By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Courtesy Orleans Economic Development Agency – This new sign will be installed along Bates Road for the Medina Business Park. The sign will be 9 feet high and 6 feet wide.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Here is how the former sign looked.
MEDINA – The old sign with its flaking paint is gone. Soon a new, almost futuristic sign, will be installed that will be bigger and bolder than any other sign in Orleans County promoting the business parks.
The Orleans Economic Development Agency worked with Takeform Architectural Graphics in Medina for the new sign, which will be 9 feet high by 6 feet wide at the Medina Business Park along Bates Road.
“It will reflect our logo and be forward looking,” said Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans EDA.
The new monument sign needs a concrete slab and power for the lights before it will be installed. The Medina Department of Public Works will put in the sign.
The Medina Business Park is shovel-ready with infrastructure, including a fully developed access road, in place for companies ready to build.
The Business Park includes space for a “virtual building,” a 40,000-square-foot pre-permitted building site.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Here is how the sign looked about two years ago.
GAINES – A historical marker on Ridge Road, next to the Gaines Carlton Community Church, honors pioneer settler Elizabeth Gilbert.
The marker had flaked off paint and was getting hard to read to motorists on Route 104.
Late last month the sign, with a fresh coat of paint, was reinstalled. Melissa Ierlan, president of the Clarendon Historical Society, has been repainting many historical markers in the county. She had help from Matt Ballard, the county historian, with the Gilbert marker.
There is a creek near this sign that last year was officially named “Gilbert Creek” in honor of Gilbert.
Early settlers liked to build log cabins close to a source of water. Mrs. Elizabeth Gilbert and her family chose the north side of Ridge Road, building their home where there was a rise in the land.
The cabin is long gone, but a historical marker notes the pioneering efforts from Mrs. Gilbert, one of the first settlers on the Ridge between Monroe and Niagara counties. Her husband died in 1808, leaving her to raise the children, and tame the nearby wilderness.
Local resident Al Capurso worked on the effort to name “Gilbert Creek” for more than a year, researching the issue and lining up the needed government support.
The creek begins from feeder sources south of Route 104 near Brown Road. It then marries Proctor Brook in Carlton, and then flows into the Oak Orchard River.
GCC hosts panel of international exchange students
Provided photo – Students at the Oct. 6 panel discussion at GCC in Albion include, front row, from left: Kichan Ahn(South Korea), Gyuho Jung (South Korea), Labonte Valiendia (Haiti), Baohua Wang (China, Lee Jong Hyeon, (South Korea), Ma Xin (China), Bruce Thomas (Jamaica) Yazhou Zhang (China), and director Linda Redfield Shakoor of the World Life Institute. Orleans-Niagara BOCES Adult ESL teachers from World Life Institute Education Center, in back, are Monica Beck and Harris Lieberman.
Jim Simon, dean of the Albion campus center, presents gifts to the students.
ALBION – Genesee Community College’s Albion Campus Center on Oct. 6 hosted a panel discussion of international exchange students led by Linda Redfield Shakoor, director of the World Life Institute.
The event is part of GCC’s Global Education Committee efforts to increase college students and the community on the rich diversity of education across the globe. The eight participating students were from China, South Korea, Haiti and Mexico. Linda led the panel with questions, and then GCC students and faculty were also able to ask questions.
These students are graduate-level students from their respective countries working in the United States and striving to increase their English language skills. Their academic and work-related efforts are focused on agriculture. Each of them is working at Intergrow in Albion and attending night classes administered at the World Life Institute Education Center in Waterport, and taught English by Orleans-Niagara BOCES teachers such as Monica Beck and Harris Lieberman.
The panel topics discussed ranged from the 12-hour school days the students from China and South Korea experienced preparing for their college entrance exams (the rough equivalent of the SAT). In the case of the Chinese students, they shared the striking fact that approximately 9 million Chinese students take the exam and only half of them score high enough to go to college.
The students also shared how difficult it can be to obtain higher education – either because of devastating earthquakes like what occurred in Haiti a few years ago, or because of the significant distances (sometimes up to 2-hours one way) students in Mexico have to travel to go to school.
The panel discussion was taped and will be part of the featured Global Education Day events scheduled for GCC in Batavia on Thursday, Oct, 22, 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the college forum.
HENRIETTA – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) will host a free community health fair, sponsored by the Assembly Minority Conference on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the RIT Inn and Conference Center at 5257 West Henrietta Rd. in Henrietta.
