Volunteers open visitor center for 16th season in Medina

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Medina’s Visitors’ Center has opened for the season in Rotary Park. Cheryl Broughton, left, a four-year volunteer and member of Medina’s Tourism Committee, stands with first-time volunteers Amanda Pollard, Lynn Mietz and Barb Gorham.

MEDINA – When the calendar hits June 1, volunteers hit the Visitors’ Center in Rotary Park.

The Medina Tourism Committee, chaired by Jim Hancock, has announced opening of the Visitors’ Center for the summer, with a handful of new volunteers.

This will be the 16th year for the Visitors’ Center, which has seen a steady growth in visitors and the destinations from which they come.

Hancock explained the Visitors’ Center first began in the offices of United Way and the American Red Cross on Main Street. They next moved to City Hall for a number of years before moving to the building in Rotary Park.

Last year saw 434 visitors from 34 states and five foreign countries stop at the Visitors’ Center.

This year, they welcome three new volunteers – Amanda Pollard of Medina, Lynn Mietz of West Shelby and Cheryl Broughton of Medina.

Pollard recently retired from Bank of Castile and was looking for a volunteer opportunity.

“I love Medina,” she said. “I was born and raised here.”

Gorham is starting her fourth year as a volunteer. She looks forward to meeting new people and telling them what Medina has to offer. When she was still working, she volunteered on Saturday mornings, but now that she’s retired, she is happy to be manning the center on week days.

“I was surprised to meet people from all around the world, many who came on the canal or biked here,” Gorham said. “People ask where there’s a good place to eat or stay, or they want to know about Medina Sandstone and the Erie Canal.”

Gorham taught foreign language, which makes it easy for her to talk to foreigners about Medina’s architecture and all that’s going on here.

“I moved here in 1989 for my job teaching at Roy-Hart, and I’m really proud of this place,” Gorham said.

Broughton was originally from Niagara Falls and has a daughter who moved here 24 years ago. She would come and visit her. So when her husband died, Broughton sold her house in 2022 and moved here.

The Visitors’ Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Anyone who would like to volunteer may contact Hancock at (585) 590-1248.

Being in Rotary Park is a great location for the Visitors’ Center, Hancock said.

Mietz said he lived in Akron and his parents always came to Medina for a fish fry. He remembers when G.C. Murphy was on Main Street and he once met Dan Spaghett there.