Photos by Sue Cook – Joey Robinson wore lederhosen to hand out glasses.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – The Medina Business Association welcomed the fall season with the annual Ale in Autumn event held downtown. This is the sixth year the group has put on the beer-tasting event.

This year, 24 businesses gave tastings of 28 beers. The 750 people that bought tickets to the event received complimentary glasses to use to sample the drinks.

“From the sale of the glasses to the Chinese auction baskets that we do, we make a good amount of money to where we can do something else major for downtown,” said MBA President Cindy Robinson. “We’re thinking about getting more bike racks made. We’re looking at possibly getting new trash receptacles out there as something that matches more of the historic look.”

Ashlee’s Place, a clothing store, has been a participant all six years of Ale in Autumn. They have seen a lot of new faces at the event, especially people visiting from outside of Medina.

“It’s a beautiful day,” said owner Angela Waldriff. “We are a location that sold tickets for it so we’ve been very busy the last few weeks with people picking up tickets and coming in and asking if they were still available.”

Ashlee’s Place owner Angela Waldriff served apricot Sea Dog.

Kim Keil, owner of Wide Angle Art Gallery, served Dutch and Indian lagers for the event. Her success during the event has her already anticipating Wine About Winter. This was her first downtown Medina event as a business owner.

“It’s really exciting and little bit different because typically we partake in it from the other side of the table. This is the first time being behind the table hosting,” Keil said.

“It’s really interesting that a lot of people are coming in and actually looking at the artwork and taking the time to talk about it,” she continued. “They are interested in classes or possibly putting shows together. It’s a great opportunity for PR and getting to meet the community.”

Andy, Robyn and Tony Ottaviano of Lyndonville raise their glasses. “We’re tasting all these great beers on this perfect day,” said Robyn. Tony added, “There’s been a lot of interesting ones, but we’ve enjoyed them all so far.”

ellen j. goods owner Lynn Brundage was excited that the event started off very strong and didn’t show any sign of slowing down. The business was serving a chili beer which had a chili pepper floating in it. Tasters were commenting that it was a very unique flavor and that it was nice to try something they normally might not.

Julie Tette, an instructor at the new All Yoga Medina studio, was there with the other instructors serving beer for their first Medina event as a new business.

“This is a lot of fun. It’s nice to see a lot of people that we know and some we don’t know. It’s nice to meet new people and give them a chance to see our new place and check it out. The response has been amazing and awesome,” she said.

Tette said that people have already bought class passes and signed up for classes after being able to see the studio for the first time. The event has given them a great opportunity to expand their business while having a fun time.

810 Meadworks had a waiting line for their two special flavors.

The new business, 810 Meadworks, also participated in Ale in Autumn to drum up excitement for their expected opening in late November. Within the first two hours, the meadery had seen almost 200 people with a line stretching out the door.

Bryan DeGraw, co-owner of 810 Meadworks, explained what they were serving. They normally make mead that is more like wine, but offered something a little different for the day.

“We have two meads. One is called Scarlet A, that’s an apple cranberry fermented with blueberry honey. They other is Bee Vomit. That is wildflower honey fermented with cascade hops,” he said. “Both of those are 7 percent and carbonated so they’re more like a beer.”

Stephanie Prawel was serving Presidente in Rosenkrans Pharmacy.

Kimberly Drew comes from Greece, NY, to visit her friends from the area, Danielle and Aaron Montague. They like to go to the downtown Medina events together. They all grew up together in Lyndonville.

“We’re all about the social aspect of the beer tasting,” said Drew. “We are so excited to be here and love to see all the little businesses. I think I’m going to taste a great variety, things I’ve never tried before.”

She added that it was a great way to spend some time in Medina.

“Medina is my playground,” she said. “It was my childhood playground. I love coming here to have fun, like for this and I was here for the wine tasting. I come here for all my fun. Orleans County is awesome.”

Photos by Sue Cook – Managing Instructor Deb Roberts stands outside the studio located at 105 Pearl St. in Medina.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – Three Medina residentsthis week opened All Yoga Medina, a yoga studio in downtown Medina that offers classes to anyone of any ability in an effort to promote wellness and self value.

Deb Roberts is the managing instructor of the studio and has been practicing yoga for 16 years.

“It can benefit everyone,” she said. “The wellness benefits of yoga are being scientifically proven. Just breathing increases your wellness. It’s a different way to be strong. For me it’s more about bringing your mind and body in alignment.”

Roberts retired last year from the Cornell Cooperative Extension and decided to operate a yoga studio. She loved the space on Pearl Street that formerly belonged to Rock Paper Salon. When the hair salon moved, Roberts contacted the building owner, Tim Cooper, and was told she was the third person to ask about making the space into a yoga studio.

One of the people to inquire about the space was Katie Hartway, another Medina native. Roberts already knew her and after talking the two decided to also ask Julie Tette to work with them. Tette is another Medina resident who is also a yoga instructor at the Lockport schools and Kwandrans Tae Kwan Do in Medina.

