Star Hospice House Ribbon Cutting

Chautauqua Hospice and Palliative Care celebrated the completion of Star Hospice House at a ribbon cutting February 8.

This is Chautauqua County’s first dedicated hospice facility. It will serve as many as 200 patients per year. The facility includes rooms and living spaces for families to rest, prepare meals, and focus on their loved one.

County Executive PJ Wendel, who lives nearby and watched the project develop every day, said palliative care used to be a floor in the hospital with an institutional setting. He said the Star Hospice House gives families a sense of peace and the feeling of spending their last days in their own home, “One of the things that has been resonating in the last couple weeks in dealing with situations that have occurred, is that how we take care of one another, how compassionate we are as a community, and what we do for one another, especially here in Chautauqua County, is something I’m very proud to represent. Howard Bruckner said this in a quote, ‘The patients and the families may not remember what you said to them but they will always remember how you made them feel,’ and the Star House will do just that.”

Chautauqua Hospice purchased the home adjacent to its Lakewood office in 2019 and started a fundraising campaign in 2020 to renovate the house that ultimately exceeded its goal of $2.1 million with a total of $2.7 million in donations.

Campaign Co-Chairs Mary Rappole and Dr. Bert Rappole said the goal is always to make it so families can be at their own homes while a loved one is dying, but that’s not always possible, “And then when they get toward the end, they can’t take care of themselves in their own facilities, their own homes, so they would be forced to go to a nursing home. This will provide a place where they can die with the care providers who have been with them, the nurses who have been taking care of them, and there’s a place in the house for the family to come from L.A. or New York and stay with them.”

Dr. Rappole and Mary Rappole both thanked the local foundations who donated almost $700,000 toward the project with the rest of the donations coming from the community members, businesses, and other organizations.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Dr. Bert Rappole and his wife Mary Rappole about the Our House Campaign, an effort by Chautauqua Hospice and Palliative Care to create a hospice house to serve resident across the county.

Hospice has set out to raise $2.1 million. Called the “Our House” campaign, this will allow us to buy, renovate and construct the residence, as well as establish endowment and reserve funds to guard the residence and agency from adverse conditions.

More info

Don Beebe during his days with the Buffalo Bills.

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 2016 Banquet and Induction ceremony on Monday, Feb. 15 at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club and tickets for the event are still available.

Inductees of the Class of 2016 are Alex Conti (wrestling), Julie Gawronski Tickle (softball & soccer), Dan Hoard (sports broadcasting), Sarah Schuster Morrison (diving), Robert “Doc” Rappole (cross country & track and field), Jim Ulrich (track and field), Heather Lefford Edborg (softball), Clarence “Flash” Olson (wrestling & football) and Parke Hill Davis (football).

The guest speaker will be Don Beebe, former NFL player who played in six Super Bowls, four with the Buffalo Bills and two with the Green Bay Packers.

In addition, the CSHOF will honor 21 of Chautauqua County’s top teams and athletes for achieving New York State championships, All-American status or All-State status in their respective sports during the past year. Those being recognized will include:

• Bill Brooks – Silver Creek – 2015 NYS Class C First Team All State – Basketball
• Matt Marsh – Jamestown High School – 2015 NYS Champion & All American -100 Freestyle – Swimming
• Hope Pietrocarlo – Maple Grove – 2015 NYS Class D First Team All State – Cross Country
• Mitchell Sandberg – Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake – 2015 NYS Class C First Team All State – Football
• Cordell O’Brien – Frewsburg – 2015 NYS Class D First Team All State – Football
• Cameron Voss – Fredonia – 2015- NYS Class B First Team All State – Baseball
• Brian Whalen – 2015 – NYS High All-Around Class AA State Champion – Trap Shooting
• Dalton Becker – 2015 NYS Singles Sub Jr. Champion & Ronald McDonald Sub Jr. Champion – Trap Shooting
• Chautauqua County AIM Team – Celoron Rod & Gun Club – 2015 NYS Academics, Integrity and Marksmanship Team Championship
• Elle Reed – Jamestown Community College – 2015 All American – Basketball
• Tom Mann – 2015 NYS Seniors Masters Swimming Champion – 5 events
• Jamestown Babe Ruth Baseball – 15 & under division – NYS Western New York State Champions
• Michael Sayers – 2015 NYS Senior Games Champion – Discus & Javelin
• Clayton Hanson – 2015 Outdoor Convention 3-Position Small-bore National Champion, 20 Shots Standing/50 yards National Champion Civilian and Intermediate Junior Class
• Matthew Lenehan – Celoron Rod & Gun Club – 2015 NYS Junior Skeet Champion, 12, 20, 28 & 410 gauge events & 2015 – U.S. Open Junior 12 gauge champion
• Marcus Evans – New York Wrestling Association for Youth – 2015 Division 5, 108 lb. Boys’ Champion
• Skylynn Tomlinson – New York Wrestling Association for Youth – 2015 Division 2, 55-62 lb. Girls’ Champion
• Mason Marring – New York Wrestling Association for Youth – 2015 Division 2, 90 lb. Boys’ Champion
• Brayden Potter – New York Wrestling Association for Youth – 2015 Division 2, 72 lb. Boys’ Champion
• Dan Moore – SUNY Geneseo – 2015 SUNYAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year
• Bill Petransky – His Way Archers – Master’s Class (60-70) Champions – Indoor Archery World Championships

The banquet will begin with a hospitality session at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30.

Tickets may be purchased at Jamestown Cycle Shop in Jamestown or Matt’s News in Dunkirk. Tickets can also be ordered from Chip Johnson at 716-485-6991. The price per ticket is $50. CSHOF members receive a $5 discount.