Meet the Cars!

Yolanda(#299)
2010 Scion xB - White

In homage to the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., we wanted to to name this car after one of his family members. The late Yolanda King was the oldest child of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, and was an activist for human rights and gay rights, and an actress. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. (the official national memorial to her father) and was founding director of the King Center’s Cultural Affairs Program.

Virginia(#379)
2008 Nissan Versa -White

Ever wondered what the bumper sticker reading “Yes Virginia, there is a Fall Creek” means? The Fall Creek community, fueled by the economic activity of the industrial area powered by Ithaca Falls, originally evolved as a separate neighborhood from Ithaca, complete with restaurants, offices, and other businesses. As the city of Ithaca grew it 'took in' Fall Creek. However, the area continues to have a strong sense of neighborhood identity. So here's to of all of this car's neighbors who do believe that "Yes Virginia, there is a Fall Creek." 

In the spirit of Collegetown, we named this popular car after a popular man, Constantine "Dino" Neferis, the once "Mayor of Collegetown" (not to be confused with Dino's, the bar, which has earned a spot on the Wildest Bars in America tour). Often seen riding around Collegetown on a moped, Dino was quite a sight in his white T-shirt and blue painted shoes. Dino was a friendly and outgoing man, residing on Dryden Rd. for the majority of his life. Smiling and greeting all who passed by, he befriended many Ithacans and Cornell students, and even held "office hours" in a chair on the sidewalk in front of The Palms bar. Dino's death in 2003 was mourned throughout the community, and the Collegetown section of Dryden Rd. has been designated "Dino's Way" in his memory.
 

Anabel (#1222)
2009 Nissan Versa - Silver

Anabel's name was chosen because of her proximity to Anabel Taylor Hall, which is nearby on the Cornell University Campus. The hall was funded and built by international peacemaker and Cornell benefactor Myron Taylor. Taylor's primary effort, before and during World War II, was to bring about, on an international basis, a common front by the churches to achieve and preserve peace in the world. He named the building after his wife Anabel, specifying that the space would be an interfaith worship center, allowing "all faiths to stand together for good and against evil."    

Charlotte (#2339)
2011 Toyota Yaris Sedan - Dark Gray

Charlotte is named after the protagonist spider "Charlotte" in Cornell graduate and famous author E.B. White's beloved children's novel, "Charlotte's Web." The book was the Spring 2012 Family Reading Partnership Community Read.

Edwin C. Stewart was the son of David B. Stewart, the first Mayor of Ithaca. He attended public schools in Ithaca, then went on to serve in both the NYS Assembly and Senate. He became Mayor of Ithaca in 1920. Mayor Stewart led the renewed interest in the reopening then-Renwick Park for use as a lakeside municipal park. One month before the park's formal opening, Mayor Stewart died and the park was renamed Stewart Park in his honor.

Dewey (#3484)
2009 Nissan Versa Hatchback-Blue
 
Since this car was originally located just a hop, skip, and a jump (across 2 lanes of traffic) away from the Tompkins County Public Library, one of our members, who is also a librarian, recommended that we name it after the Dewey Decimal system.  Some members prefer to associate him with Walt Disney's "Dewey" of  Huey, Dewey, and Louie duck (Donald Duck's nephews).

   
Saponi (#5239)
2013 Honda Fit  - Dark gray

Warren Skye, a Seneca Indian from the Tonawanda-Seneca Reservation, leads a prayer before beginning the dedication ceremony for the Tutelo Park, off Bostwick Road

Saponi is named in reverence for the Saponi and Tutelo tribes of Native Americans, who had fled north from Virginia and North Carolina around 1700, and were taken in by the Cayuga Iroquois. They established a village, Coreogonel, in the south part of Ithaca near Buttermilk Falls. In 1779, amidst unrest between the British and the French, Iroquois tribes across Central New York were brutally forced from their homes and land. The American Army, led by General Sullivan, was sent to destroy Coreogonel, but found that the inhabitants had already fled to Fort Niagara for safety. The settlement was destroyed.  Today, a park in their memory exists on Bostwick Road. 

