Dipper Dan’s with looming clouds overhead was the site of the celebration of the Sister Cities relationship between Honeoye Falls and Borgne, Haiti. Photo by Sarah Brownell
On August 1st, Dipper Dan’s helped Friends of Borgne (https://friendsofborgnehaiti.org/) and the Village of Honeoye Falls celebrate the 10th anniversary of their sister city connection. Not even looming clouds deterred folks from celebrating. The Moffitt family (Sue, Ginny, and John) and their spouses made every effort to provide delicious ice cream, to accommodate in anticipation of rain, and to donate to Friends of Borgne. The band had to cancel, but those who attended took care of the celebrating.
Before introducing Mayor Rick Milne, Joan Haviland of Friends of Borgne, remembered a trip to Borgne when she and other teachers had planned a workshop for the teachers in Borgne. When torrential rain started, they didn’t expect the Borgne teachers to attend their workshop after a long day of teaching. Then, they saw the flashlights and umbrellas heading toward the hall. Joan looked up at the dark clouds surrounding Dipper Dan’s and encouraged us to celebrate.
Sarah Brownell, an engineering professor at RIT, described the difficulty of dealing with sanitation in Borgne. In one of her projects, she had worked with citizens to install dry composting toilets, but the $250 cost prevented many from installing these in their homes.
Mike Tobin, former Honeoye Falls attorney, applauded Sarah’s efforts and introduced Mayor Rick Milne. Mayor Milne highlighted the difficulty of Sarah’s composting toilet project by comparing it to the difficulty of finding $250,000 to do a sewer project in the village.
If you didn’t make it to the celebration, join Bill Nies of Springwater Sprouts, who traveled to Borgne in 2012, and matched Dipper Dan’s donation. If other businesses or individuals would like to donate, please contact Joan Haviland – 585-261-9458.
