CARLTON – The State Department of Transportation will again be closing the 2-mile, western portion of the Lake Ontario State Parkway between Lakeside Beach State Park and Route 98 for the rest of the winter effective Friday. The highway will be opened later this spring as weather allows.
The savings in de-icing materials, equipment maintenance, and in repairs to the often damaged pavement come spring is expensive and consumes many hours of manpower. Eliminating excess use of heavy plow equipment would preserve the existing infrastructure including pavement and bridges over Oak Orchard Creek.
About 800 cars travel this section every day and likely even less in the winter. The Parkway already prohibits commercial truck traffic. Motorists will be directed to use Route 18 as a detour route.
The same section has been closed in recent years in November, but this year coordination with unplanned repairs to the Route 18 bridge over Oak Orchard Creek was needed. Bridge repairs, slated to take about two weeks, are scheduled to begin later this month. The road will remain open to traffic throughout the construction with use of an alternating traffic signal.
We appreciate your understanding in advance. If you have any questions, please contact Resident Engineer Pat Reinhold in Batavia, at 343-0502 or via e-mail at patricia.reinhold@dot.ny.gov.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Some want Lyndonville to field own soccer team
Photos by Tom Rivers – Lyndonville Board of Education President Ted Lewis said the cooperation with Medina Central School has been a positive for both districts.
LYNDONVILLE – Some Lyndonville students and parents want the school to bring back its own varsity boys’ soccer program.
For the past three seasons, Lyndonville students have played with Medina’s team. Lyndonville was down on soccer players, but now there are enough to field a competitive varsity team, Board of Education members were told tonight.
“We could have our own Sectional banner from our own kids hanging up in the gym,” parent Kristen Nicholson told the board.
She believes the school district could build a strong soccer program, starting with elementary “house” programs and working up to JV and varsity.
“You got to give it a chance now for the kids who are here and have the numbers to form a team,” Nicholson said.
One Lyndonville senior said he tried out for the team in Medina and was cut after a week. Another parent said her son, who had played JV, didn’t want to play varsity with Medina so he didn’t try out.
The issue was brought up because Medina and Lyndonville have been talking about extending the inter-municipal agreement for some extracurricular activities. The Board of Education voted tonight to extend a partnership with Medina Central School, where Lyndonville students can play soccer and football at Medina and can also be in Medina’s marching band.
Harold Suhr, a member of the Lyndonville Board of Education, speaks in favor of continuing an agreement with Medina Central School where Medina and Lyndonville share some sports teams and other extracurricular activities, including marching band and the high school musical.
Medina students perform in Lyndonville’s school musicals. Districts also share professional development programs for staff.
“Right now it’s a very positive relationship with Medina,” said Jason Smith, the Lyndonville district superintendent. “They’ve been great working with us.”
Lyndonville faces a declining enrollment, and that reality is forcing the district to be creative to offer opportunities for students. Jim Moody, a board member, said the shared programming may just be in the early stages for the school districts if the enrollments continue to fall.
“The same kinds of issues will be dealt with in the future,” Moody said. “There has been a demographics change in the community.”
Board members Harold Suhr and Michelle Dillenbeck said the student body, even in its declining numbers, needs to be part of more activities at the school to make those programs more viable. They both said boys are spending too much time on video games when they could be part of sports and other programs at school.
The board vote was unanimous to continue the boys soccer program with Medina. Dillenbeck worried if Lyndonville pulled out of soccer, the other opportunities for Lyndonville with Medina would be lost.
Michelle Dillenbeck, a Board of Education member, said it currently isn’t sustainable for Lyndonville to have enough athletes for some sports. She voted to continue partnering with Medina for some sports and activities.
She also doesn’t think Lyndonville would be able to field a competitive boys soccer team long-term, given the school’s declining enrollment.
Board President Ted Lewis said the partnership with Medina has gone well and he wants it to continue.
“The essence is how can we do more sustainable opportunities for our students given the demographics of our county,” Lewis said.
Suhr, a Lyndonville board member, says the cooperation has helped both districts. The new agreement is for two more years and both districts can opt out with 30 days notice.
Suhr said the agreement has allowed Lyndonville kids to play football, be in the marching band and play soccer. Suhr said the Medina soccer coach has cut some Medina students to make room for good Lyndonville players.
He remembers when he was a senior at Lyndonville and the school eliminated football. He transferred to Albion for his senior year and played for the Purple Eagles.
