ALBION – Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess, center, recognized two members of his staff today for 20 years of service with the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Jim Halstead, left, joined the Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 11, 1994, under then Sheriff David Green. Some of Jim’s career highlights include being a DARE Instructor for many years, a member of the Sheriff’s Marine Unit and a boating safety instructor, a member of the SCUBA team, and a member of the Motorcycle Unit. Jim has announced his plans to retire next month.
Investigator Corey Black, right, was sworn into the Sheriff’s Office as a deputy on Nov. 28, 1994, also under Sheriff Green. Black was promoted to sergeant in March 1999 and promoted to investigator in February 2000.
Corey is the senior member of the Criminal Investigation Division and has been involved in numerous high-profile investigations during his career. In addition to his duties as an investigator, he is also a Police Instructor, Range Officer, SWAT Leader, and he is a member of the New York Tactical Officers Association.
Halstead and Black each received a congratulatory letter this afternoon from the sheriff and a Certificate of Achievement for “20 Years of Dedicated & Faithful Service to the Sheriff’s Office & the County of Orleans.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Provided photo – The Community Free Library uses two buildings in the Public Square in the Village of Holley. The library wants to replace the roofs on both buildings.
HOLLEY – The Community Free Library is working to replace roofs on two historic buildings in the downtown, a project that is estimated to cost $40,000.
The library has $25,000 set aside for the project at 86 Public Square. It is trying to raise the funds for the remainder. Both roofs have been leaking, said Sandra Shaw, library director.
The library put out bids for the project and its board of directors will meet Monday to pick a contractor for the project, she said.
Holley Elementary School students are trying to help the library meet the $15,000 shortfall for the project. The Student Council created coin collectors to place in local businesses for the project.
Provided photo – Elementary Student Council members are pictured with coin collectors to be placed in local businesses. The group includes, from left: Rachael Howard, Allyson Skehan, Makayla Famoly, Skyla Milazzo, Elise Quincey and Storm Boyce.
Provided photo – The ‘Raise the Roof’ containers are in several Holley businesses.
Larry Dabney, a retired Holley teacher, also serves on the library board. He helped the students create the containers. His grandson, Thomas Dobri, is also on the Student Council.
Shaw said she appreciates the efforts from the students and the community support.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said this morning. “We have a great community here.”
The containers have been placed in the following locations: Community Free Library, Village of Holley offices, Dr. Schiavone’s practice, First Niagara, Sam’s Diner, Heath & Martin, Nationwide office, Dr. Thompson’s office, Kurtz’s Car Care, Wiley’s Ark Animal Care, Save-A-Lot, Holley Pharmacy, and the Holley Post Office. Donations can be made at the library and collection containers can also be found at Holley Elementary.
Shaw said she is pursuing grants and other funding for the project. She had hoped the county budget would include an increase for libraries, but the proposed budget again calls for $10,000 to be shared by the four public libraries in the county.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Albion Middle School performed its fall show tonight. “A Seussified Christmas Carol” will return to the stage at noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
In the top photo, Connor McQuillan is Thing 1 from “The Cat In The Hat” and Kate Krieger is Thing 2. Those characters served as narraters for the musical.
Abbyneezer Scrooge (Molly Wadhams) confronts her clerk Bob Cratchitt (Evan Allen), who takes a brief break from work to warm his hands.
The show highlights the story by Charles Dickens with a Dr. Seuss flavor. That results in a lot of rhyming. The Albion production is directed by Carrie Kozody.
A caroler (Hannah VanEpps) is rebuffed by Scrooge when the caroler stops by the shop to spread some Christmas cheer.
Sophia Zambito plays the Ghost of Christmas Past and leads Scrooge to see scenes from when she was a girl and a young woman.
April Henchen is the Ghost of Christmas Present. She shows Scrooge how her lack of generosity and fairness creates a hardship for many people in her life.
The pirates include, from left: Arella Ives, Kate Krieger and Sophia Zambito.
Provided photos – Medina High School teachers are pictured with food collected at the school for a local food pantry. The group includes, from left: Julie Webber, Kim Zakes, Jon Sherman, Gianna Sargent and Tom Robinson.
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – The Medina Teachers’ Association at the High School, Clifford Wise Intermediate/Middle School and Oak Orchard Elementary pulled together to help out the Calvary Tabernacle Assembly’s Food Pantry for the upcoming holidays.
Medina High School French teacher Julie Webber says this is the fourth year the staff has rallied together for the church’s “Helpful Harvest.”
