Search Results for: outstanding citizen

Correcting an omission to our Outstanding Citizens

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 January 2024 at 9:15 am

Brett Sobieraski inspired many by running 1,300 miles in 50 days in honor of slain Rochester PD officer

Provided photos: Brett Sobieraski, a Carlton resident, is shown on June 4 entering New York State, the eighth and final state of a 1,300-mile journey on foot.

Orleans Hub each year recognizes outstanding citizens who inspired the community, and worked selflessly for others or to move a difficult project forward.

We posted our list on Jan. 1, recognizing eight people for their efforts in 2023. We should have had nine in the list of extraordinary people.

I forgot about Brett Sobieraski. Brett does mighty feats frequently. In 2015, he swam 32 miles across Lake Ontario for a charity that helps support the surviving spouses and children of fallen soldiers. In 2018, he ran over 175 miles for 50 hours nonstop to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics.

Sobieraski is a retired Rochester police sergeant who lives in Kent. He ran for Orleans County sheriff in 2019, and was edged by Chris Bourke.

In 2023, Sobieraski announced he would be running a marathon every day for 48 days, traveling on foot from Florida and Rochester, going 26.2 miles a day. He would run the marathons to honor the memory of Rochester police officer Anthony “Maz” Mazurkiewicz. He was killed in the line of duty on July 21, 2022. Sobieraski also sought to raise $100,000 for Mazurkiewicz’s family.

That goal was expanded to 50 marathons in 50 days, and Sobieraski would raise $110,000 for the family.

The journey began April 23 in Palatka, Florida and ended June 11 in Rochester. Sobieraski added two marathons near the end. He was allowing two rest days but added more when he was feeling strong and the mission had such a following as he passed through communities and reporters picked up the story.

Tony Mazurkiewicz

One of his extra days was June 10. He ran from his house in Carlton to Albion, and then ran the Albion Strawberry Festival 5K, and then ran back home. He wanted Orleans County to be part of the epic adventure.

The “8 States for Maz” marathon mission was featured by the Today show in a moving feature about the loss of a fallen police officer and the impact on Mazurkiewicz’s family.

Sobieraski said he felt like the community too quickly moved on after the death of Mazurkiewicz. Sobieraski said he wanted the officer’s family to feel love and respect from the community, and know Maz’s life of service is deeply appreciated. The response was far more than Sobieraski could have imagined. In the last 5K of the final marathon, 850 people joined him.

Sobieraski announced the plan to run the marathons on Facebook and posted short videos of each the day’s journey. He started April 23 in Palatka, Florida and finished June 11 in Rochester. When Sobieraski announced the 8 States for Maz, it seemed preposterous to me. Sobieraski is 56 years old. I didn’t see how the mind or body could take such a beating.

But Sobieraski shocked me. He ran fast, too. His times got faster, consistently around 4 hours. He pushed through pain in the feet, shins and hips.

Sobieraski said he met many inspiring people along the way, and their kind words and hospitality kept him energized. He is writing a book about the “8 States for Maz,” which he said was a humanity tour. He wants to share highlights from the journey, and honor the memory of Maz.

“I met so many amazing people,” Sobieraski said. “I saw too many great people and saw great things not to tell the world all about it.”

Brett Sobieraski, right, is joined by his son Zachary on June 11 when Sobieraski ran the last stretch of his 50th marathon and 50 days.

Sobieraski spent much of the trip as a lone solitary figure, running along the side of a road, often carrying an American flag. He took a chance in committing to such a demanding goal, including sections that were up mountains.

In the end, he brought together the community, and honored Mazurkiewicz, a Rochester PD veteran who was shot in the upper body on Bauman Street. He worked in RPD’s Tactical Unit 8. He investigated many of the city’s toughest cases. Sobieraski said Maz was deeply respected in the RPD. Sobieraski picked eight states to run with the eight in recognition of Maz’s tactical unit number.

“We need to pay attention when cops are murdered,” Sobieraski said. “These are our people, and their families are suffering.”

The Orleans Hub is planning an awards celebration for the outstanding citizens in April. Click here to see the other outstanding citizens from 2023.

Outstanding Citizens in 2023 stayed dedicated to making Orleans County a better place

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2024 at 8:16 pm

The Orleans Hub each year highlights a group of local residents who stand out for their selfless devotion to make Orleans County a better place.

Here are our picks for “Outstanding Citizens” from the past year, people who stood out for working through difficult challenges to complete a community project or serve others.

Trio worked for nearly a decade to bring bronze Santa to Albion

Photos by Tom Rivers: These directors of the Albion Betterment Committee are shown on June 10 with a new bronze statue of Santa in honor of the late Charles W. Howard, who started a Santa school in Albion in 1937 and ran it until his death in 1966. From left include Gary Derwick, Joe Gehl and Gary Kent.

A trio of long-time friends about a decade ago launched an ambitious project to honor a revered Albionite from about a half century ago, an effort the three members of the Albion Betterment Committee also said would help promote the community today.

On June 10, Gary Derwick, Joe Gehl and Gary Kent cut the ribbon for a new bronze statue in downtown Albion in honor of Charles W. Howard, the man who is still considered the “Dean of Santas.” Howard ran a school to train Santas from 1937 to 1966. The school continues in his name today in Midland, Mich. Howard also developed Christmas Park in Albion and served as the Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade for 18 years.

The three leaders of the Albion betterment Committee have been rallying behind Howard’s legacy in the past decade. They have put up “Believe” signs, convinced the state to name a portion of Route 31 in memory of Howard, and backed other projects promoting Howard, including two Santa murals in Albion.

The bronze statue was the biggest effort. They raised about $80,000 for the project and hired Brian Porter to create the statue in a likeness of Howard in his Santa suit.

Derwick, Gehl and Kent hope the statue will be a springboard for others to promote the community’s Santa lineage. Already, it seems to be paying off. This past holiday season about 40 of the light posts were decorated, as well as 12 Christmas trees on the courthouse lawn. There also was a big “Santa’s Hometown Parade” with many lighted floats on Dec. 9.

Pastor helps students get school year off to good start with annual Family Fun Day

Pastor Jovannie Canales interviews Sherry Tuohey, who heads MAAC’s Red Barrel program at Christmas, during the Family Fun Day at Butts Park on Aug. 5. Canales and his wife Melisa, left, are leaders of the Oasis Church in Medina. It used to be known as The Second Church True Disciples of Jesus Christ until changing its name in May.

Pastor Jovannie Canales wants students to be well-stocked with supplies when the school year starts. He also wants their families to be connected to agencies and churches that can make their families stronger.

For six years Canales, pastor of the Oasis Church, has organized a Family Fun Day at Butts Park in Medina. The event attracted 600 people on Aug. 5. It has grown from the first one in a parking lot. Now there are musicians, many non-profit organizations, lots of free food, BMX bikers and skateboarders, many from the faith community, and numerous school supplies.

Canales and his wife Melisa are leaders of the Oasis Church in Medina. It used to be known as The Second Church True Disciples of Jesus Christ until changing its name in May. The church is bilingual, speaking and writing in Spanish and English. Canales wants everyone to feel welcome. The church attendees come from many backgrounds – Mexican, Honduran, Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Jamaican, white and Black.

Canales also helps organize the National Night Out, which included 42 different organizations and many first responders at Butts Park on Aug. 1. At least 500 people attended the event that allowed residents to connect with law enforcement, other first responders, and community organizations.

Canales also has served on Medina’s Police Reform Committee that regularly meets with leaders of the police department. That committee has worked with the department to increase community policing, training and how to better respond to people in a mental health crisis.

Newcomer to Albion takes dream of new basketball courts to reality

Susan Oschmann joined in on some of the action at the new basketball courts at Bullard Park on Oct. 26. Oschmann pushed for two years to get new courts at Bullard, lining up fundraising and support for the project.

Susan Oschmann made it a mission two years ago to get new basketball courts at Bullard Park. Oschmann rallied the community, including basketball legend Roosevelt Bouie of Kendall, in getting two new courts complete. They opened on Oct. 26.

Oschmann recently moved to Albion from Kendall and was surprised to see the sorry shape of the courts at Bullard, a place where Bouie got his start when he was a kid.

The previous court was back further in the park and the surface wasn’t level with asphalt heaving in sports. The hoops were missing nets and were seldom used.

Oschmann wanted kids, including her grandchildren, to have a place to shoot basketballs with friends.

Oschmann and Bouie have been friends since they were kids. Bouie was a big star at Syracuse University and he helped secure $40,000 in funding from the James and Juli Boeheim Foundation.

Altogether more than $100,000 was secured to put in two full-length courts, four basketball hoops and some fencing. The courts are painted in vibrant colors.

Oschmann said there is still more to do – about $50,000 is needed for more fencing as well as benches for spectators in a shaded area and working outdoor lights.

Oschmann also helped spearhead a new sled library, where people can borrow a slide when the Bullard Park sledding hill is covered in snow. She also coordinated the Santa’s Hometown Parade in Albion on Dec. 9.

Medina woman makes mission of helping veterans through ‘Operation Honor’

Jenn Thom cheers on runners during the Operation Honor 5K on Nov. 11. The course started at the Junior Wilson Sportsmen’s Club, went through village streets and concluded at the Sportsmen’s Club. She has organized the race on Veterans’ Day since 2018.

Jenn Thom has made it a personal mission to try to help local veterans who may be experiencing a financial pinch. She is one of the leaders of Operation Honor, a local non-profit that raises money for veterans.

Operation Honor modelled the example of the Knights-Kaderli Memorial Fund, where people battling cancer can apply for assistance and receive some help to pay bills and other expenses.

Thom hasn’t served in the military. She runs an accounting business. Operation Honor is her way of serving veterans who she said sacrificed so much for the country. Many of those vets often find themselves in financial stress. Operation Honor is able to lighten that load whether covering utility bills, car payments, or purchasing heating pellets for veterans in need.

Besides giving directly to veterans, Operation Honor provides funding to other groups that help vets, including a van service that takes veterans to medical appointments. Operation Honor donated $10,000 last month to the Joint Veterans Council towards a low-mileage van. Operation Honor also has given to the Warrior House in West Shelby, which provides a hunting retreat for wounded vets and children who have lost a parent in war.

Operation Honor is looking to start an oral history initiative with local veterans being interviewed about their time in the military. Sarah Surdel, another Operation Honor leader, is heading that effort in 2024.

Albion woman starts organization giving senior citizens rides on 3-wheeled bike

Provided photo: Susan Walders took a tri-shaw bike to The Villages of Orleans in Albion on Sept. 27 and gave several residents rides outside the nursing home. She plans to be busy taking people on rides in 2024.

Susan Walders has been determined to help senior citizens, especially those in nursing home and other care facilities, get outdoors and connect with nature. She sees bike rides as a great way to meet that goal.

Susan Walders rides a tri-shaw bike down the sidewalk along East Avenue in Albion on Sept. 2. She is practicing as a “pilot” with the new bike.

Walders was able to raise $12,000 new tri-shaw, a 3-wheeled bike with cushions for two passengers. She has formed a non-profit organizations, Cycling Without Age in Orleans County, with a board of directors.

The bike arrived in late August and Walders took it to The Villages of Orleans on Sept. 27 for the first bike rides, taking residents on a path behind the nursing home.

Other “pilots” have been trained to ride the bike. She expects to be busy this year going to nursing home and other care facilities for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

United Methodist congregation in Albion covered many of the expenses to get the organization off the ground. Walders also secured other donations and sold items that she crocheted and knitted.

The 3-wheeled bike is sturdy. The pilots go on slow rides so the seniors and other passengers can enjoy the scenery.

“We want to get people out of their rooms and into the community and nature,” Walders said. “They can feel the wind in their hair. Getting outside on this bike will improve mood and sociability.”

Walders pushed for the new service for seniors, partly so she could get her mother outside for rides. Her mom is a resident at The Willows in Medina and she was the first passenger for Cycling Without Age in Orleans County.

Scott Christ and many volunteers bring back the Murray Tractor Pull

Scott “Spanky” Christ, the lead organizer for the Murray Tractor Pull, also competed in the event on July 22. He drives “Just For Fun” in the Super Farm Class and is regularly among the points leaders in that class for the Empire State Pullers.

The community missed the Murray Tractor Pull. The event returned July 22 after a four-year absence, first cancelled due to Covid restriction in 2020, and then not coming back in 2021 or ’22.

Scott “Spanky” Christ wanted the event back and put in a major effort getting the course ready, recruiting competitors and bringing in a record-size crowd of 1,600 people to the venue on Groth Road.

The event raised $8,500 for the Ronald McDonald House, a worthy cause that provides hospitality for families with children fighting a serious illness.

Christ is part of a three-generation family that competes in tractor pulling. His father Lloyd drives his Heavy Super Stock tractor, “It’s Only Money,” and Scott son’s Travis also competes in the Super Farm Class with “No Expectations.”

The crowd, which included many first-timers to a tractor pull, seemed to revel in watching high-powered tractors, semi trucks and other vehicles pulling a 40,000-pound sled.

“Everything went over very well,” Christ said after the tractor pull. “Hats off to all of the volunteers.”

Provided photo: The Christ family in Holley and a team of volunteers that put on the Murray Tractor Pull present a ceremonial check for $8,500 to the Ronald McDonald House.

Brett Sobieraski inspired many by running 1,300 miles in 50 days in honor of slain Rochester PD officer

Provided photos: Brett Sobieraski, a Carlton resident, is shown on June 4 entering New York State, the eighth and final state of a 1,300-mile journey on foot.

Brett Sobieraski does mighty feats frequently. In 2015, he swam 32 miles across Lake Ontario for a charity that helps support the surviving spouses and children of fallen soldiers. In 2018, he ran over 175 miles for 50 hours nonstop to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics.

Sobieraski is a retired Rochester police sergeant who lives in Kent. In 2023, Sobieraski announced he would be running a marathon every day for 48 days, traveling on foot from Florida and Rochester, going 26.2 miles a day. He would run the marathons to honor the memory of Rochester police officer Anthony “Maz” Mazurkiewicz. He was killed in the line of duty on July 21, 2022. Sobieraski also sought to raise $100,000 for Mazurkiewicz’s family.

That goal was expanded to 50 marathons in 50 days, and Sobieraski would raise $110,000 for the family.

The journey began April 23 in Palatka, Florida and ended June 11 in Rochester. Sobieraski added two marathons near the end. He was allowing two rest days but added more when he was feeling strong and the mission had such a following as he passed through communities and reporters picked up the story.

The “8 States for Maz” marathon mission was featured by the Today show in a moving feature about the loss of a fallen police officer and the impact on Mazurkiewicz’s family.

Anthony “Maz” Mazurkiewicz

Sobieraski said he felt like the community too quickly moved on after the death of Mazurkiewicz. Sobieraski said he wanted the officer’s family to feel love and respect from the community, and know Maz’s life of service is deeply appreciated. The response was far more than Sobieraski could have imagined. In the last 5K of the final marathon, 850 people joined him.

Sobieraski spent much of the trip as a lone solitary figure, running along the side of a road, often carrying an American flag. He took a chance in committing to such a demanding goal, including sections that were up mountains.

In the end, he brought together the community, and honored Mazurkiewicz, a Rochester PD veteran who was shot in the upper body on Bauman Street. He worked in RPD’s Tactical Unit 8. He would investigate many of the city’s toughest cases. Sobieraski said Maz was deeply respected in the RPD. Sobieraski picked eight states to run, with the eight in recognition of Maz’s tactical unit number.

“We need to pay attention when cops are murdered,” Sobieraski said. “These are our people, and their families are suffering.”

Outstanding Citizens pushed through challenges to better community in 2022

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 January 2023 at 12:05 pm

Orleans Hub honors a group of “outstanding citizens” each year who make a big difference in the community. The county is fortunate to have many residents who step up to serve others, lead businesses and take on other difficult challenges.

This past year we were particularly impressed by the following for their efforts to make Orleans County a better place to live.

Pastor prioritizes service, bringing together people from many backgrounds

Pastor Al Wilson welcomes 500 kids and their families to an Easter egg hunt on April 9 outside the Orleans County Courthouse in Albion. Wilson and the Royal Body Shop Outreach Ministries led several events last year that served several hundred people.

Pastor Al Wilson and the Royal Body Shop Outreach Ministries in Albion started their community outreach efforts in 2021. A big effort that year was serving 1,000 chicken barbecue dinners for free around Christmas.

In 2022, Wilson and the church upped that to 2,000 free dinners on Dec. 10. Wilson and the church did much more last year. Besides weekly church services on Friday evening at the Arnold Gregory Office Complex, Wilson and the church volunteers organized and executed several big outreach efforts.

They started a ministry outside Arnold’s Auto Parts on West Bank Street, where a refrigerator outside Arnold’s that is stocked with food. People are welcome to grab food any day, at any hour. That ministry started in March 2022.

In April, the church organized an Easter egg hunt with 3,000 eggs scattered on the courthouse lawn for 500 children. There were other larger prizes from nine golden tickets. Food also was served.

“While we worship God inside of four walls, he also wants us to be out in the community,” Pastor Al said during the recent chicken barbecue. “It’s all about spreading love and holiday cheer.”

Pastor Al portrayed Santa during other holiday events. He was a very energetic Santa, welcoming children and ending each of those visits by saying, “Go Bills.”

The church has partnered with other groups in the community for the events, including the Masonic Lodge, Arnold’s Auto Parts, the Albion Merchants Association, Hands 4 Hope and Best of Tymes Party Rentals.

Wilson has prayed at community events, offering the invocation and benediction. He attended a session about brainstorming ways to help the community through the closing of the Albion Main Street bridge.

But most of his efforts have been in outreach, bringing joy and food, while promoting fellowship among the residents of the community.

“It’s such a blessing to help meet the needs of the community,” Wilson said on Thanksgiving after serving nearly 200 turkey dinners for free at the Masonic lodge. “It’s bringing the community together of all ethnic backgrounds and faiths.”

Kendall Scarecrow Fest organizer makes event a big annual tradition

Becky Charland is the chair of the planning committee for the Kendall Scarecrow Festival. She is shown on Oct. 1 with a scarecrow with a bow hunting theme. Charland helped start the first scarecrow fest in 2010.

Becky Charland thought a scarecrow fest would be a fun fall activity for the Kendall community. What started in 2010 has turned into a major event.

The scarecrow fest was Oct. 1. It attracted several hundred people, maybe more – no one keeps track of people, including the many who arrive early and stay late.

Charland leads a team of volunteers that have been running the scarecrow fest for over a decade.

Community members decorate their scarecrows in a different theme each year, with “favorite outdoor activity” the theme in 2022. Some of the entries included scarecrows playing baseball, fishing, bow hunting, relaxing by the water and doing other activities.

Charland and the team solicit donations for many activities at the festival. People can build their own scarecrows, paint pumpkins, ride ponies, get their face painted, leap in a bounce house, and enjoy a hay ride.

The band Rebel’s Posse also played country, southern rock and classic rock music at the gazebo while many people enjoyed chicken barbecue dinners.

Charland, a former executive director of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, knows how to put on an event that is fun for the community.

Lyndonville native won’t let challenges stop ambitious restoration of 3 Main Street buildings

Robert Smith sees lots of potential for Lyndonville’s Main Street with three storefronts nearly ready.

Robert Smith has worked as a financial advisor for nearly four decades in Palm Springs, Calif. He comes home to Lyndonville frequently to see family and friends, and in recent years to push forward a transformation of three downtown buildings.

That project is nearly complete, and Smith is excited to see how the three available storefronts will help boost his hometown. In the spring, he also expects to have four hotel rooms available in the downtown.

Smith has faced challenges with the project, from Covid restrictions that shut down construction to supply chain issues. Initially, the project called for an overhaul and modernization of four buildings, but one of the sites was torn down after the roof collapsed in February 2020 due to heavy snow and ice. Smith sees the cleared land from the former Pennysaver building as outdoor patio space.

He has created opportunities for entrepreneurs with the project. They can lease a storefront or smaller space as pop-up vendors.

