Mistake in Pennsylvania causes headache for Castile residents
By Bryan Jackson
It sounded like rush hour at LAX for some Castile residents two weeks ago, thanks to a mix-up at the Dominion Transmission, Inc. facility on Oak Hill Road.
Construction at the natural gas compressor station required existing gas lines coming from Patton, Penn., to be attached to new lines before work could continue. To do that, workers had to bleed the lines, which is usually a routine procedure.
Except, of course, if the gas pressure in the lines isn’t turned down enough. Then, instead of routine, it’s loud – really loud.
“What happened Monday was supposedly an honest mistake,” Castile Town Supervisor Stephen Tarbell said. “They had to bleed the line, and somebody in Pennsylvania forgot to lower the pressure for the gas. It ended up (being) louder than it should have been.”
Dominion cleared up the problem by the time it completed another test Wednesday, Tarbell said.
“It only lasted less than 15 minutes, and the gas pressure was where it was supposed to be,” he said. “It was a lot quieter, and we didn’t even get any calls on it.”
Tarbell said Dominion told him after the fact that representatives from the company went door-to-door to notify residents in close proximity to the facility, but because of the pressure mistake, the procedure affected more people than anticipated. However, Dominion didn’t notify Tarbell prior to the initial test, so he was unable to alert a larger group of residents in advance.
As of now, Dominion will not have to perform the noise-causing maintenance again in the foreseeable future.
Dominion Transmission, Inc. is an interstate gas transmission operation headquartered in Richmond, Va. It is a subsidiary of Dominion and maintains 7,800 miles of pipeline throughout New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. The Castile station compresses natural gas from Pennsylvania before transporting it to locations farther north.
Finding the ‘write’ inspiration: Warsaw creative writing group attracts scriveners young and old
By Bryan Jackson
Wendy Schreiner participated in a creative writing group in her native West Seneca’s Barnes and Noble for about three years until she moved to Warsaw in February 2011. She didn’t want the creative juices stewing in her head to run dry, so instead of searching for another writing club to join, she started her own – Warsaw’s Write Connection.
Members meet in the Warsaw Public Library the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. to discuss their current creative projects and hone their craft through writing activities. The program, entering its second year, runs from September to May. The first meeting was Tuesday.
Judging by last year’s turnout, Schreiner wasn’t the only area resident looking for a place to tap into their inner Shakespeare or Hemingway, although her first effort for a creative writing group failed to take off.
“For a short time, I ran a religious creative writing (group) at St. Michael’s Church, but there wasn’t a big turnout,” she said. “The library was more than happy to accommodate the (new) group. Last year, there were about 19 people.”
Warsaw’s Write Connection is free, and members vary in age from kids to senior citizens and ability level from beginners to published authors. The age discrepancy might seem challenging, but in Schreiner’s eyes, the diversity is a plus.
“Everyone can learn something from each other,” she said. “One of the gentlemen is writing about war stories, heroes of the war, yet there are young girls who are just writing poetry for fun.”
That gentleman is Jim Gillen.
He said the group helps keep his skills sharp but said feedback is the most beneficial aspect, which is especially helpful as he’s working on his new book.
“The class in Warsaw is pretty open to any type of suggestions,” Gillen said. “I can go in there, bring a couple names of the boys I’m working on now and just read it to them. (I can) ask the class, ‘What do you think? Did I write enough about that boy?’”
Schreiner, who’s been writing poetry for years and studied English at Daemon College, assigns a monthly writing activity at each meeting and the group completes other activities during the classes.
“Sometimes I’ll do an additional activity while we’re there,” she said. “There are also assignments. One of them was ‘If I were a Leprechaun.’ It’s just something to get (members) started then they can chose to read it, or they don’t have to. A lot of them do it because it gives them something to write about.”
Schreiner said above all, her goal with Warsaw’s Write Connection is provide a space where people can motivate each other through their writing, whether it’s poetry, fiction or nonfiction.
