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By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 27 August 2024 at 10:49 am
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville varsity Coach Wes Bradley meets here with the five veterans from the last Tigers varsity team in 2022. They include Austin Fonda, Michael Alexander, Colton Smith, Jesus Rosario and Brody Hazel.
In the fall of 1976 Wes Bradley took on the coaching task of organizing Lyndonville’s first boys varsity socer team. He guided the Tigers for 27 seasons before retiring in 2002 with 199 wins.
Now 22 years later, Bradley has taken on a similar coaching challenge to get the Tigers varsity squad restarted again after having no team in 2023 due to a shortage of players in the upper grades.
“I really didn’t see this coming,” said Bradley of his return to the Tigers coaching helm. “It’s almost like starting over. I’m looking forward to it.”
Anchoring the Tigers lineup will be five players who were members of the 2022 varsity squad. That quintet includes juniors Colton Smith, Jesus Rosario, Austin Fonda and Michael Alexander and sophomore Brody Hazel.
The Tigers will make their varsity return on September 4 with a Genesee Region League game at Attica.
By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 27 August 2024 at 10:44 am
Contributed Photos – Two Medina High graduates are freshmen members of the Alfred State football team. Noah Cudzillo, at left, is a defensive back who is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Xavier King, at right, is a defensive tackle who is majoring in Welding. Alfred will open the season on September 7 against Anderson University.
I agree with Ms. Mager, VP Kamala Harris’s record needs mentioning. Biden decided early in his administration he would concentrate on foreign affairs and the economy, among others. He assigned Harris: abortion, the US-Mexico border problem and voting rights.
On the abortion issue, Harris has visited 18 states, made countless speeches, and worked one-on-one with state legislators to convince them of the importance of a woman’s choice.
Regarding voting rights, she has worked to require federal approval of any changes to voting rights in localities and states. This is because some local areas are trying to restrict Black and Hispanic Americans from voting in local and state elections.
In her most impressive achievement to date, in May 2021 she created the Central America Forward Program (CAFP). Most observers have long known that if provided good-paying jobs, illegal immigrants in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador would stay home. The CAFP has $4.2 billion to create jobs in these countries. CAFP is an ongoing program: see US State Department, Progress on CAFP.
Provided photos: Albion eighth-graders Kendall Peruzzini, left, and Mary McCormick spent time with Albion Town Clerk Sarah Basinait to research cemetery records from the former Alms House on County House Road.
Posted 27 August 2024 at 10:10 am
Press Release, Albion Central School
ALBION – Two students from Albion Middle School used part of their summer vacation to research a former Civil War soldier believed to be buried in Orleans County.
Eighth-graders Kendall Peruzzini and Mary McCormick spent time with both Albion Town Clerk Sarah Basinait and County Historian Catherine Cooper, scouring century-old records in hopes of proving the soldier’s burial site – an unmarked grave at the former Alms House Cemetery on West County House Road.
Eventually, they and their classmates will apply for a headstone from the National Cemetery Administration and hope to hear back soon. In 2011, Service Learning students joined the county in cleaning up the long-forgotten cemetery out of respect for those buried under the simple, sandstone markers etched only with a number. About 75 stones exist and the vast majority of the approximate 200 burials there have no headstone.
Once school begins, their fellow social studies classmates will join in the service learning effort.
Photos courtesy of Lyndonville Lions Club: Main Street in the downtown was closed to traffic on Friday evening for the community’s third annual Street Dance.
Posted 27 August 2024 at 9:57 am
Press Release, Lyndonville Lions Club
LYNDONVILLE – The Town of Yates, the Village of Lyndonville, and the Lyndonville Lions Club joined forces to host the third annual Summer Street Dance on Friday, August 23. The community responded by showing up in large numbers to celebrate the waning days of the summer and to welcome the coming fall season.
Several food trucks and vendors were on hand to mark this event and the Lyndonville Lions held a recruitment drive along with a hot dog and hamburger stand supplying food and beverages to the festival goers. The American Legion gave out flower arrangements with all of the free-will donations going to support local veterans.
The Town of Yates had many activities planned for children who attended the evening event. Rock painting and chalk street art drawing kept kids busy all evening. Various inflatable bounce houses were available to children of all ages during the event for those who wanted to expend a little more energy.