The project makes for a more inviting Main Street. Lyndonville Mayor John Belson praised Smith for working through many of the challenges that threatened to derail the project.

“It’s amazing,” Belson said about the repurposed buildings. “Hopefully it will help bring Lyndonville back. Having it come to fruition is good for the town, village and everybody.”

Teacher, a former wrestling champ, starts Wrestling Academy in former Albion restaurant

Provided photo: Mike Sanders leads a practice at the Albion Wrestling Academy, which meets at the former Apollo Restaurant on Route 31.

A former Sectional wrestling champ from Albion returned to the area in 2018 to work  as an English teacher at the middle school. Mike Sanders, 36, taught and coached five years in Florida and five years in Virginia before coming back to Albion.

He credits the sport of wrestling for helping him learn the values of discipline, setting goals and bouncing back from defeats and disappointment. Sanders also was an All-American wrestler at Gannon University in the 133-pound class.

He wanted to start a youth wrestling program in Albion. When he was a kid, he said he benefitted from those programs in Kendall and Holley.

Sanders started a wrestling academy in 2018, with 44 kids using space in one of the high school cafeterias. Twice a week, Sanders and the volunteers moved 90 chairs and 15 tables to set up for practices. The season was abruptly cut short because of Covid-19 restrictions in mid-March 2020.

The second year, the program was based out of Sanders’ garage. He had 35 wrestlers in the academy, coming to his garage from Monday through Friday for training. In 2021, the program in its third season shifted to the Pratt Theater on Main Street with 60 wrestlers.

Last year the academy moved into its own space – the former Apollo Restaurant on Route 31 in Albion. It had been vacant for about 20 years.

The space was available throughout the week, and peaked with 95 wrestlers last year. The kids – boys and girls – are eager to get there for practices. Parents praise Sanders and his team of volunteer coaches for keeping the kids focused with a physical sport, and also for learning strategies mentally.

“I want to give back to them,” Sanders said during an interview in early November. “It’s mental skills and controlling your emotions. It’s showing up every day and facing challenges.”

Sanders juggles the duties of running the academy with his full-time job as a teacher and the varsity wrestling coach for the school district.

“We want to grow the sport and help the kids build the traits needed to be successful in sports, the classroom, and beyond,” Sanders said.

Medina man delivered meals, offered friendship to seniors for 34 years

Photo by Ginny Kropf: David Bogden of Medina is shown in September loading his car with containers of hot and cold food for delivery to Meals on Wheels recipients.

David Bogden for 34 years delivered meals on wheels on a route covering 48 miles. He retired in November. No one else is even close to his 34 years of bringing meals and offering friendship to home-bound seniors in Shelby, West Shelby, part of Ridge Road and in the muck.

“He was here all the time,” said Vicki Havholm, program manager for Meals on Wheels. “The seniors loved him. He was such a good person to come all these years every day.”

Bogden responded to an ad seeking drivers for the program. He was working on the family’s 700-acre farm at the time, milking 72 cows and also hauling fertilizer.

After the cows were milked early in the morning, he decided he could spare a couple of hours around lunch time to help out. His route took him to about a dozen homes.

He delivered more than warm meals from Monday through Friday. He was a steady friend for shut-in seniors.

Bogden and other Meals on Wheels drivers also are a vital contact with the outside world for seniors who are alone or have no relatives in the area.

Bogden has found three clients deceased. Bogden has assisted people who have been confused or fallen.

“He was a godsend after all these years,” Havholm said.

Albion couple leads effort to provide food and fellowship at new ‘OK Kitchen’

Faith Smith and her husband Mike have a desserts ready on June 2, the opening day for the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen at Harvest Christian Fellowship. Mrs. Smith led the effort to start the kitchen a new location in 2022. The “OK Kitchen” served 7,000 meals in seven months, with the Smiths delivering many of them to people without transportation.

Faith Smith has served as volunteer director of a community kitchen in Albion for 11 years and counting.

Last year, she partnered with Harvest Christian Fellowship on Route 31 to open the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen in a new fellowship hall and new kitchen at the church.

Smith and her husband Michael were determined t make sure the site’s change of address – away from Main Street at the previous location of Christ Church – wouldn’t leave out some of the previous participants, people who might not have transportation to Harvest Chrstian Fellowship.

After meals are served on Thursdays at the “OK Kitchen,” the Smiths take about 100 meals to senior citizens and others who tend to be homebound in their houses or apartments.

The Smiths bring compassion and concern for local residents who are often in tough circumstances.

They have built strong connections with many churches and organizations to donate food to the kitchen and take turns preparing the meals, which totaled about 7,000 in seven months. On most recent Thursdays near the end of 2022, the volunteers served about 250 meals. There were 350 turkey dinners served on Thanksgiving.

The Smiths say they are amazed at home the community steps up. The couple inspires confidence in the givers, and Faith and Michael Smith make it a fun and meaningful time for those who volunteer preparing and serving the meals.

Mrs. Smith has stressed the “Ok Kitchen” is open to all, regardless of their situation. Many of the people who come on site are there mostly for the fellowship, for the chance to sit down and have a meal and conversation with others.

“This is 100 percent community-based, supported by the community,” Mrs. Smith said. “It’s the fellowship kitchen. It’s for everyone.”

Tim Cooper reopens The Walsh, historic landmark in Medina, after 3 years of renovations

Photos by Ginny Kropf: The historic Walsh Hotel at 525 West Ave., Medina, reopened in 2022. (Right) Catherine and Tim Cooper relax in what is now the Tap Room at the renovated Walsh Hotel. Mr. Cooper has spearheaded several ambitious renovations over the years in Medina.

When he’s not doing his main job, Tim Cooper likes to take a derelict property and give it new life. Cooper, a local funeral director for 35 years, has worked on several projects over the years in Medina.

He is drawn to older buildings with a distinct architectural style or neglected sites on verge of being lost. One of his projects brought back a 1947 Medina fire truck, which he now takes to community parades.

Cooper faced down his biggest challenge with The Walsh, a prominent historic bar on West Avenue. He reopened the site this past summer after three years of meticulous renovation giving Medina’s bustling restaurant and bar scene another prime location.

“I had looked at it in December 2018 when Polar Express was running at the Medina Railroad Museum,” Cooper said. “I like to retore old buildings to modern use and living, while incorporating the historic design details that made them distinctive.”

Cooper said The Walsh is a unique bar, restaurant and hotel venue. The site first opened in 1852 when the railroad went through Medina. It has hosted dignitaries over the years, with famous visitors including Babe Ruth in 1920 and Adolph S. Ochs Jr., New York Times publisher, who lunched at the site in 1925.

Cooper remodelled the downstairs, while the upstairs remains a work in progress. He gutted the barroom. He added a window for more light, moved the staircase to the outside of the building, took out a cooler, replaced a rotted section of floor, moved a wall, put a second bar on the north side in a dining room called the O’Brien and Ceallaigh (Irish spelling of Kelly) Tap Room. This room is available to rent for private parties and social gatherings.

He also upgraded the heating and cooling, did lots of painting, maintaining the tin ceiling and tin wainscoting, and making roofing and siding improvements on the outside.

“The Walsh is a survivor,” Cooper said. “It has character. It has survived the decline of the railroad, Prohibition, the Depression and massive social changes. It started out and thrived because of its proximity to the railroad and I think that has come full circle. There are a few more chapters in the Walsh’s history. It is still a landmark – and a feisty, enduring one.”

Hoags keep giving to Albion community

Maurice “Mo” Hoag and his wife Courtenay initially gave $25,000 towards the capital campaign for a new public library in Albion, which is Mr. Hoag’s hometown. The couple would boost that donation to $250,000, and when the new building opened in July 2012 it was named in their honor.

The Hoags haven’t stopped giving to library. Their donations have reached $1 million and that allowed the library to pay off its mortgage last year – a decade ahead of schedule. That resulted in a 10 percent library tax cut for property owners in central Orleans County.

The Hoags several times sent in annual checks of about $100,000, $200,000 or $250,000 since the new building opened. Mr. Hoag encouraged library officials to pay down the mortgage.

He never wanted a press release or photo op when he sent in more money.

“Mo” Hoag said in a previous interview that a vibrant public library can be an equalizer for children in his hometown, a community that he said has endured too many business closings.

He grew up in Albion and graduated in 1961 as valedictorian. He lived in big cities throughout the country, as well as Geneva, Switzerland during a successful 30-year career in chemical manufacturing. He and his wife have settled near Baltimore, his wife’s hometown.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoag come to Albion for his class reunions. He helps plan the Class of 1961’s annual get-togethers.

Hoag said Albion was an “ideal place” to grow up in the 1950s. It was “a thriving little town” with industry and small businesses. But many of the food processors, including Hunt’s and Lipton’s, left town decades ago.

The Hoags have also given to the bronze statue in honor of Charles Howard, the Santa Claus School founder. They also fund generous scholarships at $12,500 for students pursuing engineering.

The couple remains a big benefactor, and a big believer in Albion

Jonathan Doherty was tenacious in serving community

Jonathan Doherty, center, of Albion received a “Special Recognition Award” in May 2018 from the Orleans County Legislature. He receives his award from legislators Don Allport, left, and Skip Draper.

Jonathan Doherty was very busy in late April and early May 2022. He helped at community cleanup events, stooping to pick up trash and also helped paint a shed for Community Action.

He was out selling tickets for the upcoming turtle race at the Strawberry Festival in June. In that race, rubber turtles are dumped into the canal and the first five win prizes for their ticket holders. The turtle race is an important fundraiser for the festival.

Doherty was untiring in the many roles where he served the community. He was an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities. He served as president of Self Advocate All Stars, and pushed for better public transportation, especially on weekends and weeknights for people with disabilities.

Doherty died at age 38 on May 5. His loss continues to be deeply felt in the community. He was one of Orleans County’s most active volunteers.

A strong force for good in the community, Jonathan was involved in numerous organizations – the Boy Scouts, Orleans County Historical Association, the Albion Lions Club, Albion Alumni Association, the Self-Advocate All Stars, Albion Strawberry Festival Committee, the Albion Summer Music Festival (Rock the Park) – and others.

“I’m never home,” Doherty said in July 2016 in an Orleans Hub article when he won the Volunteer of the Year in the western region of the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State. “I like to get out in the community and support the community because I live here. It’s fun to help the different groups.”

Jonathan had a lot of fun in Albion. He joyfully participated in karaoke competitions. He volunteered with a Boy Scout troop in Albion, where he attained scouting’s highest rank of Eagle. An integral part of the Albion landscape, he was often seen walking along Main Street holding a cup of coffee, even in snow storms.

He spoke out at County Legislature meeting in 2010, asking the body to pass an official resolution, telling local, state and federal governments to no longer use the word “retarded” in describing people with developmental disabilities. The R-word is a “vicious slang” that is insulting and hurtful to people with developmental disabilities and their families, legislators said in their resolution.

“He was a quiet leader who had a lot of good things to say,” said Don Colquhoun, the retired executive director of the former Arc of Orleans County. “He was fearless.”

Others stepped up to serve others, celebrate their community

We also want to commend the groups of volunteers who made the food distributions possible throughout the year in Albion, Lyndonville and Medina. Those people who have picked up heavy boxes of food during extreme heat, cold and rain have been outstanding in trying to help other people.

The year of 2022 also saw the return of local festivals, parades and other community events after many were sidelined due to Covid-19 restrictions and concerns. We appreciate the volunteers who organize these events, putting in numerous hours coordinating vendors, securing permits with a goal of providing a fun time for the community.

The Town of Yates also celebrated its bicentennial last year and volunteers organized several events to help the town celebrate its 200th anniversary. Those organizers also deserve thanks for helping the Yates community take pride in the big milestone.

Outstanding Citizens in 2021 improved community in many ways

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 January 2022 at 1:31 pm

Each year since the Orleans Hub started in 2013 we’ve honored a group of Outstanding Citizens who stood out the past year for extraordinary contributions to improve the community.

This past year many residents pushed projects through to completion or stepped up as volunteers in response to difficult circumstances. Orleans County is fortunate to have many citizens who give of their time, talent and money, with the main focus to make this a better place to live.

Skate Society president led push for new skate park in Medina

Alex Feig, president of the Medina Skate Society, holds a skateboard during a ground-breaking celebration on June 2 for a new skate park in Medina at Butts Park.

For more than four years Alex Feig organized fundraisers, wrote grant applications and worked with village and community leaders on a dream: a new skate park in Medina.

The $550,000 project became a reality in 2021. The Luke Nelson Skatepark was dedicated on Sept. 4 to a late skateboarder from Middleport whose family also was influential in raising money and building support for the project.

The new skatepark has already proven an attraction, bringing in skateboarders from throughout the area as well as drawing new people to the sport from Medina.

Feig worked with the Village Board and the Medina Skate Society to line up $250,000 in donations from the community, which allowed Medina to maximize a $250,000 matching grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. The Skate Society also secured $42,000 for an Environmental Impact Award grant by The Skatepark Project, formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation. That money goes towards storm water management and bioswales.

The new skate park in Medina has elements for skaters at all skill levels, from beginners to intermediate and more advanced.

The previous skate park was a repurposed tennis court that had cracks and old equipment. The village DPW took out the old asphalt and Spohn Ranch Skateparks built the new setup, which include 2.5-foot to 4-foot quarter pipes, a 2.5-foot mini-ramp/beginner bowl section, a fun box, hubbas (grind ledges) and grind rails, a kidney-shaped bowl begins at 5 feet and waterfalls down to 7 feet. The most prominent feature faces South Main Street is a functional art installation (steep slant) that is 9 feet tall and 24 feet wide.

“On behalf of the village board, I thank you for adding to the quality of life in Medina,” Mayor Mike Sidari said during a ribbon-cutting on Sept. 4.

Kids and some adults have fun at the new skate park on Sept. 1.

Holley teen inspired in courageous battle against leukemia, pushed to finish Eagle Scout project

A group of Boy Scouts and other community members gather on June 5 for the dedication of an Eagle Scout project led by Evan Valentine. He inspired a team of scouts and volunteers to build a veterans’ wall around the war memorial in Holley by the Post Office and the American Legion.

Evan Valentine passed away from leukemia at age 18 on Feb. 21. He fought the disease for 2 ½ years and inspired the Holley community with his optimism and perseverance through it all.

Evan Valentine

He also stayed focused on a life goal: becoming an Eagle Scout. While he was hospitalized in December 2020, he earned the final merit badge for the Eagle.

He also had the plans ready for his community service project to attain Scout’s highest rank. After Evan passed away, his fellow scouts and community members completed the Eagle project: a veterans’ wall around the war memorial in Holley on Route 31 next to the Post Office and the American Legion.

The wall was dedicated on June 5. The stone wall includes a sitting area in front with an inscription, “Forever Remembered – Forever Missed.”

Evan approached former Legion Commander John Pera about the project back in 2018. Evan and his father Neil researched the stones and dimensions to build the veterans’ wall.

“The main part of an Eagle project is the planning and providing direction to the volunteers to make the project a success,” Evan’s friend and fellow scout Andrew Drechsel said during the dedication. “Evan completed all of this. He facilitated this project from the beginning and wanted to be a part of each step. As much as he wanted to be there, the volunteers knew it might not be possible and they worked to get the project completed on Evan’s behalf.”

The wall includes a plaque noting the project was the result of Evan Valentine’s community service requirement to be an Eagle Scout.

Jim McMullen, the Scout executive for the Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said he was inspired by Evan’s determination to obtain Scouting’s highest rank, and to take on an important project for the Holley community.

“I think it’s very profound that he wanted this last piece for the community,” McMullen said on June 5. “He is an Eagle Scout and he earned it. He provided the leadership to get the project done.”

Evan was an active student at Holley, playing on the soccer and golf teams, and was enthusiastic member of the music programs. He was confirmed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and was the altar server of the year in 2018 in the Western New York Diocese.

Business owner brings optimism, can-do attitude to Albion

Natasha Wasuck holds her daughter, Ephy, then 3 ½ when Tinsel opened in June 2019 in Albion. Wasuck and her husband John Hernandez have since opened a wedding and events center in Albion, while pushing through several community projects.

A Spencerport resident has become one of Albion’s biggest promoters through her business and several community projects.

Natasha Wasuck and her husband John Hernandez have transformed a former auto repair shop along the Erie Canal into The Lockstone, a weddings and events center. Part of the building also is an ice cream shop, Tinsel. The Lockstone brought thousands of people to Albion for about 30 weddings in 2021 and is booked for about 50 marriage ceremonies and receptions in 2022.

Wasuck works in real estate and saw lots of promise in the former vacant building right next to the canal. She also sees Albion as a gem, with its historic architecture, small-town feel and role as home to the first Santa Claus School, which was operated by the late Charles W. Howard from 1937 to 1966.

She named the ice cream store as Tinsel to connect to a Christmas theme. She also raised the funds and hired the artist for a Santa-themed mural on the Lake Country Pennysaver building next door to the Lockstone.

She has helped organize events through the Albion Merchants Association, from wine-tastings to Christmas celebrations to welcoming hundreds of cyclists on the canal. She also pushed to start a farmers’ market on Main Street in 2021.

Wasuck took the lead in connecting with other downtown building owners to apply for a Main Street grant through the state. Albion was awarded $311,079 in 2021 through that program that will help 10 of the downtown building owners as well as provide $47,613 for streetscape improvements.

Wasuck also served on a committee that identified ways to better utilize the Erie Canal in Orleans County.

“We see this as an opportunity to ‘create the community you want to be a part of’ here in Albion,” she said in July. “We recognize the importance of the Erie Canal for tourism and appreciate the unique history this village has to offer.”

Justin Suarez works on a mural in 2020 that celebrates Albion’s role as home to the first Santa Claus School. The north stucco wall was transformed into a winter scene, with a prominent reindeer, snowy owl, and a Santa’s outstretched hand in a white glove. The wall acts as a welcome sign, proclaiming Albion as “Home of the original Santa School.”

Medina man creates Bluebird Trail – 168 birds fledged from 45 bird houses in first year

Daniel Rosentreter is pictured at State Street Park in Medina where he installed several new birdhouses.

Daniel Rosentreter enjoys wildlife and believes seeing and hearing birds lifts the spirits of local residents.

However, many of the nesting areas for birds have been removed with dead or decaying trees taken down in the Medina community. Those trees had cavities for birds to make nests and lay eggs.

Rosentreter, 29, worked with the Village Board and the DPW to get permission to install 45 birdhouses as part of a new Medina Memorial Bluebird Trail. The birdhouses proved popular spots for birds to nest this spring and summer.

There were 168 birds fledged from the boxes – 124 house wrens, 29 bluebirds and 15 tree swallows.

Rosentreter recruited volunteers to install the bird houses near the perimeter of Boxwood Cemetery, Butts Park, Gulf Park, Lions Park, Pine Street Park and State Street Park. The bird houses are set up on ¾-inch galvanized electrical pipe.

Rosentreter checked the boxes weekly to see if there was any activity, and he took photos of what he saw with his phone and posted the pictures on the Facebook page for the Medina Memorial Bluebird Trail.

Sometimes he opened the box to see a bird on the nest, getting ready to lay an egg. He has pictures of the eggs, freshly hatched babies and feathered birds ready to fledge and leave the nest.

“We’re helping them to repopulate,” said Rosentreter, a wildlife photographer and customer service representative for a local insurance company. “They will go wherever they can find a house.”

The Medina Village Board also deserves credit for giving residents a chance to move forward with projects, providing encouragement and some assistance in working through bureaucracy and seeing the projects to fruition.

Albion man leads effort to upgrade long-time Little League field at Sandstone Park

Bruce Sidari speaks on June 6 during the season-opener for the Sandstone Park team in the Albion Midget League.

The kids at Sandstone Park in Albion have been playing youth baseball games at the East State Street diamond for more than 60 years. A group of volunteers keep up the field. It’s not a village or town park.

In 2021, the team celebrated a series of upgrades to field. Bruce Sidari is part of three generations of Sidaris who have been involved with the team. His kids and grandkids have aged out of Little League but Sidari remains a fan of the team – and the park, which is located next to his mother’s home.

