BY SUZIE ALVEY, VILLAGE HISTORIAN

The coal bin on the blueprints. Lisa and Terence Kenny's family could be living on Mineola Road in Garden City right now, and not on Bayberry Avenue. Where is Mineola Road? It can be seen on the 1914 map of Garden City, where Bayberry is now. Back then, Mineola Road swung down from the corner of Old Country Road and Washington Avenue and cut diagonally through the area. It was drawn in a complimentary curved sweep to the streets of Osborne, Huntington and Prescott Roads in the future Mott Section further south.

1914's Huntington Road was an extension of our current Eleventh Street. So the old Huntington Road east of Washington Avenue became Kingsbury Road and the old Prescott Road became Claydon Road. Needless to say, that area was re-configured and Mineola Road and its twin, Lawrence Road were never laid out. The name "Mineola Plaza" is probably derived from that early Mineola Road in Garden City.

Blueprints show the ice box. Village records show that 10 Bayberry was built in 1927. The first owner was Agnes Capelle (1885- 1966) who lived in Hollis, Queens. She worked with Herbert Harris in the ladies hat wholesale industry. In 1926 the industrious couple applied for a patent for adjustable hats for men and women. It seems she rented the Bayberry house out to a few families and lived with her widowed mom and her siblings, all single.

The first renters were Elizabeth Brown (1886-1977) and Edgar E. Brown (1895-1951). Edgar was in motor transportation during WWI. This was an up and coming field since horses and mules had been used before then. Military field testing had been done and trucks were the new, added mode of transportation in 1917. But even so, a great portion of troops and goods still travelled by animal.

In 1925 the Browns were living on Second Street in Mineola with her four children from a previous marriage. Edgar and her two sons were all chauffeurs, a natural extension from Edgar's military days. The Browns moved to the Garden City house in approximately 1933 with some of their children. In 1934, no one was listed yet at number 12, 14 or 16 Bayberry. The Browns only stayed two years and moved back to Mineola by 1935. Later, Edgar was a night watchman in a department store.

In 1935 the second family moved in. They were Beatrice M. Schoen (b.1899) and Herman G. Schoen (1900-1987). Beatrice was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States as a baby with her parents. The Schoens started life together in Ozone Park, Queens in 1923. He was a book printer. When they moved in to number 10 they had two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. By 1940 two sons had also been born and Herman's mom moved in. It might have been tight quarters but they bought their house from Agnes Capelle in 1946. By then, daughters Betty and Marjorie were clerks. The Schoens lived there for a total of 30 years until 1965 when they sold the house.

The third family to live in the house was Karl Winski and Lydia Kubikowski Winski. The Winskis came from Brooklyn.

"I'm in the meat line; sausage manufacturing in a Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn. My cousins still own Sikorski in Greenpoint. The family business started in 1927 with my grandfather, Theodore, who was a Russian immigrant. My dad was [also] born in Russia also and started working for his dad in 1936. I'm the first generation born in the U.S. I started at work in 1954. I worked six to seven days a week, leaving at four in the morning and getting home at nine or ten at night. I was quite busy," Karl Winski stated. Sikorski's currently sells kielbasa, sausages, kiszka, hurka, babka and all sorts of Polish imports.

After the Winskis moved in, their two sons, Christopher and Mark were born. They were happy with the Garden City School system with its excellent reputation and Mr. Winski enjoyed watching his boys on the football and soccer fields.

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My History House # 9-

Energy efficient updates are all the rage right now, but which ones will help you sell your home at a better price?

By Alexandra Gallucci CTW Features

Making green improvements on your home not only helps the environment, but it can also equate to sizable cost savings on your energy bill and your taxes. There are many options available when it comes to updating your home, but here are some points to consider if you want to determine which projects to tackle first.

Theres a lot of places you can start when remodeling or updating a home, especially if youre getting ready to sell it, but the main places are around energy efficiency, says Kane Sutphin, marketing director at TreeHouse, a green home improvement store in Austin, Texas. That helps customers find green alternatives to building and remodeling.

Homeowners are increasingly concerned with their energy bills, and for good reason. The average household spends at least $2,000 a year on energy costs more than half of which goes to heating and cooling, according to the most recent Buildings and their Impact on the Environment report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For older homes, I think its very important that they have some of those upgrades because buyers whether theyd like a new home or theyre buying an older home are going to look at the energy costs, and the more they can save on energy costs, the more they can put toward the mortgage, so the more home they can buy, says Jim Liptak, regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors.

