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Sectional champs
Christina Fadden
Stacy Finney
Fadden vs. Finney
Two candidates running for mayor By Russ Tarby Contributing Writer
Phil Blackwell
The Liverpool baseball team earned its first Section III Class AA championship since 2017 when it rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat Christian Brothers Academy 11-5 last Sunday at Onondaga Community College. by Phil Blackwell Maybe it just had to be this way for the Liverpool baseball team. Less than two hours after it found
itself trailing Christian Brothers Academy by five runs less than an inning into Sunday’s Section III Class AA championship game at Onondaga Community College, the Warriors
found itself celebrating an 11-5 victory and the program’s first sectional title since 2017. This comeback reflected all that Champs l Page 2
North Syracuse Family Festival return a success By Andrew Welliver
Ahead of Memorial Day, the North Syracuse Community Center held the 16th annual Family Festival from May 26 through May 28 at 700 South Bay Road in North Syracuse. This is the second year the festival has been held since being postponed, like so many other events, due the COVID-19 pandemic. The festivities kicked off with an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. on May 26 and it was followed-up with various local musical artists including Tunetastic Entertainment, Matt Chase and Lori Ann Wilber. The music was just one facet of the whole event however, as there were classic cars on display, along with numerous bounce houses and raffles providing fun and entertainment for people of all ages. The festival has always had an emphasis on activities for children, and this year was no different. All activities were designed to be affordable, and kids were able to have access to everything for $5. Families of four or more were able to all come to the festival together for $15. Parents and local sponsors have come to understand how important the festival is to the morale of the community. “They know the event is a great thing for the
This year’s Liverpool village election will be a historic one, the first time ever that both mayoral candidates are women. Current village Trustee Christina Fadden is running as a Republican while newcomer Stacy Finney is running as a Democrat. Whichever candidate prevails in the June 20 election will become the village’s second female mayor, its 14th mayor overall. In 2001, Republican Marlene Ward defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Jon Zappola to become the first woman mayor in village history.
Christina Fadden
Fadden, 59, is a lifelong Liverpudlian. After attending college at Eastman School of Music and Indiana University, she moved back home. “I wanted to raise my beautiful daughter, Shannon, in our community,” she said. “And I’ve lived here ever since, a total of 50 years.” For more than seven years Fadden has served on the village board. As a trustee, she founded the Village Tree Committee. Prior to becoming a trustee, Fadden was a member of Liverpool Cemetery Restoration Committee and the village zoning board of appeals. From 2004 to 2008, Fadden worked as assistant executive director of the NY State Right to Life Committee, Inc. She presently works as personnel director for the Onondaga County Department of Social Services overseeing more than 420 employees. She’s also a lifetime member of the American Legion Post 188 Auxiliary.
Stacy Finney
Submitted photo
The Syracuse Community Center held the sixteenth annual Family Festival from May 26 through May 28. children,” said Vera Besimone, an original committee member of the Syracuse Family Festival. “You wouldn’t believe how many children arrive to the event.” The committee responsible for putting on the festival always looks to hold it the Saturday before Memorial Day. Tony Burkinshaw, the head of the committee, wanted to create a memorable event by changing up a few things after the break caused by COVID19. “The village is handson, and we still look to appeal to the kids,” he said. “This was the year to make changes after the oneyear layoff, and we made little changes where we
put vendors in different spots to change it up a hair.” There were over 40 different vendors at the festival this year. In addition to vendors being shifted around, the festival was turned into a street festival located outside of the North Syracuse Community Center. This was the first time in the festival’s history that the location has been changed. Everything was lined up so there was more room for all the food trucks and local businesses looking to sell their goods. Planning for the festival starts with the “Bunny Breakfast,” which is a fundraising event put on by the local VFW and the
Canteen. The “Bunny Breakfast” is an important part of what fuels the activities and music at the festival, and it has continued to be a success for everyone involved. Everything is put together with a focus on entraining the community. “The people are looking for entertainment, and we are all about improving the experience,” Burkinshaw said. Local support is also vital to the success of the festival including sponsors like The Friends of North Syracuse. This organization, and many other supporters, plays a large part in helping the festival take place and continue to grow.
Raised in Syracuse’s Strathmore neighborhood, Stacy Finney has lived in Liverpool since March 2011. “My husband, Ray, and I felt it was time for a move to an area that had the ability to walk to shops and restaurants,” she said. “Ray teaches at Liverpool Middle School, and I would often sub there in addition to working alongside him on the musicals. We both agreed the village of Liverpool would be the perfect place to raise our family.” Before relocating to Liverpool, Finney celebrated her Strathmore roots by joining the Strathmore Neighborhood Association. “I started a children’s Halloween Parade which they still put on to this day -- a tradition I hope to bring to the village of Liverpool, too,” she said. “I was also very involved in the Strathmore Tour of Historic Homes.” The 48-year-old candidate and mother of two is employed as an eighth grade art teacher at Strough Middle School in Rome. Finney was educated at State University of New York schools in Geneseo and Oswego. “After college I worked in a variety of different building and design positions,” she said. More recently, she pursued interior design work as a sideline, operating a business called CNY Interior Arrangements. Finney is currently serving a four-year term on the village zoning board of appeals. She is a member of the Rome Teachers Association, an affiliate of NY State United Teachers union.
Issues listed
While Fadden and Finney are two very different women, they agree on the toughest issue facing the village: traffic. “We must maintain our way of life and identity while development takes place around us,” Fadden said. “Traffic is an ongoing decades-long concern. The noise and congestion created from pass-through traffic, especially truck traffic, must be reduced, mitigated and resisted. The character of our village environment should remain quaint and inviting, not commercialized and depersonalized.” Mayor l Page 18
Volume 131, Number 23 The Star-Review is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206. Periodical Postage Paid at Syracuse, NY 13220, USPS 316060. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Star-Review, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
Hire power: How to navigate an interview.
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schools: Liverpool music production students give back.
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death notices ��������� 18
Obituaries ���������������� 11
Editorial ��������������������� 6
PennySaver ���������������� 8
letters ������������������������ 7
Sports ������������������ 16-17