Sidari rallied the Sandstone alumni and other team backers for $30,000 of improvements to the field. Sandstone is an original member of the Albion Midget League, which started in 1956. Sandstone has fielded a team every year and won the championship this past season.

The league once had 18 teams and is down to four. There are fewer kids locally these days compared to decades ago and baseball has lost some of its popularity.

But Sidari still feels pride for Sandstone Park and wants the team to play in a place they can be proud of.

The upgrades at the field include a new flag pole, overhauled dugouts and a backstop, a new scoreboard, an inscribed stone in the shape of a home plate thanking the founders of the park, and a new outfield fence.

Sidari played on the team beginning in 1957. His son Geoff played for Sandstone and so did grandson Patrick Ricker.

“This a special place to us and always will be,” Sidari told the crowd on June 6. “I’d like to salute everyone who has contributed over these last 65 years. I think this field and this team speaks volumes about the quality of the men and women – all the participants – who supported their efforts.”

Sandstone Park gets ready for its season opener on June 6 with an overhauled home field.

Kathy Blackburn leads many efforts at Medina – planting trees, promoting small businesses, honoring veterans and keeping up historic cemetery

Kathy Blackburn is very busy in Medina as Tree Board chairwoman, small business promoter (here dressed as Snow White during Beggar’s Night), and as the Wreaths Across America coordinator at Boxwood Cemetery.

When Medina village officials need a project done, they often turn to Kathy Blackburn. She heads the Tree Board, the Boxwood Cemetery Commission and heads up the Wreaths Across America effort each December.

She also serves on the Planning Board, is active in the Medina Area Partnership that puts on many of the events and small business promotions, and also serves on the committee trying to land a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Medina has just missed out on the grant in recent years. She recently finished a project as chairwoman of a committee for a local waterfront development plan that identifies ways to better utilize the canal and Oak Orchard Creek.

Blackburn, as leader of the Boxwood Commission, has been able to remove dangerous trees and upgrade the historic cemetery on North Gravel Road. She wants to make improvements to the chapel and bring more events to the cemetery, including walking tours.

As Wreaths Across America coordinator, that effort has grown from seven wreaths on veterans’ graves in 2013 to 315 last month. Blackburn said she has commitments for wreaths in December 2022 at all veterans’ graves at Boxwood and also St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Blackburn has connections throughout the community, from Scout troops to teachers to state legislators, and she calls on them for many projects to make Medina better, whether planting new trees, honoring veterans, promoting small businesses or just making the community more fun.

She also heads up an annual Faery Festival in Medina and dresses up in costume for the annual Beggar’s Night in the downtown, when nearly 1,000 kids go door to door at businesses. She is a can-do person who is a key part of Medina’s success.

For more than 40 years, Community Action employee helped people in crisis

Annette Finch stands with Barry Flansburg outside Community Action in Albion on Dec. 17, 2016 when the Albion FFA delivered 33,000 pounds of produce to support local food pantries. Finch forged strong partnerships with many local organizations, bringing food, clothing and other supplies to residents in need.

Annette Finch retired last month after working 44 years on the front lines of helping local people in need work through a crisis.

Annette Finch is shown with a motorcyclist wearing a Santa suit in September 2013 in a motorcycle ride that supported kids served by Community Action.

It was a high-stress job for Finch, director of emergency services for the agency. She managed food drives, toy drives and other events to bring in resources for people served by the agency. Those efforts were often in the news. Finch did a lot behind the scenes in helping people to not have utilities shut off and find emergency housing.

She was a steady presence, a voice of encouragement and master problem solver for people in very challenging predicaments.

In the past year in a half, when her career was winding down, Finch took the reins of managing food distributions in Albion and Holley. She worked with the Office for the Aging to organize the events, where several hundred people showed up early to get boxes of food.

She also ran the annual Red Kettle drive, lining up volunteers to be bell ringers. About $25,000 a year was collected to support people served by Community Action.

Finch built up a big network in her career – from social workers to state legislators – and she used those connections to help people in need.

“She would advocate continuously for children, seniors and families,” said Bonnie Malakie, director of Children’s and Youth Services at Community Action. “Our agency’s mission statement says, ‘To provide services with dignity and respect to help people become self-sufficient.’ Annette epitomizes that goal.”

Major restoration completed at one of Medina’s most prominent buildings

Roger Hungerford in 2021 reopened the Bent’s Opera House after a painstaking restoration over several years.

In recent years construction crews have transformed the Bent’s Opera House from a dilapidated structure into a reborn site with a restaurant on the first floor, hotel rooms on the second floor and an events center on the third level of a building that opened in 1865.

Roger Hungerford speaks during Dec. 9 in the Bent’s Opera House events center. He was recognized by Leadership Orleans as a distinguished leader in the community.

Roger Hungerford led the transformation of the site, which is one of downtown’s most prominent structures.

The site had been vacant for many years and fallen into disrepair. The rehab proved a daunting challenge and construction was slowed due to Covid restrictions in 2020.

A new restaurant opened in June and the rest of the building came alive later in the year. It is a first-class destination for Medina and Orleans County.

“What I expected to be a several million dollar project turned out to be much more,” Hungerford said in an interview in September 2019. “Still, it is on a key corner of my hometown and I knew I could develop multiple businesses within it that would result in it being economically rebirthed.”

Bent’s Hall was built in 1864-65 by well-known sandstone builder and Medina native, Patrick O’Grady. Built at the height of the Civil War and the Lincoln presidency, it is one of the oldest surviving opera houses in the United States.

The Orleans Renaissance Group did some initial stabilization of the site in 2014. The most pressing need was the rapid deterioration of the main beam carrying the entire Main Street façade, most notably the southeast corner of the building. The beam had deteriorated to a point where the corner was visibly shifting and in danger of collapsing.

The non-profit ORG didn’t have the resources to tackle the entire building. Hungerford agreed to take on the project and he said he saw it through completion out of love for his hometown.

Hungerford also is working to turn the former Medina High School into apartments. He also owns the Olde Pickle Factory, which offers premier manufacturing space for Baxter Healthcare, which makes infusion pumps and other medical supplies.

Hungerford has shown he can see the most challenging projects to completion, and do them in a top-notch fashion. The Bent’s Opera House makeover is a gift to the community.

Medina business finds new way to help community celebrate holidays

Takeform created a gratitude display at Rotary Park to help the community reflect on blessings during a time of challenge.

Takeform in Medina has been a big part of Medina’s Parade of Lights and the Olde Tyme Christmas celebration in recent years, twice winning for best float.

Bill Hungerford

In December 2020 it lined Rotary Park in the downtown with typography about the Christmas season.

This past year the company led by Bill Hungerford took a new focus of wanting to help the community reflect on thankfulness, especially during a time of suffering and disruption from Covid-19.

Takeform employees were out in cold on Nov. 27 at a booth on Main Street during Olde Tyme Christmas, asking people what they are thankful for in their lives. The 350 quotes submitted are part of a display that will be up until mid-January. Some of the messages include gratitude for family, organ donors, deer season, chocolate and “This Wonderful, Friendly Town of Medina.”

Hungerford also has taken a company from nine workers in 2003 to about 200 now. Takeform continues to grow, adding full-time employees in engineering, graphic design, sales, customer service, project management, machining, fabrication, engraving and assembly.

Hungerford stresses community service for his employees and strives to take care of its workers, said Darlene Hartway, Chamber of Commerce executive director. The Chamber named Takeform its business of the year in 2021.

Takeform adapted quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic and assisted many businesses with signage and partitions to meet state regulations for keeping businesses open to the public. The company retooled to offer floor markers, protective shields, sanitizer/PPE stations and other products during the pandemic.

Hungerford, who served many years on the United Way board of directors, also has many Takeform employees join in the United Way’s Day of Caring.

Editor’s Note: Bill and Roger Hungerford are brothers. Both have distinguished themselves in business and community service.

Discussions delve into injustices and how to be engaged citizens

Four of the panelists during a June 17 session on racial justice included, from left: Rev. James Renfrew, Kim Remley, Kae Wilbert and Bob Golden. Not pictured is another panelist, Sister Dolores Ann O’Dowd.

Bob Golden, a retired probation director at Orleans County, wanted to help the community move past sound bites and dismissive attitudes towards those with differing opinions.

Bob Golden

Golden, 85, has been an engaged citizen all his life, and hasn’t slowed down as a senior citizen. For many years he organized a jazz festival in Orleans County, and has written many letters to the editor over the years. He is chairman of the Holy Family Social Justice Committee in Albion and helped organize several discussions in 2021 at Hoag Library, events put on by the Community Coalition for Justice.

The group led discussions on voting rights and how new laws in several other states will prevent easy access for voters – particularly voters of color, young voters and the elderly and disabled.

Golden and the group looked at “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, a book that argues that the war on drugs has created a new racial caste system in America disproportionately punishing Black people and thus disproportionately denying them voting rights.

A program in October drew a crowd of 75 to hear from RPO musician Herb Smith, who shared about discrimination in music industry, going back centuries.

Another program in September focused on injustices at Native American boarding schools from generations ago.

Twice in June the coalition led book discussions on “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo.

Golden is the driving force behind the coalition, which wants the community to have a deeper understanding of different points of view. Golden is a firm believer that knowledge is power, and better appreciating other people and their backgrounds builds a more compassionate community.


Editor’s Note: Orleans Hub hopes to have an awards presentation in the spring. The past two years the event has been cancelled due to Covid restrictions and concerns. The awards have instead been presented individually.

Outstanding Citizens of 2020 pushed to make community better in a very difficult year

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 January 2021 at 11:51 am

Each year since the Orleans Hub started in 2013 we’ve honored a group of Outstanding Citizens who stood out the past year for extraordinary contributions to improve the community.

Orleans County is fortunate to have many citizens who give of their time, talent and money, without seeking any fanfare. This past year, with the Covid-19 pandemic, many residents pushed projects through to completion or stepped up as volunteers in response to difficult circumstances.

Medina woman makes Dog Park a reality

Photo by Tom Rivers: Alaina Zapf is shown with her dogs Batman (left) and Bailey in September at Medina’s new Dog Park on North Gravel Road.

After three years of planning and fundraising, the Medina  Dog Park opened this summer at 260 North Gravel Road, next to the former composting plant.

Alaina Zapf, president of the Friends of the Medina Dog Park, led the group in raising $20,000 for the park.

Zapf wanted a place for dogs to socialize and get some exercise near the village. The dog park is a first in Orleans County. People have inquired about it from Rochester to Buffalo. Zapf is thrilled to see the response to the park, where the dogs can roam leash-free.

“So many dogs do not have adequate room to run around,” she said. “Here they can get all that energy out. They are happier and less aggressive.”

The group expects to add a small dog enclosure, more equipment in the dog agility section and a water station.

Zapf, 30, convinced the Village Board to back the project. She organized many fundraisers, including a dunk booth with several community leaders, Dog Park frisbees and other merchandize. Many local residents generously donated to the project as well.

Zapf often brings her two dogs, Batman and Bailey, to the park. When she lived in North Carolina, she would drive 15 minutes to take the two lab mixes to a dog park. When she moved to Medina, she wanted a place for her dogs to get exercise and socialize with other dogs.

Albion mom coordinates ‘Adopt-A-Senior’ program for 136 students after school year disrupted

Sara Mathes holds a T-shirt – “Senior Skip Day Champions – Class of 2020.” The shirts were distributed on May 17. Mathes coordinated a steady showering of gifts for Albion High School seniors at the end of their senior year after in-person classes and events were cancelled in mid-March.

Sara Mathes felt bad for the Albion High School seniors, including her daughter Chloe, when in-person classes were cancelled in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There weren’t any spring sports, no prom or senior trip, and no graduation ceremony with the class together in front of 2,000 people in the gym.

Mathes wanted the seniors to feel some love from the community during a time of uncertainty and disconnection. She saw how the Ken-Ton school district adopted seniors, with residents committing to buying a senior in the class a gift. Mathes thought Albion might do the same for the 136 members of the senior class.

But she was nervous there might not be enough people willing to adopt a senior, given the difficult economic times. She floated the idea on a Facebook group for seniors and within an hour and half had 136 people committed to adopting a senior. By the end of the day she had two people or families for every senior.

Provided photo: Mekhi Rivera has a big smile when he received a gift from an adoptive community member.

She created an Excel spreadsheet to match names with seniors after getting a list of each student’s hobbies, favorite snacks and other interests. She passed the list on to the adoptive community members.

Mathes assigned the students randomly to the people in the community. From April through graduation in late June, students received gift baskets and boxes at their homes. They were very appreciative.

Mathes also coordinated getting a yard sign for each senior that was paid for by donations. The students also received T-shrts that said “Senior Skip Day Champions – Class of 2020.” That effort was coordinated by Lynn DiBella, a retired aide in the pre-kindergarten program. Angie Wolfe, a kindergarten teacher, helped with the T-shirt distribution.

Mathes was pleased to see hundreds of community members support the Class of 2020.

“It was definitely worth it,” she said. “It was to make them feel special and to celebrate them in a different way because we couldn’t celebrate them all together in the gym.”

Mathes was so thankful the community stepped forward and showed love for the seniors, including students they didn’t necessarily know.

“The seniors were able to see that Albion comes together and helps each other,” Mathes said.

Mekhi Rivera, one of the Albion seniors, appreciated the gifts from the adoptive community members.

“I am so thankful to be a part of this adopt a senior thing we are doing!” Rivera posted on the Adopt A Senior Facebook page. “Thank you for doing this and ever body else that is doing this. We are all thankful for the time and money you have put into us it means a lot.”

Mathes switched to coordinating another effort in December. Her mother-in-law, Brenda Winters, lived in one of three houses badly damaged by a fire on West State Street. Local residents again were quick to volunteer to help.

“The community has shown such an outpouring,” Mathes said. “It’s been amazing and definitely helped her get through this.”

Developer completes massive transformation of former Holley High School

The transformed former Holley High School has new columns, windows, paint and a major overhaul inside for 41 apartments and the offices for the village.

For years, even decades, the Holley community has longed to see one of its most prominent buildings get an overhaul. The former Holley High School closed in 1975. A business, Liftec Manufacturing, used part of the space but went bankrupt in the mid-1990s. The building was left vacant, and often was the target of vandals for more than 20 years.

Nelson Leenhouts, chairman of Home Leasing and Home Leasing Construction, celebrates the $17 million transformation of the former Holley High School during a ribbon-cutting in November. The construction project took two years, with the building turned into 41 apartments and the Holley village offices.

It pained the Holley community to see its gradual demise – the many broken windows, peeling paint, rotted columns and a fate that seemed destined for the wrecking ball.

Holley village officials reached out to developers over the years, pitching the site for apartments and other uses. But a deal never came together – until 2018.

Home Leasing and Home Leasing Construction in Rochester committed to transforming the building into 41 apartments for seniors and the Holley village offices, with the auditorium space being a meeting room.

Home Leasing would use tax credits for investing in a historic structure to help make the project work financially. The village also committed to being a tenant which helped to seal the deal.

Nelson Leenhouts, leader of the company, has tackled ambitious projects before in buildings that have faced years of neglect. He has 50 years in the construction business. He said he’s never seen a community rally behind a project like they did in Holley.

Local, state and federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, all were critical to the $17 million project’s success. Leenhouts also praised an enthusiastic community for steady encouragement along the way.

Leenhouts deserves credit for tackling the project in a small village, and seeing the it through to completion when the Covid-19 pandemic slowed construction work.

Besides improving housing options locally, the building provides handicapped accessible office space and a meeting room for the village.

But it also is a major morale boost for the Holley community, and puts a shining success on the eastside on one of the main gateways into Orleans County. It is part of major improvements in Holley, which is also tackling water and sewer upgrades and new sidewalks in parts of the village. The restored school building sends a message that Holley is on the upswing and wouldn’t back down from a major challenge – reviving a school building that had fallen into significant neglect.

The building, shown here in Dec. 11, 2018, just before the construction work started, had steadily fallen into disrepair and was a blight at Holley’s main intersection, routes 31 and 237.

Iroquois Job Corps volunteered at food distributions throughout the county

Julie Horton, left, and Hannah Donley of Iroquois Job Corps in Medina were among the volunteers on Sept. 11 during a food distribution in Albion at the parking lot of the Main Street Thrift Store. Job Corps employees volunteered over several months at distributions in Albion, Clarendon, Holley and Medina. The events would have been a challenge without them.

For many Fridays from April through mid-December, there were hundreds of boxes of food available in the mornings. Those food distributions have been in Albion, Clarendon, Holley and Medina. A long line of cars were start to form around 6 a.m. for distributions that were advertised to begin at 9 o’clock.

Krista Fiegel, an employee at the Iroquois Job Corps, rips the plastic off a pallet of boxes of food during a food distribution on Dec. 11 in Albion. She was one of four Job Corps employees who helped that chilly morning.

It takes at least a dozen volunteers to make the events go smoothly. There were many volunteers at the distributions in April and May, when many non-essential businesses were shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As the restrictions eased on businesses, the volunteers were harder to come by to carry 30- to 40-pound boxes of food to trunks of cars or to set on the truck beds of pickups. They volunteers needed to be masked up – whether in stifling heat or bitter cold.

Staff from the Iroquois Job Corps proved critical to the food distributions later in the summer, throughout the fall and in December. There were often at least six Job Corps staff at the distributions and they came to ones at Holley and Clarendon – which was on the other side of the county from the Job Corps Center in Shelby. They went to ones in Albion and Medina, too, and they tackled the tasks with zest.

Some events there would be extra produce and it would need to be sorted and put into boxes. It wasn’t pre-boxed like the meat and dairy boxes. The Job Corps personnel worked hard, without complaints and were well organized.

Without them, the organizers say the food distributions would have been difficult to pull off, especially later in the year.

Gaines historical buff helps relocate 1930 log cabin to cobblestone schoolhouse

Rick Ebbs is shown in September with a log cabin from 1930. He orchestrated moving the cabin from an Albion backyard to behind the Gaines Basin cobblestone schoolhouse.

When a log cabin from 1930 was settled onto a foundation behind a cobblestone schoolhouse on Oct. 1, Rick Ebbs let out a sigh of relief.

“I was worried it would fall apart,” he said after the cabin made a 4-mile journey on a flatbed trailer.

Ebbs, a local carpenter and historical enthusiast, coordinated moving the log cabin from an Albion backyard to the behind the school, which is owned by the Orleans County Historical Association.

The log cabin was built by Boy Scouts and one of their dads in 1930. Ralph and Patricia Moorhouse agreed to donate the log cabin after being approached by the Historical Association, which wanted to display and preserve the authentic cabin.

Mrs. Moorhouse’s father, Faris Benton, was one of the scouts who built the cabin with help from his father, Fred Benton. The scouts dragged logs from the nearby woods. They built a fireplace on the inside and outside. That fireplace deteriorated over time but will be reset and repaired in its new location.

Rick Ebbs reached out to Keeler Construction, which moved the long cabin on Oct. 1 from Linwood Avenue to the former schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road. Ebbs also was able to line up help from the Town of Gaines Highway Department.

Ebbs had the delicate task of bracing the inside of the cabin, to give it structural support when it was picked up with a fork lift and set on the flatbed. He put plywood sheets inside the cabin with cross-bracing to help keep the cabin together for the trip.

The 10-by-14-foot log cabin had withered in recent years, partly due to woodchucks. They damaged the concrete floor causing it to heave.

The reinforcements from Ebbs worked just fine. The cabin didn’t buckle when it was picked up with fork lifts, or when it headed down the highway, or when it was set down on a concrete pad with a new wooden base for the cabin.

It’s in a more visible site near the Erie Canal next to the historic Gaines Basin No. 2 cobblestone school, which was built in 1832. It is the oldest documented cobblestone building in the area.

The Historical Association thought the log cabin, which was built by children, was a good fit next to a school.

Ebbs was impressed with how well the scouts built the cabin. Despite some deterioration and rot, the structure has held up remarkably well for nearly a century. Thanks to his efforts, it should stand for a long time to come for the community to enjoy.