“When one door closes another opens,” Suhr said.
He is thankful for the year in Albion, saying he made many new friends.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
A light in the parking lot at the Elk’s Club in Albion shines on the falling snow on Saturday night. The snow picked up again this afternoon, making for difficult driving in Orleans County.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until 4 a.m. Tuesday for Orleans and the counties of Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming.
The National Weather Service sent out an urgent message at 6:19 p.m. today, saying there will be hazardous weather with up to 8 inches of snow expected in the GLOW counties from tonight until Tuesday morning.
ALBION – Matthew Ballard, interim director of The Cobblestone Museum, will share stories of several local veterans of World War I during a presentation tonight at 7 at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.
The Cobblestone Museum is currently developing an exhibition entitled “The Lost Generation” focused around the contributions of Orleans County soldiers to WWI.
Residents familiar with local history are aware of Company F of the Medina Armory and the service of that unit during the World Wars. Many men enlisted with other units and other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces well before President Wilson issued his declaration of war in April of 1917.
Ballard will be the featured speaker during tonight’s meeting of the Orleans County Genealogical Society. Ballard will share stories of several local men who served with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps during the war and will highlight the service of Company F, 108th Infantry during the unit’s attack on the Hindenburg Line in September 1918.
Although the unit suffered its heaviest casualties, the men of the 108th were the only ones to break the German defenses. The heroics of their sacrifice was noted through the numerous citations and medals awarded to the men of the company.
Guests are invited to bring along stories of their own ancestors’ service during the war and are encouraged to share photographs, records, documents and letters.
The program is free and open to the public. The Pullman church is located at 10 East Park St., Albion.
Contributed Story Posted 8 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photos
SHELBY – Four junior firefighters with the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company were out this morning clearing the deep snow from 24 fire hydrants.
The top photo shows, from left: Tiffany Petry, Mike Busch, Vinny Viterna and Samantha Dawn.
Here is the group after clearing a path to the hydrant.
Three other firefighters – Scott Petry, Jim Way and Serina Blair – also helped with the snow-moving task. Petry is shown with back to camera in this photo.
Firefighters from other departments have also been shoveling snow from near hydrants. Residents are welcome to adopt a hydrant in their own neighborhoods to make sure hydrants are accessible in case of an emergency.
ALBION – Matt Ballard’s talk scheduled for this evening on Orleans County soldiers’ involvement in World War I has been cancelled due to nasty weather.
Ballard, interim director of The Cobblestone Museum, was scheduled to share stories of several local veterans of World War I during a presentation at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. The talk was arranged by the Orleans County Genealogical Society.
The Cobblestone Museum is currently developing an exhibition entitled “The Lost Generation” focused around the contributions of Orleans County soldiers to WWI.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
This mural inside KeyBank in Medina shows how the current Blissetts Specialty Shop looked at left more than a century ago. Rotary Park, at right, used to have a commercial building at the corner of Main and East Center streets.
MEDINA – Greg Stanton remembers coming into the former Marine Midland Bank on Main Street after hours and on weekends to paint a mural that stretches more than 20 feet long.
Stanton used panoramic photos of the downtown from about a century ago to create the scene that has now endured inside the bank since 1984. When he painted the mural, the bank was owned by Marine Midland. It was later bought by HSBC, which sold the Medina site in January 2012 to KeyBank.
Stanton created four murals in all for the bank in 1984. Three have been painted over, but the one of the historic downtown endures.
Customers enjoy the painting, and many often to stop to look at it, said Bob Rice, the relationship manager for the bank at 514 Main St.
I hadn’t been inside the bank for several years until Friday. I thought it was Mary Zelazny’s last day and wanted to do a story on her. She has one more week before she retires after 37 years. She is the site’s branch manager.
I hadn’t seen the mural before, and I think it’s an impressive depiction of the downtown. In many ways Main Street hasn’t changed too much, and that is one of the charms of Medina’s downtown.
Stanton was 28 when he painted that mural. He is happy it has remained inside the bank for 31 years and counting.
“I never expected it to last this long,” he said. “It’s something I love doing.”
The Napa Auto Parts building on Main Street used to have a tall tower.
Stanton also created murals of Medina’s coat of arms, the train depot, and he thinks a canal scene. Those ones were painted over.
Zelazny said she hopes the large mural will remain part of the bank.
