Candidates seek BOE seats at 5 districts

By Tom Rivers, editor Posted 23 April 2014

Candidates have submitted petitions to run for volunteer positions on the Board of Education at the five school districts in Orleans County.

 

Two of the districts will have contested elections, while two have lone candidates seeking a single open position. Holley has three candidates for three spots.

 

Monday was the deadline for the petitions. The election is May 20.

 

Here is the rundown for each district:

 

• ALBION – Four candidates are running for three positions: two five-year terms and one one-year term.

 

Kevin Doherty and David Sidari are both finishing five-year terms. They are running again. Marie Snyder, another incumbent, had a break from the BOE but was recently appointed to fill a vacancy from Melissa Osburn.  Her term has one year remaining. Snyder will be on the ballot.

 

Wendy Kirby also is running for the BOE. The top two vote-getters will get the five-year terms while the candidate with the third most votes gets the one-year term.

 

• HOLLEY – Three candidates are running for three positions, which all have three-year terms.

 

John Heise, the former BOE president, is running again after choosing not to a year ago. Other candidates include incumbents Robin Silvis and Salvatore DeLuca Jr.

Another incumbent, Norman Knight, has opted not to seek re-election.

 

• KENDALL – Lucille Welch has decided against seeking re-election after 10 years on the board. Chaley Swift is the lone candidate to file a petition to run for the five-year term.

 

• LYNDONVILLE – Incumbent Susan Hrovat is unopposed in seeking a three-year term.

 

• MEDINA – There are five candidates seeking four positions on the Board of Education.

 

The top three candidates will receive three-year terms while the candidate with the fourth most votes gets a one-year term. The one-year term will fill Rosalind Lind’s vacant position.

 

Three incumbents – Christopher Keller, William Keppler and David Sevenski – are seeking re-election. Other candidates include Renee Paser-Paull and former BOE member Virginia Nicholson.

 

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Holley man fatally shot in Rochester

By Tom Rivers, editor Posted 23 April 2014

A Holley man was shot and killed in Rochester on Tuesday while another Orleans County resident from Carlton was wounded by gunfire.

 

Police have not made any arrests in the shootings that occurred at about 1:30 p.m. in the area of Hopkins Street and Genesee Street.

 

Ronald Stern, 49, of Holley was found dead in the parking lot of 773 Genesee St. Earl Cartwright, 47, of Kent, an acquaintance, was treated and released from Strong Memorial Hospital for a gunshot wound to the lower part of his body, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is reporting.

 

The suspects fled on foot after the shooting. The two Orleans County men drove several blocks to the Family Dollar parking lot, where police and emergency personnel found them, the D & C is reporting.

 

Rochester Police say the investigation is continuing.

 

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Editorial

Trade some of Parkway to free up state money for canal bridges

File photos by Tom Rivers

The Brown Street bridge in Albion was shut down about two years ago. There isn’t a timetable for the bridge’s reopening.

 

Editorial by Tom Rivers Posted 23 April 2014

Orleans County officials and many of the village and town government leaders have been making phone calls, writing letters and passing resolutions, trying to pressure state officials to better maintain bridges over the Erie Canal.

 

Many of the spans have reduced weight restrictions or have been closed. Only a handful can accommodate tractor trailers, fire trucks and big farm equipment. Local officials say it hurts commerce, threatens public safety and wastes time with detours.

 

The local leaders have been making noise about this in recent years. It doesn’t seem to be paying off in more upgraded canal bridges.

 

The canal bridges are low volume and costly to maintain, Bob Traver, DOT regional director, told county officials in a meeting last September. The DOT has many infrastructure needs and it directs the money to higher-volume bridges, he said.

 

The county should try a new approach in bringing state action to the bridges. The county should consider a trade off. Let’s offer up the north side of the Lake Ontario State Parkway. That is the two-lane recreational expressway that runs west for 12.5 miles in the county.

The Lake Ontario State Parkway is lightly traveled. It was supposed to extend from Rochester to Niagara Falls, but stops in Carlton.

 

The Parkway was supposed to link Rochester to Niagara Falls. It got about halfway built and ends abruptly in the town of Carlton. It strikes me as a colossal waste of money, and a big broken promise.

 

The Parkway is costly to the state. The DOT could simply close down the north side, and make the south side – the two lanes that currently go east – into a regular two-lane state highway with one eastbound and one westbound lane. This would save the DOT in maintenance, plowing and mowing costs.

 

Those savings should stay in the county and be directed towards keeping up the canal bridges. The Parkway is lightly travelled, and putting both the east- and west-bound traffic on the south side of the Parkway wouldn’t hinder the motorists at all.