Church volunteer served others despite fight with cancer

Angela English carries a sack of cabbages for the food pantry at the Lord’s House on Dec. 12, 2015. This was at Community Action in Albion when the Albion FFA unloaded produce donated from local farms. English took on many roles to help the church serve the community.

Angela English was a bright light in the Albion community, coordinating a Toys for Tots program, keeping a food pantry stocked at the Lord’s House (a church run by her parents), and offering enthusiastic support at her kids’ sporting events, cheering for them and their teammates.

English was 37 when she passed away on Oct. 19. She was diagnosed with cancer on Dec. 27, 2019, and started chemotherapy last January.

Her son Omar is 17 and graduated in 2020. Her daughter Olivia is 12 and in the sixth grade. Angela was in the stands at her son’s soccer games and her daughter’s basketball contests.

Angela served as missionary at the Lord’s House, a church led by her father, Eddie English, and mother, Rose. Mr. English is the church pastor. His daughter was a praise leader, pastor’s aide, sound system technician, lyrical dancer and the Toys for Tots coordinator.

The church has run the Toys for Tots since 2008, serving about 40 families. In some years, they partner with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, which delivers the toys to the church.

Eddie and Rose English have been leading the Lord’s House since it started 15 years ago in downtown Albion. They renovated a former United Methodist church in Waterport, after acquiring the site at an auction in 2011. The building had been vacant for 20 years.

Angela English has been a big part of the journey and the Lord’s House mission to reach out to the community.

Members of The Lord’s House in Waterport sold sweet potato pie and many other baked goods at the Albion Save-A-Lot in this photo on Sept. 29, 2018. Pictured from left include Angela English, Brenda Winters, First Lady Rose English and Nadine Johnson.

K of C leader gives veterans a fitting tribute on Courthouse Square

Greg Dugan, the grand knight for the Knights of Columbus in Albion, speaks to a crowd of about 50 at a dedication ceremony on Nov. 11 for a new memorial for veterans.

Greg Dugan, an Albion barber since 1991, has cut hair on thousands of heads over the years. Many of his most loyal customers have been veterans.

Once they are in the barber chair, Dugan said many veterans open up and share about their experiences, including in combat.

He mentioned the late Albion Town Justice Bill Larimer, who was a POW in World War II. He has cut the hair for other World War II veterans and people who served in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Members of the Honor Guard were present on Nov. 11 for a dedication service for a new veterans’ memorial at Courthouse Square. The Knights of Columbus, Albion Council #1330, took the lead in the project.

“I’ve had contact with so many veterans, young and old, since 1991,” Dugan said before a dedication ceremony on Nov. 11 for a new veterans’ memorial on the Courthouse Square.

Dugan and the Knights of Columbus led the project, which took a little longer due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is a new flagpole, granite benches and a headstone for the monument. The headstone includes the inscription: “Dedicated to our courageous brothers and sisters of this community who served our country in times of peace and war. We thank them for their service. And especially to those who gave their lives in that service. May God grant them eternal rest.”

The stone includes the insignias of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army National Guard and Merchant Marine.

The new flag pole includes a flag that recognizes the different branches of the military.

The memorial includes two granite benches. One bench has an inscription, “To Commemorate.” The other has the words, “To Heal.”

Dugan and the Knights of Columbus pushed the project to completion and put a fitting tribute for veterans in one of the community’s highest profile locations.

Dugan has been an active leader for the K of C in recent years, leading the group in many parades around the county and organizing a “Blue Mass” at Holy Family Parish in Albion to honor and pray for law enforcement officers, corrections officers, coroners, firefighters and medics.

Dugan said he has deep appreciation for first responders after they saved his life when he was critically injured in a motorcycle accident on Aug. 6, 2012. In that accident Dugan broke both knees, both wrists, separated his pelvis, fractured his left hip, and lacerated his left leg.

That accident has turned him into a very strong advocate for first responders and veterans in the community.

“Thank you for taking the time to remember our veterans,” Dugan told the crowd during the dedication on Nov. 11. “They never gave up on us and we can’t give up on them.”

Retired museum director adds another asset to historic Childs hamlet

Bill Lattin welcomes visitors to the Vagg House on Nov. 7 following the Cobblestone Museum’s annual meeting. Lattin led the transformation of the Vagg House, at the corner of routes 98 and 104, into a home decorated in the 1920s and ’30s. The event on Nov. 7 was the first public event at the Vagg House since it was redone and added to the museum’s campus.

Bill Lattin has been a caretaker and storyteller of Orleans County history for the past 50 years. He is officially retired as Orleans County historian and Cobblestone Museum director. He served in those roles for 35 years. (He retired from the museum in 2010 and from the county on Dec. 31, 2014.)

But he remains an active force in preserving important local sites and documenting history. In 2020, he helped relocate a log cabin built by Boy Scouts in 1930. It went from an Albion backyard to behind a cobblestone school built in 1832 on Gaines Basin Road. Lattin has been a key worker on saving that school in recent years. He has handyman skills and deep connections to rally the community to a cause. That school and the log cabin are recent examples. But that mission started long ago. He was a key leader of the Save the Tower committee that raised $30,000 in the mid-1970s for the Civil War Memorial at Mount Albion Cemetery. Lattin has given new life to many local structures.

Bill Lattin shows Doreen and Gary Wilson a 1930s food mixer and a green enamel hot plate on Nov. 7 during the first public tour of the Vagg House. There is also a Kalamazoo kitchen range that was made in 1935. The Vaggs used it for heat as well as cooking. Museum Trustee Maarit Vaga is at right. Visitors will notice a big difference between the 1920s-era  Vagg house and the cobblestone Ward house, furnished in the style of the 1880s.

He doesn’t seem to be slowing down. At the Cobblestone Museum this past summer, Lattin and his grandson Freeman painted several of the buildings on the Route 98 campus.

The museum acquired the Vagg House at the corner of routes 98 and 104, the main intersection in Gaines and the Childs hamlet. The site was most recently owned by Lattin’s partner, the late René Schasel.

Lattin led the efforts to curate the former home of blacksmith Joe Vagg and his wife Nellie, who was active in the temperance movement. The house includes many of Schasel’s antiques, with many of those items given to the museum in Schasel’s memory through his estate, which Lattin is co-executor.

Lattin also was able to find additional antiques to decorate the house in a 1920s, ’30s theme, with many of the early electrical appliances.

(Lattin even built an outhouse for the site to help it match the others on the museum’s grounds.)

The Vagg House is a new “jewel” in the Cobblestone Museum’s crown, said Doug Farley, the museum’s current director. The house can be used for small gatherings of less than 30 people, such as meetings, rehearsal parties or teas, and other museum events.

Lattin continues to be a mentor and strong supporter of Farley and other historians in the community.

Medina couple pushes modern public art murals to enliven alleyway

Chris Piontkowski of Cheektowaga paints a floral-themed mural on a cinder block building on Proctor Place, a one-lane street that starts near Rudy’s Diner. He is shown on Nov. 28. This is one of four large-scale murals added to Medina last year.

Tim Hungerford and Teresa Misiti, a married couple in Medina, are pleased to see so much investment in the Medina community in recent years, especially in the downtown business district.

Tim Hungerford and Teresa Misiti met with the Village Planning Board on Aug. 4 to discuss regulations for public art.

The two are among those investors, doing a major renovation of their loft apartment in the downtown and at the restaurant they own, Mile 303.

Hungerford and Misiti believed there was a missing piece in the community: dramatic modern art. They also felt there were some rough spots in the downtown, mainly back walls off Main Street.

They are part of the Form Foundation, a non-profit looking to bring public art to Medina. They coordinated having four large-scale murals off Proctor Place, a one-lane street a block from Main Street. Hungerford and Misiti met with village officials and found a way to accommodate public art in a historic district.

The projects have created another attraction in Medina without altering the historic structures. The murals are painted on cinder block walls. Hungerford and Misiti pushed to get the murals done during the pandemic, wanting to bring some positive energy during a difficult year.

They plan to replace the murals every two years and hope to add more locations.

Chuck Tingley shows a traveler with a message, “Fake It Til You Make It!” with this mural on the back of 410 Main St., which faces Proctor Place, a one-way street a block from Main Street.

Julian Montague, an artist from Buffalo, painted two walls of a building at the corner of Pearl Street and West Avenue. The walls are 14 feet high and 80 feet long. Montague paints geometric patterns with eyes and mouths to give the mural some added personality. “It’s playful and a little weird,” he said.

The “Canalligator” mural was the first of four in Medina in 2020. Artist Tim Meyers painted the “Canalligator” that stretches more than 50 feet on a cinder block building on Proctor Place.


The Orleans Hub usually has an awards program for the honorees. It is unlikely a ceremony with all the attendees and their family and friends will be allowed soon due to Covid-19 restrictions and concerns. We’ll work out a way to present them with their awards.

2 ‘Outstanding Citizens’ from Lyndonville receive their Orleans Hub awards

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 August 2020 at 3:16 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers

GETZVILLE – Steve Goodrich, the American Legion commander in Lyndonville, and Anna Stelianou received their “Outstanding Citizen” awards this morning from the Orleans Hub.

They were among a group of citizens who would have been recognized during a March 16 awards program, but that event at Tillman’s Village Inn was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Each year we recognize about 8 to 10 residents who made extraordinary efforts on behalf of the community that year. The Orleans Hub has been trying to present the 2019 awards individually, and do it in a way with some fanfare. (We still have three left to give to the Outstanding Citizens from 2019.)

Stelianou recently moved from Lyndonville to Asbury Point Assisted Living in Getzville. She was presented her award today in the courtyard in front of many of her new friends.

Anna Stelianou wanted to do something to honor veterans – every one of them in Lyndonville. She read about the Wreaths Across America program. Medina has been doing that at Boxwood Cemetery since 2013. Each year, a wreath at $15 each can be set on a veteran’s grave in December.

Photos by Lucy Rivers: Tom Rivers, Orleans Hub editor, presents a plaque to Anna Stelianou in appreciation for her efforts as an Outstanding Citizen of Orleans County.

Stelianou liked the idea of the wreaths for veterans’ graves. She saw Steve Goodrich, commander of the American Legion in Lyndonville, while they were each pumping gas. She told him about an idea. She wanted to purchase a wreath for every veteran’s grave in Lyndonville. That adds up to 402.

Goodrich said that would be a nice tribute. He thought Stelianou was making a one- or two-year commitment. The annual cost is about $6,000.

Stelianou said she wanted to do it – forever. Goodrich and Stelianou then met with the Lyndonville Area Foundation and she provided the funding. The anticipated interest on the donation is enough for an endowment to pay for the wreaths for long into the future.

Stelianou said she is doing it in appreciation for the community’s kindness to her parents, Ary and Konstantina. They emigrated to Lyndonville from Greece after WWI. Stelianou also donated the money for the program in honor of her five brothers who served in WWII and the Korean War.

Stelianou said the community looked after her parents and their children, especially during the lean years of the Great Depression. Farmers in particular made sure the family had enough food to eat.

The Stelianou couple ran a small store on Main Street serving lunches, candy and ice cream. Anna Stelianou said the Lyndonville community welcomed her parents and helped them achieve the American dream.

Steve Goodrich also was presented with an Outstanding Citizen plaque today for his work on behalf of veterans in Lyndonville.

Goodrich also was recognized as an Outstanding Citizen for his efforts to organize the wreath program in Lyndonville. He worked with Wreaths Across America to arrange for the delivery and the placement of the wreaths. He had identified all the veterans’ graves about five years ago.

At the time, he was researching the veterans’ graves for when the Legion organizes placing American flags on each veteran’s grave just before Memorial Day. He was prompted to research the grave sites after a discussion with Peter Stelianou, Anna’s brother and a long-time Legion member. Peter served in World War II. He was 94 when he passed away on Nov. 8, 2018.

The wreaths were set in six cemeteries last year. Goodrich said he has since discovered about a dozen more veterans’ graves and they will have wreaths later this year.

Stelianou made another significant donation recently to assist veterans in the community. She gave money to help the Houseman-Tanner Post 1603 purchase a new ADA-certified trolley to be used in parades. The Post took possession of the trolley in June.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Steve Goodrich, commander of the American Legion in Lyndonville, and Anna Stelianou are pictured in early December 2019 at the grave of her parents, Ary and Konstantina, who emigrated to Lyndonville from Greece after WWI. Anna Stelianou provided the funding for an endowment to pay for about 400 wreaths to be set at veterans’ graves each year in Lyndonville.

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‘Outstanding Citizens’ in 2019 dedicated themselves to a better community

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2019 at 9:54 pm

Each year since the Orleans Hub started in 2013 we’ve honored a group of Outstanding Citizens who stood out the past year for extraordinary contributions to improve the community.

Orleans County is fortunate to have so many citizens who give of themselves without seeking any fanfare.

4 Boy Scouts lead effort to build war memorial in Kendall

Photo by Tom Rivers: These four Boy Scouts – Jayden Pieniaszek, Noah Rath, Brian Shaw and Ryan Barrett – join local veterans for a group photo on Sept. 29 at the new Kendall War Memorial, which the Scouts worked on together for their Eagle Scout community service project.

Four Boy Scouts in Kendall teamed to build a war memorial in Kendall. Each Scout took a different phase of the memorial as part of their Eagle Scout service project.

The memorial was dedicated on Sept. 29 with about 500 people attending the ceremony. It culminated a year-long effort by the four scouts – Jayden Pieniaszek, Noah Rath, Brian Shaw and Ryan Barrett.

The Scouts first presented the plan to the Kendall Board of Education in the fall on 2018. The plan quickly gained momentum in the community and was complete within a year of that initial meeting.

The Scouts thank the community for supporting the project. The Scouts include, from left: Jayden Pieniaszek, Noah Rath, Brian Shaw and Ryan Barrett.

Ryan Barrett led the first phase, which included putting in the foundation for the wall, a stone memorial and three flag poles. Two of the poles are 30 feet high and one for the American flag is 35 feet.

Jayden Pieniaszek led the second phase which includes construction of the brick wall, which is 39 feet long, 3 ½ feet wide and 4 feet tall.

Noah Rath headed up phase three which includes the medallions for each five branches of military. Rath also had the electricity set up so the memorial and sidewalk can be lighted up at night.

Brian Shaw coordinated phase four which includes final grading and planting of cedar trees behind the memorial, which provides a buffer for the neighbors and also enhances the site. Shaw also led the work for the plaques on the memorial for the different wars where Kendall soldiers served.

The four scouts were praised for their work in creating an enduring memorial that is a new focal point for the town.

“This remarkable memorial would not be possible without these four Eagle Scouts,” Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata said during the dedication service on Sept. 29. “Because of them we can, from today and going forward, have a lasting tribute to all those who have served. From the soldiers that shivered and starved through the winter at Valley Forge to the doughboys crouched in the muddy trenches of France to the platoon who patrolled the hazy jungles of Vietnam and the young man or woman patrolling the mountains of Afghanistan, we remember and never forget them.”

Kendall Scoutmaster proves excellent motivator for scouts

Photo by Tom Rivers: Ken Spohr, Kendall Scoutmaster, stands next to State Sen. Robert Ortt and salutes while the flags were raised during a Sept. 29 dedication for a war memorial. The project was led by four scouts in Troop 94 where Spohr is the scoutmaster.

It was an ambitious project: build a war memorial for the Kendall community and coordinate different phases of the project by four Boy Scouts.

Ken Spohr was up for the challenge. He offered guidance to the Scouts, but let them lead each phase, their community service project to become an Eagle Scout.

Ryan Barrett, Jayden Pieniazek, Noah Rath and Brian Shaw were able to turn an idea into a completed war memorial within a year. The project was dedicated on Sept. 29 with about 500 people at the ceremony.

“Ken is definitely one of the most outstanding people I’ve met,” said Ryan Barrett, one of the Scouts who worked on the project. “He is the anchor of our group. He is the light that shines on our path.”

Spohr tracked the donations and expenses for the project. He drove the Scouts to community presentations, as well as one in Albany at the State Capital.

He also has many connections with businesses and organizations, and he was able to point the scouts to people who could handle the masonry, and other work with the memorial.

When the four Scouts presented their plan for an ambitious memorial, Spohr didn’t flinch. He was a calm influence and constant encourager.

“His commitment to this project and all of us boys is incredible,” Barrett said. “He has been the unspoken hero behind this project.”

Spohr also motivates the troop for other community service projects, including a food drive for the local food pantry. He also recently agreed to take many pies in the face during a fundraiser for the troop.

“He does it all to ensure the future of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in Kendall is secure,” Barrett said.

Bellavia, after receiving Medal of Honor, becomes ambassador for Orleans County

Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead: President Donald J. Trump presents the Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia on June 25 in the East Room of the White House. Bellavia is a Lyndonville graduate and continues to live locally. He is the first living veteran from the Iraq War to receive the nation’s highest military medal.

David Bellavia received the Medal of Honor on June 25 in a ceremony at the White House. He is the first living veteran of the Iraq War to receive the nation’s highest military honor.

Bellavia, 44, has been in high demand since then, traveling the country to give speeches about his service, and his acts of valor on Nov. 10, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. That day, his 29th birthday, he led an infantry squad clearing houses of insurgents, saving the lives of the members of his unit.

Bellavia praised his experience in the Army. He encourages people to enlist and serve. He said military service brings together people of varying backgrounds, beliefs and skin color, uniting them in a common goal.

In his message, Bellavia speaks of his upbringing in Lyndonville, where he played on the soccer, basketball and baseball teams, and performed in the school musicals and with the band. He has become an ambassador for the county and small-town America.

David Bellavia shows the Medal of Honor to Lyndonville fourth-grader Christopher Atkins. Elementary students lined the hallway for Bellavia when he visited the school on Nov. 21.

Bellavia also has given several speeches in Orleans County since October, receiving a standing ovation each time. He spoke at his alma mater on Nov. 21 and told the student body they live in the greatest small town in the world, a place where people are engaged in service to others.

At Lyndonville, they can be in multiple school activities – several sports, the band, the musical and more. They know their classmates and the kids in the grade levels above them and below them.

It’s a great place, but Bellavia didn’t realize that when he was in school.

“I spent my childhood just wanting to get out of here,” he told the students. “You get out in the world and you realize I have the best hometown in the world.”

Bellavia, in his local appearances, gives everyone a chance to hold the Medal of Honor. He said he feels like the community raised him and shaped him.

Bellavia enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in 1999 and worked about two years in recruiting for the Army while his infant son received medical care in Syracuse. Bellavia, during a June 11 news conference, said he appreciated that compassion from the Army.

In 2001, Bellavia had a decision to make. He could change his military occupational specialty, submit a hardship discharge, or remain as an infantryman. He chose to stay in the infantry after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Bellavia’s unit in 2003 deployed to Kosovo for nine months and then was sent directly to Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. From February 2004 to February 2005, Bellavia and the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, were stationed in the Diyala Province along the Iranian border. His task force took part in the battles for Najaf, Mosul, Baqubah, Muqdadiyah and Fallujah.

“I’m forever grateful to the United States Army,” Bellavia told reporters at the Army Recruiting Station in Cheektowaga. “They gave my life purpose and direction. They gave my life meaning and value. I’m a better human being because of my service and I think most of the people I served with can tell you the same thing. I encourage any man or woman that wants to become an individual in their community to serve the United States military.”

Ridgeway woman led effort for banners of Hometown Heroes in Medina

Photo by Tom Rivers: Mary Woodruff, organizer of the Hometown Heroes, is shown on May 19 with a banner of her brother-in-law, the late John McElwain, a local electrician who was very active in the Medina Lions Club. The YMCA hosted a reception for families and sponsors of the banners to see them before they were displayed in downtown Medina before Memorial Day.

Downtown Medina has been enjoying a renaissance with new businesses and millions of dollars of private investment in recent years. In 2019, the downtown became a display for Hometown Heroes, with 38 banners of soldiers from the community, going back to World War II.

