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OC Rivals will face East/WOI in the regional
The OC Rivals now know who their opponent will be in the state Class B quarterfinal Far West Regional on Saturday it will be the East/World of Inquiry Eagles from Rochester.
An undermanned East/WOI squad defeated Honeoye Falls Lima 20-3 Saturday to win the Section V Class B title and earn a spot in the state playoffs.
East was missing a number of players including a reported 10 starters as the result of a brawl at the end of the previous week’s sectional semifinal 14-6 win over city rival Monroe High.
East is expected to be back at full strength as the players were reportedly suspended for just one game.
The Rivals vs. East/World of Inquiry contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at SUNY Brockport.
The victor in that game will advance to the state semifinals against the winner of Saturday’s Central Regional contest between Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (Seciton III) and Maine-Endwell (Section IV).
VVS defeated New Hartford 28-20 to win the Section III title while Maine Endwell bested Johnson City 33-22 in the Section IV final.
Medina pitcher signs with St. Bonaventure
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Preston Woodworth
The St. Bonaventure University Athletic Department has announced that Medina High senior pitcher Preston Woodworth has signed to become a member of the Bonnies baseball team beginning with the 2027-28 school year.
Woodworth, who helped lead Medina to the state finals last spring, was a first team Class B All-State honoree and the Max Preps New York State Player of the Year. He registered 132 strikeouts on the mound with 8 shutouts and had a 0.61 earned run average. At the plate he hit .400 with 29 runs batted in.
“Preston has done nothing but win,” said St. Bona Coach Jason Rathbun. “He led his team to the state championship game as a junior. He’s a physical body with a great feel for the zone.”
Career wise St. Bona notes that Woodworth has pitched 157.2 innings with 270 strikeouts and a 0.67 era.
He is planning on majoring in Business Management.
Woodworth is also a multi year starter on the football and basketball teams.
County Courthouse, completed in 1858, was a source of rivalry between Albion and Medina
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Orleans County Courthouse has been a landmark in Albion for nearly 170 years.
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 31
Cain and Abel, New York and New Jersey, the Yankees and the Red Sox: we are familiar with these examples of rivalry – sibling, geographic, sports.
We can add Medina and Albion to that pantheon of longstanding rivalries.
In a 1925 issue of the Albion High School publication, the Chevron, we found an account of a football game between “the fighting Albion” team and Medina, it’s “ancient foe”. Since Albion was incorporated in 1828 and Medina in 1832, the use of the adjective “ancient” seems a little exaggerated, but we infer the primal nature of the competitiveness.
We recently chanced upon a newspaper article which verified this “ancient” enmity. Apparently, the following article appeared in the Medina Tribune in 1857, in response to the approval of a Bill to provide for the building of a new Court House passed by the Orleans County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 18, 1857. The tone is so blistering, we had to share it in its entirety:
New Court House
The fogies from Fogyville – alias Albion – are in high spirits.
There is a prospect that the sound of the hammer and trowel,
the saw and the jack-plane will again be heard in that cemeterial
hamlet. The Board of Supervisors has voted them a new Court
House and appropriated $20,000 to cover the cost.
Why shouldn’t the people of Fogyville feel elated and proud
with this windfall? They have forgotten how new shavings
look. It is years since they have listened to the music of a
hand-saw. Brick and mortar, masons and hod-carriers,
carpenters and glaziers, have faded from their memories.
Besides all this, the old Court House, which the old fogies
of Fogyville have used during the last twenty years for
concerts, lectures, political speeches, caucuses, Ethiopian
dances, “stated preaching” and prayer meetings, is getting
shabby.
A new one should be built.
Fogyville cannot get along without it.
They have no public hall, no dancing room, no place for a
public lecture, speeches or concerts, except the aforesaid
old Court House.
Therefore, Fogyville should have a new Court House, with
a public hall in one corner, a schoolhouse in another, and a
prayer and conference room in a third and the County should
be taxed as heretofore to furnish them with wood and lights
for all public doings. Hurrah for Fogyville!”
Naturally, the Albion folks at the Orleans Republican did not take too kindly to this. Their response appeared in the March 27, 1857 issue:
“The above specimen of sarcasm is from the Tribune,
published at Medina, a place where so intense a silence
reigns that a sneeze in the streets alarms the population, and
when two teams (horse and carriage) enter the town in close
proximity, people rush to their doors “to see the show go past.”