 

I think the DOT would be more willing to listen to our pleas about the bridges if we offered a trade off, rather than just insisting on more money.

 

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Active Hose firefighters pose by Courthouse in 1902

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian Posted 23 April 2014

ALBION – Members of the Active Hose No. 2 in Albion had this picture taken on the Courthouse steps in 1902.

 

First row, from left: Homer Galarneau, Walter Brown, Homer Heady, George Dhoman, Jesse English and Dan Dugan.

 

Second row: James English, John Wilson, Chas. Kippendall, Ed Sullivan and Arthur Nixon.

 

Third row: Wallace Eggleston, Jay Doolittle, Thos. Neary, Owen Dickson, Robt. Van Stone, Chas Terrill and Jos. Dibley.

 

Fourth row: Wm. Irleand, Fred Sitzer, Henry Swartz, Ed Slattery, Herbert Hall, Romer Day, Leonard Simpson and Wallace Griswold.

 

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View to the outside from the historic chapel at Hillside Cemetery

Photos by Tom Rivers Posted 22 April 2014

CLARENDON – The top photo shows the Holley water tank on Route 237. The picture was taken looking through one of the stained glass windows in the chapel at Hillside Cemetery in Holley.

 

Not too many people get inside the chapel at Hillside Cemetery. I was given a tour recently. The Clarendon Historical Society may soon launch a fund-raising campaign to upgrade the chapel, which was built in 1894.

 

The Historical Society would like to see the building used for more community events. The bottom photo shows one of the big trees on the lawn by the chapel.

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Lyndonville ranked as one of best high schools by U.S. News

Provided photo

L.A. Webber Middle-High School has been recognized by a national publication.

Press release, Lyndonville Central School Posted 22 April 2014

LYNDONVILLE – L.A. Webber Middle-High School was ranked as one of the best high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. 

 

The magazine analyzed more than 31,200 public high schools and ranked them on overall student performance on state-mandated assessments, as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. 

 

Schools were also evaluated on how well prepared students were for college-level course work.  In the national rankings, 500 high schools earned gold medals, 1,519 took home silver and 2,688 were awarded bronze. 

 

L.A. Webber received a silver medal and was ranked 97 in the state and 1,229 in the United States. 

 

“This honor is indicative of the high quality work by the Board of Education, administration, faculty and staff and our students,” said LCS Superintendent Jason Smith.  “We are pleased and humbled to have our collective efforts for our students recognized with this special honor."

 

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Heritage Hero: Erin Anheier

Clarendon resident leads push to preserve several historic sites

Photo by Tom Rivers

Erin Anheier is pictured at Hillside Cemetery in Clarendon with a chapel from 1894 in the background. Anheier wrote the application to get the site on the National Register of Historic Places. She said a fund-raising campaign may be needed to refurbish the chapel, particularly some of the window panes that are rotting.

 

By Tom Rivers, editor Posted 22 April 2014

CLARENDON – When Erin Anheier retired as personnel director for Delphi in Michigan, she wanted to come back to her roots.

 

In 2008, she and her husband Russ Bosch bought a cobblestone house on Bennetts Corners Road. It’s not too far from where she grew up on West Sweden Road, just across the Orleans County line.

 

Anheier’s house was built in 1849 and the masonry includes lake-washed cobblestones.

 

“They are very carefully sized and arranged,” she said. “You can see the skill in the masonry and it’s spectacular.”

 

Anheier wanted to recognize that effort and she applied to have the house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It made the list in 2010.

Courtesy of Erin Anheier

When Anheier moved back to the area in 2008 after a career with Delphi in Michigan, she and her husband picked this cobblestone home on Bennetts Corners Road. They made repairs to the house and got it listed on the National Register.

 

Anheier was content to live in her old home and be back in the area with her family.

 

“I’ve always loved it here,” she said. “The area is beautiful. I like the change of seasons and the topography.”

 

But her experience working on the National Register application, and her heightened awareness of local historical resources, soon came into play.

 

The Old Stone Store, a mainstay at the corner of routes 31A and 237 since 1836, was going to be demolished. Town officials and many residents saw the building as an eyesore.

 

But Anheier saw it as an important part of the town’s history and identity. She helped to rally support for the building. The town held off on the wrecking ball, while Anheier and other volunteers cleaned up some of the site.

 

She connected with the Landmark Society of Western New York, which worked with Anheier to get the building on the National Register. The Landmark Society also teamed with the town to market the property. The Old Stone Store is one of the oldest stone commercial buildings in the region.