The musical band, The Guzinyas, supported the event bringing their local talents together to perform their catalog of rock and roll songs. The crowd joined in with festival-goers dancing in the street to their favorite songs.
The grass roots effort by the Town of Yates is seen as a successful “End-to-Summer Event” over the last few years. Town of Yates board member Sue Hrovat has led this event for the town.
“The Town Board has been happy with the results of the last few years, and would like to offer more fun things for people to do at the street dance,” she said.
Looking ahead, the Town Board is in preliminary discussions with the Lyndonville Lions Club to be co-sponsors and to expand on this event. The Lions have discussed the possible addition of several venues with Hrovat, including adding local winery tasting booths, a summer chicken barbeque sale and expanding the musical performances. There has also been some groundswell support for the possibility of an end-of-summer fireworks display to cap off the evening events.
The Lyndonville Lions Club sees this as a great collaborative effort to support the community.
The Town of Yates would like to thank all those who made the street dance possible, and they hope that all have a safe and happy end to the summer season as we all look forward to fall and mother nature’s artistic splendor with her fall foliage.
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Village of Medina teamed with the Orleans County YMCA on a 9-hole disc golf course that opened last October. Most of the new course is in a wooded area at Gulf Street Park.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 August 2024 at 8:18 am
MEDINA – The disc golf course in Medina has an official name: Medina Red Horse Disc Golf Course at Gulf Street Park.
The nine-hole course was developed by the village and Orleans County YMCA last year. The course opened in October and most of the course is in a wooded area at Gulf Street Park.
Some of the more devoted players suggested the name, Red Horse Disc Golf Course. Their design for promoting the site includes a cutout of a red horse, the school district’s Medina Mustang. Gulf Street Park also has red clay in some areas and the course players wanted to highlight that red.
Just last month, 175 rounds by 42 players were registered through a QR code. Other players also are likely using the site without registering, Mayor Marguerite Sherman said.
Some community members wanted Gulf Street Park to be added to the official name, and the Village Board agreed to that suggestion on Monday.
The course is considered challenging by players. The basket for Hole 8 is only a few feet from the water of Glenwood Lake.
Signs will soon be added at the tee boxes to note the distance to the basket, and the par level.
Medina worked with the Orleans County YMCA to develop the course in a project funded by a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. Albion did a similar project at Bullard Park.
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation gave the YMCA $20,000 to $24,000 to develop the projects with tee boxes, signs and baskets that are mounted in small concrete foundations – 8 inches wide by 20 inches deep.
Medina’s DPW used a skid steer with a forestry head to carve a path in the woods, mulching brush and small trees.
Volunteers are expected to install the signs on the course, and add small arrows on some trees to help direct people to the next hole.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 August 2024 at 7:30 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The Medina Village Board meets on Monday in the Ridgeway Town Hall. From left the board members include Jess Marciano, Debbie Padoleski, Mayor Marguerite Sherman, Mark Prawel and Diana Baker. Near them in front are Village Clerk-Treasurer Jada Burgess and attorney Matt Brooks. Jason Watts, the DPW superintendent, is at right and Police Chief Todd Draper has his back to camera.
The board has shifted the meeting locations from the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. to the Ridgeway Town Hall at 410 West Ave. The board had its first meeting at the town hall on Aug. 12. Ridgeway is making the town hall available at no charge to the Village Board.
Mayor Marguerite Sherman said the town hall has a better sound system for the public to hear the board members and the meeting space doesn’t have to be set up with tables and chairs, and then torn down the following morning.
At the Senior Center, DPW staff had to set up the tables and chairs before the meeting and then be there the following morning to put things back.
The senior center is a bigger space, and Sherman said many people who attended the meetings said it was difficult to hear the board members and other speakers.
The Village Board also recently changed the start times from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m.
File photo by Tom Rivers: Maggie Quackenbush, 10, and her father Carl Quackenbush are shown last Sept. 16 on Route 63 near the 31A intersection. They were among a contingent from the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company out collecting money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Western New York, which grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 August 2024 at 9:35 pm
MEDINA – Firefighters from five companies and departments in western Orleans County will team on Saturday in an annual boot drive to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
From 9 a.m. to noon firefighters from Shelby, East Shelby, Medina, Ridgeway and Lyndonville will be out collecting money for Make-A-Wish.
