Last week the old Beardsley Building was demolished, ending its long history as a Lansing landmark. The building had been condemned. All that was left standing was an old piano, an outhouse and a few piles of lumber and rubble on the lot across Route 34 from Linda's Diner. It had been empty for some time. "That thing was falling down when I moved here in '56," said North Lansing resident Grey Larison.

Did you know Lansing has a Town Constable? Scott Ferris is Lansing's only peace officer, having been a town constable here for about fifteen years. "This is technically part time, he says, "but I'm around a lot of the time. It's 24/7 from Memorial Day to Labor Day," he says of his lake enforcement duties. In the parks he maintains the security of the camping area, the pavilions, the marina, the ball fields, and Ludlowville park from April 1 to November 1. He is in the courts twice a week, keeping order for Judges Burin and Howell. "Even on weekends, I go somewhere every day," he smiles. He is the Civil Process Server for the Town, serving documents issued by the court for code violations. In addition to all this he is a part time Sergeant on the Groton Police force.

Mr. Ferris began as a Lansing Constable when he was a Sheriff's Deputy working for Tompkins County, continuing in the position after he retired in 2001. Originally five Sheriff's Deputies shared park enforcement duties. Eventually the other four retired or left the area.

Nearly everyone who has known her for very long refers to  Lansing resident Mary Searles as if her name were one word:  "Marysearles."  And she's a keeper of many lists.

This little known fact was uncovered as the result of  an innocent enough remark, "Gee, you must have a lot of lists!", but the words were no more than out of my mouth than the  Director of the Lansing Food Pantry rolled her eyes heavenward, leaned her head on the lunch counter  and sighed "Oh, yes!  We couldn't function without  our lists!".

Lansing Schools Interim Business Administrator Gary Alger says the school district office is "an extremely inefficient office at best." The district is looking into the feasibility of leasing an office until a new permanent office in the next capital improvement project.

A leased office would be a modular building that could be brought onto the campus temporarily, then removed when it is no longer needed. One option is to put it where the current district office is, but that would mean displacing the seven people who work there while demolition and replacement takes place.