Today's CNY Woman - Syracuse's #1 Woman's Magazine

The Johnson family around the Moosewood Lodge fire pit at Adams Eden Camp in LaFayette, where they will live during the home makeover. Photo by Kimberly Cook.

When Diana Johnson was a little girl, her mother would tell a story about a man who lived on the hill above their family farm. According to the local tale, this man was the richest in the entire world because he had 18 children. At the time, this puzzled Johnson, as his house seemed rather ordinary. But now, she knows exactly what her mother meant.

With open and loving arms, Johnson, an adoption counselor at New Hope Family Services, and her husband of 39 years, Dave, a retired deputy fire chief, have welcomed 29 children into their Tully home. Yes, 29. Or what Dave fondly refers to as their “League of Nations.” Together they have reared 17 (three “homemade” and 14 adopted) and fostered 12 newborns, along with young birth mothers in crisis, while waiting for their latest international adoption to process.

“I feel like the richest lady in the world. The most treasured thing you will ever have is your children,” Johnson said. “We’ve lived in the same house for 28 years. It’s not a fancy house but it’s served us well.” Read the rest of this entry →

Rising New York City fashion photographer, Lindsay Adler strikes a pose in front of Newhouse 3 at Syracuse University. Photo by Kimberly Cook.

Graphic. Bold. Clean. These are the three words that up and coming New York City fashion photographer, Lindsay Adler, uses to describe her style. At just 26, Adler is on a fast track to making a name for herself in one of the industry’s most competitive markets.

Although she began her photography business at age 15 shooting senior class portraits in her Apalachin hometown, she didn’t realize her flair for fashion until her senior year at Syracuse University.

The defining moment for the 2008 photography, political science and entrepreneurship graduate: an image of her roommate in a Forever 21 dress with big, red gerbera daises in her hair and mouth. “It wasn’t meant to be a fashion image, but it inherently was and my professor loved it. It’s the style that I seek today. It was the first time I thought, ‘that fits me,’” Adler said.

And since moving to Manhattan last September after spending eight months in London, the young image maker has been taking the Big Apple by storm. She can already credit two books (a third is in the works), a score of teaching workshops, jewelry ad campaigns, an impressive roster of clients, educational DVDs, fashion film pieces, music videos and editorial spreads in magazines like ZINK, Papercut, Sublime and Faint to her resume. Currently, she’s got a full lineup of speaking engagements, which included a stop at SU in February. Read the rest of this entry →

Celtic Woman ensemble members, from left, Susan McFadden, Chloe Agnew, Mairead Nesbitt and Lisa Lambe. Photo by Lili Forberg.

In an exclusive interview with Today’s CNY Woman, Celtic Woman’s Lisa Lambe shares her experience as a member of the world-renowned female ensemble group and talks about their upcoming concert at the Landmark Theater, Syracuse. Read the rest of this entry →

Sue Kline is preparing to shave her head in support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Kimberly Cook.

By Frank Ready

Each spring, Kline is greeted with sympathetic words and kind gestures from members of her local parish, who assume that her newly chrome dome is the result of chemotherapy.

“I have a button that says, ‘Ask me why I’m bald,’ but nobody wants to ask you. I think they’re afraid of what the answer might be. Everybody assumes that you have some kind of cancer,” Kline said.

For the last seven years, Kline, an employee of Onondaga-Cortland-Madison (OCM) BOCES and the Onondaga County Public Library, has shaved her head in support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity dedicated to combating cancer in children. Participants from across the country collect pledges from friends, relatives and co-workers in return for a quick trip underneath the shears. Read the rest of this entry →

Diane Kuppermann with a Make-A-Wish kid at a hockey event hosted by Utica College on Feb. 10.

By Jennie Pikowsky

As president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York, Kuppermann often works late into the night fulfilling the mission of the foundation: to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. The organization has a staff of eight, with more than 300 volunteers in the 15 counties the chapter serves.

Twenty years later, Kuppermann notes that not much has changed within the organization. “We get one shot to make this out-of-the-world experience for our wish kids,” Kuppermann said. “No, is just not an option when you’re in the business of making dreams come true.”