The health fair will be aimed at informing seniors about services available to them and how they can best manage their health. Free services at the fair will include blood pressure and glucose screenings, hearing, laser and vision screenings, flu shots and organ and tissue donor registration information.
“I am excited to host this free community health fair to give back to our seniors and help them access a multitude of free services,” Hawley said. “Healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive, and unfortunately, many residents lose access to certain services when they retire. I encourage all of my constituents to take advantage of this free health fair, and I look forward to seeing them in attendance.”
MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society is making several thousand dollars available in grants to community organizations and projects.
The grants generally range from $200 to $500 and are awarded to qualifying not-for-profit organizations and/or programs in the Medina, Ridgeway and Shelby region.
Funding is intended to help programs that clearly benefit this community and that have favorable tax and regulatory status.
The community endowment has given out nearly $20,000 over the past five years. The most recent round of grants included funding for improvements to the veterans plot at Boxwood Cemetery, to the Medina Business Association for Old-Tyme Christmas, emergency dollars to fix porch damage at the Medina Historical Museum, dollars to The Arc of Orleans toward kitchen equipment for Camp Rainbow, support for Medina’s Civil War Re-Enactment last April, stone repair from frost damage at the Armory (“Y”), and continuation of student scholarships.
To apply for a grant, organization leaders need to fill out a Sandstone Trust Application form and mail to Sandstone Trust, Post Office Box 25, Medina, by the application deadline, Nov. 14.
Application forms can be obtained as follows: In person at Medina Parts Co. (NAPA) 345 N. Main St. or Michael Zelazny, CPA 511 Main St.; By regular mail request sent to Sandstone Trust, PO Box 25, Medina, NY 14103; or online from the Sandstone Trust web page www.sandstonesociety.org.
Questions may be sent by email at sandstonesociety@gmail.com or calling Michael Zelazny, CPA at 585-798-1006.
Contributed Story Posted 12 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photo
ALBION – An Orleans County Jail corrections officer was recognized for 25 years of service to the county last week. Lt. John Mignano, right, is pictured with Scott Wilson, the jail superintendent.
Lt. Mignano joined the Sheriff’s Office as a corrections officer on Oct. 1, 1990, under then Sheriff David M. Green. Mignano was promoted to sergeant on Feb. 22, 1999 under then Sheriff Merle Fredericks Jr. Mignano was elevated to lieutenant on Feb. 16, 2004 by current Sheriff Scott Hess. Lieutenant Mignano currently serves as the “C” Line Shift Supervisor.
He received a congratulatory letter from Sheriff Hess, and a Certificate of Achievement for “25 Years of Dedicated & Faithful Service to the Sheriff’s Office and the County of Orleans.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 October 2015 at 12:00 am
EDA says residents don’t need to wait for Pride Pak, STAMP to find local jobs
ALBION – There are about 200 jobs available in Orleans County, ranging from sales reps, food service worker, software engineer, and many others, including Holley police chief.
“There is the full gamut of skills,” Jim Whipple, executive director for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, told the board of directors last Friday. “There is entry level right up to engineers.”
Many of the jobs are listed through the Job Development Agency in Orleans County. (labor.ny.gov). Many jobs are also listed on the Orleans Hub – Click here.
Some of the jobs are seasonal farm work. However, companies such as CRFS in Albion, Baxter Healthcare in Medina, the Arc of Orleans County, Saint-Gobain ADFORS in Albion, Takeform Architectural Graphics in Medina and Velocitii in Medina are trying to fill full-time permanent positions.
“These are very tangible jobs that are available,” Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the EDA, told the board of directors.
Orleans County’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in August, higher than the state rate of 5.2 percent, which is the lowest in NY since May 2008.
There will be more job opportunities next year when Pride Pak is expected to hire 85 to 100 people for a new vegetable processing and packaging site in Medina.
Last week, 1366 Technologies also announced it will build a new high-tech manufacturing plant in the Town of Alabama, employing 600 people in phase one of what could be a $700 million build-out.
EDA leaders said the two projects will provide many job opportunities for Orleans County residents. However, residents need not wait on those projects because there are opportunities available right now.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
CARLTON – No school and a day off from work for many people has people outdoors enjoying an unseasonably warm day with lots of sunshine on Columbus Day.
The top photo shows Gene Warner of Ohio getting his hook ready while fishing in the Oak Orchard River. He and five other friends made the trip to Orleans County to try to reel in salmon and trout.
