From left, Robert Freeburg, Ellery Town Supervisor Arden Johnson, town board member John Cresanti and Sherri McCall stand behind a musical toy dedicated to the memory of McCall’s nephew Dakota Andrew Spencer on Sunday.
P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

Simple sounds — the crumpling of a plastic bag, the sound of applause, and the sound of people at a sporting event — could ellicit a giggle from 5-year-old Dakota Andrew Spencer.

The movie “Frozen” also made his day.

“He loved the movie Frozen — if you would put that movie on it would calm him right downYou knew he was really sick if it did not bring a smile to his face.

So when his aunt, Sherri McCall, was looking for a type of toy to donate to the Town of Ellery Park’s playground in his memory, the choice was obvious: a ‘Serenade’ xylophone for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

“Because he loved music so much, we knew this had to be music related,” McCall told friends and neighbors gathered in the park’s pavilion at a small dedication ceremony on Sunday.

Spencer was born on Jan. 24, 2014. In July of that year, he suffered a tramautic brain injury.

“After a week, they were able to do an MRI on him, they came to us and said that Dakota had a significant brain injury and that he would not be able to ever walk or talk,” McCall said. “That was a crushing blow for us. He needed a shot in his head, he was blind, had a seizure disorder and had a feeding tube. He had a long road ahead of him. In January of 2015, he went to a place called High Point in Buffalo. Me, my husband and the kids went up every Sunday to go see him. I felt that I couldn’t leave him there.”

That June, McCall brought him home to live with her and her family.

“It wasn’t always easy,” she said. “He had bad days. We all have bad days, but we have a lot of good days, too. I loved seeing him smile. Putting the groceries away, crumpling up these bags made him laugh. Just hearing that noise made him smile. We brought him down here for football games, baseball games, basketball games up at the school. He loved it when people would clap. He didn’t like the buzzer at basketball games. It would scare him, but he would enjoy going.”

After Dakota’s passing on April 9, 2019, McCall received a significant amount of monetary expressions of condolence from friends across all facets of her life.

“I felt that I had to do somethnig with it in his memory — maybe a tree, I’m not really sure,” she said. “Then I thought we should do something at the playground.”

After looking through different catalogues, McCall was advised that a fundraiser would be needed to acquire the musical toy. Thanks to the kindness of commuity members across the Bemus Point and Ellery areas, she inched closer to her goal and finally reached it thanks to the help of Jamie Billiqust, widower of Rosie Billiquist and organizer of the “Be Kind” 5K in her memory, as well as Aaron Lee from “AJ Strong.”

“They both made wonderful donations and that brought us super close,” she said, thanking the Fluvanna Fire Department, Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church and Cattaraugus County Bank. “I was so thankful at the community involvement. There were so many families. There were so many fathers that helped with measuring. I was so touched by people’s willingness to come out and help.”

“But you know what, it’s here now,” she told community members gathered Sunday. “It’s a reality. It’s here because of the wonderful community I live in. It’s a community that cares about each other. I live in a community that is kind. I am so thankful because of all of you.”

Town of Ellery Supervisor Arden Johnson thanked McCall for her work in donating the toy.

“This is quite a sad day, but let’s try to make it happy,” Johnson said. “This was a sweet little boy who didn’t have a chance in life. His life was taken too soon. He wasn’t able to experience life like other children. He wasn’t able to play sports that he had loved so much. He wasn’t able to play with other children like many of the children do. I hope today that this will give some light on his life that he so much fought for. God bless Dakota. … There will be a plaque mounted on the toy in the near future in the name of Dakota.”