Oak Orchard Elementary teachers collected many bags of food for Calvary Tabernacle’s food pantry.
“We asked everyone over the course of two weeks to bring in nonperishable food items,” Webber said. “The church does so much for our community and everyone was happy to lend a hand. We even had teachers volunteer to go shopping for their colleagues who didn’t have time to go to the store.”
Mrs. Webber says they are very grateful to Tops for donating the brown bags for the staff where they attached their wish list: cereal, boxed potatoes, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, kid friendly snacks, can fruit and vegetables, stuffing, jelly and can pasta and ravioli.
Clifford Wise Intermediate/Middle School teachers are pictured with food to be donated.
“We ended up with about 30 to 40 bags at each of our schools and it was a great feeling to be able to pull up to their building and help them carry it inside,” Webber said. “They were very grateful.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Orleans Hub shot its first deer today at about 4:45 p.m. The deer season kicked off at the break of dawn on Saturday and continues until Dec. 7.
I’ve had my Nikon camera next to me in the passenger seat in case I encountered any deer in my travels. These two were close to the road on the west side of Route 279 in Gaines, just south of Route 104. They held still for a few seconds before scampering away in the field and heading into the woods.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Group plans 3 races for 2015, including 10-mile “Metro” race pitting Rochester vs. Buffalo
Photo by Tom Rivers – Thom Jennings, left, and Brian Krieger, leaders of the Albion Running Club, are planning several races and programs to improve the fitness in the community. They are pictured at last month’s 5-kilometer race at Brown’s Berry Patch in Waterport.
ALBION – They have seen the statistics and cringed. Brian Krieger and Thom Jennings want to unleash a force to raise the county’s dismal health stats, among the worst of all 62 counties in the state.
The annual County Health Rankings ranks Orleans as the 52nd healthiest county out of 62. Orleans ranked 52nd in health outcomes, 57th in health factors, and 58th in health behaviors. In Orleans, 66 percent of adults are overweight, 41 percent in that group are obese, and 55 percent say they don’t engage in daily exercise.
Krieger and Jennings are both leaders of the Albion Running Club. They believe the non-profit organization can make an impact in the county by offering fitness programs and three races that provide goals to motivate walkers and runners.
“We want to use the sport of running to build a healthier community,” said Krieger, executive director for the Running Club.
Krieger has seen the community respond to a running program.
He teamed with Wayne Burlison and Jack Burris to spearhead a 5K “Run for God” program that took people from the couch to a 5K race in about three months. The Run for God drew nearly 100 participants in its first three years, with the runners and walkers completing the 5K Strawberry Festival course.
“There have been some unbelievable changes in people,” Krieger said.
File photo – Sheila Lemcke of Albion lost more than 100 pounds through exercise and better nutrition. She was the honorary “Strawberry” in last June’s Strawberry Festival race. She has participated in the Run for God programs.
The Albion Running Club is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. It has organized the Strawberry Festival race recently, including the record crowd of nearly 300 runners last June.
It wants to add another race this March 28 as a memorial for Wayne Burlison, one of the founders of the Running Club. He was 36 when he died from colon cancer on March 26. Burlison was a music teacher at the Ronald L. Sodoma Elementary School.
A 5K is 3.1 miles, but the “Run for Wayne” race will be different. That run/walk will be 3.17 miles. Burlison battled cancer for 3 months and 17 days. Proceeds from the race will be used for a scholarship in Burlison’s name.
The Running Club will continue to organize the Strawberry Festival 5K/8K on the second Saturday in June. With nearly 300 runners, it’s one of the most successful small town races around. About $2,000 in profits from the race are distributed to local charities and agencies.
Krieger and Jennings, the Orleans County YMCA executive director, believe the race could grow to 500 participants. That would mean more money to share with local causes and more people working on their fitness goals. Jennings has experience promoting concerts and events. He is the communications director for the Running Club.
Krieger and Jennings connected in May after Krieger read an article on the Orleans Hub about Jennings running a marathon with his son. Jennings took up running about three years ago and lost more than 100 pounds.
Krieger and Burlison were running partners. They trained for a marathon together. Burlison lost more than 150 pounds through exercise and nutrition. Krieger saw similarities between Burlison and Jennings.
Provided photo – Wayne Burlison started running in 2008 and completed a marathon and several half marathons. He was one of the founders of the Albion Running Club.