Warner and two of his friends set up where there used to be a small bridge crossing the Oak Orchard River.
This photo, taken from Route 98 past Narby’s, is looking at the two remaining bridges at “The Bridges.”
These folks are out in a boat near the Route 18 bridge over the Oak Orchard.
After a day in the 70s today, the high temperatures will fall to 60 on Tuesday followed by 51 on Wednesday, 55 on Thursday and 52 on Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Organisciak says he would ‘lead by example’ in Sheriff’s Department
Photos by Tom Rivers – Don Organisciak is pictured with friends and family during a spaghetti fund-raiser Oct.3 at the Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company. Some of the group includes his son Jimmy, right; Don’s wife Jacky (left); and Jeanne Crane, Democratic Party chairwoman, second from left in front.
MEDINA – Don Organisciak has seen the letters to the editor and a public displays from supporters for both Randy Bower and Tom Drennan, candidates to be the next Orleans County sheriff.
Organisciak winced at many of the letters to the editor during last month’s Republican primary. Some letter writers questioned Drennan’s judgment and other writers doubted if Bower has the qualifications to lead the Sheriff’s Department.
“As a leader you have to stay out of that,” Organisciak said about the letters and also many social media posts. “It degrades the Sheriff’s Department and the men.”
Organisciak is the Democrat candidate for sheriff. Bower won the Republican primary by 21 votes and also will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as a Conservative. Drennan also has two lines for Nov. 3 – the Independence Party and Reform Party line.
Organisciak, a retired Medina police officer and investigator, said the sheriff’s race shouldn’t be a popularity contest. He urges voters to look at the experience and qualifications of all three. He has a 30-year career in law enforcement, capped by two years as the school resource officer in Lyndonville.
“Don is a good candidate with a lot of good experience,” said Jeanne Crane, the Democratic Party chairwoman. “Looking at their experience, Don has done some things the others haven’t.”
He sees a divided Sheriff’s Department, and says he can be a unifying leader for the department.
“They need someone they can look up to, who’s been there, done that,” Organisciak said. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we need to bring professionalism and loyalty back.”
Don Organisciak walks in the parade in Lyndonville during the Fourth of July.
It would normally be a tall order for a Democrat to win in a county-wide election. Former sheriff David Green was a Democrat who won several elections before retiring about 20 years ago. Currently, all county-wide elected positions are filled by Republicans.
Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1 in Orleans County. The current enrollment numbers include 5,261 Democrats and 10,099 Republicans.
There are also 1,055 registered members of the Independence Party, 529 Conservative Party members and 147 members of the Working Families Party.
A big wild card is the 4,754 “blanks” or voters who aren’t registered with a political party.
Organisciak and Crane think Republicans will split the vote for Drennan and Bower, with some Republicans also siding with Organisciak.
Organisciak is currently a part-time school bus driver for Medina. He said he has enjoyed the recent months of his campaign, attending community festivals and events, and meeting many residents throughout the county.
“It has been fun,” he said. “The people finally have a choice. It’s better than a two-horse race. It’s now a three-horse race.”
The three candidates will be featured during a forum on Oct. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Albion Elks Lodge, 428 West State St.
New York Revolution and the Orleans County SCOPE are coordinating the forum. Steven Aldstadt, president of SCOPE in New York, will be the moderator of the forum.
Photos by Cheryl Wertman
BARKER – Golden Hill State Park welcomed visitors for its annual “Christmas at the Lighthouse” celebration at the historic site just east of the Orleans County line in Barker.
The lighthouse tower even had its own wreath as visitors climbed to the top for a scenic view on the sunny afternoon.
Santa and his elf Adrian arrive to hand out candy canes to waiting youngsters.
Young Kevin O’Neil lets Santa hold him for a picture along with elf Adrian.
Dad Ben Spencer holds his children, Carly (camera shy) and Parker (dressed for Christmas), for Santa and elf Adrian so that other family members can get pictures.
The living room in the lighthouse is decorated with a Christmas tree.
This campsite has a table set for a Christmas dinner for Santa and his snowmen helpers with a nice view of Lake Ontario.
The new playground at Golden Hill is completed and there were plenty of kids trying it out during the festive day.
Christmas and Halloween get together at this campers’ holiday display.
A view up the lighthouse spiral staircase from the ground floor looking up to the top.
A view from the top of the lighthouse with fall colors and Lake Ontario that somewhat resembled the Atlantic Ocean with all of the wind.