When it comes to energy efficiency, the most important improvement you can make on your home is to seal your air ducts, says Kristof Irwin, owner and lead building scientist of Positive Energy, a building science consulting company in Austin. Although duct sealing can be a difficult process, it can pay for itself in as few as three months, Irwin says.

Energy Star, the EPAs energy efficiency program, estimates that homeowners can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs by sealing air leaks and adding insulation to their attic.

Having a non-leaky air distribution system, which includes your ducts and your mechanical equipment itself, has positive effects for health, comfort, safety, durability and energy efficiency, Irwin says. Only after sealing your ducts should a homeowner consider investing in new HVAC equipment, he says. Energy Star recommends replacement of heating systems that are more than 15 years old. Todays high efficiency units operate at more than 90 percent efficiency. Regardless of the type or age of your equipment, changing your systems air filter every month will improve its efficiency.

But if youre looking to make less costly improvements, here are some suggestions:

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Greening to sell

Every day is like Christmas in Sylvia Hobbs Grays home thanks to her mothers love for red carpet.

She always called this the Christmas house, Gray said.

Her family home in Culleoka built in late 1800s is all decked out for the holiday and as Gray takes her guest from room to room one can see a history of appreciation for things old and new.

The following is Grays winning entry in her own words in The Daily Heralds Best Christmas Ever contest.

It had been six years since we and our children moved from Brentwood to the old Victorian farmhouse in Culleoka to be with Daddy after Mamas death in 1984. Sadly, Daddy passed away a few days before Christmas the year after we moved.

Life was changing fast.

Our children were away in college and we were filled with anticipation for their Christmas homecoming.

Several weeks before, remodeling of our kitchen had begun, and we were assured it would be finished by Christmas. But as often is the case, Murphys Law kicked in and it was not to be.

Our dining room was filled with everything that had been moved from the kitchen. We were cooking with an electric skillet. I grumbled but had to make the best of it.

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Topsy-turvy Christmas turns one woman’s life right-side-up

home section Interior Design Housekeeping Entertaining Home Improvement Gardening & Plants Landscaping eHow Home & Garden Building & Remodeling Interior Remodeling How to Remodel an Attic Into a Room

Ellen Ciurczak

Ellen Ciurczak has had a career in California in the broadcast journalism field for 21 years. She's specialized in covering politics at the state capital in Sacramento. Her radio reports have aired on National Public Radio, CBS Radio and the BBC. She received her graduate degree in journalism from UC Berkeley.

If your home's attic is currently just wasted space, you may want to remodel it. An attic can be made over into a home office, a bedroom, a child's playroom, a home gym or any kind of room you want. Remodeling an attic yourself, without the help of a contractor, is hard work. Following a series of steps will help make the job a little easier.

Determine if your attic is suitable to be made over into a room. Make sure the attic's floor can support people and furniture. Measure the ceiling to make sure it is at least seven feet high. Check the tresses. If they form a "W" shape, they may be too difficult or costly to design around. An "A" shape is easier.

Decide what kind of room or rooms you are going to put in your attic.

Go to the home improvement store with a list of items required to finish your project. Price the items and make sure you have enough money to buy everything you need to complete the remodel. Have some extra money put away for last minute or unexpected items.

Get a building permit, if required. Schedule time for an inspection if one is necessary.

Go back to the home improvement store and buy the items you need for the remodel. This includes wood, drywall, insulation, wall paneling, paint, hardwood flooring, tools and anything else you need. Think about the amenities you would like--windows, sky lights, ceiling lights, carpet, etc. and buy them at this time or wait until you are ready to install them.

Install insulation if needed. Most attics are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter, so insulation is a necessity.

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How to Remodel an Attic Into a Room | eHow

ELLWOOD CITY Mary Fray in her ballcap frying bacon and flipping pancakes at the grill is a familiar sight that will disappear on Christmas Eve. Frays Ellwood Breakfast and Burgers at 530 Lawrence Ave. will close at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

I wasnt planning on it, but it is time, Fray said. And Im tired.

Not planning anything special for the closing. Ill just close up and go home. Ill come back and get all my things out before New Years.

The walls of Breakfast and Burgers are covered with the history of Ellwood City, from pictures of the 1926 Ellwood City High School football team to a picture of the Cavert Wire Co. picnic on July 24, 1917. There are T-shirts from Frays other businesses and one from PeWees and a 4-foot-long piece of wood from the Lincoln High School boys gym that was there from 1963 to 2010.

There are many photos of people, customers and friends. One picture is of John F. Kennedy sitting in his rocking chair on a visit to Wampum in 1960. In the picture with him is then-Congressman Frank Clark and then-Pennsylvania Gov. David L. Lawrence. On the wall by the television set is a Howdy Doody puppet that a customer bought for Fray on a trip in South Carolina. She has hundreds of stuffed animals, and some are at the restaurant.