Now, we don’t pretend to deny that Albion has been slightly
“crusted over,” we’ve preached that for a long time. But the
crust is fairly broken and the coming season will witness greater
progress here in one year than a single year ever brought out before.
We would take it kindly if the Tribune would stop “stirring up
the animal” It would save us some trouble.”
The term “stirring up the animal” may be unfamiliar. It refers to the deliberate provoking of rowdy behavior. This reprinted exchange provides a background for subsequent exchanges between the communities and for the later rivalry between the Albion and Medina sports teams.
Those afflicted of Trump Derangement Syndrome can’t see president’s accomplishments
Editor:
There comes a time in most peoples’ lives when they need to reassess what is real and what is a lie. When we refuse to concede any good at all in another person, we have succumbed to allowing an emotion override our judgment and cloud our perceptions.
Often times that emotion is hatred. When hatred becomes so pathological that one cannot even acknowledge reality and concede any good in another person, then there is a problem.
When I first heard about Trump Derangement Syndrome, I took it lightly and kind of laughed off, but over the last two years I realize that this affliction is very real. Anyone who happens to be struck with this malady will not (or perhaps cannot) see beyond their own biased mindset to concede any good that the President has shown for Americans.
In a recent letter to the editor, the writer asked his readers to explain how Trump has shown concern for all Americans.
Let’s start with immigration. The borders are secure. The President has targeted and reduced wasteful spending aimed at illegal immigrants and the DEI programs.
America.gov has been launched – a platform placing government services and info directly into the hands of Americans.
• 60 million children have been enrolled in Trump Accounts.
• The Department of Energy has allotted nearly $2 billion for grid upgrades nationwide.
• The Office of Personnel Management uncovered $500 million in fraud and waste in the federal health benefit programs. Speaking of fraud, the Department of Justice charged 17 defendants in a $1.3 million Social Security fraud scheme.
• 146,000 unaccompanied migrant minors have been located. Although many were found to be with sponsors, some were victims of smuggling and labor and sex trafficking.
• Removing Madura from power in Venezuela advanced Trump’s anti-drug agenda. Madura had long standing US federal indictments for drug trafficking and corruption.
These are just a handful of accomplishments.
I will be the first to admit that Trump’s nemesis is his lack of diplomacy. This has eroded support and relationships have been damaged accordingly.
And yet I see the same lack of diplomacy evident in this forum with some writers who delight in putting others down and will not tolerate a different perspective. They lie in wait, ready and eager to attack another writer who displays an alternative perspective.
They have lost the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully. No longer do they value outside standpoints. Instead they are perfectly content to hear their own rants echo back and forth in their heads. This hinders their learning, adapting or seeing their own blind spots.
When we open the door to different mindsets, we break down the mental biases, deepen our comprehension and strengthen our problem solving skills.
Mary Mager
Fairport, formerly of Albion
Green has an even par round at The Annika
Golf Channel Photo – Melanie Green after making a birdie on the 15th hole today.
Slowed by a couple of late bogeys, Medina’s Melanie Green posted an even par 70 today on the third round of the LPGA Tour’s The Annika Tournament at Belleair, Florida.
Green, who opened the tournament with a 3 under 67 on Thursday and a 4 under 66 on Friday, remains at 7 under and tied for 8th place heading into Sunday’s final round.
Opening strong, Green registered birdies on both 1 and 3 to go to 9 under for the tourney. However, bogeys on both 5 and 8 cancelled out those gains putting her back to 7 under.
The back nine proved to be an instant replay.
First she had birdies on 12 and 15 to go to 9 under. Then she closed with bogeys on 16 and 18 to finish the day at even par and stay at 7 under for the tourney.
Sheriff releases statement on Task Force shutdown, saying it’s cost-effective and unrelated to next year’s election
‘Orleans County is not abandoning major felony investigations, and we are not backing away from the fight against drugs, illegal guns or violent crime.’
Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke
Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke has released a statement following the shutdown of the Major Felony Crime Task Force. The sheriff said major felony crime investigations will continue through the Sheriff’s Department.