Mary Woodruff saw a similar effort in the Alfred community. Her father-in-law, Burr Woodruff, was one of the soldiers honored in Alfred. She thought the display was reminder of the sacrifices of soldiers and families from Small Town, America.

“I want people to feel patriotism and restore pride in the USA,” she said. “When you see a vet, say thank you.”

She did the research and pushed for Hometown Heroes’ banners in Medina. She convinced the Medina Village Board to back the effort, and lined up support from Ridgeway and Shelby town offices as well.

She had a short window to get the local approvals, and then send the information and photos to the company that made the banners. In all, there were 38 banners the first year. Woodruff is planning to add more in the following years.

“I was extremely pleased,” she said when saw the banners after they were delivered in May. “I had goosebumps.”

The banners are $200 and the families or sponsors can keep them after about three years. Before they were displayed in the downtown on village-owned poles, there was a reception with all the banners in the Orleans County YMCA, which is a former armory where many of the local soldiers trained.

Many of the families were moved to tears seeing the faces of grandfathers, fathers, brothers and friends on the double-sided banners that are 5 feet tall by 2 ½ feet wide.

Woodruff, a retired social studies and math teacher at Roy-Hart, also is a member of the Ridgeway Town Board.

Joe Cardone, the Orleans County district attorney, thanked Woodruff for organizing the banners of the Hometown Heroes. He attended the reception on May 19. His father, the late Vincent Cardone, served in the Army during World War II and is on one of the banners.

“It’s not every day you can look into our past and see the faces of the people who contributed so much to our community and country,” Cardone said.

Clarendon firefighter committed to training new generation in fire service

Photo by Tom Rivers: Clarendon Assistant Fire Chief Bob Freida is one of the mentors of a First Responders Youth Group that is a combined effort of the Clarendon, Holley and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray fire departments. Freida is pictured with three of the youth group members, from left: Nate Smith, 13; Teanna Church, 13; and Homer Mathes, 12.

Bob Freida has been involved in the volunteer fire service since he was 16, starting as an explorer with the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company. Freida, now 50, worries about the declining number of firefighters and the increasing demands on those volunteers, particularly with EMS calls at all hours of the day.

Seven years ago when he was fire chief at Clarendon, he teamed with the leaders of the Holley and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray fire departments to start a First Responders Youth Group where students would learn some of the basics of firefighting and could be connected to their local fire department. The program is run as an activity through the Holley Central School.

Freida has stayed an active mentor in the program, which meets every Monday evening. Some of the youth group members have become adults and joined their local departments. One member, Dalton Major, is in college and wants to become a career firefighter.

The youth group has maintained a steady core of about 10 to 15 students. Freida has been a constant, a dependable mentor for the group. He teaches them teamwork and some firefighting skills. He also will join the students in parades and on trips, including one to New York City to see the Sept. 11 memorial site.

“I love doing it,” Freida said about his role with the youth group. “I want them to be kids and have fun. At the same time there needs to be some professionalism.” Freida has struck the right balance. The past two Mondays the students were on break and there wasn’t a schedule youth group meeting. But the students insisted on a meeting, and Freida obliged.

Bob Freida and the First Responders Youth Group participated in four local parades during the holiday season, including this one from Medina. Freida said he tries to give the students interesting activities, including a trip to New York City to see the memorial from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Freida also was among the fire officials who wanted to find a solution to improved response time to fire calls during the day on Wednesdays, which tend to have the highest call volume during the week. Nearly every Wednesday this year, Freida has been at either the Holley or Clarendon fire hall from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., ready to jump in a fire truck for a call.

He also led a committee the past 2 ½ years to upgrade two Clarendon fire trucks. A new squad truck arrived in November. That will be Clarendon’s primary EMS vehicle. A new combination pumper-rescue truck is due to be delivered in January.

Freida ran for town highway superintendent in November. He didn’t win. The next day after the election he was back at the fire hall to volunteer for a 10-hour shift. He hasn’t let the election defeat sap his enthusiasm for community service.

Dave Smith of Holley has a son, Nate Smith, in the youth group. Dave, a past fire chief at FHM, said Freida is committed to developing a new generation of firefighters and maintaining quality service to the residents.

“He puts a lot of time and sweat into this building and these kids,” Smith said Monday during the youth group meeting at the Clarendon fire hall. “We couldn’t do it without him.”

A generous gift ensures Lyndonville veterans will forever have wreaths on graves during holidays

Photo by Tom Rivers: Steve Goodrich, commander of the American Legion in Lyndonville, and Anna Stelianou are pictured earlier this month at the grave of her parents, Ary and Konstantina, who emigrated to Lyndonville from Greece after WWI. Anna Stelianou provided the funding for an endowment to pay for about 400 wreaths to be set at veterans’ graves each year in Lyndonville.

Anna Stelianou wanted to do something to honor veterans – every one of them in Lyndonville. She read about the Wreaths Across America program. Medina has been doing that at Boxwood Cemetery since 2013. Each year, a wreath at $15 each can be set on a veteran’s grave in December.

Stelianou liked the idea. She saw Steve Goodrich, commander of the American Legion in Lyndonville, while they were each pumping gas. She told him about an idea. She wanted to purchase a wreath for every veteran’s grave in Lyndonville. That adds up to 402.

Goodrich said that would be a nice tribute. He thought Stelianou was making a one- or two-year commitment. The annual cost is about $6,000.

Stelianou said she wanted to do it – forever. Goodrich and Stelianou then met with the Lyndonville Area Foundation and she gave the funding. The anticipated interest on the donation is enough for an endowment to pay for the wreaths for long into the future.

Stelianou said she is doing it in appreciation for the community’s kindness to her parents, Ary and Konstantina. They emigrated to Lyndonville from Greece after WWI. Stelianou also donated the money for the program in honor of her five brothers who served in WWII and the Korean War.

Stelianou said the community looked after her parents and their children, especially during the lean years of the Great Depression. Farmers in particular made sure the family had enough food to eat.

The Stelianou couple ran a small store on Main Street serving lunches, candy and ice cream. Anna Stelianou said the Lyndonville community welcomed her parents and helped them achieve the American dream.

With the funding available for the wreaths, Goodrich worked with Wreaths Across America to arrange for the delivery and the placement of the wreaths. He had identified all the veterans’ graves about five years ago. At the time, he was researching the veterans’ graves for when the Legion organizes placing American flags on each veteran’s grave just before Memorial Day. He was prompted to research the grave sites after a discussion with Peter Stelianou, Anna’s brother and a long-time Legion member. Peter served in World War II. He was 94 when he passed away on Nov. 8, 2018.

Orleans Hub wants to recognize both Anna Stelianou and Steve Goodrich for making the wreaths possible in Lyndonville.

Gooodrich and Stelianou are both pleased to see the wreaths at six Lyndonville cemeteries. They stand out in the snow, and are a physical reminder that a local resident served the country in the military.

“For me, every single one of them is hallowed ground,” Goodrich said about the 402 veterans at Lyndonville cemeteries. “People like to put down the small towns, but this is the history of our country. They went out and did amazing things. You can see it right here.”

Albion man promotes participation in the great outdoors

Provided photo: Dan Conrad is pictured with his daughter Ryleigh. Conrad started DC Outdoors, and has helped connect many community members to fishing and hunting.

Dan Conrad said he just wanted to create a forum where hunters and fishermen could encourage each other and share some tips. He started a Facebook page, DC Outdoors in October 2018.

That group quickly gained members and created a community of people who enjoy the outdoors. It now has 2,500 members and counting.

“I just wanted a nice family-oriented page,” Conrad said. “I thought it could be a place where people could post pictures of deer and fish.”

Conrad noticed the strong camaraderie in the group and decided the members could do more than post on social media. DC Outdoors on July 13 held its first fishing derby, with 60 kids participating. DC Outdoors members served as mentors and provided the equipment. Charlie Miller and Joe Rotoli were the leaders of that effort, Conrad said. DC Outdoors also lined up prizes and food that were donated by businesses and the community.

During the fishing derby, Conrad and the DC Outdoors members noticed a lot of trash at Point Breeze. So the group had a trash pickup in August, filling 8 garbage bags.

Conrad and the group have also collected Christmas presents that were given out by the Hands 4 Hope ministry, where Conrad is a volunteer. Conrad even wore the Santa suit to help collect the presents as part of a fundraiser at Oak Orchard Lanes in Albion.

Conrad, 37, said he enjoys community service. This year he joined the Albion Lions Club and the Hoag Library board of trustees. He also volunteers at the Warrior House in Shelby, taking veterans out hunting. He also started a new job as a UPS driver.

“It makes me feel good,” he said about volunteering.

Benefactor pays to have World War I cannon restored at Medina park

Photos by Tom Rivers: A World War I cannon is unloaded on May 1 after being restored over 14 months at Altoona, Pa.

The World War I cannon at State Street Park was rotting away. The paint flaking off and the metal corroding.

Local veterans and community members were alarmed about the deteriorating condition. They thought it sent a disrespectful message to veterans, to have a prominent display in shabby condition.

George Bidleman

But it would be a big price tag to restore the cannon – $40,000. Local veterans in 2018 began an appeal. They expected it would take years to come up with the money.

They went to George Bidleman, owner of Orleans Ford in Medina. They hoped for a contribution. Bidleman thanked the group for their service to their country, and for their continued involvement in the community with the American Legion and VFW.

Bidleman told them he would pay the entire restoration cost. They didn’t need to do a collection effort that would take years.

The cannon was hauled away in March 2018 and returned to Medina on May 1, in time to be rededicated for Memorial Day. Seed Artillery Reproduction and Restoration, in Altoona, Pa. The company completely stripped and disassembled the cannon, and needed to fabricate some new parts. The big 15,000-pound gun was reassembled and painted with historic accuracy.

“It’s absolutely stunning,” Bidleman said when the cannon returned on May 1. “It’s beautiful.”

Bidleman is notoriously low key and doesn’t want publicity for his good works. He serves on the United Way board and he and his employees support that organization.

He has expanded his car business to include the Chevrolet Buick GMC dealership in Albion with Sam LaNasa.

George Bidleman, left, watches the cannon be delivered to its spot in front of State Street Park on May 1.

The B.L. 60 Pounder British field gun has been a fixture at State Street Park since 1935. There are only 10 of the cannons like this remaining, with five in Europe and five in the United States, said Jim Freas, a past commander of the Butts-Clark Post for the American Legion in Medina.

“We have one of them,” Freas said. “It’s priceless.”

Glenn Whitmore, commander of the American Legion Post in Medina, said Bidleman’s donation was a big relief to the veterans’ organizations.

“When George stepped forward we couldn’t believe it,” Whitmore said. “His heart is bigger than he is.”

Orleans Hub will have an awards celebration in early 2020 for the Outstanding Citizens.

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Orleans Hub’s ‘Outstanding Citizens’ recognized for community service

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 February 2019 at 10:11 am

Photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans Hub’s “Outstanding Citizens” for 2018 were recognized during an awards program on Wednesday evening at Hoag Library. Pictured, front row, Pete Sidari (accepting for Tony and Laura Sidari), Penny Cole, Melissa Ostrom and Tami Ashton. Back row: Leonel Rosario, Deborah and Samuel Wilson (accepting for the late Chris Wilson), Michael Hungerford, Jak Kohmann and Brett Sobieraski.

ALBION – Orleans Hub held its annual awards program on Wednesday evening at Hoag Library and recognized our choices for “Outstanding Citizens” for 2018.

Each year since the Hub started, we’ve highlighted people who made a big impact in the community.

The following were recognized:

Leonel Rosario has worked with his family to create a popular Mexican restaurant on Maple Ridge Road in Medina. Mariachi de Oro Restaurant of Medina draws people from all over Western New York, and has received many glowing reviews in The Buffalo News and other publications.

Rosario is busy as the chef and co-owner of the business. He finds time for many community events, welcoming the chance to share food and dances about the Mexican culture.

This year on Nov. 1 he helped organize a Day of the Dead celebration, which for the first time was in downtown Medina. Rosario previously hosted a scaled-down version of the Day of the Dead at Mariachi. Moving it to the downtown was a way to include Main Street businesses and have more room to share food and the festive dances.

Rosario also is active in the very popular Farm-To-Table dinner in downtown Medina. Rosario has worked with Michael Zambito of Zambistros the past two years with the fine dining experience. This year it was expanded to include Mile 303, Sourced Market & Eatery and The Shirt Factory Cafe. Rosario is generous with his time and can be counted on to enthusiastically join with others for community events.

Brett Sobieraski, a Kent resident and sergeant with the Rochester Police Department, ran over 175 miles for 50 hours nonstop to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics.

Sobieraski started his journey in Buffalo on July 13 and ran along the Erie Canal to just outside Syracuse. He ran through Orleans County the first night of the challenge. He called it the 50 for 50 running campaign to signify 50 hours of running for the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics.

Sobieraski set a $10,000 fundraising goal and topped that with $13,000. He was joined by many first responders for parts of the run, and finished the last leg carrying a torch alongside people with disabilities.

Tony and Laura Sidari, Albion natives, suffered the tragic loss of their son Leon, 4 1/2, on Christmas Day in 2017. Leon died two days after getting the flu. He was a very healthy and happy boy.

The Sidaris are both medical doctors. They have become very outspoken in urging people to get flu vaccinations. Leon hadn’t been vaccinated from the flu last year. At an Oct. 8 flu shot clinic in Albion, 59 children were vaccinated at Orleans Community Health. That clinic was made possible through Leon’s Fund, a non-profit organization the Sidaris helped form that promotes flu shots. Leon’s Fund also has money to be given to help children with medical problems at Christmas time.

Orleans Community Health also has educated about 2,500 parents in Orleans County, encouraging them to have their children vaccinated from the flu.

The Sidaris were living in San Antonio for six years before moving recently to Dayton, Ohio. Tony’s uncle Pete Sidari accepted the award on their behalf on Wednesday.

Mark Bennett Sr., 60, of Waterport was driving by the Gaines Valley Aviation Airport on Route 279 when he saw a small experimental helicopter in the sky. It was about 2 p.m. on April 24.

Bennett pulled over to watch the aircraft. Something went horribly wrong with the Mosquito XE and it crashed. Bennett reacted quickly. He climbed through an electric fence and ran to the crash site. The aircraft had burst into flames. The pilot was on fire. Bennett cut Heard’s shirt off, rolled him over to put out the flames and pulled him from the wreck, saving his life.

Bennett declined the award, saying anyone would have sprung into action.

Michael Hungerford led a major art installation project last year at the former Medina High School. The former school on Catherine Street was sitting empty most of the year. The school will be renovated into apartments.

While the building was idle, Hungerford pushed for it to be used for a major immersive art project. For one weekend in October about 1,000 people went through the building to see 29 different art projects in what was called “PLAY/GROUND.”

Artists were given free rein to create in old classrooms, stairwells, hallways and other space in the school. The project received gushing reviews in Rochester and Buffalo.

Photo courtesy of Melissa Ierlan: Orleans Hub editor Tom Rivers presents an “Outstanding Citizen” award to Jak Kohmann, a Boy Scout leader in Clarendon.

Jak Kohmann has set a standard of excellence for Troop 59 in Clarendon. In the past 16 years, 32 of the Boy Scouts in the troop have earned their Eagle rank, the highest level in Scouting. On Aug. 1 last year, six Scouts were presented with the rank during a Court of Honor celebration. They include Xander Apicella, Matt DeSimone, Dalton Thurley, William Harrington, Jake DeSimone and Ben Downey.

Kohmann was praised by the Scouts and parents for his commitment and guidance to the Scouts, especially since his son aged out of the program about a decade ago. His son Derek Kohmann, 27, was the third of the 32 scouts to earn his Eagle.

Penny Cole is a dynamic presence at Holley’s Junior-Senior High School. She works as a secretary in the guidance department. She also is a dedicated cheerleading coach in Holley. She inspires her cheerleaders to perform their intricate and athletic routines. They have won several Genesee-Region League titles. The cheerleaders also do many community service projects, including visits to local nursing homes.

Cole has become a passionate fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House. She engages the entire school community in her fund-raising efforts, whether it be a charity basketball game with numerous gift baskets, or a the chance to buy a shingle on a doll house.

The basketball game last year raised $4,444, by far the most in the 12 years Holley has been raising money for the Ronald McDonald House.

The Ronald McDonald House provides a place for families to stay while their children are hospitalized. Cole said several Holley students have battled cancer in recent years, including a student this year who is fighting leukemia.

Melissa Ostrom of Holley wrote a book published by Macmillan in 2018 that honors the courage and resourcefulness of pioneer settlers in Orleans County and Western New York. In The Beloved Wild, Ostrom brings life to pioneer characters. The pioneers were typically just teen-agers when they set out from New England to brave a hard journey by wagon, through dense forests, to get to Orleans County and Western New York.

There wasn’t a map. The pioneers followed markings on trees as they made their way west. The pioneer settlers were incredibly resourceful in taming the land, building homes and farms in the frontier. The obstacles were many – sickness, uninvited strangers, alcoholism, abuse.

Ostrom, a former Kendall high school English teacher, writes about those challenges and the indomitable spirit of pioneer settlers.

Tami Ashton of Medina knows the pain of losing a loved one to addiction. Her daughter, Christina Ashton, died from a drug overdose on June 27, 2016, at age 34.

Ashton has shared her story publicly, trying to break the stigma of addiction. She also has been an important leader of Orleans – Recovery Hope Begins Here, a new organization that connects people struggling with drug addiction to local resources and mentors. Ashton is vice president of the organization.

The group has also led community forums about addiction and helped families in crisis connect to professionals.Orleans – Recovery Hope Begins Here also has 12 trained mentors and counting to serve as recovery coaches for people with addictions.

Ashton is a trained to be an addiction recovery coach for the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. She encourages people to be honest about the drug crisis in their own lives, their families and communities – and to then seek help in fighting the addictions.

Chris Wilson was dedicated to peace and serving children from war-torn countries. He passed away on May 28 after a brief battle with a rare form of cancer.

Wilson traveled to Afghanistan many times, and worked with the U.S. and Afghanistan embassies so children who were made orphans by war could come to Orleans County for a summer of respite and fun.

Wilson served as international director of Project Life, which over 20 years brought about 130 children to Orleans County for a summer of recuperation. The children stayed with local host families, including with Wilson and his wife Deborah and their son Samuel. The kids learned English, visited many tourism sites, and mostly had care-free summer days. Three of the children had medical issues and needed to stay longer. Wilson worked out medical plans for each of them, arranging for their care and donations.

Wilson was a high-energy and compassionate person, who wouldn’t be discouraged even when the task seemed insurmountable. He was diagnosed with a rare cancer in April. From his hospital bed he sent emails from his laptop, advocating for children.

His wife and son accepted the award on his behalf on Wednesday.

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Orleans Hub will recognize ‘outstanding citizens’ of 2018

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2019 at 8:44 am

ALBION – Orleans Hub will have our annual awards presentation today for our choices of the “outstanding citizens” for 2018.

We’ll be presenting certificates and thanking people who stepped up in a big way last year to make the community a better place to live.

We’ll be recognizing Tami Ashton, Mark Bennett Sr., Penny Cole, Michael Hungerford, Jak Kohmann, Melissa Ostrom, Leonel Rosario, Tony and Laura Sidari, Brett Sobieraski and Chris Wilson.

This event starts at 6:30 p.m. and is at Hoag Library in Albion. The public is welcome to attend, although space is limited. We’ll likely post a video of the awards presentation on YouTube.

Every year since the Orleans Hub started in 2013 we’ve honored a group of people who made Orleans County better in the past year.

In Orleans County, we are fortunate to have many people dedicated to good works and improving the community. Sometimes they react in the spur of the moment, saving another person’s life. Sometimes it’s years of effort before they see the fruit of their labors. And, sometimes after suffering a painful personal tragedy, they will step forward to help others.

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‘Outstanding Citizens’ dedicate themselves to a better Orleans County

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2018 at 8:24 pm

Every year since the Orleans Hub started in 2013 we’ve honored a group of people who made Orleans County better in the past year.

The steady drumbeat of depressing news can often give a warped view of the community, country and world by fixating on bad things. It can be very discouraging.