Krieger was also intrigued by a comment that Jennings made in the Orleans Hub article. Jennings saw Albion as an ideal host for a mega-race, a long distance run that would draw Buffalo and Rochester runners.
The two had coffee and together they brainstormed the “Metro 10,” a 10-mile race planned for Aug. 22. They expect at least 1,000 runners. Each runner will pick a side: either Rochester or Buffalo. Finishers will score points for either metro area and overall winner will be named with Buffalo or Rochester taking home a trophy.
The Running Club has a promotional video (click here) for the race and is working on more video vignettes to promote the event. (There will be one featuring chicken wings vs. Garbage Plates.)
Many races typically present medals to the top finisher or the top three in each age group. That leaves a lot of people unrecognized. With the Metro 10, every runner will have an impact on their community’s overall score.
“Even if you’re not an elite runner, you can feel part of the competition,” Jennings said. “Albion makes sense as the host for the race. We’re centrally located.”
The Metro 10 course is tentatively laid out to showcase the historic Courthouse Square, the downtown, some of the fruit orchards, the canal towpath and the rural landscapes. The race will end at Bullard Park in a festival-like atmosphere with bands.
Jennings believes the Metro 10 will show off Albion’s assets to the running community. Some of them may like what they see and move to the Albion area, Jennings said.
File photo – Runners take off at the start of the Strawberry Festival Race last June, when about 300 people completed the course.
“These marathons and events can turn a community around,” Jennings said. “They will see our great real estate that is low-priced. They will see people in a friendly environment. It’s an opportunity in my mind for Albion to be a host community. We can be ambassadors of the county.”
Krieger and Jennings know a 10-mile race can be a big draw, and be the foundation to build other fitness programs. Krieger has met the leader of the Crim Fitness Foundation, which organizes a festival of races every August in Flint, Mich. The races started in 1977 to promote fitness in the community. (Click here for more on the Crim Foundation.)
The event draws 50,000 people to Flint, and has led to several year-round programs. Krieger sees the Crim Fitness Foundation as the ultimate model for Albion and Orleans County.
The Running Club plans to offer a “Fit in 50” program throughout the year. The Running Club has applied for grants to help pay for some of the fitness initiatives. It already has secured some sponsors for the Metro 10.
Krieger works in regional sales for the hydraulic fluid industry. He wants to engage more community partners to promote health and wellness in the community.
“if you want to change the community, which is in desperate need, then people must step up and do something,” he said.
For more information about sponsoring, volunteering or teaming with the Albion Running Club, contact Krieger at585-590-0955 or email bkrieger@albionrunningclub.com.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A total of 33 volunteer firefighters from six fire departments in Orleans County left Albion at about 4 p.m. for assignments in the Buffalo area.
Orleans Hub reported earlier this afternoon that 24 to 30 firefighters were expected to go. Dale Banker, the emergency management coordinator for the county, confirmed 33 firefighters answered the call.
Banker reached out to the local fire departments after getting a request from the Erie County Fire Coordinator’s office and the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
The firefighters will be in Erie County until 8 p.m. on Friday. Banker said another wave of firefighters are expected Friday night and over the weekend.
Firefighters left today from Albion, Barre, Clarendon, Holley, Lyndonville, Shelby and Ridgeway.
Barre, Holley and Shelby also sent fire engines, and Albion, Clarendon and Lyndonville took off-road vehicles with tracks to maneuver in the high snow.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Orleans County is assembling teams of firefighters to head to the Buffalo area to check on residents and respond to other fire and emergency calls.
Firefighters will gather at the Civil Defense Center at 3:30 p.m. today to get their instructions. Dale Banker, the county’s emergency management director, expects 24 to 30 firefighters to be sent to Erie County. They are expected to arrive around 5 p.m. and stay until 8 p.m. on Friday.
They will take three off-road vehicles and three fire engines. Firefighters are going from Albion, Barre, Clarendon, Holley, Shelby and Ridgeway.
Additional firefighters from the county may be sent Friday night and over the weekend, Banker said. The weekend duty could include pumping basements because temperatures are forecast to be well above freezing, leading to big snow melts.
Fourteen firefighters from the county have already been to Lackawanna. They checked on stranded motorists and transported them to a shelter. Three firefighters – Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari, Calrton Fire Chief Andrew Niederhofer and Albion firefighter Stan Farone – nearly delivered a baby in the Albion fire chief’s truck. They were able to get the mother to Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo just in time before the birth, Sidari said.