“I think there are writers out there who have always been interested in writing or belonging to something like this, but it’s hard to get a group started or to find one that’s free and convenient,” she said. “It gets them thinking that maybe they should look into possibly some places to submit (their work). Inspiring – I guess that’s a good word for the group.”
In January 2009, Perry native Sarah Billings returned to her hometown after working in upscale salons for eight years in New York City. But she wasn’t back to work in the hair industry — at least not yet.
“I wasn’t sure if I was ready to actually plant my feet and stay here in Perry or not,” she said.
Instead, Billings, lured by the promise of free food from her mother Anita’s Hole in the Wall Restaurant and free rent, returned to Wyoming County to finish a degree in business administration. She began working at Perry’s Schmidt and Volk accounting firm, but after two tax seasons, something was missing.
“It was very gratifying to help people behind the desk and get people back significant refunds, but I missed working with people, and I missed doing hair,” Billings said.
On Sept. 13, 2011, Billings opened the doors to SLB Salon and Boutique, 1 S. Main St., Perry. With a layout, designed by Perry’s In Site Architecture, that emphasizes privacy, the SLB experience aims for sophistication and comfort. Billings said her upscale aspirations for her salon were discouraged by some at first.
“In preparation of doing the salon and doing our business plan, everyone was like, ‘Is this actually going to work in Perry? It won’t work, people don’t want this, it can’t be this nice,’” she said. “And my thing was, if it’s not the way I want it and it’s not as nice as I want it, I don’t want to do it at all.
“I only know how to do things the best way and to be the most successful, so it had to be perfect.”
“I’m very grateful to the community and my customers for being so supportive and making it the most amazing first year that I could possibly ever have dreamed of,” Billings said.
The journey that led Billings to owning her own salon began decades ago, when her mother would take her on Saturday trips to the late Perry resident Edna Wood’s Woody Beauty Shop.
“As a little girl, I thought it would be so fun to have my own little salon,” Billings said. “I think that started the mind process of ‘oh, I want to do hair.’”
She worked at Expressions Salon in Geneseo as a teenager and participated in the BOCES cosmetology program in her junior and senior years of high school. When she turned 18, Billings moved to New York City, where she worked as a shampooer at the salon of celebrity hair stylist Frederic Fekkai.
Her time at Fekkai, as well as at the renowned Pierre Michel salon, reinforced the lessons she’d learned in BOCES, such as the importance of the shampooing process and head massage that goes with it. She also learned new skills, like how to style hair with just a brush and hair dryer in place of a curling iron or flatiron.
Billings said in addition to her technical skills, she learned to emphasize elegance over trendiness.
“It’s more about being classic,” she said. “It’s really knowing the client and really consulting with them.”
That consultation includes taking into account the client’s profession and lifestyle, physical attributes like face and eye shape and their personal style before making a cut.
Billings said although she thinks some people balk at SLB’s pricier-than-average rates, her skills and training and the experience received by clients makes it worth the extra cash.
“I think some people are cautious of spending the money, that they feel that I am so expensive here,” she said. “But I really haven’t had anyone come in and be like, ‘This is so expensive.’ It’s not bad — you get what you pay for.”
Most of SLB’s clients are Perry residents, but other hail from all over Livingston, Genesee and Wyoming counties. Billings said seasonal residents of Silver Lake also frequent the salon, excited to have an upscale experience so close.
“You don’t have to drive to Rochester and you don’t have to drive to Buffalo to get your hair done,” she said. “It’s like, just because we’re Perry, it doesn’t mean we can’t have something beautiful.”
To mark its first year in business, SLB will be offering deals on jewelry and styling products throughout September and October. Billings is also planning on hosting a Mirabella makeup educator on Oct. 22 to offer makeup tutorials. Details are still being worked out, but the day could also include deals on eyebrow waxing, hairstyling and more.
For updates and more details about upcoming special offers, visit SLB Salon and Boutique on Facebook. For more information, visit slbsalonboutique.com.