In Orleans County, we are fortunate to have many people dedicated to good works and improving the community. Sometimes they react in the spur of the moment, saving another person’s life. Sometimes it’s years of effort before they see the fruit of their labors. And, sometimes after suffering a painful personal tragedy, they will step forward to help others.

Here are some people who stood out in the past year:

Police Sgt. runs 50 hours straight to benefit Special Olympics

Provided photo: Brett Sobieraski runs the final stretch of a 50-hour journey on July 15, carrying a torch for the Special Olympics. He started in Buffalo on July 11 and would run more than 6 1/2 consecutive marathons in six different counties. He finished the challenge at the State Police Trooper Barracks in Elbridge, a town in Onondaga County, west of Syracuse.

Brett Sobieraski, a Kent resident and sergeant with the Rochester Police Department, ran over 175 miles for 50 hours nonstop to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics.

Sobieraski started his journey in Buffalo on July 13 and ran along the Erie Canal to just outside Syracuse. He ran through Orleans County the first night of the challenge. He called it the 50 for 50 running campaign to signify 50 hours of running for the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics.

Sobieraski set a $10,000 fundraising goal and topped that with $13,000. He was joined by many first responders for parts of the run, and finished the last leg carrying a torch alongside people with disabilities.

He called the Special Olympics, “a phenomenal organization that helps to transform the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.”

Sobieraski, sergeant with the Rochester Police Department, ran more than 6 1/2 consecutive marathons in six different counties. He turned 52 while he was running the 50 for 50. He has completed other endurance challenges including the 135-mile Badlands ultramarathon through Death Valley and has swum 32 miles across Lake Ontario.

He posted this message on Facebook after finishing the 50-hour run:

“Inclusiveness – that is what the Special Olympics means to me. That everyone who wants to compete in the Games should have the opportunity to do so. People experience their own personal greatness by competing, breaking through barriers and obtaining their goals. That is why I am doing this. Please consider donating so that willing athletes are not left on the sidelines. To those who have already donated, I sincerely thank you.”

Clarendon Boy Scout leader inspires many to pursue excellence

Photo by Tom Rivers: These six Boy Scouts are pictured with Scoutmaster Jak Kohmann on Aug. 1 at a Court of Honor celebration at the Disciples United Methodist Church in Clarendon. Pictured from left include: Xander Apicella, Matt DeSimone, Dalton Thurley, Jak Kohmann, William Harrington, Jake DeSimone and Ben Downey.

Jak Kohmann has set a standard of excellence for Troop 59 in Clarendon. In the past 16 years, 32 of the Boy Scouts in the troop have earned their Eagle rank, the highest level in Scouting.

On Aug. 1, six Scouts were presented with the rank during a Court of Honor celebration. They include Xander Apicella, Matt DeSimone, Dalton Thurley, William Harrington, Jake DeSimone and Ben Downey.

Kohmann was praised by the Scouts and parents for his commitment and guidance to the Scouts, especially since his son aged out of the program about a decade ago. His son Derek Kohmann, 27, was the third of the 32 scouts to earn his Eagle under Jak Kohmann.

Kohmann worked 30 years at Kodak and then another eight years at the Holley Pharmacy until he retired in April. He said scouting provided a needed break from the stresses of his job.

He said the Scouts are hard workers. “They do the work,” Kohmann told the group gathered for the Court of Honor on Aug. 1. “They have a true commitment.”

The Clarendon troop also has many engaged parents and several active volunteers. Kohmann does the paperwork after the scouts earn their badges and ranks.

Eagle Scouts need to earn at least 21 merit badges, but many of the scouts in Clarendon go well beyond that. They have completed projects at Hillside Cemetery, the Clarendon Historical Society, Clarendon Fire Hall and the town park. The projects need to take at least 100 hours, but Kohmann said the Clarendon Scouts put in at least 150, with some taking 400 hours to complete.

“They turn into young men and they get jobs,” Kohmann said about the Eagle Scouts. “We stay in touch and I see these people out in the community and they are pillars of the community.”

John Crandall, the assistant Scoutmaster the past nine years, said Kohmann sets the tone in the troop, and keeps the scouts engaged.

“Jak is very regimented and available for the boys,” Crandall said. “You won’t find someone more dedicated to Boy Scouts. He makes it attainable to the boys.”

After tragic loss of son, Albion natives promote flu vaccination

Photo by Tom Rivers: Tony and Laura Sidari are pictured on Aug. 27 on a visit home to Albion. Tony is holding son Tristan, 2, while Laura is holding son Cameron, who was 9 months old at the time.

Albion natives Tony Sidari and the former Laura Lyman suffered the tragic loss of their son Leon, 4 1/2, on Christmas Day in 2017. Leon died two days after getting the flu. He was a very healthy and happy boy.

The Sidaris are both medical doctors. They have become very outspoken in urging people to get flu vaccinations. Leon hadn’t been vaccinated from the flu last year. At an Oct. 8 flu shot clinic in Albion, 59 children were vaccinated at Orleans Community Health. That clinic was made possible through Leon’s Fund, a non-profit organization the Sidaris helped form that promotes flu shots. Leon’s Fund also has money to be given to help children with medical problems at Christmas time.

Orleans Community Health also has educated about 2,500 parents in Orleans County, encouraging them to have their children vaccinated from the flu.

The Sidaris were living in San Antonio for six years before moving recently to Dayton, Ohio.

They said Leon was very healthy and started showing flu symptoms on Dec. 23. Within 48 hours he died despite the efforts of a medical team at the hospital. Leon had been vaccinated for the flu in prior years and was due for a flu shot soon after Christmas. He died from the strain of the virus called H3N2.

Leon Sidari

The Sidaris say young, healthy children can be ravaged by the flu. They are encouraging all children, 6 months or older, to be vaccinated.

Parents should have the children vaccinated every year to build their immunity in fighting off the flu, the Sidaris said. They urge children to be vaccinated early in the flu season in September or October.

“The flu shot reduces the risk of severe complications,” Tony said during a visit to Albion in August.

Tony and Laura grew up together in Albion, attending the same preschool. Tony graduated from Albion in 2003 with Laura finishing Albion a year later. They were in the marching band together. They started dating at Cornell University.

They both earned licenses as medical doctors with Laura working as a psychiatrist and Tony as a rheumatologist. They are both in the Air Force.

Man pulls pilot from flaming wreckage after helicopter crash

Photo courtesy of Dirk Climenhaga: This helicopter crashed on April 24 and burst into flames on Route 279 in Gaines.

Mark Bennett Sr.

Mark Bennett Sr., 60, of Waterport was driving by the Gaines Valley Aviation Airport on Route 279 when he saw a small experimental helicopter in the sky. It was about 2 p.m. on April 24.

Bennett pulled over to watch the aircraft, which was flown by Alan Heard, 64, of Waterport. Something went horribly wrong with the Mosquito XE and it crashed. Bennett reacted quickly. He climbed through an electric fence and ran to the crash site. The aircraft had burst into flames. Heard was on fire. Bennett cut Heard’s shirt off, rolled him over to put out the flames and pulled him from the wreck.

“It’s the grace of God that he’s alive right now,” Bennett said on April 24. “I can’t believe he survived the crash, let alone the fire.”

Law enforcement said Bennett saved Heard’s life. They praised his quick actions.

Dirk Climenhaga lives next to the field when the helicopter crashed and called 911. He was the second person on the scene.

“Mark is a hero,” Climenhaga said.

For one weekend Medina school turned into unforgettable showcase for artists

Photos by Tom Rivers: Michael Hungerford had the vision and drive for the big art show at the former Medina High School.

Michael Hungerford read about a vacant warehouse in New York City that was turned into art installations. The event drew huge crowds to the warehouse, and pumped energy into a site that had seen better days.

Hungerford works as regional director for Takeform in Medina. As he read about the success of the art project at the New York City site, he envisioned a similar project in Medina.

The former Medina High School was vacated over the summer, the MAAC Clothing Store and Calvary Tabernacle Assembly of God Church moved out. Hungerford’s uncle Roger Hungerford is planning to renovate the former school into apartments. But first he is focused on restoring the Bent’s Opera House on Main Street.

The former school on Catherine Street was sitting empty and Michael Hungerford suggested it be used for a major immersive art project. His uncle agreed and for one weekend in October, about 1,000 went through the building to see 29 different art projects in what was called “PLAY/GROUND.”

Artists were given free rein to create in old classrooms, stairwells, hallways and other space in the school.

“It is so far beyond my expectations,” Michael Hungerford said on Oct. 13. “The work is amazing.”

Virginia Melynk of Buffalo is shown with her creation using triangular shapes made out of spandex that utilize geometric patterns. She was one of 29 artists featured in a major art show at the former Medina High School.

Artists submitted proposals to be included in PLAY/GROUND. Hungerford worked with gallery owners in Buffalo to coordinate the exhibits.

The three-day show drew many people to Medina who had never been to Orleans County. Michael Hungerford is hopeful some of the visitors, including the participating artists, will help build an arts culture in the Medina community. The low-cost rents in the Medina area may also appeal to the artists and some may decide to live and work in Orleans County.

“I’ve enjoyed seeing the response to Medina, even from the artists who like it,” Hungerford said. “They see cheaper property, which appeals to them because many artists are on a limited budget. This project has planted a seed to get people to Medina, and to the younger people here to see that something like this exists.”

Holley woman is dynamic coach, fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House

Penny Cole, center, has organized several benefits for the Ronald McDonald House in recent years at Holley. She is shown on March 12 at a charity basketball in Holley between school staff and law enforcement officers in Orleans County. She is reading off the winning ticket in a 50-50 raffle. Matt DeSimone, left, is a Holley student who served as announcer for the game. Julia Buck, the cheerleader, was hospitalized for five days in Rochester in the summer of 2017 after a boating accident at Brockport. Her mother was able to stay in the Ronald McDonald House.

Penny Cole is a dynamic presence at Holley’s Junior-Senior High School. She works as a secretary in the guidance department. She also is a dedicated cheerleading coach in Holley. She inspires her cheerleaders to perform their intricate and athletic routines. They have won several Genesee-Region League titles.

Penny Cole and her daughter Heather Kelley, co-coaches of the Holley varsity cheerleading team, are pictured with “The Little House That Love Built” in March 2017. The house was taken to the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester.

The cheerleaders also do many community service projects, including visits to local nursing homes.

Cole has become a passionate fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House. She engages the entire school community in her fund-raising efforts, whether it be a charity basketball game with numerous gift baskets, or a the chance to buy a shingle on a doll house. That doll house – The Little House That Love Built – netted $2,050 for the Ronald McDonald House in 2017. The refurbished mini-house is displayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester.

The Ronald McDonald House provides a place for families to stay while their children are hospitalized. Penny Cole has organized several benefits for the Ronald McDonald House in recent years at Holley. In March she was honored with a community service award from the Ronald McDonald House.

Cole is a beloved member of the Holley community. She gets strong support for her fund-raising efforts. There were more than 300 people at the charity basketball game on March 12. It was a fun, circus-like atmosphere with the teachers and staff playing law enforcement officers. (The Holley teachers and staff won, 60-32.)

The event raised $4,444, by far the most in the 12 years Holley has been raising money for the Ronald McDonald House.

Author honors pioneer Orleans County residents with book

Melissa Ostrom’s book, published by Macmillan, highlights courage of pioneers who settled in WNY.

Melissa Ostrom of Holley wrote a book published by Macmillan in March that honors the courage and resourcefulness of pioneer settlers in Orleans County and Western New York.

In The Beloved Wild, Ostrom brings life to pioneer characters. The pioneers were typically just teen-agers when they set out from New England to brave a hard journey by wagon, through dense forests, to get to Orleans County and Western New York.

There wasn’t a map. The pioneers followed markings on trees as they made their way west.

The pioneer settlers were incredibly resourceful in taming the land, building homes and farms in the frontier. The obstacles were many – sickness, uninvited strangers, alcoholism, abuse.

Ostrom, a former Kendall high school English teacher, writes about those challenges and the indomitable spirit of pioneer settlers.

The Beloved Wild is a debut young adult fiction novel. Harriet Winter is the main character in the book. She is expected to stay home in New England and cook and tend to her younger siblings. She refuses. She disguises herself as a boy and joins her brother on the epic trip to the Wild West – the Town of Gaines.

Ostrom was honored on April 26 by the Orleans County Historical Association for her work in helping so many people to better understand and appreciate the pioneer settlers.

Leonel Rosario builds successful restaurant, shares the Mexican culture

Leonel Rosario, chef and co-owner of Mariachi de Oro Restaurant of Medina, helped prepare and serve food on Aug. 2 during the third annual Farm-To-Table dinner in Medina, which included a record crowd of 220 people. “I love being a part of the community and working together with all of the other businesses,” Rosario said.

Leonel Rosario has worked with his family to create a popular Mexican restaurant on Maple Ridge Road in Medina. Mariachi de Oro Restaurant of Medina draws people from all over Western New York, and has received many glowing reviews in The Buffalo News and other publications. Mariachi de Oro in 2017 was named “Business of the year” by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce.

Rosario is busy as the chef and co-owner of the business. He finds time for many community events, welcoming the chance to share food and dances about the Mexican culture.

Leonel Rosario takes a photo of the ofrenda he created for the Day of the Dead celebration in downtown Medina on Nov. 1. Several of his family members were part of the occasion, dancing and preparing food for the community.

This year on Nov. 1 he helped organize a Day of the Dead celebration, which for the first time was in downtown Medina. Rosario previously hosted a scaled-down version of the Day of the Dead at Mariachi.

Moving it to the downtown was a way to include Main Street businesses and have more room to share food and the festive dances.

Rosario created an ofrenda, an altar that is intended to welcome returning souls. Rosario made the ofrenda in the style of his hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico. The large display featured candles, wild marigolds, incense, photographs, mementos and loved ones’ favorite foods like fruit, tortillas, tamales, chocolate and bread.

The event on Nov. 1 was a chance to learn about and enjoy the Mexican holiday, which is a time of joyful remembrance of deceased loved ones.

Rosario also is active in the very popular Farm-To-Table dinner in downtown Medina. Rosario has worked with Michael Zambito of Zambistros the past two years with the fine dining experience. This year it was expanded to include Mile 303, Sourced Market & Eatery and The Shirt Factory Cafe.

Rosario is generous with his time and can be counted on to enthusiastically join with others for community events.

After daughter’s death, Medina mother has become advocate for families fighting addiction

Tami Ashton speaks during a community event about some of the services available to help people fighting addiction.

Tami Ashton of Medina knows the pain of losing a loved one to addiction. Her daughter, Christina Ashton, died from a drug overdose on June 27, 2016. Christina had been clean for 19 days. Her mother left the house for a 40-minute errand. When she came back, she found her daughter slumped over and not breathing in Ashton’s backyard. Someone dropped off heroin and her daughter took all of it. Christina was 34.

Ashton has shared her story publicly, trying to break the stigma of addiction. She also has been an important leader of Orleans – Recovery Hope Begins Here, a new organization that connects people struggling with drug addiction to local resources and mentors. Ashton is vice president of the organization.

The group has also led community forums about addiction and helped families in crisis connect to professionals.

Orleans – Recovery Hope Begins Here also has 12 trained mentors and counting to serve as recovery coaches for people with addictions.

“We’re done burying our kids,” Ashton said at one recent forum. “We need to come together as a community and do something and the time is now.”

Ashton became trained to be an addiction recovery coach for the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

She encourages people to be honest about the drug crisis in their own lives, their families and communities – and to then seek help in fighting the addictions.

“It’s killing our children and destroying our families,” Ashton said.

Waterport man was dedicated to promoting peace, serving children from war-torn areas

Some members of the World Life Institute including Chris Wilson, center, stand at attention after raising the American flag on April 2, 2016 when the organization held a dedication service for The Colonnade, the former Medina Masonic Temple at 229 West Center St. The Colonnade is the world-wide headquarters for World Life Institute, which runs humanitarian and educational programs in several countries. These WLI members Chad Scott, left, and Ameen Ghani, right, both served in the military. Wilson served as World Life’s international director of the Project Life program. That program has hosted about 130 children from war-torn Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chechnya for a summer of peace and education.

Orleans County and the world lost a man dedicated to peace and serving children from war-torn countries on May 28 when Christopher Wilson died after a brief battle with a rare form of cancer.

Wilson traveled to Afghanistan many times, and worked with the U.S. and Afghanistan embassies so children who were made orphans by war could come to Orleans County for a summer of respite and fun.

Wilson served as international director of Project Life, which brought about 130 children to Orleans County for a summer of recuperation. The children stayed with local host families, including with Wilson and his wife Deborah and their son Samuel. The kids learned English, visited many tourism sites, and mostly had care-free summer days. Three of the children had medical issues and needed to stay longer. Wilson worked out medical plans for each of them, arranging for their care and donations.

Wilson was a high-energy and compassionate person, who wouldn’t be discouraged even when the task seemed insurmountable. He was diagnosed with a rare cancer in April and died about a month later. From his hospital bed he sent emails from his laptop, advocating for children.

“I have never met anyone who worked harder than he did,” Linda Redfield, Project Life director, said today about Wilson. “He was instrumental in everything we did. It was really based on his heart and hard work.”

Wilson stayed in contact with many of the children in the program. They have become leaders in their countries now that they are adults.

He was also instrumental in the World Life Institute’s purchase of the former Masonic Lodge on West Center Street in Medina. That building in 2016 became The Colonnade, the world-wide headquarters for World Life Institute. The Colonnade has hosted educational programs, including a five-part lecture series on global nuclear awareness.

Project Life had a 20th anniversary celebration on Aug. 16, 2017 at the WLI school on Stillwater Road in Waterport. The WLI building has been used for numerous art classes and other programming for the children the past two decades. There have been numerous intense soccer games played in the backyard.

A big group of former host families and other program supporters attended the anniversary gathering. Wilson was among the speakers.

“We can feel proud in our own small way we’ve done something good,” he said that day. “I personally don’t think it’s small. There is so much evil in the world that any good should be celebrated.”

Orleans Hub will have an awards program to recognize the Outstanding Citizens in early 2019.

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Orleans Hub celebrates ‘outstanding citizens’

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2018 at 10:03 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Orleans Hub held its annual awards program this evening at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina. The Hub recognized eight residents as “outstanding citizens” for their efforts to better the community.

Front row, from left: Krista Wiley-Neale, Lori Laine, Cheryl Maxon (representing her son, Dan Schiavone), and Peter Sidari. Back row: Pastor Mike Outten, Andrew Szatkowski, Jerome Pawlak and David Green.

David Green: The retired Orleans County sheriff has remained an active community member in his retirement. For nearly 20 years he has been a key leader in a classic car show, which runs about 10 weeks in Medina. The car shows draw about 100 cars on a typical Friday. The “Super Cruise” brings about 300 cars when Main Street is closed off and Elvis impersonator entertains. Green also remains an active volunteer with the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company and helps organize East Shelby’s annual swap meet at fairgrounds, which usually raises $5,000 to $10,000 for fire company.

Mike Outten: The pastor of North Point Chapel in Albion led his congregation in its move to the former United Methodist Church building in Albion. The building has found new life with the congregation, which has started new ministry programs while keeping a historic structure intact.

Krista Wiley-Neale: A veterinarian who owns Wiley’s Ark Animal Care in Holley was key in restarting the Holley June Fest and also in expanding the Festival of Lights in December. Wiley-Neale also serves on the Village of Holley Development Corporation Board which was able to complete the sale of eight “Diaz homes” in 2017. Those houses will be returned to the tax rolls after about 15 years of being vacant. Wiley-Neale also is a member of the Holley Rotary Club, which tackles several community projects each year.

Jerome Pawlak: The long-time grocer has been generous to numerous community efforts over the years, while also serving on the boards of directors for United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, the Orleans Economic Development Agency and many others. He has coached Little League, youth basketball and been an active member of his church.