Some Erie County communities received 5 to 6 feet of snow on Tuesday, with another 2 feet falling today. Sidari said he was shocked to see the big walls of snow.
“The pictures don’t do it justice,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m just dumbfounded.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
RIDGEWAY – The Canal Culvert was closed to motorists last night and early this morning while crews used sledgehammers to knock down most of the huge icicles inside the tunnel under the Erie Canal.
Highway workers also spread lots of salt inside the culvert overnight and it did its job, loosening up the ice and making the section of the road passable, Ridgeway Highway Superintendent Mark Goheen said.
The Culvert was reopened at about 9:30 a.m. Goheen said he has contacted the Canal Authority, which owns the Culvert, about removing the ice inside.
The canal closed for the season on Wednesday. It is currently full of water but the waterway will soon be drained. Once most of the water is out, Goheen said “the leaking should be down to a minimum.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Erie Canal completed its 190th season on Wednesday. Many tugboats, tenders, barges and other canal equipment will spend the winter in Albion between the two lift bridges on Main Street and Ingersoll Street.
The top photo was taken on Tuesday and shows two of the tenders in Albion.
This photo was taken this morning looking west towards the Allen’s Bridge Road canal bridge in Albion.
ALBION – An Albion man faces numerous drug charges after being arrested on Wednesday following an investigation into cocaine trafficking in the village, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported.
Martin Eusebio, 20, of 201 Washington St., Apt. 1, was charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (a Class B felony); four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (a Class B felony); four counts of criminal nuisance in the first degree; and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, the Task Force reported.
Eusebio was arraigned by Albion Town Justice Kevin Howard and jailed on $50,000 bail. Eusebio also is being held on an immigration detainer filed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Eusebio is to return to Town Court at 9 a.m. on Nov. 25.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – A truck driver was attempting to turn around on Route 98 when the vehicle slipped into a ditch in the Town Gaines, just north of Watt Farms.
Albion firefighters, James Fisher (right) and David Nayman, were out directing traffic around the truck today at about 1:30 p.m. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 11:45 a.m. A tow truck was on scene to pull out the truck.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
GAINES – There is a noticeable increase in truck traffic on routes 31 and 104 in Orleans County today. With the NY Thruway closed from Rochester to the Pennsylvania line, many of the trucks are using the state roads in Orleans County to head east or west.
In the photo above, a caravan of truckers head down Route 104 at about 1:30 today. I was at The Village Inn for lunch today and it seemed for every car on 104 there was a tractor trailer.
Ken Heye of Medina took this picture on Tuesday at about 4 p.m. in the Town of Alabama, looking south towards the massive snow storm.
Rick Baase of Point Breeze lives along the Lake Ontario shoreline. He took this photo Tuesday of a Canadian freighter close to the shoreline, trying to escape the biggest waves. Baase said it appeared the freighter was only about a half-mile from shore.
“It’s very windy here,” Baase said Tuesday. “It’s one of those days where it sounds like Niagara Falls outside from just the wind noise.”
Orleans County could get 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight with a chance for more snow on Thursday night and Friday.
Firefighters from Orleans County have used all-terrain four-wheelers to check on stranded motorists in Lackawanna. Firefighters have been transporting some of the motorists, who were stranded in their cars for more than 16 hours.
They took the motorists to a fire hall in Lackawanna. One person, a diabetic, was transported by firefighters and would later have to be taken by ambulance for medical treatment, said Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari.
It took firefighters from Orleans County 1 ½ hours to drive 9 miles from Cheektowaga to Lackawanna last night. Erie County has been in a state of emergency due a monstrous storm that dropped about 5 feet of snow.
Firefighters aren’t sure how long they will be assisting in Erie County.
“Thankfully it has stopped snowing,” Albion Fire Chief Rocky Sidari said this morning at about 7.
But another storm is due to hit the Buffalo area tonight and Thursday.
Firefighters from four fire companies in Orleans County are assisting in the snow-battered Buffalo area. They brought along a snowmobile and three off-road four-wheelers.
The Albion Fire Department is providing the snowmobile, an off-road vehicle and seven firefighters. Two Carlton firefighters have volunteered, as well as two from Clarendon and three from Lyndonville. Clarendon and Lyndonville also brought off-road four-wheelers.
Carlton Fire Chief Andrew Niederhofer is among the local firefighters in Lackawanna, checking on stranded motorists. He is pictured inside a vehicle with a wall of snow outside.
