By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Boy Scouts in Albion celebrated a successful year in Scouts with a picnic, camp-out and other fun at the Albion Sportsmen’s Club on Keitel Road.
Scouts on Saturday went fishing and rode in a paddleboat. The top photo shows Noah Shiffer (left), 16, and Jace Conn in the paddleboat. Noah was happy to get out on the water after spending the morning working on his Eagle Scout project, an ambitious gardening effort at Hospice of Orleans.
Jonathan Judd, 11, caught several fish in the former quarry.
Today is forecast for a high of 77 with a chance for thunderstorms. The National Weather Service says it will be mostly sunny on Monday with a high of 80, followed by a high of 78 on Tuesday with a chance for heavy rain.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
POINT BREEZE – About 40 members of the Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association built a fire by the Lake Ontario shore and welcomed summer with a party on Saturday night.
The OONA members met at the home of Gene Haines, next to the Oak Orchard Lighthouse. They celebrated the summer solstice, which officially begins today at 12:38 p.m..
At 8:56 p.m. on Saturday, the OONA members gathered at the shoreline, with maracas and other noise-makers to say good-bye to spring and hello to summer.
This is the fourth year that OONA members have held a summer solstice celebration.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A disoriented driver, who police say may have had a medical emergency, caused some damage to Mount Albion Cemetery this afternoon, leaving ruts in embankments and hitting some of the grave stones.
None of the stones appear to be damaged, just knocked a little from their position.
Albion firefighters, police and Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance all responded to the scene at about 5:30 p.m. The driver, a woman, was taken by COVA.
There are some ruts on the embankments on the western end of the cemetery.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
MURRAY – This barn is pictured on Fancher Road in Murray on Friday. This barn is owned by Bob and Lynn Vendetti and is part of the Country Barn Quilt Trail, which has about 40 sites with quilt blocks. Most of them are in Kendall.
The National Weather Service is warning Orleans County and other parts of western and central Nw York could get hit with severe weather on Sunday when a cold front moves into the area, bringing the possibility of severe thunderstorms and gusty winds during the afternoon and evening hours.
The Weather Service is forecasting a high of 80 for Father’s Day with an 80 percent chance of rain.
By Matthew Ballard, Orleans County Historian Posted 20 June 2015 at 12:00 am
The annals of local history are filled with the names of influential citizens who were either born here or lived here before moving beyond the political boundaries of our area to establish themselves on a much larger scale. One such man was Charles Anderson Dana, a name that few would recognize today.
This daguerreotype from the 1850s taken by Matthew Brady shows the staff of the New York Tribune. Seated left to right are George M. Snow, Bayard Taylor, Horace Greeley (once owner of the Ward House in Childs), and George Ripley. Standing left to right are William Henry Fry, Charles Anderson Dana, and Henry J. Raymond.
The son of Anderson Dana and Anna Denison, Charles A. Dana was born on Aug. 8, 1819 at Hinsdale, New Hampshire. At a young age, Charles was brought to Orleans County with his siblings where his father accepted a position as the overseer of a canal warehouse at Gaines Basin.
After several years of operating the site, Dana sought to establish himself locally on a small farm. With our knowledge of the area, it is very likely that Charles Dana received his earliest education at the Gaines Basin log schoolhouse where a young Caroline Phipps would have taught classes at the age of 14.
Unfortunately, the untimely death of Anna Dana on Sept. 7, 1828 left Anderson with four young children to care for. Anna was laid to rest at the burial ground in Gaines and the children were sent to Vermont where they were divided up amongst the living relatives. After spending time on the farm of his uncle, David Denison, Charles was sent to Buffalo where he worked at the store of another uncle, William Denison, until the business collapsed during the Panic of 1837.
With $200 in his pocket, Charles enrolled at Harvard University where he studied for two years. Upon the completion of his second year, he was forced to leave school due to poor eyesight and a lack of funds. Not soon after, an acquaintance offered Dana a position as City Editor of the New York Tribune. That acquaintance was none other than Horace Greeley, who would find his own connection to Gaines during the mid-1800s.
In 1849 Dana became a proprietor of the Tribune and was made managing editor, a position he would hold for over 10 years. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he was responsible for running the headline, “Forward to Richmond! Forward to Richmond!” which is credited with spurring Union troops forward into the Battle of Bull Run.
Following the Union defeat, Greeley suffered a nervous breakdown and Dana was forced to resign from his position in 1862.
After the war, Dana was able to raise the necessary funds from prominent Republicans in the New York City area to establish The Sun, which published its first paper on Jan. 27, 1868. Over the next several decades, The Sun became a polarizing publication focusing heavily on maladministration and the unscrupulous behavior of the nation’s biggest politicians. Dana remained in control of The Sun until his death on Oct. 17, 1897.