“It was a fun job,” Stanton recalled. “It was a labor of love.”
He remembers trying to paint the mural during regular bank hours, but people kept talking to him, preventing him from working on the job.
“It’s kind of neat that it has stayed,” he said about the artwork. “Which will live longer, the mural or me?”
The current KeyBank site at 514 Main St. used to be a Post Office.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Some engineering students at the Rochester Institute of Technology are using Albion for some real-world experience.
Four students in Paul Chatfield’s class were in Albion this morning to look at extending sewer services south on Route 98, between Allen Road and Route 31A.
Chatfield has provided engineering service for the town for about 20 years. Since 2003, he has been an adjunct professor at RIT in the Civil Engineering Technology Department.
Albion town officials have considered extending sewer mains on 98 before, but the project hasn’t moved forward. Town Supervisor Matt Passarell sees land along 98 as attractive to potential businesses and developers – if the sites have sewer service.
“The water is there but right now we don’t have sewer,” Passarell said today after meeting with Chatifeld and the RIT students.
Chatfield and the students will work on the project without a cost to the town. They will look at the engineering needed to extend an 8-inch sewer main about 1.5 miles from Allen Road to 31A. There is a slight rise in elevation from Allen Road going south that will have to be part of the engineering for a new sewer district.
If the town decides to pursue a sewer district, Passarell said residents would be surveyed and cost estimates would be detailed.
For now, he said he is pleased Chatfield and the RIT students are interested in the project.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – The seventh annual Wine About Winter sold out of 750 tickets fast. The Medina Business Association then added 50 more and they were sold quickly. And then another 50 more.
Those 850 wine enthusiasts were in downtown Medina today, sampling wine from 30 locations in the business district. The event drew people from Rochester to Buffalo, including people who had never been to Medina before.
Aaron Slopa of Amherst gets wine from Cheryl Holt in Ashlee’s Place. Holt was pouring “Stiletto” from Midnight Run Wine Cellars in Ransomville.
Slopa said the wine-tasting showed him a vibrant downtown business community.
“It’s good seeing all of the small businesses I wouldn’t have seen before,” he said.
These friends enjoyed Wine About Winter in Medina today.
Slopa was joined by a friend Chris Sheffield of Kenmore, who was in Medina for the first time today.
“I didn’t realize the small-town charm,” Sheffield said. “There is great architecture here.”
The event continues to grow from the 250 tickets that were sold in the debut in 2009.
Sandy Barnes from Schulze Vineyards & Winery pours wine for Michael Buongiorne and his wife Chris inside The English Rose Tea Shoppe.
Barnes said Medina is one of the few vibrant small-town downtowns in Western New York. She said the Medina business district is comparable to East Aurora and Ellicottville.
“Medina has that old-town feel and it’s still a big area,” she said. “It’s your one-stop town.”
The community is ideal for a wine-tasting event because it has so many independent businesses within a few blocks, Barnes said.
Paul Schwenk of Schwenk Wine Cellars in Kent pours Rainmaker Red for wine-tasting participants inside the Wide Angle Art Galery. Kim Keil, co-owner of the gallery, is in back offering chocolate-covered pretzels and other snacks.
Wide Angle also was a host for the Ale in Autumn tasting in September. Keil said the events give the gallery lots of exposure.
“It’s great publicity,” she said. “It’s bringing 850 people in here to see some awesome artwork.”
Angela Waldriff, owner of Ashlee’s Place, also said her business benefits from the events.
“If there aren’t people who shop now, they come back,” Waldriff said.
Many young adults were walking Main Street and the business district for Wine About Winter. The balloons were outside the 30 wine-tasting spots on the tour.
Kathy Blackburn, vice president of the Business Association, said the members will discuss how the event went with the expanded crowd this year. She said the event is serving its goal of giving people a fun outing in the dead of winter while also promoting the local businesses.
“This draws people who have never been to Medina and when they see it they are quite amazed with the variety of shops and historic charm,” Blackburn said. “You don’t find too many downtowns like this anymore.”
810 Mead Works was popular with its tasting room and honey-flavored mead.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A huge crowd crammed into the Elk’s Lodge in Albion today to show support for David Rustay and his family. Mr. Rustay is fighting brain cancer. He is pictured pulling the winning ticket for one of the 123 gift baskets donated for today’s “Rally with the Rustays.”