File photo by Tom Rivers

The Old Stone Store was nearly demolished in 2011 after residents and town officials complained of its shoddy shape. Erin Anheier and other residents worked to clean it up. The site from 1836 was added to the National Register in 2012 and is currently being renovated with a front porch to be added to match its original look.

 

Joe and Sue Fertitta bought the Old Stone Store and have been renovating it.  They expect to have a tenant living in the upstairs and the first floor available for offices. Besides gutting and renovating the building, the couple plans to put on a front porch to match the building's original look.

 

“This shows it can be done,” Anheier, chairwoman of the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee, said in October during a town meeting. “These buildings can be saved.”

 

Anheier said the building will make Clarendon distinctive, with such a historical building at its main corner. She praised the community for coming together to keep up the site.

 

Anheier will be presented with a “Heritage Hero” award on Friday at 7 p.m. during a ceremony outside GCC’s Medina campus. Five “Heritage Heroes” will be honored during the Civil War Encampment.

 

Anheier was picked for leading several preservation projects, and for helping to change the culture in Clarendon, making preservation a priority.

 

She also sees potential in Hillside Cemetery. That site used to be owned and managed by a not-for-profit cemetery association, but was turned over to the town of Clarendon about a decade ago.

 

Anheier said Hillside is a great Victorian cemetery, a fitting final resting place for community residents. However, the site needs some upgrades, especially the chapel built in 1894 from local Medina sandstone.

 

Anheier wrote the application that landed the cemetery on the National Register last year. The designation should help the town secure grants for restoration projects.

 

“I also knew if we got it on the Register, the town would recognize we have a treasure here,” Anheier said.

 

She is secretary of the Clarendon Historical Society. The group would like to mount a fund-raising campaign to restore rotted window panes, repoint mortar and make roof repairs. Anheier would like to see the chapel used again for services and community events.

File photo by Tom Rivers

The chapel at Hillside Cemetery could use some repairs. The cemetery was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

 

Anheier is working on other preservation projects. She wrote the application for the National Register designation for the John and Chauncey White House, the White Farm Bed and Breakfast, on White Road in Brockport. She expects that will be approved soon.

 

She also is working on the application for the North Star School, Hamlin District No. 11. That will be reviewed for the State Register in June.  She is in the early stages of researching the Spencer-Sommerfeldt House, a stone house on the west side of Route  237, just north of New Guinea Road in Clarendon.

 

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EPA honors Saint-Gobain in Albion

Press release, Saint-Gobain Posted 22 April 2014

ALBION – Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest manufacturer of building products, has been awarded the Energy Star Partner of the Year Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the sixth consecutive year and fourth consecutive year at the Sustained Excellence level.

 

The award recognizes Saint-Gobain’s outstanding leadership in energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

 

Saint-Gobain employs nearly 1,200 people in New York state, including 182 people at its Saint-Gobain ADFORS plant in Albion. The Albion plant’s contributions to energy-efficiency are part of the reason Saint-Gobain has been awarded the Energy Star award. Through energy efficiency technologies and techniques the plant achieved a 9.8 percent reduction in energy on a per-unit basis.

 

Saint-Gobain is the first and only manufacturer of glass containers or fiberglass insulation ever to receive the Energy Star award. The company will be recognized at an EPA awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 29.

 

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Home Ec made its debut in 1934

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian Posted 22 April 2014

ALBION – A course in Home Economics was introduced into the Albion High School curriculum in 1934. It was first taught by Miss Evelyn S. Fischer, a graduate of Cornell University.

 

The late Fred Holt took this picture 80 years ago of high school girls in the kitchen area of the Home Economics classroom. This was located on the third floor of the old high school, which is now the Carl I. Bergeson Middle School.

 

Teen-agers looked a lot older, somehow back then, than they do now.

 

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Medina family seeks help in finding poodle

Izzy has been missing since Friday

Provided photo

Izzy likes to hunt. She weighs about 48 pounds.

 

By Tom Rivers, editor Posted 22 April 2014

MEDINA – A poodle that loves to explore and hunt has been missing since Friday, when Izzy wandered off a farm on Marshall Road.

 

Barbara Jantzi, the dog’s owner, has been looking for the 1-year-old poodle mix since then. The dog weighs 48 pounds and is white, but she may be dirty from her adventures.

 

“She is very busy and she is real lovable,” Jantzi said this morning.

 

If anyone sees or finds the dog, give Jantzi a call at 585-798-1468.

 

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