5/23/2003Sign Raising
The Cortland County Chamber of Commerce has teamed with local high school students to reconstruct a community gateway sign in the town of Cortlandville.
Standing near the entrance to the Cortlandville Crossing Mall, the 15-foot-tall sign had welcomed motorists to Cortland until severe weather blew part of it down in the spring of 2002. Today, Cortland High School industrial arts instructor Tom Herting and several of his students will hoist a reconstructed portion of the sign.
“This is a great community project and we’re happy to have been able to help out,” Herting said. “Attractive gateways are just so important to the look and feel of a community.”
A former student of Herting’s, 1995 graduate Dominick DiLucia, designed and built two original gateway signs as part of a collaborative project with the Chamber, local service clubs and other volunteers (the second sign is at the entrance to the Riverside Plaza on Cortland’s east side). The new sign was also constructed in Herting’s class, this time by students Nate Morse and Dan Umholtz. “The kids have worked hard on this and they’ve done a great job, I think,” Herting said.
The Chamber paid for the materials.
“Beyond giving the students a chance to hone their skills, this really was another great opportunity for people to work together for the good of the community,” said Chamber Executive Director Garry VanGorder. “We’re seeing more and more of that kind of collaboration, and it’s one of the reasons we’re moving ahead so positively as a community.”