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Local
Heroes
Our
annual tribute to Capital Region residents who make a difference
Heroism
takes many forms. It’s easy to recognize in its most dramatic
forms, when people sacrifice or risk their lives or safety
for a good cause. But it also involves the tireless everyday
work of people who sacrifice their time, energy, comfort,
and sometimes peace of mind to do good for others or for the
planet, to come face-to-face with hard truths, or to disrupt
an established way of doing things that is past due for some
shaking up. All of Metroland’s 2007 local heroes do
this in one way or another, whether it is fighting for quality
mental-health services, speaking out against gun violence,
raising money to bring clean water to children in Africa,
or agitating to overthrow entrenched political power. We also
honor the extraordinary efforts that enhance our cultural
lives, highlighting the efforts to establish a popular citywide
celebration, and the reenvisioning of a regional performing
arts center.
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| PHOTO:
Alicia Solsman |
Mame
Lyttle
Mame
Lyttle, Albany, embraces her role as a mental-health advocate.
“I
am so flattered by this,” says Mame Lyttle. “I am just one
person. There are so many other people more deserving of this
than me.”
The
world of mental-health treatment is one that few would choose
to enter. Almost as a rule, those who advocate for the mentally
ill have a family member or loved one who suffers from mental
illness. Lyttle is no different. To her, she has only done
what so many other people struggle to do: become familiar
with a foreign, bloated bureaucracy for the sake of a loved
one.
Her brother Bill is mentally ill, and a resident of Capital
District Psychiatric Center. After their mother died, Lyttle
moved to the area and became Bill’s primary caregiver. But
Lyttle has gone beyond acting simply as a caregiver to her
brother. Working as a volunteer at CDPC and for the New York
state branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a
support and advocacy group, Lyttle has dedicated herself to
organizing and agitating for a change to the system in Albany
County that she calls “very broken. Stretched. It is over-burdened.”
It is hard picture the graceful Lyttle as a rabble rouser;
but because sometimes she has to be, she is. When she learned
this summer that Albany Medical Center planned to halve its
allotment of 52 beds dedicated to Albany County’s mental-health
patients, she rallied the troops and organized a protest.
Although that effort didn’t reverse AMC’s decision, she had
to try.
“There
are not a lot of services that are available,” she says, “and
often those that are available are not working for the people
who are the most in need. Their lives become very chaotic,
and so does the family situation.”
For families coming into the system, this chaos can be devastating.
“To
deal with the illness is one thing, then to deal with a bulky,
broken system,” she says, “it is very distressing. I was there
myself 20 years ago, knowing very little about mental illness,
knowing little about treatment. I now try to help families
make it through the system with what I have learned.”
This was how she survived those first painful years: mentors
in the system giving her guidance, helping her navigate the
convoluted treatment world. That is how these things go, she
says: People pass information along. “I have been very fortunate
in meeting people who have given me help,” she says. “I just
hope that I am able to do that for other people.”
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| PHOTO:
Joe Putrock |
Troy
Night Out
Troy
Night Out, a monthly celebration of downtown Troy, has become,
in less than a year, a staple of the city’s cultural scene
Someone
had to take charge, Elizabeth Young Scarlata says. The idea
of a monthly event celebrating Troy’s downtown businesses
and art galleries had been floating around for a while. Towns
up and down the Hudson had been throwing their own versions
of art walks for years. Albanians recently started hosting
their own version, 1st Friday. And a small group of dedicated
Troy-philes were eager to get something similar going—but
no one had taken the reins. Then Young Scarlata met Karen
Schlesinger of Digital Artist’s Studio.
“It
was funny,” Young Scarlata says. “She and I kind of had the
same idea on our own, without ever meeting each other. She
stopped by my shop one day and asked if I would be interested.
It was like the stars aligning.”
They held a meeting at Young Scarlata’s River Street business,
Living Room Antiques, and more than 20 people showed up, including
the owners of Kismet Gallery and Shake Shake Mamas. From that
initial show of interest, the duo knew that an event in Troy
would be a hit.
They gave the event a name: Troy Night Out. They set out to
broaden the appeal of Troy Night Out beyond the typical arts
walk. They wanted the night to highlight all the positive
things that downtown Troy has to offer: restaurants, shops,
galleries. They reached out and recruited as many people as
possible. One person who has been with it since the beginning,
Kevin Luddy, proved to be indispensable.
“Kevin
is a diehard Trojan,” Young Scarlata says. He got the company
he works for, ID29, to donate marketing services for the events.
“Really, what that meant was that he was going to have to
stay late and do all the work himself.”
With the help of Jason Steven Murphy, Luddy started throwing
“official unofficial” afterparties, moveable dance parties
that have taken on a life of their own.