KENDALL – Wallace Higgins, a former Kendall resident, shared his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman during a talk with the Kendall Lions Club earlier this month.
Higgins grew up in Kendall and talked about his early years during the presentation to the Lions Club.
Higgins told about encountering racial segregation and discrimination for the first time after entering the service and training in Pre-Flight at the Tuskegee Institute. He also discussed his post-war education at NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He went on to become an Associate Professor at Alfred, retiring in 1985.
Higgins, 89, has been a member of Alfred Lions Club for 50 years and spent decades in community service.
He is in the official registry as a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman. For his work with the Civil Air Patrol prior to his enlistment he was a recent recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal.
This May, NYS Senator Cathy Young and the State Legislature inducted Higgins into the Veterans Hall of Fame in Albany.
Photo courtesy of State Sen. Cathy Young’s office
“Wally Higgins’ patriotic service and sacrifice for our country, and truly his entire life’s story is remarkable example of the selflessness demonstrated by so many in his generation,” Young said when Higgins was recognized in Albany. “They gave so much at a time when battles raged all around the globe and our nation needed heroes. As an original Tuskegee Airman who served in the Pacific theater, Wally’s aviation knowledge and skills were vital to the movement of troops and materials.”
Born on November 11, 1925 on a small farm in Kendall, Wally is the son of Alice and Daniel Higgins.
“Aside from his service, Wally is a loving father and dedicated family man, who deserves our deepest respect and praise. It was an honor to be able to recognize him and have his story memorialized in the state’s history,” Young said.
As soon as he turned 18 years old, Higgins enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. Having already been attending Civil Air Patrol classes in Rochester during his senior year of high school, he already had interest in pursuing aviation.
After initially reporting to Fort Dix, New Jersey, Higgins was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training and aptitude testing. As a result of his skin color and proficiencies, Wally was selected to be part of the Tuskegee Airmen experiment in Alabama, where he trained in Pre-Flight and Primary Flight training, including solo runs in the P-17 Stearman.
Photo by Helen Unterborn – Retired Major Ryan D’Andrea, Margaret Buell and Wally Higgins look over pictures of the Higgins family homestead in Kendall. D’Andrea now lives in the Higgins family homestead on Roosevelt Highway in Kendall.
Following 11 months at Tuskegee, a downturn in the war in Europe resulted in less pilot training and Higgins was transferred to the 1909th Engineers Aviation Battalion. A sergeant in charge of an all-black, 30-man platoon, Mr. Higgins served in Saipan and Okinawa building roads, airfields and ammunition storage buildings.
On March 17, 1947 Wally was Honorably Discharged as a Staff Sergeant with Squadron F, 3505th Army Air Force. For his service, Mr. Higgins earned the WW-II Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and New York State Medal for Merit. He was also recently presented with a Congressional Gold Medal due to his Civil Air Patrol involvement during the war.
Upon returning from the war, Wally was accepted to the College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramic design in 1952. While a student there, he met and married Norma Miller almost 64 years ago and never left Alfred. They raised four children, still reside in Allegany County, and nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2015 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center became privately owned this year and was added to the tax rolls for the first time at a $6,618,900 assessment. Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC bought the site for $7.8 million.
ALBION – For the first time since the nursing home was constructed in 1960, the site on Route 31 in Albion was added to the tax rolls this year.
The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center was purchased for $7.8 million by Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC. The site has 120 beds, including a rehabilitation unit.
The site went on the tax rolls in May with a $6,618,900 assessment. Assessors factored the site’s market value and its annual income in trying to determine the assessed value, said Dawn Allen, the director of real property tax services in Orleans County.
The new owners of the nursing home are challenging the $6,618,900, filing a grievance saying the assessment should be lower. A final assessment will be determined before July 1 by the Board of Assessment Review.
The site is just outside the Village of Albion and won’t give the village a much-needed boost in its assessed value. However, the Town of Albion, Orleans County and Albion Central School will all see a jump in their tax rolls.
Comprehensive would have to pay $211,606 in taxes to the town, county, school district and library based on a combined $31.97 tax rate on a $6,618,900 assessment. Every $1 million in assessed value means $31,970 in taxes.
Another nursing home in the county also is challenging its assessment.
Global Health Care purchased Orchard Manor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a 160-bed nursing home on Bates Road, in 2012 from Medina Memorial Hospital. The site sold for $4.1 million and that has been its assessment since going on the tax rolls for the first time in 2013. That site is located within the Village of Medina.
