Four community leaders to be honored by Catholic Charities
By Katherine Long
Sun associate editor

  Syracuse Police Chief Frank L. Fowler; Father Thomas J. Ryan, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville; and David and Cindy Hoyne, owners of Kitty Hoynes Pub and Restaurant in Syracuse’s Armory Square, will be honored at Catholic Charities of Onondaga County’s 27th annual House of Providence Dinner on May 23.

  The honorees are being recognized for their positive contributions to the community, said Toni Maxwell, an associate director at Catholic Charities. Nominations come from the event’s committee on a rolling basis; members of Catholic Charities’ leadership then present a list of potential honorees to Bishop Robert Cunningham for his consideration and final approval.

  Chief Fowler will receive the President’s Medallion, which “honors individuals who, through their voluntary contributions, have immeasurably enhanced Catholic Charities of Onondaga County and the community.” The award will be presented by Catholic Charities Board President Loretta Kilpatrick.

By Dyann Nashton
Sun contributing writer
 
    CANASTOTA – If you don’t know St. Catherine of Siena, local author Micheal Seagriff said to the audience, you are going to want to get to know her and some of the others referenced in his book.

   Seagriff spoke to more than 40 at a May 1 public lecture at Canastota Library. Like others who play a role in his newly-released book, Forgotten Truths to Set Faith Afire! Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct, St. Catherine provides “jewels” of wisdom, said Seagriff.

    These bits of information encompass 1,200 quotations from saints to sinners, popes to priests and “regular folks,” he said. They are assembled under 115 topics in the 17 chapters of the book that was released late in 2011 by an arm of Amazon.com.

      Seagriff, a Canastota resident, spent a 30-year career practicing law, including time as an administrative law judge. He led a prison ministry for 10 years. Now retired from law and serving as a lay Dominican, he explained that he has an obligation to study and then to share what he has learned. “I had an insatiable appetite to read,” he said, “but the more I read, the more I forgot.” He began jotting notes on index cards. After suffering a heart attack in 2008, he began to organize the index cards while recuperating.

    “First it was into piles. Then I organized the piles into topics,” he described. “After some prayerful reflection and good luck, I got the idea to then organize it into a book.” Just when he felt the project was complete, he asked his wife to take a look at it. She recommended that he add a table of contents and an index to help readers zero in on specific topics or sources. He said she also suggested that he write a summary about those quoted in the book so that readers could learn more about them.