The Hydetown Firemen's Festival is June 13 and 14. We at the Hydetown Volunteer Fire Department are starting the plans for the Firemen's Festival 2008. We would like to include the coverage area of the fire department. Who would like to help or take part? Come to our festival meetings which will be held the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Hydetown Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall. Let's make it bigger and better this year. Come and help! We need your help, support and ideas. We are now accepting Parade Entry forms for our parade on June 14. You can sign up by calling Buddy Edwards or Jennifer Edwards at 827-2267, e-mail to jenbuddy@zoominternet.net or by going to the news Web site at http://hydetown.bravehost.com and go to parade entry, print it and send it to the fire department.

Local Stars: VVS boys win hoop tourney

The Vernon-Verona-Sherrill eighth grade basketball team recently won a tournament in Whitesboro. The team finished undefeated for the second consecutive year. Team members: Andrew Kane, Zachary Hubbard, Vinny Bailey, Nash Robb, Jesse Whitmeyer, Eli Cleveland, Matt Sliker, Alex Rice, Joe Spinella, Dakota Jensen, Josh Webb, Keenan Henry and Jason Fink. The team was coached by Patrick Hubbard during the tournament. Chad Hodkinson coached the team during the regular season. Little Pioneers Squirts advance with victory The Mohawk Valley Little Pioneers Squirt Travel Team recently won the NYSAHA Central Section Tier III 10-Under Squirt Sectional Tournament at Meacham Ice Rink in Corcoran, for the first sectional championship for the Mohawk Valley Youth Hockey Association. The Pioneers went unbeaten, defeating the Center State Stampede 4-1, tying the Cortland Flames 2-2, then defeating the Valley Eagles 5-4 to advance to the Tier II State Championship Tournament on Feb.

Giantto Timepiece Saves Man's Life!

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Day Production, LLC and The Giantto Group signed a deal that debuts a limited edition yellow gold version of the popular Titanic model watch in an upcoming film titled "Next Day Air." In the movie the Timepiece is worn by Mos Def and is also starring Mike Epps, and Donald Faison. This intriguing film is brought to life by famed music video director Benny Boom, known to have worked with such greats as Nas, 50 cent, Ciara, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Busta Rhymes and much more. To find out how the Giantto watch becomes a life saver you will have to just wait till the movie hits the theaters in fall 08. The film is in post production and Giantto will also be hosting most of the red carpet premiers and events attached to the release. You can also spot Giantto on TV on some of the hottest reality shows like I Love NY, My Fair Brady, and Hogan Knows Best, just to name a few.

Cis' blog roundup - Friday

Over the course of 2 1/2-plus years of running this blog, I should get some credit for understanding how to run this blog while making it fun. I've tried drafting rules from time to time. But most of those attempts have gone by the way side. The ones Blogmeister Ken posted earlier this week are about as dead-on and simple as it gets:

I'd probably put an asterisk behind "or inflammatory posts" because some of you guys are so poisoned toward others that you believe anything they post is "inflammatory." Also, some of you believe that any dissing of your favorite political party or ideology is a personal attack. When all else fails, I fall back on the bottom-line rule here: Dave's blog, Dave's rules.

Keeping your heart healthy at every age

As a certified EMS worker, Jeff Schaffer knows a lot about the heart. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Schaffer travels with emergency crews from three states. He teaches CPR, gives lectures on heart health, and talks to school kids about firefighting and ambulance work. His father died from a heart attack at 61. So you would think when he began to have chest pains while teaching a CPR class, 15 years ago, Schaffer would have gone to the doctor. But he didn't. He ignored his own advice. Despite his vomiting and nausea, Schaffer admits, he was in denial. "I just blew it off and said it couldn't happen to me." Schaffer finally went to the ER, but not until after having symptoms for two days. At 39, Schaffer was indeed having a heart attack. His doctors said he was lucky to be alive. The ironic part of this story is even though Schaffer knew all the symptoms of a cardiac event he never thought about his own heart.

ARI 1Q profit, revenue rises

ARI Network Services Inc. reported Monday that it recorded increases in both profit and revenue for the fiscal first quarter.