Strengthening Our Area Residents - SOAR

 

    Rotarian Jenn Preston introduced this week’s guest speaker, Ron Palladino, who was joined by his wife, Tina, for our meeting. Ron spoke to us about SOAR – which stands for “Strengthening Our Area Residents” – a grassroots organization serving the communities of Clyde, Savannah and Galen in eastern Wayne County. The group is composed of individuals, organizations, businesses, and other partners whose aim is, “to improve the health and well-being of (these) communities, promote economic development, and beautify the surroundings” of the area.
     Among the various groups and agencies that have collaborated on numerous civic improvement activities are Wayne County and the Town of Clyde, the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County, NYS Department of Conservation, and the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.
     A major initiative of SOAR currently is “Closing the Gaps on the Erie Canal”.  Recent projects in this effort include development of a hiking and biking trail along the abandoned line of the old West Shore Railroad and construction of a playground at Lauraville Landing. One major sign of the group’s success in this area, Ron noted, is a recent announcement to include the SOAR plan in the state budget for development of the Buffalo-to-New York City Empire State Trail.
     Thank you, Ron, for sharing your time to inform us about this important grassroots effort to improve the quality of life in our area of the Empire State. If you would like to see evidence of these efforts, take a look at the SOAR Facebook page.