They will be near the intersections at Route 63 and Maple Ridge Road, Route 104 and South Lyndonville Road, and Main Street and Center Street.
The firefighters have raised about $8,000 in the recent boot drives for Make-A-Wish.
By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 26 August 2024 at 7:28 pm
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Preseason workouts for the fall high school sports season shifted into high gear today as the boys and girls soccer, field hockey, volleyball, cross-country and golf squads all began practice. Football started practice last week. This season marks the return to varsity competition for the Lyndonville boys squad which is shown here working on a ball control drill. The Tigers had a JV team last fall but not a varsity team as there were not enough players in the upper grades. Lyndonville will have its first varsity game since 2022 on September 4 at Attica.
Members of the Roy-Hart girls varsity soccer team go through a passing drill. The Lady Rams will open the season with a non league game at Kenmore West on September 3.
Medina’s varsity field hockey players work on a stick handling drill. The Mustangs will open the Niagara-Orleans League season against Roy-Hart on September 9.
Cole Callard gets set to pass the ball up field during the Medina boys varsity soccer team’s practice. The Mustangs will open the season with a non league game at Pembroke on September 6.
By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 26 August 2024 at 7:16 pm
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – After practicing at Middleport last week, the Roy-Hart/Barker varsity football team got its first workout in on Barker’s new artificial turf field today. Shown here running through a play, the Bulls will open the season on the new turf on September 6 against Medina.
On August 1st, I read an interesting Letter to the Editor by Mary Mager regarding her thoughts on Kamala Harris. The letter was extremely well crafted, so I was not surprised to learn that Mager is a former English teacher.
She addressed Harris’ unremarkable career as part of the political machine with which she has been involved most of her adult life. As Mager listed the Harris failures, she methodically backed up each point with specific examples. In writing about Harris, Mager was under no obligation to discuss Trump. Her letter was concerned only with her thoughts about Harris. Letters submitted to the editor are not required to compare candidates, as Capurso later suggests.
On August 16th, Capurso made a statement which I, and others, found hard to believe. Just as Mager gave examples to back up her claims, in this instance the same standard should apply to him. In order to back up his claim regarding Republican women, he needs to list their names.
I have friends from both major parties, as well as independents, and I have yet to meet anyone so unhinged that they cannot speak President Trump’s name. Until Capurso reveals names, his statement is incomplete, and must be dismissed as splash and hyperbole. Listing Mager as one of those woman is slight of hand and has no merit. As it stands, when he attempted to hijack her letter and put words in her mouth, he made himself look like a bully, and his presumption that he was in a position to grade her letter certainly fortifies my opinion.
I am two things, each as important to me as the other. I am a feminist and an independent voter. Capurso’s implication that republican women are unhinged, along with his snide attempt to twist Mager’s words to include her in that group, left me with the clear impression that he is a throwback to the male chauvinist days.
That, along with his constant ranting and raving about President Trump on this venue, may well steer me to cast my vote for Trump on November 5th. That is the unintended consequence of belittling the views of others. The women I know and share friendships with belong to all different political parties, and not one of them is so fragile as his alleged cadre of Republican lady friends.
Under the Trump administration, farm policy prioritized large farms and farm corporations over small family farms. For example, the Trump administration revoked rules to protect livestock producers from exploitation by big agricultural operators.
Mr. Trump also weakened oversight of meat packers to the detriment of individual small farmers. After attempts to eliminate the Undersecretary for Rural Development, (the position was left vacant during the Trump administration), the budget was slashed. The mission of Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Rural Development provides financial resources to rural communities improving the life in rural America.
Another way the Trump administration hurt small farmers was by reducing the workforce and the budget of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Beyond cutting available services and resources to rural farmers the Trump administration started a trade war, closing markets and raising consumer prices.
A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that agricultural exports were reduced by $27 billion from mid-2018 when the tariffs were imposed to the end of 2019. These policies led directly to the soaring farm bankruptcies that erupted under the Trump Presidency.
