Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – A bench that is a memorial in honor of Toni L. Luckman is pictured at sunrise this morning at Boxwood Cemetery with Glenwood Lake in the background.
It has snowed today in Orleans County. It is forecast to reach a high of 38 degrees today.
It will be warmer on Monday with a high of 56, followed by a high of 40 on Tuesday and 42 on Wednesday.
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Michael Stephenson, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Medina, leads a sunrise service this morning in Boxwood Cemetery next to Glenwood Lake. About 25 Christians from Medina churches attended the service on Easter morning.
Stephenson spoke of the power of Christ’s resurrection and the hope that provides for the world.
Stephenson has been a part of four sunrise services on Easter morning in Medina and he said each time there has been a glorious sunrise.
“It never ceases to amaze me about the timing,” he said.
The service today began at 6:30 a.m. One of the people at the service said, “The lake looks like it’s on fire.”
The cross at the cemetery is a memorial given in May 30, 1971 to “The People of the Village of Medina.”
Dr. Fulton and Marie Hurd Rogers gave the memorial for their parents, Arthur and Ethel Phillips Rogers and Charles and Lillie Horn Hurd.
Photo by Tom Rivers – This historical marker on Route 98 notes the Elba Mucklands, which started in 1915 when the Oak Orchard and Tonawanda swamps were drained. The muck continues to be highly productive agriculture soil.
ELBA – It was 100 years ago when the Oak Orchard and Tonawanda swamps were drained to create the Elba Mucklands. I didn’t realize we were in the centennial year of the muck’s creation.
I was driving on Route 98 on Saturday and had a feeling I should stop and look at the historical marker by a big drainage ditch for the muck, just south of the Barre town line. The marker notes the mucklands were created in 1915.
I didn’t know some of the area’s finest farmland emerged 100 years ago. The muck has been more than good agriculture land for growing onions, lettuce, potatoes, carrots and other crops.
This panoramic view shows the mucklands off Route 98 north of Elba and in the southern part of Orleans County in the early 1930s. The photo, from the Orleans County History Department, shows men harvesting lettuce and putting it into crates.
The work needed to tame the swamp brought hundreds of hard-working Italian and Polish immigrants to the community. They cleared the land, removing trees and boulders, and set up 90 miles of drainage in the 7,000-acre muck. It is an impressive feat.
The muck includes the towns of Clarendon and Barre in Orleans County, and Elba and Byron in Genesee County. Most of the remaining deeper muck is in Orleans County.
The muck continues today as valuable farmland, and still is responsible for many jobs in the community. Farmers have stepped up efforts in recent years to battle erosion to help preserve the fertile soil in the mucklands.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Ditches help keep the muck drained. This picture was taken in August 2013.
I would like to see the muck’s legacy celebrated in the community. I like the idea of bronze statues to honor the immigrants who helped shape our communities.
It would be awesome to have a statue of a quarryman in Orleans County as a memorial for the thousands of immigrants who worked in the sandstone quarries.
In Elba, a statue of a farmworker could highlight the muck’s heritage, spotlighting the immigrants who cleared the land and the farmworkers who continue to plant and harvest crops today.
It would be a nice addition on Route 98 as a gateway into the Village of Elba. Orleans and Genesee residents and agricultural organizations could make it a reality. That project could be part of a bigger heritage trail that would connect museums and historical sites on Route 98.
That trail would be a bigger attraction with a site in Elba celebrating the muck farmers and a spot in Albion in honor of the quarrymen who worked in the many quarries throughout Orleans County.
In my dreams, I’d also put a bronze statue near Batavia Downs for the horsemen and a statue at Point Breeze of a fisherman.
Provided photos – Junior Greg Husung is corded by Senior Krista Nellist.
Press Release
Medina Central School
MEDINA – Medina inducted 35 students into High School’s Arista Chapter of the National Honor Society on March 26.
The students, a combination of juniors and seniors, were selected by a faculty advisory council, and were picked based upon their fulfillment of the four requirements of the National Honor Society: Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character.
In Medina, students must first meet a rigorous scholarship requirement with a cumulative high school average of 90.0 or higher. Then, they submit a 25-page Student Activity Information Form and personal statement, which helps the Faculty Council verify that students have met the requirements for service, leadership, and character.
