Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The band, Yacht Club, gave a high-energy performance on Saturday night at the Elks Lodge for “Rocktoberfest.”

The Albion Recreation Committee welcomed the band with proceeds from the event going to Albion’s July 3rd celebration with music, fireworks and other activities at Bullard Park. There was a $5 admission charge and the Elks served food and refreshments.

Yacht Club touts itself as “Western NY’s Premier Yacht Rock party band covering all your favorite Yacht Rock Classics from the ’70s and ’80s.”

The Elks hosted the concert that filled the lodge on West State Street.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A 36-foot-long wall on the bathroom building at Veterans Park has a dramatic new look. Albion art teacher Kamie Feder and 11 of her students turned the white wall into a mural with a bald eagle, poppies, an American flag, and a soldier saluting.

Students worked on the mural from Monday through Wednesday.

Photos courtesy of Kamie Feder: The students are shown on Monday at the beginning of first day working on the large painting at the park, which is located at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street.

Here they are at the end of the first day on Monday.

Avah Tatu and Isabella Negron-Ortiz stencil the stars on the flag on the second day of work.

Students embraced the task of painting the mural. From the top to bottom shows Avah Tatu, Lillian Pike and Eli Patten.

Viktor Healy helped transform the wall into a patriotic display.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Albion 8^th-grade students in Kamie Feder’s enrichment art class have been painting a patriotic mural the past three school days at Veterans Park in Albion at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street.

Aleeah Vallejo is shown working on the silhouette of a soldier saluting. The mural is on the south side of the bathrooms at the park. Before Monday, this wall was bland and all white.

Nikko Russo is on a step ladder working on a bald eagle while Blair Daggett paints poppies for the mural.

Blair Daggett gives the poppies different shades of red. Blair also had the main design for the mural, which is 9 feet high and 36 feet long.

The mural shows a bald eagle, a silhouette of a soldier saluting, red poppy flowers, the American flag, and the message “Lest We Forget.”

This is the third mural in the community that has been painted by Feder and her students. In recent years, Feder and her students worked on a flower-themed mural at the former bathrooms at Bullard Park and also revamped a canal-themed mural on the Albion fire hall. Feder’s classes also have done many murals inside the middle school.

There are five students working on the mural today. During the three days, 11 different students have worked on the project.

The students and their teacher are shown by the mural after they had lunch and were getting ready to complete the large painting. From left include Blair Daggett, Nikko Russo, teacher Kamie Feder, Adalynn Saeva, Julianna Grier and Aleeah Vallejo.

Press Release, Christ Episcopal Church

ALBION – Christ Episcopal Church is proud to announce the opening of Noah’s Bowl, its new community pet food pantry, designed to provide free supplemental dog and cat food to local pet owners experiencing financial hardship.

The new pantry aims to help reduce economic strain on pet owners and prevent animal surrenders by ensuring that families do not have to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their beloved companion animal.

“Times are tough for many in our community, and pets are cherished members of the family,” said Nicole Spohr, director of the pet project at Christ Church. “We want to offer a safety net, so families facing temporary hardship don’t have to part with their animals.”

The pantry will be open on the third Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The pet pantry is a walk-up pantry and will be dispensed from our West Park Street entrance.  We ask everyone to be kind, courteous, and have “pawtience.”

To kick off our pet food pantry opening, we will be having a Pet Blessing this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Christ Church, 26 South Main St., Albion.

All pets must be on a leash or in a carrier and under the owner’s control.  A small distribution of pet food will be available while supplies last on this day.

Grand Opening & Distribution Details

Date: Saturday, October 17th, 2026

Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: West Park Street (side parking lot of Christ Church)

Requirements: limit of one pickup per household

Distribution: Cat – 3 lb. bag

Dog – Small dog – 2 bags of 3-lb. bags; Large dog – 3 bags of 3-lb. bags

How the Community can help

The pet food pantry operates on community support and donations. Noah’s Bowl is currently accepting donations of unopened, unexpired dry and canned dog and cat food.

If anyone would like to make a pet food donation, please call 585-589-5314. Monetary donations can be sent to Christ Church at 26 South Main Street, Albion, New York 14411, with “Noah’s Bowl” noted on the memo line. For more information, please call 585-589-5314.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Todd Jantzi, an auctioneer and owner of Bontrager Real Estate & Auction Service in Batavia, looks for bids during an art auction on Saturday at Marti’s on Main, an art gallery in Albion run by Kim Martillotta Muscarella.

He is shown with a painting by Richard Hart, one of 35 pieces of art work in the auction.

The first-ever art auction raised $8,000 for Marti’s, a non-profit art gallery that features many artists during the year and also hosts art classes and other special events.

Kim Martillotta Muscarella, leader of Marti’s on Main, welcomes the group for the auction. She thanked the artists for donating their work. She gave three on her paintings for the auction.

Martillotta Muscarella first ran Marti’s from her home on North Main Street in Albion, and then for a year at the Cobblestone Museum. In 2019, she started to transform the former Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County into an art gallery. The site opened as Marti’s on Main in 2021. It hosts several art shows a year, as well as concerts and art classes.

Martillotta Muscarella said 180 different artists have been featured at Marti’s since her first show in 2008, including about 120 who had their first show at a gallery.

Martillotta Muscarella established a non-profit organization about a year ago to help with fundraising to make the site more sustainable.

Todd Jantzi scans the crowd for bids. Jantzi bought one of the pieces himself. He thanked the group for their generosity and efforts to strengthen Marti’s, which he called a community asset.

A painting by Roseanne Mascari goes up for bid. Marrit Vaga, left, helped run the auction. Judy Wenrich, front right, bid on several of the pieces and donated one her works, showing two horses.