Now, with Troy Night Out coming up on its one-year anniversary
in February, nearly 50 businesses, art galleries and restaurants
have gotten involved. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has
donated $10,000 to sponsor the event, and the reelected mayor,
Harry Tutunjian, will be taking his oath of office during
the next Troy Night Out.
“The
community has really embraced it, which is awesome,” Schlesinger
says. “It is something they look forward to every month.”
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| PHOTO:
Leif Zurmuhlen |
Philip
Morris
Philip
Morris, Schenectady, Proctors CEO, has realized a newly expanded
vision for the performing-arts complex
“A
lot came together” this year, says Philip Morris. “We became
a performing arts center and conferencing center.”
Morris is the CEO of Proctors in Schenectady, a reborn performing
arts complex that includes multiple theaters and conference
rooms in addition to the original grand 1926 movie house.
You can visit Schenectady almost any day and see the tangible
results of this rebirth. For example, on a recent Sunday morning,
volunteers readied for a visit from Santa while families descended
on downtown for a dance performance and film screening.
“Over
500 people showed up for the iwerks movie” that Sunday, says
Morris. This 70mm film format, similar to IMAX, is featured
in the new GE Theatre, which is one of many creative reuses
of the former Carl Company department-store space. And these
500 folks were in addition to the crowds of families who were
there to meet Santa in the new lobby off the arcade, and attend
Northeast Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker on
the main stage.
How big is this change?
Last year—September 2006 to August 2007—Morris says that Proctors
hosted 370 separate events. This year—September 2007 to August
2008—he notes that the performing arts center will host 1,384
events.
“We’re
doing things that are unique for the Capital Region,” Morris
argues. They’re certainly doing a lot. Events this fall include
a “black box” comedy series, the iwerks film program, and
the Eighth Step folk-music series, which celebrates its 40th
anniversary by moving operations to the GE Theatre; plus gallery
exhibits, art events and 28 conferences that brought, Morris
says, “people in the building who’ve never been here before.”
In addition, this year Proctors will serve 60,000 of the region’s
children with arts-in-entertainment programs—a continuing
program that earned Morris an award from the Schenectady City
School District.
All of this, with the exception of the kids program, is new
activity—we haven’t even mentioned the traditional events,
like national touring companies of Broadway shows, dance performances,
concerts and films—featured on the main stage.
It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. “We had a small
flood on opening day,” Morris remembers sadly, which led to
some unexpected repairs.
Morris, who helped develop a Lucille Ball-themed arts district
in Jamestown, N.Y., has had his biggest job here in the Capital
Region.
“It
was a big transition for us institutionally,” he says. But,
judging from this first year at the “new” Proctors, it’s so
far, so good.
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| PHOTO:
Leif Zurmuhlen |
Toni
Mcgrath
Toni
McGrath, Delmar, is helping to raise money and awareness for
a small village in sub-Saharan Africa
One
sleepless night last February, Toni McGrath was watching late-night
Frontline. She learned about the water crisis in sub-Saharan
Africa, and she learned about a beautifully simple and innovative
solution. A PlayPump—a deep-well pump, powered by children
playing on a merry-go-round—draws enough clean water to provide
for 2,500 people. PlayPumps International, the nonprofit organization
that oversees the production and installation of PlayPumps,
has installed more than 900 of the pumps in sub-Saharan Africa,
with plans to install 4,000 by 2010.
Since McGrath learned about PlayPumps, she has dedicated herself
to being part of that solution. A single PlayPump costs $14,000,
and McGrath has challenged herself to raise enough money to
buy one pump. One pump that will change thousands of lives.
To date, McGrath has raised $9,700. She is past two-thirds
of the way to her goal, and her effort keeps gaining steam:
$1,200 of that total was raised in the last month.
But McGrath is not just raising money. She is raising awareness
about one of the world’s greatest problems: the water crisis.
“I really want this to be as much about educating people about
the water crisis and the importance of clean water and sanitation
as it is about raising money for “PlayPumps,” says McGrath.
Every 15 minutes a baby dies of waterborne disease, and it’s
so unnecessary. I’d like our community to be aware of the
problem, and aware that there are lots of clean water projects
around, lots of people trying to help solve the problem. .
. . I don’t think people in general are aware of how many
children die of common diseases.”
The problem is dire, but the PlayPumps solution is “simple
and doable,” according to McGrath, who is particularly enthusiastic
about the happiness the pumps bring to children. Not only
do they get clean drinking water, the pump’s merry-go-round
is often their only piece of playground equipment, and at
$14,000 a pump, it only costs 56 cents to provide one person
with a year’s worth of clean drinking water.
McGrath’s next big project combines fund raising and education.