Here is the sheriff’s statement, released this afternoon:
“The statement issued by District Attorney Susan Howard is both disappointing and completely irresponsible. Rather than having a thoughtful, professional conversation about how Orleans County can best deliver law enforcement services, she has chosen to launch a politically motivated personal attack and attempt to frighten the residents we are all sworn to protect.
“Let’s be clear about something: Orleans County is not abandoning major felony investigations, and we are not backing away from the fight against drugs, illegal guns or violent crime. The decision to eliminate the Major Felony Crime Task Force does not mean eliminating its mission. Those responsibilities are being transferred to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, where they belong.
“As Sheriff, I am responsible for the overall delivery of law enforcement services in this county. That means continually evaluating our operations, identifying duplication and working with county leadership to make responsible use of taxpayer dollars. That is exactly what we are doing.
“The County has identified nearly $400,000 in potential savings by restructuring this operation. In a county with a $106 million budget, mandated services from the state that take up the entire tax levy and a mission to not exceed the property tax cap, that is a significant amount of money. DA Howard conveniently ignores these budget realities. But rather than engage in the decision-making process, she has instead gone down the path of making baseless accusations that families will be less safe.
“What I find particularly troubling is the attempt to connect this administrative decision to next year’s Sheriff’s election. The DA’s suggestion that this decision was made because a potential political opponent announced his candidacy is an outrageous accusation without evidence. It is also a distraction from the actual issue and engaging in such political activity is well below the professional standards we should expect from the District Attorney.
“Indeed, if anyone is bringing politics into this decision, it is the District Attorney. Rather than addressing the merits of the restructuring, she has chosen to turn it into an election-year controversy and use the reputations of former investigators to advance a political narrative.
“The District Attorney has every right to disagree with a county administrative decision. Indeed, let’s look at the history of the task force, how it was originally funded, how it now falls fully on county taxpayers, how indictments have decreased significantly, how other counties perform these functions, how we can produce the same level of investigation at lower cost…let’s debate those points.
“What we should not be doing is suggesting that the Sheriff’s Office is somehow abandoning public safety or that the people of Orleans County are now in danger because an organizational structure is changing. Such outrageous rhetoric may get you a few cheap clicks on Facebook, but it erodes public confidence in our collective efforts to keep the community safe.
“My commitment to the residents of Orleans County has not changed. We will continue investigating major felonies, pursuing drug dealers, removing dangerous drugs and illegal firearms from our communities, and working with the District Attorney’s Office to bring criminals to justice.
“I will not apologize for working with county leaders to make government more efficient, more accountable and more responsible with taxpayer money. Nor will I allow an important management decision to be distorted into a political attack on the Sheriff’s Office.
“Public safety is too important to be used as a political weapon. The people of Orleans County deserve facts, responsible leadership and results — not scare tactics and election-year theatrics from our District Attorney.”
Lakewomen romp in state Class C soccer semi
Sparked by an early goal, Wilson went on to defeat St. Lawrence Central (Section X) 7-1 in the semifinals of the state Class C girls soccer tournament this afternoon at Moravia High School.
Addison Elia scored in the first six minutes to put Wilson on top to stay.
The Lakewomen then broke the game wide open on a burst of three straight goals by Elia in the first six minutes of the second half.
Macaela Boyer tacked on two quick goals and Abigail Labarre one to up the Wilson lead to 7-0 with 15 minutes still to play in the second half.
Improving to 20-0, Wilson will now play Stillwater for the state Class C championship on Sunday.
Holley shop offers a mix of thrifted finds and unique fashion
Eh Collective named New Business of the Year by Chamber of Commerce
Photos by Isabella Zasa: Erin Hackenberg, owner of Eh Collective at 110 Geddes St. in Holley, is shown inside her shop, which features a curated selection of clothing, accessories and home decor.
By Isabella Zasa, staff writer
HOLLEY – For shoppers looking for affordable clothing and unique finds, Eh Collective offers a mix of fashion and home decor at 110 Geddes St. in Holley. The shop is located in a warehouse owned by her father, Gregg Weber.
Holley native Erin Hackenberg has turned her love of fashion into a shop with a focus on curated merchandise, affordability and giving preowned items a second life.
Now in its second year, Eh Collective began as a way for Hackenberg to share items from her own closet. It has since grown into what she describes as a curated thrift shop, featuring clothing, accessories and home decor.
