Photo by Ginny Kropf: Sherry Tuohey Sipple, left, enjoys coffee and conversation with the new pastor of the Grove United Methodist Church in Medina, Barb Brewer.

MEDINA – The new pastor of the Grove United Methodist Church brings a bushel of energy and a ton of new ideas to the congregation.

Pastor Barb Brewer grew up in Lockport and graduated from Penn State with a degree in civil engineering.

“I spent 25 years as a civil engineer,” Brewer said. “Then I retired and opened a coffee house and café in Lockport.”

During that time, she said God was calling her and putting people in her way who led her to the ministry. She enrolled in United Theological Seminary.

Brewer grew up in the Lutheran church and attended regularly with her family. As a teenager, she became involved with Lockport Alliance Church.

“That’s when I accepted Christ in my heart and have carried on as a Christian all of my life,” Brewer said.

She started her duties at the Grove on Aug. 1, and since has instituted several new activities, including Christian Conversation and Coffee Thursday mornings at the Coffee Pot Café. She issues an open invitation for anyone to join from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The sessions feature small devotions and conversation.

“I was hired half-time, but am working full time,” she said. “I’m here to serve and I visit the sick and take them communion.”

In addition to several new activities at the church, she has more planned. Last Saturday they had a campfire at the church, with s’mores.

“Basically, I put fun into worship,” the pastor said. “I put humor into all my sermons.”

Before coming to Medina, Brewer served the Alden United Methodist Church and Brocton Tri-Church Parish, made up of two Methodist churches and an Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Brocton church suffered a devastating fire which leveled the church.

When the District Superintendent contacted Brewer, she told her, “Have I got an assignment for you.”

Brewer took to her new assignment in Brocton and put her engineering degree to good use, designing a new church and negotiated with the insurance company to get the money to rebuild.

Some of the things coming up at the Grove are a Tailgate Party after worship on Oct. 26; Trivia Night with a potluck supper on Nov. 15; and the Lunch Bunch from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, featuring cheese and crackers and dessert.

“I’m just feeling my way now,” Brewer said. “I believe if we show the community how active we are, the community will want to join us. God made a perfect fit when I came here. I needed this church as much as they needed me, and we are stronger than ever because of it.”

In addition to welcoming their new pastor, member Sherry Tuohey Sipple and Brewer want to take this opportunity to thank the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company for their response to several potential crises at the church.

At the back of the church property are motel units, which are now used for storage. In May, it had been very rainy and the motel basement flooded. The church called Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company and they responded, pumping 30,000 gallons of water out of the basement.

Tuohey said the motel units date back to the 1960s when the restaurant was open, and the church is considering other options for the building.

Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company responded again on several occasions when the motel’s fire alarms went off – sometimes in the middle of the night, for no apparent reason.

“We are thankful they were false alarms,” Sipple said. “We are blessed to have these volunteer firemen dedicated to service in our community.”

Ridgeway will be responding again soon with Medina and other volunteer fire companies to deliver the red barrels for the annual Christmas drive.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ABOARD THE SENECA CHIEF – Terry Abrams, Orly the Ox, Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman and Deputy Mayor Jess Marciano wave to people along the Erie Canal in medina on Thursday afternoon.

A replica of the historic Seneca Chief canal boat, the one that made the maiden voyage across the Erie Canal, is embarking on a commemorative trip over 33 days in honor of the canal’s bicentennial.

The Seneca Chief left Buffalo on Wednesday morning and stayed at Lockport that night. On Thursday, the boat travelled east to Medina.

Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers was on board the boat from Middleport to Medina. Here on some photos from that trip, which included many onlookers who were taking photos and welcoming the Seneca Chief. The boat is on a 33-day journey and will end in New York City on Oct. 26, the exact 200^-year anniversary of the original voyage with Gov. DeWitt Clinton in 1825.

These people record the Seneca Chief working its way down the canal. This spot is just east of Middleport.

These cyclists wave to the Seneca Chief contingent.

Ginny Kropf, a long-time local reporter, didn’t want to miss the Seneca Chief as it came to Medina.