She has teamed with Mohonasen School District to develop a
month-long project focusing on PlayPumps and the water crisis
and anchored by World Water Day on March 22nd.
Asked about the impact her mission has had on her personally,
McGrath said, “It’s certainly a really good feeling that you
can initiate something, that you can do something that will
defiantly make a difference, that will cause change to happen.
Some little community is going to be so pleased that they
have this kind of gift.”
“I’m
psyched,” said McGrath of her progress. “My next phase is
to approach local youth groups. . . . If I get over $14,000
and I still have momentum, I’ll just keep going. I’ll do two
pumps!”
If you’re interested in donating to Albany Friends for PlayPumps,
or have fund-raising ideas to share, you can visit their Web
site at www.firstgiving.com/albanyfriendsforplaypumps or e-mail
tmcgrat1@nycap.rr.com.
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| PHOTO:
Chris Shields |
Allison
Banks
Allison
Banks, Albany, turning tragedy into hope, works against the
cycle of violence that led to the death of her son
It
has been almost two years now since Allison Banks’ son Elleek
Williams was gunned down in front of a bar in West Hill, and
Banks has not slowed down one bit in trying to get the word
out that her son’s death was absolutely unnecessary.
Elleek spent years of his life living in fear because of the
uptown-downtown feud that has led to so much violence on Albany’s
streets. Banks says that her son repeatedly told her that
things needed to change, and he encouraged her to get out
there and spread the message. And now after his death, Banks,
who is attending Bryant and Stratton while working full time
and raising a number of children, has become deeply involved
in efforts to address the issues that foster gun violence
in Albany.
Banks, along with Robyn Ringler, has resurrected the upstate
chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and serves on
Albany’s newly founded Gun Violence Task Force. Along with
her work with these groups, Banks has fought hard to get a
memorial built to her son in the West Hill neighborhood where
he was killed, and is currently writing a memoir about her
son’s life.
Although Banks could not be reached this past week to be interviewed
about her being chosen as a local hero, Metroland has
seen firsthand Banks’ dedication to helping Albany understand
and address its gun-violence problem.
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| PHOTO:Leif
Zurmuhlen |
Valerie
Keehn
Valerie
Keehn, Saratoga, the mayor who has fought hard battles against
entrenched good-old boys to open up Saratoga’s government
to the people
“The
results of this election were understandable. People don’t
like confrontation, they don’t like strife,” says Saratoga
Mayor Valerie Keehn of the infighting some say cost her reelection
this past November. “But I personally don’t have a problem
with that if I am fighting for something I believe is worth
fighting for.”
Keehn, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Mike Lenz
in 2006 despite strong opposition from long-entrenched politicians
inside her own party. Once elected, she spent time opening
up the political process and trying to break the stranglehold
that Saratoga’s old guard had over governance. And the battle
she fought has changed Saratoga politics.
“I
can believe that not because of some secret talent of mine
or some special message I had, but because I really feel I
have been the voice of regular citizens,” says Keehn. “The
only thing different about me compared to my neighbors, my
best friend or the person down the street is that I said,
‘OK. I will step up and do this, I will dedicate the time
I know I need to dedicate to do it. I will put my career on
hold for a time and make those sacrifices that need to be
made to do it knowing I have thousands of people backing me
and supporting me to do that.’ ”
Keehn had many nasty battles with longtime incumbent Department
of Public Works Commissioner Thomas McTygue about the direction
of development in the city, but Keehn says those battles were
worth it because they were out in the open and showed the
citizens of Saratoga how some insiders wanted to run the city.
And exposing McTygue as a bully helped bring about his electoral
defeat this year.
Keehn says that she thinks she has increased citizen participation
in Saratoga government and has changed Saratoga politics for
some time to come. “I think that because that’s what I’ve
heard almost everybody who I have discussed the election results
with say. They were all congratulating me for what I was able
to do, what no one has ever done, and that was fight the fight
in public not just turn a blind eye to how things have always
been done, whether it was proper or not. I would publicly
say, ‘No! I’m not accepting that. That’s not going to happen
while I’m the mayor of this city.’ ”
Despite being defeated by Republican Scott Johnson, Keehn
says that she will not disappear from the face of Saratoga
politics.
“I’m
a fighter,” says Keehn. “In my life, I have seen things that
are unjust and unfair, and I have never been the kind of person
to say, “Well, I don’t like what is going on but let someone
else do something about it. I’m the kind of person who says,
‘This is unfair. I’m gonna organize. I’m going to join the
cause, and I will be the leader if that’s what needs to be
done.’ And I will continue to do that as long as I feel there
is a cause that is meaningful to champion. I think there are
going to be plenty of those for me to go forward in the next
few years.”
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