Peter Sidari: The county’s Emergency Management Office received a $75,000 grant for a new fire safety trailer last year. Sidari, an Albion firefighter who works as a fire safety educator for the North Greece Fire District, was key in picking out the design of the new trailer and insisting on kid-friendly decals and characters on the trailer that serve as a billboard, helping to reinforce the message of having a fire escape plan. Many firefighters served on the committee to design the trailer. Sidari was key to the effort, including the training of 42 volunteers who will lead kids through the program.

Dan Schiavone: The Holley dentist served as chairman of a village-created development corporation that took possession of eight homes from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and then resold them. The organization had a big breakthrough in 2017, getting the EPA to relinquish eight houses that had been off the tax rolls for about 15 years. The EPA took ownership of them after a chemical leak in January 2002 at the former Diaz Chemical. Schiavone worked with the EPA, a real estate company and the village officials to see the sales through completion.

Andrew Szatkowski: The Medina resident organized a toy drive that resulted in about 700 gifts to be given away to children at Christmas. Szatkowski set up the donations for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when thousands of people were in downtown Medina for a Christmas celebration, capped by the Parade of Lights. The toys were given to Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, which distributed them to families in Orleans County.

Lori Laine: The Kent resident has been enthusiastic in painting rocks with kindness messages and placing them in the community, including delivering them to nursing home residents. Laine organizes rock-painting parties on Tuesdays in Albion. She has promoted community through the rocks. Laine also is an active promoter for Donate Life, urging people to be organ donors. She also spearheaded a first-time pet parade in October for Albion’s Fall Festival.

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Outstanding citizens made community better in many ways

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 January 2018 at 4:01 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: David Green is pictured on Aug. 23 during the Super Cruise on Main Street. He has teamed with Donna Bushover for about 20 years to organize the car shows.

Each year since Orleans Hub started in 2013 we have named a group of “outstanding citizens.” We want to recognize people for stepping up to bring a new program or project to the community, or who have been consistent contributors for many years.

Here are some people who stood out in 2017:

Retired sheriff keeps the classic cars coming to Medina

Dave Green, the retired Orleans County sheriff, has remained an active community member in his retirement. For nearly 20 years he has been a key leader in a classic car show, which runs about 10 weeks in Medina.

That car show typically attracts a few hundred people to the downtown. That “foot traffic” provides energy and customers for the Medina businesses, and the shows have been part of the Medina downtown resurgence.

The car shows draw about 100 cars on a typical Friday. The “Super Cruise” brings about 200-300 cars when Main Street is closed off and Elvis impersonator entertains. Green also sells raffle tickets during the Super Cruise with proceeds going to the Orleans County United Way.

There was some concern with the car shows earlier this year, with some merchants wanting to move the show away from the Canal Basin and Main Street, due to parking concerns. The shows went on as usual while the village considers how to resolve a downtown parking crunch – a good problem to have.

Green was diplomatic and didn’t lash out at anybody when the issue was raised just before the car show season.

The retired sheriff also remains an active volunteer with the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company and helps organize East Shelby’s annual swap meet at fairgrounds, which usually raises $5,000 to $10,000 for fire company.

Pastor brings new ministry to historic building in Albion

Mike Outten, pastor of North Point Chapel, is pictured at the former United Methodist Church building in Albion in this photo from March 30. North Point Chapel moved into the site in March and reopened the sanctuary which had been condemned due to concerns about a failing roof. The supports shown in this photo were found to not be needed.

A church building that is part of the historic Courthouse Square was feared doomed after the United Methodist congregation moved out of the building two years ago and the site then sat vacant with little interest from a new buyer.

The United Methodists moved out after being told by engineering and architectural firms the roof was failing and would need a $1 million repair, which included strengthening the structural supports for the building.

The church building is one of seven historic churches at the Courthouse Square, which is a nationally recognized historic district. Losing the church or having it sit empty would have been a blow to the district and one of the community assets.

North Point Chapel, a new congregation in Albion that was meeting at the Arnold Gregory Office Complex, felt God leading them to the church building on Platt Street. They purchased the building and a next-door site for $38,000. (They also took over a $22,000 contract for the roof support beams.)

North Point held services in a Sunday School classroom until the sanctuary was reopened in December. Outten, who ran a construction company, found the costly roof repair wasn’t necessary. Structural supports were buried in the insulation in the roof and weren’t seen by architects and engineers.

Outten and church volunteers repainted the sanctuary, replaced numerous lights (including high ones near the ceiling) and changed the sanctuary stage, adding space for the band.

Outten has insisted the past two years he’s been in Albion that he felt God had a plan for North Point to serve the Albion community. In addition to giving the church building new life, North Point welcomed two missionary teams for community service work in Albion this summer, which included a basketball camp, Vacation Bible School and work on the building.

Outten and the congregation also have handled the thankless job of garbage collection during the annual Strawberry Festival.

The church runs weekly Bible studies and a “Celebrate Recovery” program for people battling addictions.

Outten deserves praise for seeing the good in what often appears a hopeless situation, whether an old building or people struggling with overwhelming problems.

Holley veterinarian took the lead in bringing back community festival

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Holley-Kendall Marching Band performs during a parade at the June Fest celebration.

Photo by Kristina Gabalski: Holley Rotarian Krista Wiley-Neale, right, presented Marge Dale with a check $2,000 from the Holley Rotary Club to help Dale and her husband after their house burned down in Clarendon on Nov. 28.

Holley took a break from its June Fest in 2016. The festival needed more volunteers and funding. Often when a community festival takes a break, it doesn’t come back.

But the June Fest returned in 2017 with a big parade, 5k race, music and many other activities and vendors.

Krista Wiley-Neale helped bring back the June Fest, and also was a key organizer in an expanded Festival of Lights in December. The Holley Village Board named her the “Citizen of the Year” and insisted she flip the switch during a Christmas tree lighting.

Wiley-Neale, owner of Wiley’s Ark Animal Care, also serves on the Village of Holley Development Corporation Board which was able to complete the sale of eight “Diaz homes” in 2017. Those houses will be returned to the tax rolls after about 15 years of being vacant.

Wiley-Neale also is a member of the Holley Rotary Club, which tackles several community projects each year.

She has provided a “can-do” attitude and optimistic attitude in the village.

Long-time grocer supported many community organizations

Photo by Tom Rivers: Jerome Pawlak ended a long career in the grocery business with the closing of Pawlak’s Food Center.

Jerome Pawlak lasted much longer in the grocery business than most small-town grocers. The grocery business in Albion is highly competitive with Wal-Mart, Tops, Rite Aid, Dollar General and other stores selling groceries.

Pawlak endured all that competition, while being a generous supporter of numerous community organizations.

He also has served on the boards of directors for United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, the Orleans Economic Development Agency and many others. He has coached Little League, youth basketball and been an active member of his church.

Pawlak and his family have been “all in” with Orleans County for many years. They opened a Save-A-Lot store in Holley after the community was without a store for five years.

Pawlak closed that store in September 2016 and he announced the end of his Albion business this past October. He wanted to continue but couldn’t reach an agreement for the lease in the Albion plaza.

The Pawlaks have been a presence in Albion for 49 years. They started a store in Lyndonville 57 years ago before moving to Albion.

Pawlak showed resourcefulness in keeping his business going for as long as he did. In addition to the grocery store, the Albion site included The Video Station, Save-On Beverage Center and an outdoor food stand during the warmer weather.

Firefighter was key in design of new fire safety trailer

Photos by Tom Rivers: A new fire safety trailer debuted in 2017. A $75,000 state grant from State Sen. Robert Ortt paid for the trailer, which will go to local school districts and community events.

Peter Sidari spoke at the Albion Board of Education meeting on Oct. 4, explaining the benefits of a new fire safety trailer and asking the Board to support a fire prevention and planning program.

Fire departments in Orleans County have a new tool for teaching fire prevention and the importance of a fire safety plan. In October, a new trailer with smoke simulators and other features debuted in the county.

Pete Sidari, an Albion firefighter, was among the committee members that picked out a design for the trailer and trained firefighters in leading safety programs with the trailer.

Sidari brings more than a decade of experience from his job as a fire safety educator for the North Greece Fire District.

Sidari pushed for kid-friendly decals and characters on the trailer that would serve as a billboard, helping to reinforce the message of having a fire escape plan.

The trailer is being used in educating the community on proper fire safety. Local firefighters have already taken it to the five school districts in Orleans County for students to practice exiting through a window in case of a fire, and to learn about smoke in a building (the trailer has a fog machine) and also to not open a hot door (the trailer can heat up doors).

There have been 42 firefighters in the county trained to lead students through the trailer. Sidari said the public education program will be a work in progress. Many other communities with fire safety trailers have paid personnel who lead the program. In Orleans County, almost all of the firefighters are volunteers. Only Medina has paid staff.

Many volunteers were part of the committee with the fire safety trailer. Sidari was a key to “selling” it to the local schools. He attended several Board of Education meetings and provided insight on how the trailer should be used and firefighters be trained.

Holley dentist led effort to return ‘Diaz homes’ to tax rolls

Photo by Kristina Gabalski: Village of Holley Development Corporation President Daniel Schiavone, left, is pictured on May 2 with Holley Mayor Brian Sorochty, Village Trustee Connie Nenni, and Orleans County Legislators Ken DeRoller and John DeFilipps. They are gathered on the porch of 37 S. Main St., one of eight “Diaz Homes” that Schiavone and the village worked for years to get turned over by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

It was a thankless task for Dan Schiavone: leading a village-created development corporation that take possession of eight homes from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and then resell them.

Schiavone, a Holley dentist, served as chairman of the Village of Holley Development Corporation. The organization had a big breakthrough in 2017, getting the EPA to relinquish eight houses that had been off the tax rolls for about 15 years. The EPA took ownership of them after a chemical leak in January 2002 at the former Diaz Chemical.

The houses were cleaned and deemed safe although the EPA wanted assurances of lead abatement at some of the sites before they were sold.

Schiavone worked with the EPA, a real estate company and the village officials to see the sales through completion.

The eight houses sold for $192,600 with the EPA getting 90 percent and the Village of Holley Development Corporation collecting the other 10 percent.

“It will be a big plus for the village to have them back on the tax rolls and not be eyesores in the neighborhood,” Schiavone said.

He also can be counted on supporting many community fundraisers and events. The Holley Board of Education recognized his efforts in December with a “Soaring to New Heights” award.

Medina resident led new toy collection effort to brighten Christmas for many local children

Photo by Tom Rivers: Shawn Ramsey, left, is owner of Canalside Tattoo in Medina. He is pictured with Andrew Szatkowski, organizer of the toy drive that resulted in 500 gifts to be given away.

Andrew Szatkowski said he didn’t want any local kids to not have a present on Christmas day. Szatkowski had a brainstorm. He knew thousands of people would be in downtown Medina for a Christmas celebration, capped by the Parade of Lights, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

He urged people to drop a present at Canalside Tattoo. If they donated a gift or $5, they would get a raffle ticket for one of 20“Medina Experience” packages. Szatkowski thought the raffle was also a way to promote Medina businesses and events.

The one-day toy drive on Nov. 25 resulted in 500 toys being donated plus about $700. The toys were dropped off at Canalside Tattoo on Main Street in Medina.

The toys were given to Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, which distributed them to families in Orleans County.

“In our county there are children that need toys,” Szatkowski said. “I think it’s important as a community that we step up. There are children that need help.”

Community Action officials said the toys were a big contribution for the agency that has 300 children on its list for Christmas.

Painted rocks bring smiles to community

Photo by Tom Rivers: Lori Laine is pictured with two rocks that were among more than 100 delivered to residents of The Villages, the former county nursing home, during the holidays. She painted about 40 of the Christmas rocks for nursing home residents. “It’s such an easy thing to do and it makes people so happy,” she said.

An interesting phenomenon took hold in Albion and many communities around the country in 2017. “Kindness Rocks” are painted, often with inspirational words and messages, and left in the community for people to find. They are encouraged to then post a picture with the rock and rehide it.

Lori Laine loved the idea and organized rock-painting parties in Albion. She painted several hundred rocks, some in very intricate detail. Laine pushed the Albion “rockers” to paint rocks and take them to the local nursing home.

Laine said the rocks have brought more people to Main Street, Mount Albion Cemetery and other locations in the community. She sees families with young children on rock hunts.

“It’s great to see parents and their kids walking around looking for the rocks,” Laine said. “They’re having fun with it.”

Laine also has been an active promoter for Donate Life, urging people to be organ donors. She put together a Donate Life float for the Strawberry Festival Parade in June. Laine is committed to that cause because her husband, Tom, received a liver transplant in July 2014.

Laine also organized a first-time pet parade in October for Albion’s Fall Festival. She has a big heart and makes Albion a lot more fun.

Orleans Hub will recognize the outstanding citizens at an awards program, likely in February. More details will be announced.

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Outstanding Citizens and Honor Guard recognized during annual Orleans Hub awards program

Photos by Tom Rivers: Members of the Honor Guard in Orleans County are pictured with their certificates after being named the 2016 ‘Person of the Year” by the Orleans Hub. Pictured, include, from left in front row: Dave Kusmierczak, Adam Johnson, Earl Schmidt and Eric Delano. Second row: Ken Schaal, Fred Heschke, Steve Johnson, Tony Vicknair, Frank Berger, Dave Higgins and Ron Ayrault. Back row: Gary Befus, Bryan Splangler, George Bakeman, Mike Donahue, Steven Goodrich, Bob Blosenhauer, Charles Eberhardt, Al Pulcino and Glenn Whitmore.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 February 2017 at 8:40 am

Orleans Hub recognized nine outstanding citizens on Tuesday during an awards program at Hoag Library in Albion. Pictured, front row, include: Bill Menz, Nicole Tuohey and Carol D’Agostino. Back row: Jack Burris, Linda Redfield, Wes Bradley and Holley Ricci-Canham. Missing: Chris Busch and Erik Olsen.

ALBION – Orleans Hub held its annual awards program on Tuesday evening and presented certificates to our annual list of “Outstanding Citizens” and also the “Person of the Year.” About 75 people attended the program at the Hoag Library.

Orleans Hub Editor Tom Rivers and Publisher Karen Sawicz pick the annual winners, looking for people who make extraordinary contributions to the community.

We named the “Honor Guard” as Person of the Year in appreciation for veterans who volunteer at about 100 military funerals each year. The Honor Guard provides a solemn and dignified sendoff, sometimes standing for hours in the freezing cold or blistering heat.

The Honor Guard marches in parades, and attends numerous local community services – Memorial Day, the opening ceremonies for the County Fair, Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor memorial services, and many other events.

There are Honor Guards in Medina (with members from Lyndonville) and a combined group from Albion and Holley. Each group has about a dozen regular volunteers and they usually range in age from 60 to their early 90s.

The Albion-Holley and Medina groups will often work together for a funeral. They want a good turnout to pay their respects.

Many communities struggle to have enough volunteers for the Honor Guard and veterans may come in from outside the community. Orleans County still has a dedicated corps, but the Honor Guard members worry about that, especially as many of the veterans get older.

Several Honor Guard leaders spoke at Tuesday’s awards program, saying they are grateful for the chance to show respect for the veterans at their funerals.

Orleans Hub presented our fourth annual list of Outstanding Citizens. We picked people who have been volunteering or serving in community causes for many years. They do their good deeds for little to no pay, driven by a love for their community and neighbors.

Here are our picks for Outstanding Citizens for 2016:

Nicole Tuohey: The Medina woman is a prolific fundraiser in the fight against Alzheimer’s. She typically raises about $1,000 each year for the “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.” Tuohey, 26, each year sells about 1,000 paper “elephant links” and creates a chain that is used to kick off the annual “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.” Nicole has Triple X Syndrome. She hasn’t let that disability prevent her from being a tireless advocate against a disease that took the lives of her grandparents, Don and Jane Bradley.

Erik Olsen leads a town meeting during a recent “Old Tyme Day,” an annual celebration at East Shelby Community Bible Church.

Erik Olsen: The leader of East Shelby Community Bible Church has the church dedicated outreach. Every July for the church hosts an “Old Tyme Day” celebration in east Shleby, serving pie, lemonade and hot dogs for a penny. There are horse-drawn rides, candle-making, and other activities with an emphasis on fun – and old-fashioned technology. About 2,000 to 3,000 people attend Old Tyme Day, a huge crowd for the tiny hamlet in East Shelby once known as West Jackson Corners. Church members have created a mini-village across from the church. That village also draws about 500 to 1,000 people for an old-time Christmas celebration.

The church has been growing ever since Olsen and an initial group of 40 people started the church at a former Methodist Episcopal building in 1989. That church building had been empty for 30 years. The East Shelby Community Bible Church has grown so much – about 275 members – it has put an addition on the building.

Carol D’Agostino: The Kendall Junior-Senior High School principal makes numerous community connections as leader of her hometown school. She serves on the boards for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, the Orleans County United Way and the Human Services Council of Orleans County, often bringing back ideas for Kendall to improve opportunities for students and the community. D’Agostino helped start the Kendall Innovations Committee, which brings together leaders from the school district, town government and county to brainstorm ways to promote Kendall. She is a member of the Lawnchair Ladies and led the school through a major capital construction project.

Linda Redfield: The long-time ESL teacher helps students build a better life. In the past 20-plus years, Redfield has helped about 400 farmworkers learn English. Redfield started going to labor camps in 1994, before a school built by the World Life Institute became the base for classes in 1999. The school on Stillwater Road offers evening courses in English, as well as computer literacy, pottery and other programs through a partnership with the Orleans-Niagara BOCES. Several of the students attended the awards program on Tuesday.

Wes Bradley: The Lyndonville resident leads the fund-raising effort that makes Lyndonvilel the place to be each Fourth of July in Orleans County. Bradley works throughout the year raising money on the big show, which tops $20,000. Bradley, a retired teacher, is active in the community in many ways, from serving on the Yates Town Board, to 37 years with the Fire Department and serving as finance chairman for the Lyndonville United Methodist Church. He also serves on the Lyndonville Area Foundation Board of Directors, which distributes more than $100,000 a year to community causes. Bradley also helped start Lyndonville’s annual Christmas celebration in 2013, where residents, businesses or organizations decorate Christmas trees in Veterans’ Park. That has now grown to 61 trees with the community welcoming Santa and singing Christmas carols.

Jack Burris: The Albion resident started a new ministry last year where he and a team of volunteers take a former red delivery truck to stops in Albion, Medina and Holley, alternating sites each week. Hands 4 Hope distributes bags of food and takes prayer requests. “Unfortunately in Orleans County there is a lot more heartache out there than I thought there was,” Burris said. “There are a lot of people in tough circumstances.”

Provided photo: Chris Busch, right, is pictured with Ronan Tynan on Sept. 17. Tynan, one of the biggest names to perform in Orleans County in many years, sang to a capacity crowd at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Chris Busch: The chairman of the Orleans Renaissance Group isn’t afraid to aim high and reach for the stars. Last year he and the ORG welcomed famed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan to Medina for a concert at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Busch has been an active Medina community member for many years, leading the Tree Board that has helped Medina plant about 1,000 trees in recent years. Busch is chairman of the Medina Planning Board, insisting on design standards in the historic district that have preserved Main Street’s look as if it was a Norman Rockwell painting. Those standards have attracted investment in the downtown from numerous businesses.

Busch last year also helped spearhead the first-time Farm-to-Table Dinner event in Medina on Aug. 4 that attracted 137 people for a fine dining experience on a closed off section of Main Street.

Holly Ricci-Canham: The Carlton woman compiled a book on local farmers, a two-year effort that culminated in 300 pages after interviewing 150 farmers. “Mom & Pop Farming in Orleans County, New York – The past brought to life” is one of the most ambitious local history books in many years. The book includes about 400 photographs and includes reminisces about simple days with lots of hard work. The farms featured in the book were part of a close-knit community with neighborhood schools and churches. Ricci-Canham grew up on a “mom and pop” farm in Kenyonville run by her parents, Pete and “Mike” Ricci. The book covers farm operations throughout county with sections about muck farmers, dairies, fruit and vegetable farms, canning companies, migrant labor camps, “ladies accounts,” technology changes as well as country schools, “kids play” and fairs and celebrations.