Donna Vanderlaan, left, helped organize the event. She graduated with Rustay in 1985 from Albion. Many of Rustay’s classmates were the main organizers behind today’s event.
“We went to school with him and we love him very much,” said Marlene Seielstad, one of his classmates and event volunteers. “Once an Eagle always an Eagle.”
Three women who graduated with Rustay call out winning raffle tickets at the Elk’s Club. They include, from left, Dawn Thiel in orange shirt, Kellie Braley, and Pam Jenks.
Rustay has had brain surgery to remove nearly all of a tumor. He has endured radiation and just started a second round of chemotherapy. He has continued to work full-time as a highway mechanic and motor equipment operator for the Town of Gaines.
“Everybody likes Dave,” said Ron Mannella, the Gaines highway superintendent. “He has helped a lot of people through the years. He’s a super nice guy.”
Rustay has proven a dedicated and skilled employee in the highway department.
“It’s remarkable the things he can do,” Mannella said. “He can fix anything.”
David and Stephanie Rustay and their children, Katie and Alex, express their thanks for the community support.
Rustay hasn’t missed much work since he was diagnosed with brain cancer in late September.
“It hasn’t slowed him down a bit,” Mannella said.
Mannella is a member of the Orleans County Highway Superintendents Association, which donated $1,000 to the Rustays to help with medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs.
Organizers estimated more than 1,000 people attended the event today, which included 60 pots of chili and soup, many tables of gift baskets and other raffles.
Rustay said he was overwhelmed by the enormous crowd and all of the support.
“I was so surprised,” he said. “It’s a really satisfying thing for me and my family.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Snow falls at the Main and State Street intersection in Albion at about 8 p.m. today with the First Presbyterian Church in the background.
Snow-weary Orleans County should brace for more of the white stuff. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Orleans from 10 a.m. Sunday until 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Orleans, Genesee and Livingston counties could see 9 to 13 inches in the storm, according to the Weather Service.
That breaks down to 2 to 3 inches Sunday, 3 to 5 inches on Sunday night, 2 to 4 inches on Monday and 1 to 2 inches on Monday night.
A winter storm warning is issued when severe winter weather is expected. Heavy snow and/or ice will cause hazardous driving conditions, the Weather Service said.
“If you will be traveling in the warning area you should choose an alternate route if possible, or you should use extreme caution if travel is unavoidable,” the Weather Service said. “If you lose power and plan on running a generator make sure that the generator is located outdoors and is properly ventilated.”
The Weather Service also said space heaters should be properly ventilated and used only if they are operating properly. Make sure snow does not block exhausts and fresh air intakes for high efficiency furnaces and water heaters.
Snow falls by a traffic light on Main Street with the Orleans County Courthouse in background in this photo from about 8 p.m. today.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) recently announced the return of his government conference to be held in Albany May 3-5. Hawley said the conference is a great opportunity for local officials across his election district to discuss issues related to their counties, towns and municipalities.
“I am excited to host the government conference once again,” Hawley said. “There are not enough opportunities for local officials to brainstorm and share ideas and solutions related specifically to the operation of local government. Our trip will partially consist of a number of workshops led by representatives of state agencies and policy experts. I encourage all newly elected officials to attend the event and use this time to gain valuable insight into the workings of state and local government.”
Hawley is asking those interested to contact his district office at 585-589-5780 by Feb. 25. The approximate cost of the trip is $450, all inclusive. The local government trip to Albany was originated by Hawley’s father, former Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photos – Rho Mitchell is pictured with Lorraine Oakley and the giant Candy Canes he made from drainage pipe and red ribbons. Mitchell placed them along Route 31 as a holiday decorations.
ALBION – As kids growing up in Albion, David and Patty Mitchell remember helping their father wrap red ribbon on white drainage pipes. Rho Mitchell was making giant Candy Canes as holiday decorations along Route 31.
It was one of the many ways he tried to promote community pride. His children, including another son Michael Mitchell, all played in the Clown Band and the Bum Band. Their father was the ringleader. Patty played the clarinet, David the trombone, and Michael the trumpet.
“We just had fun and staggered around the street during parades,” David said.
Rho Mitchell, co-founder of a funeral home in Albion in 1957, died on Feb. 1 at age 86. He is being remembered as a devoted community member, involved in many causes.