“I call my store a curated thrift,” she said. “It’s not consignment, it’s not all antiques and it’s certainly not all brand new. But every item in my store is hand-sourced and curated by me.”
Hackenberg regularly visits thrift stores to find merchandise, keeping her customers in mind as she selects pieces. She said she aims to offer quality clothing in a variety of sizes and styles at prices lower than those typically found at major retail stores. The approach also allows her to give clothing and other items another purpose rather than having them end up in landfills.
She has also found the store to be an outlet for other mothers who want to shop and treat themselves to quality clothing without spending a lot of money.
Eh Collective was recently named New Business of the Year by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. Hackenberg received the award Nov. 5 during the chamber’s annual awards ceremony.
Hackenberg said owning a store had always been a dream, although she never knew exactly what it would look like. Her interests in fashion, styling, designing and creating eventually came together through Eh Collective.
“I’ve always loved fashion and have found it to be a creative expression,” she said. “This has truly been my passion project.”
Hackenberg also offers a selection of upcycled clothing at Eh Collective. She holds a thrifted sweatshirt that she customized with graphics of her own design.
In addition to its regular merchandise, the store offers upcycled clothing, including thrifted sweatshirts customized with graphics Hackenberg designs herself. Shoppers also can create custom hats by choosing from an assortment of patches and putting together their own designs in the store.
Hackenberg graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2011 with degrees in communication and psychology. She previously worked for a nonprofit organization and as a paralegal with Jeff Martin before becoming a stay-at-home mother following the birth of her second son in 2021.
She now operates Eh Collective while raising her three children, Emma, Levi and Luke.
Hackenberg manages nearly every aspect of the shop, from washing and organizing merchandise to arranging displays, posting new arrivals and managing social media.
Social media plays an important role in how Hackenberg connects with customers. She regularly shares available clothing, including sizes, online so shoppers can preview merchandise before visiting the store. Hackenberg said this is particularly helpful because women’s clothing sizes can vary and are not always consistent.
Another section of Eh Collective features racks of clothing and displays of handbags and accessories.
The store also hosts events throughout the year, with an upcoming warehouse sale scheduled for Nov. 21. The sale will feature boxes of clothing priced at $1 and $3 for shoppers to sort through.
Store hours vary each week, with evening openings to accommodate Hackenberg’s schedule as a stay-at-home mother. Weekly hours, new arrivals, events and other information can be found on Eh Collective’s Facebook page.
It was a night to celebrate for the OC Rivals
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – It was a time for celebration as the OC Rivals continued an incredible debut season by capturing the Section VI Class B championship by downing West Seneca East 28-14 at the University of Buffalo Friday evening. Here Parker Roberts, Rocco Sidari and Preston Woodworth rush to join the celebration as the Rivals avenged their only loss of the season by downing the Trojans. The victory propels the Rivals into the state playoffs and a meeting with the Section V champion (either East/World of Inquiry or Honeoye Falls Lima) at SUNY Brockport next Saturday in the Class B Far West Regional.
OC Rivals players, coaches and staff celebrate with the sectional championship plaque and sign. The championship is the second of their debut season for the Rivals which also shared the B1 Division crown with West Seneca East at 6-1. The Rivals, which avenged that regular season 35-34 loss to the Trojans with the victory, now take a 10-1 record into the state playoffs.
A large contingent of fans traveled to U.B. to cheer on the Rivals. They were not disappointed as the Rivals rebounded from a 14-13 half-time deficit to score a pair of unanswered fourth quarter touchdowns and claim the 28-14 victory and their first sectional championship.
Rationale given for cutting Task Force seems questionable
Editor:
Events this past week in Orleans County can best be described as “Political Shenanigans.”
Specifically, on Tuesday a member of the Orleans County Major Felony Crimes Task Force announced his candidacy for Sheriff in next year’s election. Two days later his job at the DA’s Office is eliminated.
In fact the entire Task Force was disbanded. Of course the timing is suspect. Coincidence? Not Likely! Cost savings measure? I was born at night, but it wasn’t last night!
If my Dad was still above ground, he would say, “You People Are About As Subtle As A Train Wreck”!
I wish I could say I’m surprised by all this. Sadly, I am not.
Steve Smith
Churchville
Smith is a former undersheriff in the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.
