Spindle items
JESSICA FINCH Associate Editor

+ CHILDISH ACTS - What would a parent say if a child came home after the first day of school and said he had been booed? There would be meetings to discuss the guilty students' behavior and most likely disciplinary action. Well, last Tuesday marked the beginning of school for the Amherst Central School District, but it was the attendees at the Amherst Town Board who were acting childish. A few speakers said it best - that they were embarrassed to be sitting at that meeting listening to the crowd boo dur- ing the public hearing on rezoning a section of Millersport Highway. I'll admit I shot the "Are you serious look?" behind me a few times - the one you give at movies when someone won't stop talking. It was shocking, disrespectful and juvenile. I am just glad it happened the first day of school and not later in the year when high school students attend meetings for government classes.

 CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES - Many people were saying last Wednesday that Katie Couric's debut on Tuesday's "CBS Evening News" was average but that it was her first time. The same can be said for the Amherst Town Board's attempt to keep its newly required 11:30 p.m. deadline. Tuesday, Sept. 5 marked the first official meeting under the new town code, and the meeting ended just after midnight. Maybe it was the 80 minutes of public speaking or the three-hour-long public hearing on rezoning a section of

the Millersport corridor, or the Town Board's inability to get a motion seconded and to vote on the 30 parcels in a timely manner.

I went in with low expectations, and I wasn't disappointed. No one should have been surprised by the vote to suspend the rules; it happens on average a few times per meeting or work session. Better luck next time to the Town Board on sticking with the town code it created.

 FOLK MUSICIAN - The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Amherst is sponsoring a free concert by David Hunt, a guitarist and songwriter. The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 at the Amherst Baha'i Center located at 2218 Kensington Ave., near Harlem Road. Hunt spent several years traveling around the Pacific Northwest with the group Citadel, performing in schools and public meetings highlighting racial harmony, equality of men and women, agreement between science and

religion, and a number of other social and spiritual issues. For more information visit www.david-hunt.com.

 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Elder- Wood Health Care at Oakwood, 200 Bassett Road, Amherst, is in need of volunteers to assist in the gift shop. Several openings are available. Anyone able to donate a few hours each week should call Sydne Masino, director of volunteer services, at 689-6681. For more information, visit www.elderwood.com.

 AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM - Students from Windermere Elementary School in Amherst are eligible to receive transportation to the Gloria J. Parks Community Center at 3242 Main St., Buffalo for the after-school program. Full- and half-day care is offered for students to take part in homework help, music appreciation and dramatics. For more information on the program, call Lauren Arena at 832-1010, ext. 251.