The auction included art work from Arthur Barnes, Tony Barry, Rebecca Barry-Kent, Jeanne Borrelli, David Burke, Rich Della Costa, Bradeen Erakare, Paul Facklam, George Graham, Pat Greene, Richard Hart, Sarah Hyatt, Laura Kemler, Jappie King Black, Arlene London, Chris Manaseri, Diana August Martin, Kim Martillotta Muscarella, Nikki Martillotta McFarland, Roseanne Mascari, Rebecca Maynard, Cindy Meal, Peter Monacelli, Connie Mosher, Michael O’Keefe, Nancy Radzik, Harvey Rayner, Ester Rolick, Brian Seekins, Sharon Stewart, Suzanne Wells, Mark Weld, Judy Wenrich, Bob Wisner and Tom Zangerle.

Some of the artwork in the auction is shown in this photo.

Marti’s on Main has transferred the former Cornell Cooperative Extension building at 20 South Main St. This building is part of the Courthouse Square Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – New concrete footers went in today for the new bridge under construction on Phipps Road in Albion.

The previous bridge was closed to traffic on Sept. 9, 2022 after an inspection showed the steel high-beam supports were rotted.

Keeler Construction is general contractor for the project, after submitting the low bid of $992,851.

Keeler is replacing the previous19.5-foot-long culvert and with one that is 25 feet long.

The project includes the removal of the existing concrete culvert, and replacement with a 3-sided single span precast concrete span unit. The structure will be supported by micro-piles on spread footings, and associated highway approach work and stream work, according to a description seeking bids.

All Ways Concrete Pumping in Auburn brought in a slinger with a 110-foot reach to pour concrete for the new footers.

The pre-cast culvert sections will be set on the footers. Once the new bridge is in place, the top will be paved over with asphalt with guard rails on the sides.

A state grant through the Bridge NY program for $1.038 million is covering most of the cost for the new bridge, which is expected to be open to traffic later this fall.

The bridge is over a tributary of Otter Creek. The water is directed through the two large pipes. This is looking south at the tributary.

Ravi Engineering and Land Surveying in Rochester provided design services and now is doing construction inspection.

Here is how the bridge looked soon after it was closed to traffic on Sept. 9, 2022.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Village of Albion has a new basketball hoop on a concrete quarter court at St. Joseph’s Park on North Clinton Street.

The smaller court was paid with state funds administered by the Orleans County Youth Bureau.

Another one of the smaller basketball courts will be installed at Veterans Park at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street, said John Grillo, the Albion recreation director.

The village has money for a third court that will either go at Carosol Park at Caroline Street and Ingersoll Street or at Lafayette Park with entrances on both West Park and West State streets.

“They will be shooter courts to give kids in the area something more to do especially if they’re younger and can not make it to Bullard,” said Mayor Tim McMurray. “We just want to provide the kids another avenue for entertainment, getting outdoors and off the phones.”

At St. Joseph’s Park, a deteriorating pavilion was removed to make room for the new basketball area.

Grillo said he is pleased to see the new court at St. Joseph’s, and looks forward to the next two courts.

“I think it’s wonderful,” he said. “We want to give people an opportunity with the parks on all areas of the village. That’s our goal.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

BARRE – A caravan of vehicles helped move a 222,500-pound load from Graham Manufacturing in Batavia this morning to the Erie Canal in Albion.

The top photo shows utility workers raising wires high to give the load its needed clearance.

The slow-moving caravan of vehicles slowed down traffic as it made its way north on Route 98.

It then turned left and went west on Route 31A, before turning right and going north on Gaines Basin Road, until making a final right hand turn on Albion-Eagle Harbor Road.

The load is a 195,500-pound condenser made by Graham. The cradle for the condenser weighed an additional 27,000 pounds, for a 222,500-pound total.

A group of bucket trucks are ready to raise wires for the load as its moves north on Gaines basin Road near the intersection with Countyhouse Road.

This is at least the fourth condenser made by Graham that was taken to the Erie Canal for transport. Previous condensers headed east to its final destination at the Navy.

Previous trips went to Albany, then down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there the condensers went on an ocean-going-barge for the trip to the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.

Massive cranes are in place to move the condenser to a barge. The barge wasn’t there to take the condenser by early this afternoon.

The load is close to the Erie Canal, just west of the boat launch on Albion-Eagle Harbor Road.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The historic Pratt Theater on the third floor of the Pratt building in downtown Albion hosting a concert with several bands on Sunday afternoon. This photo shows Karen Conn and her daughter Shannon Vanderlaan singing “Rhiannon.” They are part of the Pratt Pit Band that performed 10 songs on Sunday.

Conn is an Albion music teacher while Vanderlaan teaches music in the Rochester City School District.

The concert also included performances by Black Sheep, Eclipse, Frequency Theory and the Greater Royal Praise and Worship Team.

Don Mancuso, a legendary guitar player in the Rochester music scene, performed with the Pratt Pit Band and later with Black Sheep, which was without its star singer, Lou Gramm, because he is on tour.

Black Sheep with Gramm previously performed at the Pratt Theater in June 2024. On Sunday, Garrett Crumb, a lead singer with “Johnny Smoke,” filled in as lead singer for Black Sheep.

That band includes Michael Bonafede of Albion as drummer. Black Sheep last year was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame.

Michael Bonafede and his wife Judith Koehler worked about 20 years to restore the Pratt Theater to again host concerts and community events.

They recently sold their three downtown buildings, including the Pratt, to Taylor McCabe and Sara Barbur.

Bonafede will continue to promote concerts and events at the theater. The Pratt building was originally built in 1882.