Its all stuff. I got a lot of stuff, Fray said.

Dominating the wall is an enormous Christmas wreath that she and her husband, Tom, made from their Christmas tree at home many years ago. Using a plywood wooden base, they glued on the branches of the tree and put on the ornaments from their tree, and through the years, customers have added to the wreath.

The Frays didnt plan to go into the restaurant business. She and Tom were always buying houses, remodeling them and reselling, and when the Central Cafe came up for sale in 1972, they bought it, and Fray describes it as her best years as she cooked, waited tables and tended bar.

It was a smoky place. Half the customers were junkies, but they never did or said anything wrong while they were there. There were a lot of good people, Fray said. If a guy said a bad word, another guy would remind him that there was a lady there.

After running the Central Cafe for 2 1/2 years, they bought a pizza business on Division Avenue and moved it to Wampum Avenue, where it became Marys Pizza Shop. Their next venture was on Lawrence Avenue, where they opened IMB Frays.

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Mary Fray closing Ellwood breakfast and burger shop

PORT HENRY A late-night fire over the weekend left a family of six homeless in Port Henry.

The fire at 3140 Broad St. was called in about 10 p.m. Saturday, bringing firefighters from Port Henry, Moriah, Mineville-Witherbee, Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Westport.

Stephen and April Clodgo and two of their four children, boys ages 7 and 18, were sleeping in the house at the time.

The owner said smoke alarms went off and awoke him, Essex County Emergency Services Director Donald Jaquish said.

Mr. Clodgo came out, and the Christmas tree was on fire. He tried to extinguish it with a small extinguisher, to no avail, and they had to evacuate.

Port Henry Fire Chief James Hughes said the Village Department of Public Works called the fire in.

Our Village DPW alerted us; they were out plowing and spotted smoke. When I arrived, I saw heavy smoke from the north side attic vent.

The fire was very deep-seated in the building in the vicinity of the living room.

The family pet, a cat, was rescued by firefighters.

The Clodgos and their four children, ages 7, 11, 12 and 18, are staying at a motel, he said, but were planning to eventually stay with relatives in Vermont.

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Fire damages Port Henry home

Attic Renovations and Headroom

Attics that have highly steep roof pitches, e.g. a 12/12 pitch, are ideally suited for creating attic living space. However, even with steep roof pitches, there is less living space that can be carved out of the attic then most homeowners realize.

Another key element that needs to be evaluated when undertaking an attic renovation project is how the attic is framed. For example, what type of ceiling joists were used in the framing? Ceiling joists of the lower level are effectively the floor joists of your attic area. Frequently attic ceiling joists are inadequate for supporting the weight of a living space. Consequently larger sized lumber may need to be sistered, or married, to the existing ceiling/floor joists. If the existing ceiling joists are inadequate you will inevitably wind up with cracked lower level ceilings.

Attic framing also frequently has cross braces and collar ties running throughout them. You may need to meet with an architect or your local building inspector to see what you can do to replace these structural supports in a way to create a larger unobstructed living space.

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Attic Renovation | Planning Attic Renovation

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Green remodeling guidelines presents 10 case studies plus dozens of strategies for making your home ...

On the brink of settling into her new home, environmental journalist Simran Sethi shares some tidbit...

Figure out if your attic is ready for upward mobility with an attic renovation.

Attics are special. Most of us who grew up in houses with attics tend to retain a fondness for the space. For children, the attic is a place of mystery and intriguea little scary but just close enough for comfort to the familiar bedrooms below. Even 20 or 30 years later, the attic probably keeps some of its allure, at least for the romantics among us.

That fondness can take on new dimensions when a family starts having serious growing pains. Under the pitch of the roof, you could close in a bedroomsmall, but fine for a youngsterand add desperately needed living space.

Attic conversion is an appealing fantasy. The roof and basic framework for a new room are already in place, so it should be less costly and easier to finish an attic than to add a wing to the house. Yet these advantages can prove to be restrictions unless the original builder planned for later conversion of the attic.

Just to name a few obvious concerns, the attic's floor may not be structurally up to its new job, there may not be enough headroom, and there's probably no electrical service. In most cases, you can overcome these and other deficiencies. The question you need to answer is whether it might be easier (and less expensive) to add to the ground floor instead.

To make that decision, you have to do a fairly detailed attic survey and carefully analyze the problems you might run into.

