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.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Ian Mackay heads west in a mouth-controlled power wheelchair on Sunday at about 4:30 p.m. He is near the Main Street lift bridge in Albion, with the Lockstone building behind him.

He is joined on a bicycle by Dr. Josh Blausten, Mackay’s college chemistry professor from Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, California. One of Mackay’s friends since college, Jimmy Quenelle, also has been on the 10-day journey from Albany to Buffalo.

Mackay is executive director of Ian’s Ride. He also works as an accessibility consultant to Apple. He is traveling about 350 miles along the Erie Canal towpath.

The group heads west along the canal towpath. Mackay can go 8 miles per hour in the motorized chair. His lithium batteries can go about 80 to 90 miles before needing to be charged.

Mackay was paralyzed from the neck down after a bike accident in 2008 when he collided with a tree and suffered a spinal cord injury. He has become a strong advocate for accessibility in the outdoors, and has done several long distance trail rides including in Washington State; from Washington DC to Columbus, Ohio; and the annual Sea to Sound ride for 74 miles over three days. That ride before Labor Day weekend had 150 participants including 50 people in wheelchairs.

Mackay also holds Guinness World Record for traveling the farthest in a motorized, mouth-controlled wheelchair in one day. From June 21-22 in 2022, he went 184.4 miles in 24 hours. He took 14 laps over a 13-mile paved loop at Sauvie Island near Portland, Oregon.

The record-breaking feat is featured in an upcoming documentary, “Good Moment.” It has its world premiere on Oct. 11 at the SOHO International Film Festival in New York City.

Albion Mayor Tim McMurray greets Ian Mackay when he was in Albion on Sunday. Mackay said every part of the towpath has been accessible to him so far from Albany to Albion.

Mackay said he has enjoyed the journey along the canal towpath and seeing so many small towns and so much wildlife. He said the crusher-run towpath is prefereable to asphalt paths.

“It’s been incredibly beautiful,” Mackay said. “You’re seeing great blue herons. We even saw a muskrat run by.”

He has seen locks and lift bridges in action, and learned about the canal history’s. The Erie Canal celebrated its bicentennial last year.

“It’s neat seeing the whole experience of the Erie Canal,” Mackay said.

Mackay is from Washington state. During his ride on Sunday afternoon he checked score update for his favorite team the Seattle Seahawks, which lost a close one, 33-31, to the Washington Commanders. He also kept a close eye on the Buffalo Bills score. The Bills came back to win, 24-16, versus the Los Angeles Chargers.

Photos courtesy of Teena Woodward, Ian Mackay’s mother: The trio made it to Bates Road in Medina last evening. They plan to start later this morning around 10:30 for the final segment of Ian’s Ride along the canal to Buffalo.

Ian Mackay has long hair and his friends held it up to form a Y while in Clyde.

Justin Suarez of Aerosol Kingdom finishes third project in Albion

Photo courtesy of Justin Suarez

ALBION – Justin Suarez of Aerosol Kingdom finished his third large-scale mural in Albion today. The northside side of the Lockstone at 160 North Main St. now features a pollinators’ garden showing flowers, a bee, butterfly and a hummingbird.

Suarez used a state grant from the Cultivating Havens for the Arts through Regional Murals (CHARM) for the project.

Natasha Wasuck, co-owner of The Lockstone, said Suarez picked Albion for the project through the CHARM grant because he felt welcomed by the community with his previous projects here.

Suarez previously did a mural on the southside of the Lockstone in 2022, facing the Erie Canal. That one showed flowers.

In 2020, he painted a mural of the Santa School on the north side of 170 North Main St., the building for The Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Justin Suarez of Rochester uses spray paint to create the large paintings. It took him about a week to paint the latest mural in Albion. The Lockstone is an event center that hosts many weddings.