Cassie Rydzewski

Cassie joined us here at Brighton Place as our Director in 2011. Prior to her arrival she had been working in WNY with seniors as a Property Manager at a Senior Living Community. Cassie has experience working with not only the elderly but people of all ages and backgrounds. Her previous roles have provided her opportunities to solicit and work with volunteers, facilitate and run programs, engage community members in events and programming and to seek out new opportunities that would enhance the lives of those she has served.

Cassie grew up in the Ithaca, NY area before heading to the beautiful Adirondack Mountains where she received a Masters in Business Administration with a focus on Business Operations from Clarkson University. In her time at school she was active in several clubs, organizations and played soccer as well. She has undergraduate degrees in both Culinary Arts and Hotel Restaurant Management and spent some time in Paris France to receive a French Culinary Degree from Le Cordon Bleu.

These days Cassie is enjoys spending time with her husband Tim and their dogs (Newfoundlands), taking walks, reading, traveling and cooking for her friends and family. Cassie is passionate about life and thrilled to be a part of Brighton Place! Make sure you stop by and introduce yourself and maybe steal a recipe or two from her!


Favorite Authors: Daniel Defoe, Beverly Lewis, Mildred D. Taylor, William Goldman, Virginia Woolf
Favorite Books: Silas Marner, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, To The Lighthouse, The Shunning, Bible, Cookbooks!!
Favorite Foods: Simple, clean, wholesome home cooked food, dark chocolate, fresh raspberries, pickles, kombucha!
Favorite Movies: Any of the Shirley Temple movies especially The Little Princess, Sound of Music, Return to Me.
Favorite Musical Artists: Ben Harper, Norah Jones, The Who, CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!


Donna White

Donna joins us here at Brighton Place as our new Librarian. She received her Masters in Library Science from the University at Buffalo in June, 2012. Donna has previously done work for UB's Poetry Collection where she initiated a project to make accessible for the first time, the archives of Black Mountain College poet, publisher and artist, Jonathan Williams. In 2010, she cataloged art for the G. Robert Strauss Jr. Memorial Library in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Before becoming a Librarian, Donna's background was in the Fine Arts. She holds a BFA in Sculpture and taught Anatomical Figure Modeling at Buffalo State College from 2000 - 2008. For over 12 years she has applied her knowledge of artistic techniques in the conservation of decorative surfaces at Shea's Performing Arts Center, St. Columban's On The Lake, and to buildings and works of art across New York State and Pennsylvania.

Donna grew up in the Rochester, NY. She lives with her partner, poet and BlazeVox Books publisher, Geoffrey Gatza and two cats, Blaze and Clarisse. As a painter, sculptor and jewelry designer, Donna enjoys creative activities of all kinds. She has a passion for Japanese films and has written reviews for the movie blog, Japan Cinema. Donna is very excited to be part of Brighton Place! !

Favorite Authors: Haruki Murakami, J. K. Rowling, Jim Butcher, Karen Tei Yamashita, Herman Melville, Jack London, Philip K. Dick
Favorite Books: Tropic of Orange, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Bounty Trilogy, Harry Potter
Favorite Foods: Indian, Thai, Jamaican - I love spicy food! Home baked anything, but especially cookies!
Favorite Movies: Love Actually, Harry Potter (love them all), Harold & Maude
Favorite Musical Artists: Blink 182, Jack Black, Muse, Sebastian X, Miyavi
Favorite TV Shows: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, Downton Abbey

 

Philip Stankovic

Philip is the newest member of the staff at Brighton Place, having joined the team as a part-time librarian in March 2013. He received his Masters of Library and Information Science from the University at Buffalo in 2002 and has on-the-job experience as a Reference Librarian at Roxbury, Newark and Riverdale Public Libraries in New Jersey. He also supervised the Electronic Resources and Training Department in Victoria, Texas where he designed and taught computer classes for patrons of all ages.

Phil grew up in North Tonawanda, New York. His parents, who are both teachers, instilled in him from a young age the value of education and the importance of community involvement. Before becoming a Librarian, Phil received an AA in Comunications, a dual BA in Psychology and in Human Services. One of his first and most rewarding jobs was as a Skills Trainer at Niagara Frontier Regional Services in Buffalo. Here he enriched the lives of developmentally disabled adults through teaching, mentoring, counseling and friendship. 

Phil currently lives in North Tonawanda with his wife Lana, a mortgage processor and their two cats Stachi and Misty. He is the proud father of Alyssa who will graduate from Arizona State University in 2015 as a Special Education teacher. In his free time, Phil enjoys photography, hiking, reading, listening to music, watching movies and gaming.

Favorite Authors: Cormac McCarthy, Neal Gaimen, Charles Bukowski, Julia Cameron, Alan Moore, Elmore Leonard.

Favorite Books: No Country for Old Men, The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, Walking in this World, Ham on Rye, Get Shorty.
Favorite Foods: Italian, Mexican & Chinese Cuisine.
Favorite Movies: AFI top 100, Film Noir, Universal Monster Classics, James Bond, Two Lane Blacktop, The Last Picture Show, Days of Heaven.
Favorite Musical Artists: The Who, Rush, Deep Purple, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, The Black Keys and many… many more.

Favorite TV Shows: The Big Bang Theory, Sherlock, Parks and Rec, The Office.