OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Fredonia’s Board of Trustees poses for a photo outside Village Hall on Saturday. From left are Nicole Siracuse, David Bird, Michelle Twichell, Jon Espersen and James Lynden.
It’s a new year and a new Fredonia Board of Trustees … but a terrible old issue, COVID-19, was the root of a swiftly resolved dispute at the group’s swearing-in on Saturday.
New Trustees Dave Bird, Jon Espersen, Nicole Siracuse and Michelle Twichell lined up in the lobby of the Fredonia Opera House after taking their oaths, joined by holdover Trustee James Lynden and Mayor Douglas Essek. All were wearing masks, as an anti-COVID measure resumed in December after the rise of the omicron variant.
After several photos were snapped, Bird asked if they could take an unmasked photo, “for posterity,” as he put it. Siracuse, who appeared to be wearing a double mask, objected to that.
However, the board compromised by heading outside to the steps of Village Hall, for an unmasked, open-air photo opportunity.
