Elizabeth J. Smith has graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. Her baccalaureate diploma was granted from the University’s Commonwealth Honors College “with greatest distinction.”

A 2005 graduate of Lewiston- Porter High School, Smith majored in psychology at UMass and also received “highest departmental honors” at graduation. She has been accepted into the master’s degree program at the University at Buffalo as a student affairs major with a full graduate assistantship.

She is the daughter of Nancy and Ray Smith, of Lewiston.

The Erie Canal Discovery Center received a 2009 National Heritage Award of Excellence in ceremonies in Ithaca last month. The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor of the National Park Service honored the facility at its annual meeting held at the Ithaca Yacht Club. Canalway Chairman Joe Callahan said, “Erie Canal Discovery Center provides an innovative model for preserving our heritage and stimulating community and economic revitalization.” The Heritage Awards celebrate significant places along the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

Opened in 2005, the Erie Canal Discovery Center serves as a critical starting place for visitors to Lockport, whose historic Flight of Five locks remain “the holy grail” of early canal engineering. Opening the Discovery Center involved an adaptive reuse of a 19th century church and a collaborative partnership of the Niagara County Historical Society that operates the museum, the City of Lockport staffing the Visitors Center, the First Presbyterian Church building owners, along with the Grigg-Lewis Foundation and other stakeholders. Attendance at the Discovery Center began at 4,000 visitors in 2004 and finished 2008 with over 15,000 guests.

Hospice and Palliative Care Group (HPCG) President John Lomeo has announced the 2009-10 HPCG and Niagara Hospice boards of directors. The following have been re-elected to one-year terms:

Chairman Paul Collins, Vice President Dan Mandaville and Secretary Thomas Hewner. Directors are: James Shaw, Andrea Sammarco, Steven Sinclair and Frank Maietta. Also, officers elected to the Niagara Hospice board are: Chairman Collins, Vice President Sinclair, Secretary Sammarco, and Treasurer Shaw. Directors re-elected to one year terms are: Paul Beatty, Sr., Patricia Evans, Linda Flessel, Nicholas Granchelli, Sharon Jean Hewner, Janice Litz, and Mandaville. Newly elected board members are Frank DeMart and Eugene Nenni.

Entering its 21st year of providing care to Niagara County residents, Niagara Hospice has served more than 13,000 individuals, as well as their immediate and extended families. Hospice is specialized care for the terminally ill that also provides support services to family members. Services are provided in the home, in all Niagara County nursing homes and hospitals, in adult homes, and at Niagara Hospice House.