Rho Mitchell, left, leads the brass percussion section of the Lions Club Clown Band in May 1982. Other members pictured include, from left: Howard Cotton, drummer; Mark Brailey, trombone; Frank Mack, saxophone; Tom Fitzak, trumpet; Mike Coville, bass; Jeff Long, trumpet; and John Long, trumpet.
“He was a real sparkplug,” said John Keding, a long-time leader in the Albion Lions Club. “He did a lot of work, there’s no question about it. He came up with a lot of ideas and he worked on it. He didn’t just leave the work to other people.”
Keding and Mitchell were longtime friends and members of the Lions Club. Keding was impressed with Mitchell’s creativity and commitment, especially the Candy Canes that lined the Route 31 corridor. Most of the community decorations were focused in the downtown. Mitchell wanted 31 to be jazzed up for the holidays.
Mitchell was a medic in the Navy during the Korean War. Afterhis military service, he was active in the American Legion, twice serving as commander.
Rho Mitchell plays Taps at a Memorial Day service on West Park Street with the VFW and American Legion.
He served as funeral director at many of the services for veterans. He brought along his trumpet and played “Taps” at numerous funerals and also on Memorial Day.
Rho loved music, his children said, and he wanted to promote it as much as possible in the community. Besides the Clown and Bum bands, he recruited members for the Legion Band. When some of the members became older senior citizens and struggled to march and play on a parade route, Mitchell secured a school bus for the band. He and others took the top off the bus so the band could be seen in parades.
“He was a real go-getter,” Keding said. “He made things go.”
Mitchell grew up in Elmira. He married his high school sweetheart, Beverly. She was a year behind him in school. They had a study hall together in high school.
“We sat across from each other and he completely ignored me,” his wife said. “I was surprised when he asked me out for Valentine’s day.”
They attended a dance together and Rho, “Buck” as his wife calls him, impressed her by dancing the Jitterbug.
“He was a good dancer,” said Mrs. Mitchell, his wife of 64 years. “I had two left feet.”
Mitchell initially eyed a career in the printing business as a linotypist. But he was allergic to the lead used in printing. He had a friend whose father was in the funeral business. He suggested Rho pursue it as a career.
After serving in the Korean War as a medic, he graduated from Simmons Institute of Funeral Service in Syracuse. He moved to Albion in 1955, and started his funeral director career at the former Leon Grinnell Funeral Home. At the time Albion had four funeral homes.
“He wanted to help people,” David said. “Being a funeral director came natural for him.”
Rho Mitchell and Ken Scharett started Scharett-Mitchell Funeral Home in Albion in 1957. Here is how the property looked in 1958. Mitchell, a skilled woodworker, made the sign.
Mitchell had hoped to buy the Grinnell business in 1957. Grinnell sold it to another funeral director that year. Mitchell enjoyed the Albion community and didn’t want to leave.
Rho and a friend, a fellow funeral director Ken Scharett, started Scharett Mitchell Funeral Home in Albion in late 1957 at the Christopher Mitchell Funeral Homes site on Route 31. The site has been expanded twice since then.
Scharett retired in 1974. Mitchell joined with Michael Christopher and the two opened a new funeral home in Holley in 1971 on Route 31. Christopher would retire from the business in 1982.
Rho’s son David joined Christopher Mitchell in 1984 and David’s son Josh became a funeral director, joining the family business in 2012.
Rho Mitchell is pictured in 2012 with his son David and grandson Josh. All three made their careers as funeral directors. Bruce Landis took this photo that hangs inside Christopher Mitchell Funeral Homes.
David said his father welcomed input from his son and staff.
“I was very blessed with dad from a business end,” David said. “He wanted to know what ideas I had to improve the business. He wasn’t stuck in his ways.”
His father was skilled as a woodworker and made wagons, model ships, petal cars and dump trucks as toys for his grandchildren. Those toys have endured for decades and David and Josh say they will be treasured by the family for generations to come.
Rho and his wife moved to Florida for the winters in 1991. Rho was seriously injured in a car accident in 1997 in Florida. He had to relearn to walk and talk after suffering a brain inury, as well as a broken neck and other bones.
He was at The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Albion the past four years.
“They took wonderful care of him,” David said. “We can’t say enough about the staff.”
Patty, a vocational painting and wall papering instructor at the Orleans Correctional Facility, said her father left a powerful legacy in the community.