Pearl (#5575)
2012 Toyota Prius C - Gray

Silent movie starlet Pearl White first took the stage at age six. By age thirteen she was riding horses bareback in a circus. It is no wonder she performed most of her own stunts in the silent films that made her a star. Known as the “Queen of Serials,” she is best known for her portrayal of the title character in The Perils of Pauline. Pearl White lived at the Ithaca Hotel in 1915 while she was working with the Wharton Brothers silent film studio on The Exploits of Elaine.

Chester is named after Chester Platt, Ithaca resident and 'inventor' of the ice cream sundae. As the story goes, one Sunday afternoon in 1892, Mr. Platt was serving vanilla ice cream to his friend and pastor John Scott. Deciding vanilla was too plain, he topped the ice cream with cherry syrup and put a cherry on top. So delighted with the new creation, they decided to name it after the day it was created - and the ice cream "Sunday" was born!  

Dale is named after Dale Corson, namesake of the Corson-Mudd building located near the car's original location on Tower Road. Dale Corson was the eighth president of Cornell University from 1969-1977. As a physicist, Corson made significant contributions to the design of the Cornell synchrotron, a high energy particle accelerator that runs underneath Cornell's campus. 

Beau (#6440)
2008 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck - Silver
 

The member who submitted this name had so many good reasons, we just couldn't say no. First of all, it is such a "Beau-tiful" truck! It is parked on a bridge, which would make that bridge "Beau's Bridge" (Beau Bridges, anyone?). And last, but not least, who wouldn't want such a lovely truck as their Beau?  

Beatrice (#6591)
2011 Toyota Yaris sedan - Blue

If you are from Ithaca, perhaps you should try writing "Dear Beatrice" instead of "Dear Abby." The namesake and main character of a 1916 Wharton Brother's silent film series, Beatrice Fairfax was the original advice-to-the-lovelorn newspaper editor. Beatrice Fairfax was the pen name an actual New York Evening Journal reporter Marie Manning, whose popular column (1898) received so many letters, the post office refused to deliver them.

The Wharton brothers saw potential in this character, and Beatrice Fairfax became a short silent film series starring actress Grace Darling, wherein Fairfax and her friend and not-so-secret admirer Jimmy Barton (played by Harry Fox) investigate calls for help and escape many perils on their adventures. The series was filmed primarily in Ithaca's now Stewart Park (then Renwick Park) where the film studio was based.

We chose Percy as a shout-out to 1932 Cornell alum Robert Purcell (namesake of our car's original home location), who served from 1955 to 1979 as financial adviser to the Rockefeller family and sat on the Cornell Board of Trustees from 1959 to 1981, including acting as chair during an era of great student unrest from 1968 to 1978.

Leopold (#9097)
2008 Nissan Versa - Gray 

Leopold is named after Leopold Wharton of the famous Wharton Brother's studio in Ithaca's Stewart Park during the glory days of silent film. Leopold is also named after Carl Leopold, an influential conservationist who lived in Ithaca until his death in 2009 and supported many conservation efforts in the Finger Lakes, most notably the founding of the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

Champ (#9719)
Silver Nissan Versa at Maple Avenue

Champ was suggested to us at the 2010 GIAC Harvest dinner by boxer Willie Monroe Jr., who stopped by our info table looking for hand lotion. Willie, who has a nickname of "The Champ," now boxes professionally for Dibella Entertainment in Rochester but has trained for years at Performance Fitness in Ithaca. As an amateur boxer, he captured gold at the Empire Games and in regional Golden Gloves competitions. He left the amateur ranks after reaching the National Golden Gloves finals in May 2007. Monroe is also a successful recording artist with the rising R&B group, "Singnature" which consists of Willy, two of his cousins, and his younger brother.

member info · your privacy · carsharing resources · other transportation
© 2008 Ithaca Carshare · Programming by Spider Graphics Corporation®