How a Group of People are "Rocking" Fulton, New York!

Maybe you’ve seen them when you’re out in the city of Fulton. You might have found one hidden under a bush at a park or near the steps to the post office. Sometimes several line the trails along Lake Neatahwanta. I’m talking about rocks. Painted rocks with little messages of hope: “Smile, It’s A New Day.” “Keep Calm.” “You Are Cared For.” A group calling themselves “Fulton, NY Rocks” have started this encouraging campaign and their Facebook page lists over 5,300 members. One of them is Janelle Wallace.

You might know Janelle from the Fulton Public Library, where she works in the Children’s Room. I met her through my association with the Library’s Memoir Project, which encourages Fultonians to write about our city’s past. Janelle has not been directly involved with the Memoir Project’s historic focus, but she has a history with Fulton, the library and those painted rocks.

In 1999, shortly after graduating from high school and starting college, Janelle applied for a summer position with Oswego County AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a federal program that places people in worksites and organizations that serve communities. AmeriCorps members receive a small stipend and assistance in paying for their college education.

After interviewing at several locations, Janelle was selected to become an AmeriCorps member at the Fulton Library. She completed her summer position and then was accepted for a second, yearlong AmeriCorps position, again at the library. The library staff liked Janelle’s work so much they offered her a part-time job.

In her new position, Janelle was assigned to oversee the library’s extension branch, The David Vayner Library, on the city’s west side, at Catholic Charities’ former location. For ten years she helped develop that new site, encouraging people to visit by bringing in guest speakers and programs. Unfortunately, when the Fulton Library encountered financial constraints, the Vayner branch of the library closed. Janelle was brought back to the main library, where she continued offering programs and activities, welcoming young and old with her friendly personality.

That’s where Janelle and I recently met so she could explain how she learned about “Fulton, NY Rocks.” A year ago, walking to work one day, she noticed a rock near the front entrance of the Library. Its bright colors caught her eye, but it was the quote on it that she really liked: “Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti.” Janelle smiled as she explained her discovery to me. “I still have that rock,” she said.

Janelle started noticing children and their parents coming into the library and talking about finding rocks in unusual places. She saw children’s faces light up when they told her they’d discovered a rock, describing its colors and quote. Janelle enjoys painting and she painted her first rock about eight months ago. She hasn’t stopped since.

Fulton NY Rocks was started by two Fultonians, Billie Jo Blair and Diane Zischke Blasczienski, and according to Janelle they’d heard about similar projects going on in other cities around New York State and beyond. They thought their hometown could use a positive boost. It was just the two of them at first, with their children, setting rocks around the community. Then Facebook gave their good-will project a boost.

As can happen with online social media, news of what Billie Jo and Diane were doing quickly spread. Their Facebook page was designed so that when someone finds a rock they post a picture of it and mention where they found it. This way the rock’s artist can see how far it has traveled. Fulton rocks have traveled all over the United States, showing up in New England, the Midwest and the west coast. One rock even has crossed the Atlantic Ocean, ending up in Ireland!

Janelle shared some stories about how meaningful it can be to find a painted rock. One story in particular helped me comprehend Fulton NY Rocks’ far-reaching effects. During the years Janelle worked at the library she befriended a coworker, Kathy Lennon. Kathy had worked many years at the library, so she helped Janelle in her new AmeriCorps position. Kathy’s health had always been a struggle and about four years ago she passed away. Tragically for her parents and family, Kathy’s brother had passed away just a year before, leaving behind his wife, Christine.

A couple months ago, Janelle was in the Route 31 shopping area, and like she always does, she’d brought along her bag of painted rocks and found a place to hide one. Its quote read “Be Kind.” Janelle went into a store to do her shopping and by the time she’d come back, she noticed the rock was gone. She was delighted that someone found it so quickly.

That evening, Janelle logged onto the Fulton NY Rocks Facebook page and saw her rock added to the postings. The person who’d found it added a message: “Somebody knew I needed a smile.” Janelle recognized the picture of the women who had found it. It was Kathy Lennon’s sister-in-law, Christine.

Janelle sent Christine a note to explain that she had made the rock and both were thrilled to have connected in such a positive way. Most of the Fulton group’s painted rocks are meant to be passed on so more people can enjoy them, but Christine asked Janelle if it might be alright to keep this one. She’d been missing her husband and Kathy a lot, and the rock had brought her some peace. Janelle said that was perfectly fine.