Together, the three of them now offer a variety of yoga classes to suit several different needs. Hartway’s focus is on Power Core Yoga and Tette’s expertise is in Yoga Fit. Tette’s class, Yoga for Runners, is already full with Medina residents signing up as well as the Medina High School cross-country team.

Roberts shows the class how to get into a chair pose.

Roberts teaches a more classical style of yoga, which is slower and more meditative. She even tailors her individual classes to meet the abilities of the people who attend. Some classes she may choose to use certain poses if there are advanced students, whereas beginners receive more instruction and assistance.

“We’re all different ages and we’re at all different stages in life,” Roberts said. “We all share a love of yoga, but that means we kind of have something to offer. That’s really important to us. Not everybody wants to sit and be as meditative as some people do. The challenge for us is how to meet everybody’s needs.”

Younger people might prefer to do more vigorous yoga classes while older people might like the more meditative ones, but she also says that different life circumstances can alter what kind of yoga you’re looking for in life, too. People with kids or high-stress jobs might want a different kind of yoga than someone who is full of energy and wants to burn it off.

“You use yoga differently at different times in your life,” she added.

Roberts does not want anyone to be intimidated if they have never tried yoga before. She wants people to understand you only push yourself as far as you are able, regardless of the levels of your classmates.

Roberts addressed concerns that new learners might have, saying, “You don’t have to be flexible. If you can breathe, if you can raise your hands up in the air, that’s yoga. It’s not about being a pretzel, it’s not about being able to do great accomplishments. Yoga meets you where you are. So if you can’t get up and down on the floor, we’ll give you a chair to work in. If you don’t have balance, we’ll send you to hold on to the wall. There’s no perfect way to do yoga.”

Roberts gets into a warrior pose.

For beginners in Robert’s classes, the key points that are introduced are for students to take care of themselves. They will meditate and practice breathing exercises while beginning to learn yoga terminology. After a warm up, students begin to learn basic poses and core work focused on balance and strength. After the cool down, the class enters a meditative state to relax fully and let worldly cares wash away momentarily to end class in a peaceful state.

“As you build, it’s progression,” Roberts said. “We call it yoga practice for a reason. We don’t call it a performance. It is practicing something over and over and each time you practice it you learn something new, you see something new, you can do something new.”

The studio will offer one more class tomorrow free of charge to celebrate their grand opening. From 1 to 2 p.m. Roberts will have an introductory class before Medina’s Ale in Autumn event begins. The studio is located at 105 Pearl Street.

For more information about All Yoga Medina and upcoming class sessions, call (585) 259-1905 or click here.

Meggie Moo’s offers a slower pace, step back in time

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A new business celebrated its grand-opening today in downtown Medina. Meggie Moo’s may be new, but it feels like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor from the 1950s.

The servers wear poodle skirts, Elvis is on the wall and ’50s music fills the site at 114 East Center St.

“This is a chance to go back in time and slow down,” said Kathy Blackburn, who opened the business with her family.

Blackburn is pictured in the top photo at left with her daughter-in-law Kelly, granddaughter Megan and Blackburn’s son Jim in back.

Blackburn operated the 31 Club from the location until closing that bar about 2 ½ years ago. She wanted to use the historic building, and her granddaughter suggested it as a soda shop.

Megan Blackburn, 15, makes a strawberry milkshake during the grand opening of Meggie Moo’s today. Her brother Zack, 18, also will be working at Meggie’s.

Jim and Kelly Blackburn both welcomed the endeavor as long as it had a family friendly focus. The site will be available for birthday parties. Meggie’s will host its first one on Saturday with a theme from the popular children’s movie, Frozen.

Jim was pleased to see a father and son come in for dessert, enjoying conservation while the boy worked on homework.

“This is about being able to enjoy yourself,” Blackburn said. “Everything is so fast. People need to slow down.”

The front counter was decorated for the grand opening today.

Kathy Blackburn is the executive director of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. She also is vice president of the Medina Business Association. She has been encouraged by the renaissance in downtown Medina, with many new shops and businesses opening.

The new ice cream parlor complements the other businesses, and should draw more visitors and foot traffic to the downtown, Blackburn said.

She is retired from Birdseye Foods, where she was international sales manager. Her son works as buildings and grounds superintendent for the Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension in Knowlesville. His wife is a 4-H leader for the Paw Praisers Club.

“This all about the kids,” Kelly Blackburn said.

Photo by Tom Rivers

The outside and inside of the building were painted. The interior floor was also raised. Blackburn said the family would like to add fryers and a grill for an expanded menu, as well as opening a back porch.

“We want to make it a fun place for people to come,” she said.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

MEDINA – The school district celebrated homecoming this week, and the celebration poured out to the football field, even in a 36-6 loss to Burgard tonight.

In the top photo Homecoming King Adam Cotter and Queen Madeline Bilicki are introduced at halftime.

Ty Hrovat leads the team on to the field.

Coaches and players are on sideline for the national anthem.

The Medina mascot roams the sidelines.

Medina cheerleaders get the crowd energized.