Global Health Care has filed a grievance, challenging the assessment. The issue will be considered by the Board of Assessment Review, weighing information from Global and the local assessor.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photo – A reception was held this afternoon at the Orleans County Public Safety Building honoring Patricia Morrisey, a retiring teacher with the Albion Central School District. She taught inmates in the county jail for 30 years. She is pictured with Scott Wilson, the jail superintendent.
ALBION – It may not seem like a dream job for a teacher, but that is how Patricia Morrissey describes her part-time job the past 30 years at the Orleans County Jail.
She worked with young inmates, ages 16 to 21 who hadn’t graduated from high school but wanted to work towards earning a General Equivalency Diploma.
Morrissey helped the students learn the fundamentals in math and reading, and many of the students were motivated to get their GED.
Morrissey is retiring from the job. Today she was recognized at a reception at the Orleans County Public Safety Building.
Morrissey worked with small class sizes, sometimes only two to five students. Sometimes as many as 15.
“It was a very unique situation, working in that kind of setting,” Morrissey said today. “I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Morrissey worked for the Orleans-Niagara BOCES for the first 13 years before her employer became Albion Central School, which is responsible for offering an education to people up to age 21 if they haven’t graduated.
Morrissey said the younger inmate population has shrunk over the years. She remembers when they were as many as 40 students over the course of a school year. This year she had 15 students for stints of the school year. Some of those inmates may be in the jail for a few weeks.
Morrissey connects with students’ teachers and tries to keep the students on track for earning school credits. Other students focus on earning a GED, which is now the Test Assessing Secondary Completion, a more rigorous test than the GED, Morrissey said.
Many of the students have done well in the smaller class setting, with a focus on mastering the basics in math before moving on to algebra and even trigonometry.
“You’re their cheerleader,” Morrissey said. “You get them to believe in themselves because you’re working with kids who often haven’t been successful in school.”
Morrissey worked in the jail three hours daily from Monday through Friday.
Many of her students earned GEDs, and Morrissey helped point some of them to college.
“I certainly became attached to a lot of them,” she said. “There’s no question that for many kids this was their redemption. It provided them with a second chance.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Historical sites, walking tours, restaurants, lodging and other sites. Volunteers at the Medina Visitor’s Center are willing to point people towards amenities and attractions.
“It’s important to have a place for people to be welcomed and learn about our village and some of the things to do,” said Jim Hancock, chairman of Medina’s Tourism Committee and head of the visitor center.
The center is in the main lobby of City Hall on Main Street. The center moved there in 2011 after the former Chamber of Commerce building was sold.
The lobby at Medina City Hall is stocked with brochures, maps and Medina merchandise. Jim Hancock sits at the desk, ready to take questions about the community.
The center started in the Chamber building in 2009 and volunteers were there in the afternoons. Staff from the Chamber and Red Cross were available in the morning to pass out brochures and answer questions about Medina.
When the visitor center went to City Hall, it went to a largely empty building. There weren’t other agency staff in the same spot. So Hancock and volunteers stepped up to be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays.
The center has menus from local restaurants, maps for bike tours and walking tours, lists for local lodging and attractions.
The Right Rev. R. William Franklin, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, visited Medina on Wednesday and stopped by City Hall to see the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame, which is in the main meeting room. Franklin, left, chats with Jim Hancock after Franklin signed the guest book. About 100 visitors, from 28 states and five countries, signed the guest book last year.
There are 14 dedicated volunteers right now. Hancock welcomes more. He would like to add some hours on Saturdays.
“The more the merrier,” Hancock said about the volunteers.
For more information, contact Hancock at (585) 798-2118.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 June 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Village of Albion Parks Program will start on Wednesday with supervisors at three village parks: Bullard on Route 31, east of Clarendon Street; Pee Wee Park, next to Bullard; and Veterans, at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Brown Street.
The team of park supervisors for this summer at Albion includes: front row, from left: Sabastian Piedmont. Brandon Brown, Edward Narburgh, Abigail Squicciarini and Melissa Dibley. Back row: Justyn Haines, Josue Serafin, Kyler McQuillan, Henry Haines, Kerry Rice, Brooke Chandler and Sami Covis.
The Parks Program includes supervised recreational games and activities. The program runs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The season ends on July 31.
The program is free and open to children ages 5 to 16 in the Albion Central School District. Several week-long sports camps will also be offered during the summer through the village parks program, with tennis the first one from June 29 to July 2. Check with the park supervisors for more information on the camps.
Parents are urged to attend the registration during the first week of the Parks Program to meet the supervisors and to fill out important paperwork.