In his next administration he will continue these policies more aggressively and will cut crop insurance policies. Recently, a hail storm damaged the apple crop in Orleans County, cutting or repealing crop insurance, as Project 2025 proposes, will devastate farmers and local communities. A second Trump administration will devastate rural America.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 August 2024 at 3:04 pm
Jim Bensley took on all kinds of tasks for the county, including marina manager and coordinator of household hazardous waste
Photos by Tom Rivers: Jim Bensley, director of the Orleans County Department of Planning and Development, speaks at a public hearing in November 2018 about the Western Orleans Comprehensive Plan. In back is Ed Houseknecht, the Shelby town supervisor at the time. Bensley worked with local municipalities on plans that are guides for future zoning and community priorities. The Western Orleans Comprehensive Plan includes the villages of Medina and Lyndonville, and the towns of Shelby, Ridgeway and Yates.
MEDINA – Many of the local officials in Orleans County, including village and town governments, are mourning the loss of Jim Bensley, who served as the county’s senior planner.
Bensley passed away at age 65 on Aug. 14, only a few days after coordinating another household hazardous waste collection day in the county. Bensley was at the Highway Department in Albion on West Academy Street for many hours on Aug. 10, helping people at the check-in while about 500 residents disposed of old car batteries, propane tanks, oils, solvents and other chemicals, as well as more than 1,000 tires.
Bensley took on that job, as well as the county marina manager for a few years, in addition to his primary job as the director of the Department of Planning and Development for the county.
In that role provided guidance for other county employees as well as the towns and villages as they updated zoning, developed comprehensive plans for the future, and reviewed site plans, requests for zoning variances and many other issues.
“This is a tremendous loss for the county,” said Dawn Borchert, the county’s tourism director. “He had such an institutional knowledge of the community. He knew every little town and corner in the county.”
Jim Bensley carries an old propane tank that was dropped off during the household hazardous waste collection event in August 2021. Bensley won the respect of his co-workers and staff for taking on any job, big and small.
Bensley started with the county in 1989 as a planner and was promoted to senior planner in 1996. He has served as the director of Planning & Development since January 2015.
Former County legislator Ken DeRoller has worked with Bensley since the 1980s, back when DeRoller was chairman of the Town of Kendall Planning Board. Bensley was a valuable resource for DeRoller later when he was a board member for the Orleans Economic Development Agency and a county legislator.
“Jim always had the best interest of land use policies and promoting proper use, plus programs to enhance the quality of life in Orleans County,” DeRoller said.
Bensley worked with the municipalities to develop land use policies along the Lake Ontario waterfront and the Erie Canal corridor.
“These programs enhanced the enjoyment and protection of over 75 miles of Shoreline,” DeRoller said.
DeRoller pushed the Planning and Development Department to take on more work, with the waterfront development plans, a study of the Lake Ontario State Parkway, managing the household hazardous waste collection and other projects.
Bensley didn’t shy away from the work, even as he juggled a part-time job for nearly 30 years as a professor in the urban and regional planning program at Buffalo State College. In 2018 he was honored with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching.
“He had this passion to keep moving forward and he had a love for Orleans County,” DeRoller said. “He had a strong internal drive, and wanted to move the county forward on land use.”
Jim Bensley (right), discusses the waterfront in Orleans with John Riggi, a Yates town councilman during a meeting in Carlton in April 2018. The towns of Carlton, Kendall and Yates as well as the Village of Lyndonville held a public meeting to discuss a waterfront development plan.
Bensley could bring consensus in meetings that were often contentious, with strong opinions from stakeholders, DeRoller said.
He was Orleans County representative for Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and also the county’s commissioner on the board for the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority.
Many of the planning professionals in the region have been taught by him at Buffalo State, and he was the boss to others at the Orleans County Department of Planning and Development.
Sarah Gatti was his student at Buff State and then worked as a planner in Orleans County from 2015 to 2019. She now is a principal planner in Erie County for the Department of Environment and Planning.
She recently nominated Bensley for Michael J. Krasner Professional Planner Award, given by the Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association. Gatti found out last week Bensley will receive the honor which goes to “an individual for sustained contribution to the profession through distinguished practice, teaching, or writing.” It will be presented to Bensley’s family in October during a ceremony in Ithaca.
“I wanted to nominate Jim because he deserved it,” Gatti said. “He was supremely knowledgeable, and he was very passionate. He treated people with kindness as a boss. He was very supportive. There is a web of planners in the region who have been benefitted from his knowledge and mentorship.”
Calling hours will for Bensley will be Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cooper Funeral Home, 215 W. Center St., Medina. His Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. at Holy Trinity Parish, St. Mary’s Church, 211 Eagle St., Medina.