First, outfit yourself with a 25 foot tape measure and a flashlight, and head for the attic. As you clamber about, step only on the edges of the boards that stick up. The ceiling joists, as they're called, will support your weight easily, but the material between them is the top of the ceiling below. One false step, and you may drop in unexpectedly on your family and friends.

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Attic Renovation - Green Homes - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

CHESTER, Pa., Dec. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Power Home Remodeling Group, one of the nation's largest home remodeling companies, was ranked No. 32 on the Chicago Tribune's "Top Workplaces 2013" list. With 115 employees, the company's regional office in Rosemont, Illinois was ranked in the small business category (companies with fewer than 250 employees).

Employees in Power's Rosemont office completed a detailed survey about their jobs, including questions related to team building, job satisfaction, manager effectiveness and alignment with company goals. Employees specifically cited the company's mission, culture and ethics as the leading reasons why Power should be named one of Chicago's top employers leading Power to its first ranking in the Chicago Tribune's "Top Workplaces" program.

"We're extremely honored to be recognized as a top workplace in Chicago only a year after we expanded to the market," said Ty Peltzman, Power's Regional Vice President in Rosemont. "Our paramount goal is to create jobs here in the region that provide employees with an opportunity for great upward mobility while helping homeowners cut energy costs and enjoy their homes. Our employees have the chance to greatly impact the company's overall success by working their way into one of the many leadership roles at our Rosemont office and beyond."

After three expansions up and down the East Coast in 2011, Power decided to expand to the Chicagoland area in May 2012. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin was the keynote speaker at Power's ribbon cutting and recognized the company's expansion into the Midwest that capitalized on federal energy efficiency programs to help boost employment and usher in hundreds of green jobs to the area which he coined the "jobs of the future."

Power delivers energy-saving and environmentally friendly exterior home remodeling solutions, including replacement windows, vinyl siding, roofing, gutters, attic insulation and entry and garage doors. All employees complete a variety of comprehensive customer service training programs that include site visits to observe customer installs and product manufacturing procedures. In addition, each new employee is assigned a mentor to ensure continuing guidance and growth. Power offers unique compensation models that reward employees beyond traditional salaries, including incomparable parties and events, generous bonuses and prizes and an end-of-year vacation to a tropical location for all employees and a guest. Through these combined efforts, Power strives to create an environment that encourages employees to feel connected and invested in the company while delivering an exceptional home improvement experience to customers.

For more information on career opportunities at Power Home Remodeling Group's eight locations across the country, please visit the company's LinkedIn page or WorkatPower.com.

About Power Home Remodeling Group Family-owned since 1992, Power Home Remodeling Group is the nation'sfifth largesthome remodeling company with more than 1,200 employees and $170 million in sales. Headquartered in Chester, Pa., Power provides energy-saving and environmentally friendly exterior remodeling solutions to residents across the country, including Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC.AnInc. 5000company, Power has served more than 87,000 homeowners and is recognized as a home improvement leader by its two-time "Dealer of the Year" award fromWindow and Door Magazineand was named the top remodeler onProfessional Remodeler's 2013 Market Leaders Philadelphia list.For more information please visit PowerHRG.com, or follow the company on Twitter@PowerHRGand Facebook atfacebook.com/PowerHRG.

SOURCE Power Home Remodeling Group

RELATED LINKS http://www.powerhrg.com

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Power Home Remodeling Group™ Named a Top Workplace in Chicago

By Jill Riepenhoff

The Columbus Dispatch Thursday December 12, 2013 6:00 AM

With the furnace on the fritz and a no-show by the repairman, Gaby and Adan Quintanilla decided to camp out in front of their fireplace on Tuesday night.

The couple and their three children roasted marshmallows, then snuggled up for the night in front of the hearth in their freshly renovated home at 68 S. Princeton Ave. in Franklinton.

For Mrs. Quintanilla, it seemed like such a perfect evening to spend with her family in the glow of a cozy fire and their Christmas tree. She loved this house, this moment.

Remodeling the house was a gift my husband gave us last year. It has new everything, Mrs. Quintanilla said. Everything in the house was remodeled.

The couple bought the house for $2,500 last year, fixed it up and moved in last February.

They talked about buying the vacant, boarded-up property next door and tearing it down to make a nice play area for their kids.

All the neighbors were so excited because that house had been like that for so long, Mrs. Quintanilla said.

The Quintanillas were a ray of hope for a neighborhood overwhelmed by blight, boarded-up properties and slumlords. A neighborhood that is mere blocks from the iconic towers of Downtown success but miles away financially. A neighborhood that Mayor Michael B. Coleman has targeted for renewal and rebirth.

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Fire leaves Franklinton family homeless