As Janelle and I ended our talk, she summed up her philosophy of life and why she believes being part of Fulton NY Rocks is so important. “I think everyone should enjoy the little things in life. Something as little as a rock can bring such joy to someone.”  Then Janelle asked me, “Do you think Kathy made sure that rock got to her sister-in-law?”  I have no doubt that she did.

Janelle Wallace, center, with two of her Fulton, New York Rock friends.

An Early-1900 Chief of Police

One of the greatest joys of working on the Fulton Library’s Memoir Project is getting to meet and work with Fultonians who hold a great respect for our city’s history. The goal of the Memoir Project, which asks people to capture their memories in writing, can sometimes be a challenge. Over the five years we’ve worked on the Project, many people have been willing to share memories, but only a few have been excited to sit down and write them into a memoir. Bud Dyer is one of them.

I got to work with William Edward “Bud” Dyer in 2014, after those of us planning the Memoir Project had selected its theme for the year: Fulton’s successful community services and servants. Bud contacted the library to let us know he had a story to tell about one of those civil servants: his grandfather , Edward J. Dyer, who served Fulton as Chief of Police in the early 1900s.

Bud had been collecting information about his grandfather for many years and he arrived at the Fulton Library for our first meeting with an armful of scrapbooks, photos and press releases. It was clear that Bud had more than enough information to write a five page memoir; the challenge was going to be how to keep it that length.

Bud and I discussed how we might go about keeping his grandfather’s accomplishments to an acceptable length for the Project. Preparing myself for what I normally hear – that I could borrow the scrapbooks and put the memoir together – Bud surprised me when he said, “I’d be willing to take a stab at trying to write a memoir about my grandfather.” I couldn’t have been happier.

From there, Bud went to work. He wrote a beautiful first draft and I reviewed it and made a few suggestions. Without showing any sign of irritation, Bud took the memoir back and reworked it. We did this three or four times until he had successfully captured what being chief of police in Fulton’s earliest years was like. Here’s some of Bud’s writing:

“At the turn of the 20th century, the area that would become Fulton had one law enforcement officer. His name was Alex Pare.  Little is known about how laws were enforced prior to 1900.  It is believed that constables served court papers and were used as peacekeepers, but they only had limited law enforcement power. When the city of Fulton became chartered on June 1, 1902, the Fulton Police Department appointed seven members, Alex Pare among them. William H. Ross was named the first Chief of Police.

 “My grandfather joined the police force as a temporary summer relief patrolman in 1909 and received his permanent appointment on January 3, 1910. In 1914, Chief Ross retired from the force, and on June 1, 1914, my grandfather was appointed Chief.   

 “In the late 1930s, the Fulton Police Station was located in the City Hall building immediately north of the presentFulton Savings Bank, in that little plaza next to the large brick building, formerly Goldberg’s Furniture, now the location of several businesses.  The bank drive-thru lane was the police driveway to the back of the Station and was used to deliver prisoners to a rear door on the first floor where the jails were located.  There was also a very long stairway to City Hall’s second floor. At the head of the stairs, the City Court occupied the room at the front of the building and the Police Department used several rooms in the back of the second floor.

 “As a youngster of five, I can remember climbing that long staircase with maybe 25 or 30 steps to visit my grandfather up in the Station and hearing the ticker tape clicking away, wondering what was going on that was important enough to alert his headquarters.”

 Bud also shared his grandfather’s approach to his job as chief of police: “I can remember being told that my grandfather got around a lot, building an information network. If he heard, either through a rumor, a tip or a direct phone call to the Station, that there would be a gathering, perhaps a meeting out in someone’s barn, of a group that had been under investigation in the past, the Chief would bring another officer or two with him and drive to the location.  He would park nearby the entrance, sit in the car, and nod at the people going in, perhaps greeting those he knew, calling them by name. If things were orderly, he would drive away, but he let them know he knew who they were.  Of course, if there was an unruly mob, the whole force would respond.

 “My grandfather loved his work and was very dedicated to the job. [Later in life, when he was recuperating] from surgery, he was confined to home, so  he and Inspector Harry Holden made it a point to meet at least every Sunday afternoon on the Chief’s front porch to review open cases and other police matters. On Monday, April 27, 1942, he worked at the office into the late hours. He stayed home on Tuesday, the 28th. On Wednesday, April 29, once again he stayed at home and met with Mr. Holden. The Chief died at 5 p. m. that afternoon.”

What a wonderful testimony to one of Fulton’s first civil servants. It is a story I could never have written from reading old newspaper articles. It took the memories of Bud Dyer and his respect and love for his grandfather to make it into a story worth reading.