WATERLOO — Like so many others, Tara Close felt horrified and helpless watching news reports of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — along with the images of death, destruction and fleeing refugees crowding train stations and roads.

SENECA FALLS — Seneca Falls residents are being asked to nominate a person they believe is a good citizen and a hero to the community for the Antonio Varacalli Award.

WATERLOO — Christmas may be 7-year-old Ayriana Emerson’s favorite holiday, but she sure knows how to do Valentine’s Day right.

GENEVA — The Water Street Café has many loyal customers, but you would be hard-pressed to find one as faithful — and beloved — as Samuel Ferugia III, a World War II veteran and city resident who will be 96 in less than two weeks.

TYRE — Late last year, Lynn Barbuto put a call out to area non-profit organizations that she would be willing to gift her late husband’s original song to an agency that could envision using it to raise money for veterans.

LYONS — The Lyons Main Street Program honored its Citizens of the Year for 2020 and 2021 during a dinner and ceremony held last month at Trombino’s Restaurant.

PENN YAN — Claudia Baldwin got a call in early July from her longtime friend, Sandra Aman, looking for help for her daughter, a media specialist in a Florida school.

SHORTSVILLE — The Christmas card elves have put in a busy few months, and for that Aimee Orbaker is eternally grateful. So too are the nursing home residents who were on the receiving end of close to 12,000 cards.

PENN YAN — Addyson “Addy” Dailey has been in the same class as Carter Dunning for many of their years at Penn Yan Elementary School — and now, as seventh-graders at the Middle School.

WATERLOO — The Seneca County Deputy Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association made two stops in the Waterloo Central School District Dec. 7 as part of its new-look “Shop with a Sheriff” program.

NEWARK — There has been plenty of talk in this village over the past year of packs of young people roaming Newark’s streets and causing trouble — anything from vandalism to theft to noise.

SENECA FALLS — Quilts are meant to provide warmth, healing and comfort.

CLYDE — Not every student can afford to hire a professional photographer to take a senior class photo.

GENEVA — It’s been a long time since Dr. Philip Breitfeld called Geneva home, but in recent years he’s begun to truly appreciate his hometown.

GENEVA — The Boys & Girls Club of Geneva had an ambitious plan to celebrate its 25th anniversary: Raise $80,000 in a day to push the club’s endowment over the $1 million mark.

PENN YAN — According to Beth Habberfield, co-chair of the Penn Yan-based Yates County Suicide Prevention Coalition, suicide touches one in five American families.

GENEVA — Finger Lakes Health has honored Registered Nurse Leah Hoyt with a DAISY Award.

PENN YAN — For the sixth straight year, one of Yates County’s largest employers and its parent company have embraced a back-to-school tradition that will help area students when classes begin.

WATERLOO — With her beloved Seneca Lake in the background, the late Mary Anne Kowalski was remembered by friends Wednesday as a passionate advocate for the Finger Lakes environment.

GENEVA — Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva has coordinated the delivery of more than 150,000 meals to its members and others in the community — an effort that continues today.

SENECA FALLS — For more than 20 years parishioners of St. Francis and St. Clare Parish (formerly known as St. Patrick’s and St. Mary’s churches) have donated clothing and household goods for the poor in Nicaragua.

SENECA FALLS — With a host of testimonials and adorable adoptable dogs, it’s hard to take just a quick look at Fetch A Friend’s website.

WATERLOO — Waterloo native Maggie Pontius suffered from a variety of devastating physical and mental illnesses before her death on March 19, 2019, at the age of 29.

CLIFTON SPRINGS — Dr. Nicholas Day wants to make one thing clear right away — he has always loved his hometown.

DUNDEE — Big career decisions are a way of life for teachers and educators who have worked in the profession for decades.

NEWARK — Gina Domingo’s empathy for children in the foster care system is personal.

SENECA FALLS — One of the earliest lessons that Laura Rundell taught her middle school health class students was how to give non-verbal signals in an emergency — for example, putting their hands around their necks or to their throats if they were choking.