This group waves to the people on board the Seneca Chief.

Mark Prawel, a village trustee and mechanic, took a short break from working on cars to see the boat pass by near the lift bridge in Medina.

Some people are on the Glenwood Avenue bridge in medina to see the boat come through. The mural was created by Brandi Zavitz.

John Kucko, who has a very popular social media presence, was at the north wall in the Canal Basin to record the boat coming to Medina.

The boat approaches its destination at the Canal Basin. There were about 200 people there to welcome the boat and then get a tour.

The boat will be on the move going east today. It is expected in Albion around 11:30 a.m., Holley at 1:30 p.m. and then in Brockport around 3-3:30.

Replica of maiden canal boat recreating historic voyage from 200 years ago

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Mayor Marguerite Sherman of Medina pours water from the canal in Medina into a barrel that will collect water from each stop the Seneca Chief makes along the canal as part of a 33-day trip to New York City.

The “Gathering of the Waters” differs from the original “Wedding of the Waters” when Gov. DeWitt Clinton poured water from Lake Erie into New York Harbor in 1825, following the maiden journey along the completed canal.

Sherman is joined on the deck of the Seneca Chief by Paul Winnie of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Medina Deputy Mayor Jess Marciano, and Terry Abrams, a Tonawanda Seneca and the curator of the Niagara County Historical Society.

Terry Abrams, a Tonawanda Seneca and the curator of the Niagara County Historical Society, collects water from the Erie Canal in Medina after the replica Seneca Chief tied up in the Canal Basin. That water was then added to the barrel that will gather more water along its bicentennial commemoration of the Erie Canal.

Water will be collected at each port  in the commemorative trip and it will be poured on a freshly planted Eastern White Pine tree in NYC. As part of the commemorative trip along the canal, an Eastern White Pine is being given to each port stop.

Medina next week will plant its Eastern White Pine at State Street Park close to the Erie Canal.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman stands on the deck of the Seneca Chief and welcomes about 200 people who were at the Basin to welcome the replica boat.

About 200 volunteers with the Buffalo Maritime Center handcrafted the boat over four years. The replica boat is 73 feet long and weighs 44 tons.

It left Buffalo on Wednesday and is headed to New York City on Oct. 26, which is exactly 200 years from when DeWitt Clinton commenced the inaugural voyage.

The Seneca Chief will leave Medina in the morning and head east through Orleans County with its final destination for the day in Brockport.

It is expected to stop in Albion around 11:30 a.m. and in Holley at 1:30 p.m.

Terry Abrams shares how the Erie Canal opened up the state and the west, fueling Manifest Destiny. However, it displaced many Native Americans.

As part of the commemorative voyage, the Buffalo Maritime Center is acknowledging the impact on the Indigenous residents. It also is giving an Eastern White Pine to each port site. Those trees are the Great Tree of Peace in the Haudenosaunee culture.

Roger Allen, the master boatbuilder at the Buffalo maritime Center, talks with crew members as they get close to the Canal Basin in Medina.

The bow of the boat is shown after the replica Seneca Chief left Middleport and headed to Medina. The lift bridge in Middleport is shown in the distance.

The Seneca Chief is shown in the countryside between Middleport and Medina. The replica packet boat is pulled by the tugboat, C.L. Churchill.

The Churchill and Seneca Chief’s location can be tracked by clicking here.

Paul Winnie was grateful for the opportunity to be on the Seneca Chief from Middleport to Medina. He stands on the deck of the Seneca Chief as it passes by the Glenwood Avenue canal bridge. Winnie spoke at the Medina commemoration and highlighted the planting of the tree as a sign of peace.

“The message is we all need to bury our quarrels and bad language under this tree so we can make this place better for the next generation,” he said.

About 200 people greeted the Seneca Chief as it pulled up at the Canal Basin. Orly the Ox, the county’s bicentennial mascot, was aboard as a special guest. Orleans County also is celebrating its bicentennial this year.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol provided an escort for the Seneca Chief as it approached Medina and the Canal Basin.