syracuse.
“I bring in my fleece that we’ve sheared off of them. They take it back and clean it, and then they tell me how much weight I have. Then I know how much I have that I can order from,” Johnson said. “I get a discount back because I send my fleece into them. I’m part of the co-op because I’ve given them fleece. I go online, place the order and they bring it to the show for me.”
Senior Dispatcher Robert Tripp takes Eli Torrey’s fingerprint for the Operation SAFE CHILD program. (Photo by Brian Quinn)
At the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office tent, with parental or guardian permission, Senior Dispatcher Robert Tripp and Deputy Josh Brabon were getting children into the New York State Sheriffs’ Association (NYSSA) Operation SAFE CHILD program, which stores a child’s photo, fingerprints and biographical information. The parent or guardian receives a SAFE CHILD card to carry in case the child disappears. If there is a disappearance, the parent or guardian would give the card to the investigating law enforcement agency to help find the child. When the child turns 18, the child’s information is deleted from the system.
“It gets submitted to DCJS (Department of Criminal Justice Services),” Tripp said. As of about 2:15 p.m. today, five kids and their families had visited the tent.
How much the kids appreciate or understand Operation SAFE CHILD depends on their age, Brabon said.
“Some have been really young, so they haven’t really processed much. Some of them think it’s really cool,” he said.
Town Supervisor Rob Crossen gives Celinda McQuistion a pie in the face this afternoon at the bicentennial celebration. (Photo by Brian Quinn)