Bill Menz: The Medina resident has spent more than a decade working on a monument and memorial outside the former Medina Armory, which has been a YMCA the past 35 years.Menz doesn’t want the original purpose of the building to be forgotten, as a training site for soldiers who served in many wars. Menz helped build the monument that was unveiled in 2008 by the Armory. In recent years he has been raising money for a bronze statue to go on top of the monument. Menz and the Company F Memorial Committee met its $65,000 goal at the end of 2016, with Menz sending out letters, knocking on doors and making numerous phone calls. The 7-foot-high statue could be ready in 2018.

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Outstanding Citizens worked for a better community in 2016

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 December 2016 at 10:32 pm

Orleans Hub is pleased to recognize several “Outstanding Citizens” who contribute to making a better community. Many of these residents have been volunteering or serving in community causes for many years.

They do their good deeds for little to no pay, driven by a love for their community and neighbors.

Here are our picks for Outstanding Citizens for 2016:

Medina woman is prolific fundraiser for Alzheimer’s

Nicole Tuohey cuts a chain with “elephant links” representing donations to fight Alzheimer’s Disease. Tuohey typically raises about $1,000 each year for the “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.”

Photos by Tom Rivers: Nicole Tuohey cuts a chain with “elephant links” representing donations to fight Alzheimer’s. Tuohey typically raises about $1,000 each year for the “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.”

A Medina woman has proven a dedicated fundraiser in the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease. Nicole Tuohey, 26, each year sells about 1,000 paper “elephant links” and creates a chain that is used to kick off the annual “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.”

Nicole has Triple X Syndrome. She hasn’t let that disability prevent her from being a tireless advocate against a disease that took the lives of her grandparents, Don and Jane Bradley.

Alzheimer’s disease is devastating, debilitating the mind and body.

Nicole sells many of the links from her mother’s cookie shop in Medina. Mary Lou Tuohey owns Case-Nic Cookies.

Mary Lou’s father, a former engineer, withered away over 13 years to the point where he couldn’t recognize his four children. Her father died at age 65 from Alzheimer’s. Her mother also fought the disease.

Nicole worries her mother, too, may someday face Alzheimer’s. That is why Nicole pushes so hard to raise money for research.

Leader of East Shelby church dedicated to outreach

Erik Olsen leads a town meeting at West Jackson Corners during a recent “Old Tyme Day.”

Erik Olsen leads a town meeting at West Jackson Corners during a recent “Old Tyme Day.”

Every July for the past 25 years the East Shelby Community Bible Church hosts an “Old Tyme Day” celebration at their church, serving pie, lemonade and hot dogs for a penny. There are horse-drawn rides, candle-making, and other activities with an emphasis on fun – and old-fashioned technology.

About 2,000 to 3,000 people attend Old Tyme Day, a huge crowd for the tiny hamlet in East Shelby once known as West Jackson Corners. Church members have created a mini-village across from the church. That village also draws about 500 to 1,000 people for an old-time Christmas celebration.

The church has been growing ever since Olsen and an initial group of 40 people started the church at a former Methodist Episcopal building in 1989. That church building had been empty for 30 years. The East Shelby Community Bible Church has grown so much – about 275 members – it has put an addition on the building.

Olsen puts an emphasis on the Gospel message, and providing wholesome and fun activities for the community.

“The church has to do more than just have services,” Olsen said. “It has to reach out to the community.”

Kendall principal makes numerous community connections

Carol D’Agostino is pictured in the new lobby of the Kendall Junior-Senior High School, following an extensive capital project this year.

Carol D’Agostino is pictured in the new lobby of the Kendall Junior-Senior High School, following an extensive capital project this year.

Carol D’Agostino is principal of her hometown school, the Kendall Junior-Senior High School. She led the school through a major capital project the past two years and is committed to many community organizations, serving on the boards for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, the Orleans County United Way and the Human Services Council of Orleans County.

D’Agostino serves on the boards, often looking for ideas to bring back to Kendall to improve opportunities for students and the community.

Through the Human Services Council, she met Marc O’Brien, the county’s mental health director. D’Agostino and the school district welcomed a mental health counselor from O’Brien’s staff to have a satellite office at the school district. That way students don’t have to make the trip to the county Mental Health Department building in Albion. D’Agostino said transportation is an issue for many students and their families. Having the satellite site in Kendall also means less time out of classes.

D’Agostino helped start the Kendall Innovations Committee, which brings

D'Agostino is a member of the Lawnchair Ladies.

D’Agostino is a member of the Lawnchair Ladies.

together leaders from the school district, town government and county to brainstorm ways to promote Kendall.

D’Agostino said her position on the EDA showed her the municipal cooperation for the Pride Pak project in medina this past year. The county, Village of Medina, Town of Shelby and state all chipped in to bring in needed infrastructure for the new vegetable processing plant.

In Kendall, the student enrollment is dropping. But D’Agostino said opening up more building lots with infrastructure could draw more families to the town.

“How can we look at opportunities in Kendall to grow Kendall?” she said.

D’Agostino is visible at many community events, and also participates in the Kendall Lawnchair Ladies and the Kendall Corcordia Lutheran Church. Her husband Phil is also a member of the Lions Club and chairman of the Kendall Firemen’s Carnival.

ESL teacher helps students build a better life

Linda Redfield is pictured on July 16 during a surprise party for her by many of her students at the World Life Institute in Waterport.

Linda Redfield is pictured on July 16 during a surprise party for her by many of her students at the World Life Institute in Waterport.

In the past 20-plus years, Linda Redfield has helped about 400 farmworkers learn English. Redfield started going to labor camps in 1994, before a school built by the World Life Institute became the base for classes in 1999.

The school on Stillwater Road offers evening courses in English, as well as computer literacy, pottery and other programs.

Redfield is the driving force behind the educational program. Her students have improved their English, allowing many to get promotions at work and be more active in the community.

Many of her students have earned GEDs. Ten of the students have earned their U.S. citizenship.

“She always encouraged me and said, ‘You can do it,’” said of her students, Gloria Jasso, who planned a surprise party for Redfield on July 16. “She is so special and is just wonderful not only to me but to everybody.”

Redfield is well regarded around the state as an ESL teacher. In 2013, she was honored in Albany as “Teacher of the Year” by the New York State Association of Adult Continuing Education Programs. Five of her students have won “Student of the year” by the association.

Jose Iniguez was one of Redfield’s first English as a Second Language students in 1994, when Redfield went to a labor cap on Densmore Road to teach English to farmworkers.

Iniguez only spoke Spanish at the time. After a long day of work in the fields, Iniguez would study English. Redfield was always patient, always encouraging, Iniguez said. She was also flexible. Farmworkers might not get to the camp until 8 p.m., and Redfield would be ready to help them learn.

Iniguez said learning English helped him to get promoted at the LaMont farm. Today, he is co-owner of Lamont Fruit Farm, a 500-acre farm based down the road from the WLI school.

“She has changed a lot of lives,” Iniguez said at the party for Redfield. “She is the type of person who will almost always never say no. She will extend a hand to anyone.”

Fireworks chairman likes to enliven Lyndonville

Wes Bradley, right, serves as emcee of Lyndonville’s Christmas celebration in early December when Santa arrived and 61 Christmas trees were light up at Veterans’ Park.

Wes Bradley, right, serves as emcee of Lyndonville’s Christmas celebration on Dec. 3 when Santa arrived and 61 Christmas trees were lighted up at Veterans’ Park.

Lyndonville is the place to be on July Fourth with thousands of people flocking to Orleans County tiniest village for one of the biggest fireworks shows in Western New York.

Wes Bradley is chairman of the annual fireworks show and he spends all year raising money on the big show, which tops $20,000. He starts raising money for the fireworks on July 5 and is collecting funds on July 4th during the Independence Day festival in Lyndonville.

Bradley deserves credit for his diligence with the annual spectacle. He also is popular with Young Explosives, the fireworks company, because he brings the crew water and a chicken barbecue. He also stays with them until 2 or 3 in the morning with the cleanup from the fireworks.

Bradley, a retired teacher, is active in the community in many ways, from serving on the Yates Town Board, to 37 years with the Fire Department and serving as finance chairman for the Lyndonville United Methodist Church.

He also serves on the Lyndonville Area Foundation Board of Directors, which distributes more than $100,000 a year to community causes.

Bradley also helped start Lyndonville’s annual Christmas celebration in 2013, where residents, businesses or organizations decorate Christmas trees in Veterans’ Park. That has now grown to 61 trees with the community welcoming Santa and singing Christmas carols.

Bradley said many people help pull off the events in Lyndonville. He said he’s happy to be part of all the projects.

“I’m retired and I enjoy being active and helping to make things happen for the community,” he said.

Leader of new ministry shares message of hope

Jack Burris is pictured with the Hands 4 Hope vehicle, “Clifford,” which goes out four Saturdays each month.

Jack Burris is pictured with the Hands 4 Hope vehicle, “Clifford,” which goes out four Saturdays each month.

Jack Burris and a team of volunteers debuted “Clifford” on Jan. 30. The former red delivery truck was transformed into a place for prayers. Burris and the new ministry, Hands 4 Hope, also distribute bags of groceries, about $20 worth per person.

Burris, owner of a cleaning business, felt a calling to start the ministry, which is modelled after the Care-A-Van ministry in  Batavia, which has been operating for 17 years.

Burris and the volunteers are out every Saturday, except the fifth Saturday each month. They are in Holley and Medina once each month, and twice a month in Albion, locating in what Burris said are neighborhoods considered “tough spots.”

They give out about 30 “shares” or bags of food. An anonymous donor has covered most of the cost of the food this year.

Burris and the Hands 4 Hope team welcome people to share prayer requests, and the group is willing to pray – right in the truck. Burris writes down the requests and keeps the people in his prayers.

Burris said the past year has been an eye-opener while also strengthening his faith.

“Unfortunately in Orleans County there is a lot more heartache out there than I thought there was,” Burris said. “There are a lot of people in tough circumstances.”

He estimates Hands 4 Hope has given out about 1,500 shares of food, many coats and other supplies. Hands 4 Hope isn’t a mobile food distribution program.

“We are focused on the ministry and giving hope,” he said. “Many are coming for prayers as much as anything else.”

Renaissance chairman worked to bring famed tenor to Medina

Provided photo: Chris Busch, right, is pictured with Ronan Tynan on Sept. 17. Tynan, one of the biggest names to perform in Orleans County in many years, sang to a capacity crowd at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Provided photo: Chris Busch, right, is pictured with Ronan Tynan on Sept. 17. Tynan, one of the biggest names to perform in Orleans County in many years, sang to a capacity crowd at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Chris Busch isn’t afraid to aim high and reach for the stars. Busch has been an active Medina community member for many years, leading the Tree Board that has helped Medina plant about 1,000 trees in recent years.

Busch is chairman of the Medina Planning Board, insisting on design standards in the historic district that have preserved Main Street’s look as if it was a Norman Rockwell painting. Those standards have attracted investment in the downtown from numerous businesses.

Busch also leads the Orleans Renaissance Group, which strives to bring high-quality entertainment to the county. (The Renaissance Group also runs the farmers’ market in the downtown and is working to restore the Bent’s Opera House.)

The Renaissance Group on Sept. 17 welcomed famed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan for a capacity concert of 650 people at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Busch was the point man for Tynan, ensuring the sound and accommodations met Tynan’s standards.

Tynan’s powerful voice filled the church, and he had the audience laughing with some of his stories.

Busch, who works full time as a teacher in Lockport, is an enthusiastic booster of the Medina community. He recently designed the interpretive panels in Medina’s downtown and also pushed for a historical marker in honor of Frederick Douglass’s speeches in Medina in the mid-1800s.

Busch also helped spearhead the first-time Farm-to-Table Dinner event in Medina on Aug. 4 that attracted 137 people for a fine dining experience on a closed off section of Main Street.

These types of dinners are more typical in trendy urban areas, but Medina proved an ideal setting with a vibrant downtown with well-maintained buildings.

Carlton woman compiles mammoth book on local farmers

Holly Ricci-Canham holds a copy of “Mom & Pop Farming in Orleans County, New York – The past brought to life.” She worked two years on the 300-page book, interviewing 150 farmers.

Holly Ricci-Canham holds a copy of “Mom & Pop Farming in Orleans County, New York – The past brought to life.” She worked two years on the 300-page book, interviewing 150 farmers.

Holly Ricci-Canham worked two years on one of the most ambitious local history books in many years. Ricci-Canham interviewed 150 farmers for a 300-page book about “mom and pop” farms. The book includes about 400 photographs and includes reminisces about simple days with lots of hard work.

The farms were part of a close-knit community with neighborhood schools and churches. Ricci-Canham grew up on a “mom and pop” farm in Kenyonville run by her parents, Pete and “Mike” Ricci. They would relocate the fruit and vegetable farm to West Avenue in Albion. Her upbringing on the farm made her want to tell the stories of local farms.

“You see the gigantic farming tractors now, which is so different from the farming I grew up with,” she said earlier this month when the book came out.

The book covers farm operations throughout county with sections about muck farmers, dairies, fruit and vegetable farms, canning companies, migrant labor camps, “ladies accounts,” technology changes as well as country schools, “kids play” and fairs and celebrations.

“Farm people are a deep, kind, loving people,” Ricci-Canham said. “They have an unconditional love of helping each other.”

Bill Lattin, the retired Orleans County historian, wrote the forward of the book, and praised Ricci-Canham for an “invaluable” book of local history.

“These are first-hand accounts relating to a lifestyle which has all but vanished,” Lattin wrote.

Monumental effort nears finish in Medina

Bill Menz has been instrumental in the monument to the soldiers who trained at the former Medina Armory. Menz also led a fund-raising effort for a bronze statue of a solider to go on top of the monument's base.

Bill Menz has been instrumental in the monument to the soldiers who trained at the former Medina Armory. Menz also led a fund-raising effort for a bronze statue of a solider to go on top of the monument’s base.

Bill Menz has been determined the past decade to have a fitting tribute for the Company F men who trained at the Medina Armory. Menz was instrumental in getting a monument erected in 2008.

That stone monument base includes the names of 550 local soldiers who fought in wars on behalf of the United States. The soldiers enlisted and trained at the Medina Armory for conflicts from 1898 to 1945 including the Spanish-American War, Mexican-American, World War I and World War II.

When the monument was dedicated on Oct. 14, 2008, some of the widows and family members of World War II soldiers and other veterans in Company F attended and expressed their appreciation.

Menz didn’t feel the monument was complete. He wanted a bronze statue on top of the base, a statue resembling a young soldier, someone who looks between 18 and 21. That was typical of Company F.

For the past few years Menz has been leading the fund-raising efforts for a 7-foot-high statue.

The Company F Memorial Committee met its $65,000 goal this year, with Menz sending out letters, knocking on doors and making numerous phone calls.

“It just started adding up,” Menz said. “It snowballed and got bigger and bigger.”

There were numerous donations with $10,000 from the VFW in Medina the largest.

The committee is working with artist Brian Porter. Menz is hopeful the statue could be in place in the next year to 18 months. It will be the first bronze statue in Orleans County.

“We put a lot of dedication into it,” said Menz, who trained at the Armory. “Once you get into it, you can’t quit. Things kept falling into place.”

The Outstanding Citizens will be recognized at a reception in early 2017.

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Outstanding citizens recognized by Orleans Hub

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 February 2016 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Orleans Hub held a reception at the Hoag Library on Tuesday evening for the people and organizations we named “Outstanding Citizens” for 2015. We also recognized Randy Bower, the new Orleans County sheriff, as “Person of the Year.”

The front row, includes, from left: Joette McHugh, Randy Bower, Gail Miller and Melissa Ierlan. Back row: James DeFilipps, Marietta Schuth from Kendall Community Choir, Tony Hipes from Medina Area Association of Churches, Sue Metzo from MAAC, Lisa Stratton, and Thom Jennings (accepting on behalf of his nephew Peter Zeliff Jr.) Missing from photo includes Al Capurso and Bob Songin.

Bower was recognized as Person of the Year after being elected sheriff in one of the most competitive county elections in recent memory.

The sheriff told group of award-winners that he was honored to be recognized “with so many amazing people.”

The Outstanding Citizens were named by the Orleans Hub on Dec. 31. Editor Tom Rivers and Publisher Karen Sawicz weighed the contributions from people and organizations in 2015.

The Kendall Community Chorus has performed in numerous concerts since 2008. The group has been led by director Mary Campbell. Sixty-eight people have sung in the choir since it started, and many have become close friends through the group.

Joette McHugh has been an active volunteer with the Friends of the Orleans County Animal Shelter the past seven years, helping to adopt out 1,500 animals from the shelter. She knows all of the dogs and cats by name, and has an energetic group of volunteers looking after the animals. The Friends also raised $7,000 for the animal shelter last year, and those funds helped to have all dogs neutered at the shelter, and also paid for a new washer and dryer.

Medina Area Association of Churches has been together for nearly 50 years, running a Clothing Depot throughout the year, an annual holiday toy and food drive for about 150 children in the community, and a working together on other religious and community events. The depot generates about $30,000 to $35,000 annually that the churches give back to the community for many causes.

Bob Songin, a charter boat captain, lead a pen-rearing project from 1998 to 2014 until passing off the reins to a new group of volunteers last year. The pen-rearing volunteers helped to raise fish in the Oak Orchard River. Songin has given countless hours to improve the fishery through the pen-rearing project, where about 100,000 baby fish are nurtured each year in the Oak Orchard. The project has increased the survival rate of fish, and charter boat captains say more bigger fish return to the Oak Orchard for fall fishing runs since the pen-rearing, boosting the county’s top tourism industry.

Lisa Stratton, owner of the Hazy Jade Gift Shop in Albion, also spearheads several efforts in Albion, including the planting and watering of downtown flowers, and organizing the annual wine-tasting, Beggar’s Night the Friday before Halloween, and other projects to promote downtown businesses and the community.

Peter Zeliff Jr. turned an old farmhouse in West Shelby turned into hunting retreat for wounded warriors. Zeliff and a team of volunteers fixed up the house and connected with veterans’ groups to bring injured soldiers to the site for a few days of hunting. The property has been renamed The Warrior House. The site hosted its first hunt in September with 13 wounded veterans. Other groups have followed and The Warrior House will be made available to spouses and children of veterans as well.

Gail Miller stepped forward last year as volunteer coordinator of the new Canal Village Farmers’ Market in Medina in the parking lot across from the Post Office. Miller worked with vendors and lined up entertainment and exhibitors. Some Saturdays, 450 to 500 attended the market.

Al Capurso led a volunteer effort to save a cobblestone schoolhouse from 1832, a former one-room schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal. The schoolhouse was built in 1832 and is one of the oldest cobblestone buildings in the area. The building has been largely abandoned since 1944, until last year when it got a new roof. Boards were removed from windows and sashes restored. Junk was cleared out, and a historical marker put up.

Melissa Ierlan has given many faded historical markers a fresh coat of paint. She started that effort in 2014 when Clarendon was celebrating the 150th anniversary of Carl Akeley’s birth. Akeley grew up in Clarendon on Hinds Road and became one of the most famous taxidermists in the world. The historical marker on Hinds Road about Akeley could barely be read due to flaking paint. Ierlan took the marker down, stripped off the remaining paint and repainted it blue and gold. She has now worked on about a dozen markers around the county.

James DeFilipps was shot twice in a shootout at 3 a.m. on March 21 following a high-speed chase with James Ellis of Wyoming County. DeFilipps was the first police officer on scene when Ellis wrecked his vehicle in Clarendon on Route 31A. Police were pursuing Ellis after a 911 call when he threatened an ex-girlfriend in Shelby with a gun. Ellis had fled to a nearby wooded area in Clarendon and opened fire on DeFilipps and other deputies and police to arrive on the scene. DeFilipps, despite getting hit twice by gunfire, shot Ellis, killing him and ending his threat. For his acts of valor, DeFilipps was named Deputy of the Year for 2015 by the New York State Sheriff’s Association.