“It was all about working together and making it a better place,” she said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
KENDALL – Randy Unterborn (left), president of the Kendall Lions Club, is pictured with Clifford Provost, one of the charter members of the club that formed on Jan. 19, 1975. Provost and Cole Hardenbrook have remained members of the club for all 40 of its years.
“I just like the thought of service,” said Provost, a World War II veteran who worked for Kodak for 40 years. “We really should be committed to helping our community.”
These are tough times for many local service clubs. Their memberships have dropped, forcing many of the local clubs to cut back on service projects and donations to community causes.
The Kendall Lions Club remains strong with 64 members, one of the biggest service organizations in Orleans County.
The club meets the first and third Thursdays at the Kendall Fire Hall. The club welcomes different speakers for their meetings. Last night I was invited to talk about Orleans Hub.
The Lions support many youth and community initiatives. Unterborn is in his second stint as president. He works as the head of the grounds department at Hilton Central School. He joined the Lions Club about 18 years ago.
“We got a good, strong club and we have a lot of fun,” Unterborn said on Thursday night.
Terry Bliss has been a Kendall Lion for 25 years. He recently served as district governor. Kendall, with 64 members, is in the top three for membership of about 40 clubs in the district.
The club joins for dinner, singing and updates on community projects.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 February 2015 at 12:00 am
David Rustay, highway worker for Gaines, fights brain cancer
Photo by Tom Rivers – David Rustay is pictured with his daughter Katie and wife Stephanie at the Albion basketball game tonight. There will be a party and benefit for the family on Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge, 428 West State St., Albion.
ALBION – David Rustay has always been the one people call for help. If a car breaks down, a snowblower stalls, or a driveway fills with snow, he gets the call.
Rustay works as a mechanic and motor equipment operator with the Town of Gaines. He likes to help his friends when he’s off work. He enjoys his job with the highway department, connecting with many community members.
“He does a lot for everybody,” his wife Stephanie says.
Mr. Rustay is a frequent presence at youth sporting events. His son Alex, 13, plays soccer and daughter Katie, 15, is a cheerleader and also a pole vaulter in track and field.
Mr. Rustay, 48, has brain cancer. A tumor was removed in early October. He endured six weeks of radiation and 42 days of chemo. He just started round two of chemo.
He has continued to work full-time for the town, including one 80-hour week in early January during heavy snowfall. While out on the community in recent months, he is often stopped by residents, both friends and strangers. They tell him they are praying for him. Many drop off meals for his family.
Rustay tears up talking about it. He didn’t expect so much support while fighting this battle.
“It’s a true testament of a small town,” he said this evening in the high school cafeteria. “I constantly hear from people. I just can’t believe the support.”
Rustay was at the school tonight to watch his daughter be a cheerleader at the girls’ basketball games.
On Saturday, there will be a “Rally with the Rustays” from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge in Albion at 428 West State St. More than 100 gift baskets will be auctioned off with other raffles for a kayak, an iPad mini, a queen-sized handmade quilt, a Buffalo Bills golf bag with lots of accessories, a fishing charter gift certificate for $375, and a vacuum cleaner valued at over $600.
There will also be chili/chowder/soup cook-off, and a $5 donation gets an all-you-can-eat bowl with a beverage.
Provided photo – David and Stephanie Rustay are pictured this fall with son Alex and daughter Katie.
Mr. Rustay said he is grateful his energy hasn’t been sapped by chemo and radiation. He has been able to keep working and keep up with his kids’ activities.
He was with his son Alex in the fall when Alex got his first deer with a bow. Alex was with his father when David shot an 8-point buck on Dec. 14, the biggest deer he’s ever got. That one is being mounted and will be displayed in the family home.
Rustay’s energy during the treatments has surprised his doctors.
“They have never seen a patient like him,” his wife said.
Rustay gets up early, takes care of his own driveway and then goes to work, climbing under vehicles in need of repair and driving plow trucks.
He had a seizure on Jan. 27 and will be on light duty until he is cleared by the doctors. Rustay won’t be able to drive a plow truck likely for a few months, but he is still fixing town equipment and checking waterlines.
Rustay graduated from Albion in 1985. He was a member of Albion’s undefeated football team in 1983, playing wingback and cornerback. A picture of that team hangs in the hallway leading to the gym.
Many of his teammates, including those from the other side of the country, have reached out to him since his cancer diagnosis.
The Rustays are looking forward to the rally on Saturday, to seeing so many friends and thanking them for their support.
