Photo by Brent Addleman
Members of the Ridgway Area School District, school board members, teachers, family, friends and former players gathered yesterday afternoon at the Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School for the dedication of the Susan M. Borello Playground. At left are school board member Cindy Allegretto and her husband, Anthony, who is Sue's brother, and their children Domenic, in front at left, and Daunte, in front on right. At right are Sam Borrello, Ridgway School Board president Eugene Pierce and school board member Lisa Connelly.

District dedicates playground to memory of Susan M. Borello.

By Brent Addleman

Editor

 Sue Borrello touched many lives as a teacher at the Ridgway School District. Yesterday afternoon, the school, along with friends, former players, fellow teachers, district officials and community members, touched the lives of the Borrello and Allegretto families with the dedication of the Susan M. Borrello Playground at the Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School.
Borrello, who died this past May and taught for 25 years at Ridgway schools, was memorialized by her peers for her dedication to teaching and her commitment to her students with a plaque that bears her name that is affixed to a rock adjacent to the new playground.
For Sam Borrello, Sue’s widow, the day was drenched in heavy emotion as Sue was remembered by everyone in attendance. The significance, for Sam, of seeing his beloved wife’s name adorning the playground is a touching and moving experience. Borrello’s children, a daughter, Angela, and, son, Vinnie, were not present for the ceremony
“First of all, I think it is very nice that they thought as much of Sue as they did to do that,” Borrello said. “That is the main thing. Sue must have had their admiration for them to put her name on something that will be at this school forever. The second thing is when you tie the school and the community together, only good things can come of it. I think it is a wonderful thing. I don’t think there is enough of it anymore. I think it's terrible that tragedy has to happen for that to happen, to see the good in people.”
When Sam first heard of what the school wanted to do, he was taken aback.
“To tell you the truth, I was a little shocked and a little surprised,” Borrello said. “Sue just being a teacher, and not an administrative person or school board member or someone that has the ability to change the course of anything beside children...that she’s going to have her name dedicated to a playground on a public facility. I was amazed that somebody that was just an average person had that much of an impact that she is going to get memorialized for it now.”
Throughout the course of the dedication, stories and memories of Sue were shared and tears were shed.
“She had a tremendous presence period,” Borrello said. “She was just a person that stuck out. She made sure she stuck out. She fought for everything she believed in, regardless of the cost. She stood her ground and people respected her for it. They never had to wonder where they stood with Sue. Sue would have the argument of your life and when it was over if you wanted to forget about it, she was willing to forget about it.”
Borrello was proud to see many familiar faces turn out for the ceremony.
“Most of these people that were here have been my friends, and Sue’s friends, for, basically, our entire lives,” Borrello said. “That is one of the super things about living in Ridgway is that you never forget who your friends are and they never forget you.”
Ridgway School District superintendent Dr. Tom Butler opened the ceremony by remembering Sue and the way the community stepped up to support one of its own.
“As you can see the playground is a huge improvement over what we had here,” Butler said. “The one we had here served its purpose for a long time. I know Sue would be happy to see something shiny and new up there for our kids to play with.
“But, most importantly for us today is around $5,000 worth of donations in Sue’s memory came to the school district for this playground. That extra money played out well. The block that you see and the fancy bedding there is a direct result of those donations.”
Butler also interjected a humorous exchange he had with Borrello this past year.
“I think as we stand here thinking about Sue, last year at this time she and I were parked next to each other,” Butler said. “We were exchanging pleasantries and I said, “How are you doing, Sue?” She looked at me without saying, 'hey, how are you doing?” She goes, ‘You know, Dr. Butler, life would be so much easier if people just listened to me. If they just listened to me and did what I told them to do, everything would be fine.” I said, 'I will remember that.'
“The playground is a good reflection of not only Sue, but she represents what Ridgway is all about. For somebody that has been here for two years now, I see a lot of the qualities that we had in Sue are qualities that I see in the community in general.
“We know that Sue was dedicated to the kids. You didn’t have to be around her much to see that. Our community is dedicated to the students as well. We know that Sue loved to help kids. She would spend time with them after school, doing extra. That is the way our community is too. I think that the playground here is a very good reflection and is a good memorial to that dedication and the good spirit that Sue had for children in our community.”
Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School principal Anne Herzing spoke of how students in Sue’s class helped raise money for the playground and the significance of the crescent moon carving that was donated by Appalachian Arts.
“The students had great respect for Sue, especially her class last year,” Herzing said. “They wanted to do something to help with the playground. So what they did was they sold what were called “Borrello bands.” All the money they made from that, and their teacher at the time, helped them organize that. They ran it as a business and it was in true Sue fashion. One of the things [the crescent moon] symbolizes is new beginnings and the making of dreams into reality. I think that is kind of a hidden message from Sue. Here at FSG, our dream definitely has become a reality.”
The playground became possible through grants from the Elk County Community Foundation, the PTO at Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School, the Ridgway YMCA, the school board and the many dedicated individuals in the community.
Sam was touched to see the turnout for his wife and expressed the family’s gratitude.
“The family would love to thank everybody for their support,” Borrello said. “Any donations made in the future will be used to expand the playground. We are so thankful that people opened up their lives and gave their time and their money to make something like this possible.”