Kuppermann relies almost entirely on volunteers and donors to grant each child’s wish. Volunteers, also referred to as “wish granters,” are the face of Make-A-Wish. They spend time with the child to figure out their biggest dream, she said. Read the rest of this entry →

Suzanne Williams, executive director of Syracuse’s Habitat for Humanity. Photo by Kimberly Cook.

Suzanne Williams was just 9 years old when she watched helplessly as her house burned down. In the moment that she lost everything, Williams grasped the full value of home.

Williams grew up in Locke, a town so small that her elementary school was across the street from her house. “I was literally sitting in class, looking at my teacher, when she said, ‘Oh my God, Suzanne, your house is on fire.’” Williams rushed out of school and ran to her burning house. Firefighters blocked the entrance, when Williams forcefully demanded to get inside to rescue her grandmother and baby brother.

Big for her age, Williams figures she could have given the firefighters a run for their money — if her father hadn’t arrived home at that moment to inform Williams that her grandmother and brother were safe. Once she learned that her family was out of harm’s way, Williams stood steadily by, as the house she grew up in disappeared in front of her eyes. Read the rest of this entry →

Linda Cohn

Linda Cohn graduated from SUNY Oswego with a steep climb towards attaining her dream: becoming a sports broadcaster. In 1981, it was a rare field for women, but Cohn would not let this hold her back, and in doing so changed the game for females in sports broadcasting forever.

This summer, Cohn will celebrate an historic 20 years as anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter. The road to becoming one of the most familiar faces on the popular sports network began the day she chose to attend SUNY Oswego. As the Long Island native explained, it was a decision that was made easy because of three things.

“I remember taking a tour of several SUNY schools in one trip. I went to places like Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Oswego and Cortland and out of all the schools, Oswego just popped out in beauty,” Cohn said. “Another reason why I went was because they had a girls’ ice hockey team. At the time I was a senior in high school playing on my high school boys’ hockey team as a goalie. I had never played ice hockey with girls before. The third reason was because they also had a great communication studies and broadcasting concentrate.”

Cohn used her time at Oswego to hone her skills as both a broadcaster and hockey player. She was a star on the ice for the Lady Lakers, as she played in goal all four years (Cohn was named to the SUNY Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006). She also took advantage of every opportunity given to her in the classroom, and remembers forming strong bonds with many of her professors. Read the rest of this entry →

Photos by Candidphotosbytracy.com
CNY Diagnostic Imaging Associates, Today’s CNY Woman, Innovations Salon and Spa, and big (believe, inspire, grow), teamed up with a host of other businesses for the I (heart) Women luncheon at the Cavalry Club, Manlius. The event was a chance to network, celebrate women, educate one another and raise funds for “Go Red for Women.” Almost $3,000 was raised that day for the American Heart Association.

Susan Suben

By Tracy Higginbotham, President, Women TIES and Five Star Events

When I was growing up, my Italian grandparents lived a mile from my house. They were always generous with their love and Italian cooking. Our family enjoyed every moment in their home. So it was shocking when the time came to move our ill grandparents out of their home and into a nursing facility. No one had the money to keep them home and the Italian food simmering on the stove.

It’s because of this scenario and thousands of others like it that this month’s inspirational woman entrepreneur is Susan Suben, president of Long Term Care Associates, Inc., Cortland. For the past 17 years, Suben has dedicated her business to providing long-term care insurance which protects families from the financial, emotional and physical consequences of a long-term care illness. If my grandparents had invested in this insurance, they may have received assisted care in their home. Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s CNY Woman Editor Cammi Clark recently appeared on the local television show Bridge Street with February cover girl Michele Jones Galvin. The two talked with hosts Kaylea Nixon and Chris Brandolino about the current magazine issue along with Galvin’s connection to Harriet Tubman. Galvin and her mother recently completed the novel, “Beyond the Underground: Harriet Tubman, a Heroine,” which takes a rarely talked about look at the historic woman’s life. Galvin joined Clark, Nixon and Brandolino live from the Barnes Hiscock Mansion in Syracuse, which was a stop on the Onondaga Freedom Trail.