Officer Aaron Feltz lights a candle while officers Austin Brown, Alexandra Markle and Brian Bogan look on.
The 2015 Induction Ceremony was kicked off by a slide show highlighting the current NHS members’ activities completed throughout the year, most notably the chapter’s annual Veterans’ Dinner, after which students were offered advice from the ceremony’s guest speaker, Marsha Rivers, executive director of the Orleans County United Way.
Her keynote address was titled, “Mistakes: The Compost of Character.” In the speech, which was alternatively funny and moving, she encouraged the students to see that character was the most important tenet of all, and suggested that scholarship, leadership, and service all grew naturally from one’s ability to grow as a person.
Rivers ended her remarks by saying, “You, my young friends, have grown so much already. You’ve accomplished a great deal, and we are here tonight to celebrate your achievements, as well as your potential. My best wisdom, my most sage advice to you tonight is this: Live. Do the best you can. A year ago today my friend Wayne Burlison died at the age of 36. Mr. Burlison was a music teacher at the Albion Elementary School, but he was also so many other things – including a Star Wars fan. In the band room he had a Yoda poster that said: “Do… or do not. There is no try.” So in honor and memory of my friend, I will not say, “Try your best.” I will say, “Do your best.” Or better yet: Be your best. Be and become the best possible version of yourself you can figure out how to be. And at the times when you fail to measure up to this best possible version and you will seek and find forgiveness, including from yourself.”
Newly inducted members recite the National Honor Society Pledge.
At the conclusion of Rivers’ address, Principals Mark Kruzynski and Michael Cavanagh shared excerpts from the new members’ personal statements, in which the students discussed the people who had impacted them, the characteristics that best described them, and the goals that they had for the future.
Following the introduction of new members, the 2014-15 OfficersJason Hellwig, Co-President; Regan Stacey, Co-President; Samuel Simms, Co-Vice President; Addison Zavitz, Co-Vice President; Brianna Bellan, Co-Treasurer; Aaron Feltz, Co-Treasurer; Brian Bogan, Co-Secretary; Christopher Keller, Co-Secretary; Austin Brown, Co-Social Chair; and Alexandra Markle, Co-Social Chairperformed the traditional candle-lighting ceremony.
New and Existing Members of the Arista Chapter are pictured at the March 26 ceremony.
At the conclusion of the candle lighting, existing members corded the new members, who signed the official Arista Pledge Book. Finally, together on stage, all members raised their hands and recited along with their superintendent Jeffrey Evoy to abide by the principles of the organization.
The Medina Central School District proudly congratulates the newly inducted members of the Arista Chapter of the National Honor Society. They are: Meghan Allen, Courtney Bailey, Alexis Barcena, Allison Bensley, Davina Birch, Michaela Cardone, Haylee Cogovan, Colm Cooper, Caitlyn Davies, John Derting, Zachary Harris, Aracely Hernandez, Aubrey Hoffmeister, Dominique Hughes, Gregory Husung, Emma Gardner, Alexis Koch, Zachary Laird, Ryan Leffler, Hannah Lonnen, Amanda Lunden, Joseph Mangiola, Bradley McPherson, Elizabeth Newman, Justin Morgan, Stella Russo, Carlin Sanders, Tristan Sanders, Cassandra Sargent, Alyssa Shortridge, Abigail Smith, Tyler Waldriff, Emma Wilson, Carson Zgoda, and Brennan Zinkievich.
CLARENDON – This photograph taken June 2, 1902 at the Root Schoolhouse in Clarendon shows Miss Edith McCormick, age 22, with her students. Hanging in the window is a 45-star flag.
The school was located on the northwest corner of Munger Road and Cook Road (now Merrill Road). The Cook Cemetery is located across the road to the south.
1902 marked the conclusion of Miss McCormick’s third year of teaching. A party was held on the lawn of Mrs. Mary Cook where Adah Laskey, on behalf of the entire class, presented Miss McCormick with a “nice toilet case.”
Pictured left to right, back row: George Eggers, Jamie Andrews Bird, Bertha Cook Eular, Adah Laskey Russell, Lillian Robinson Carlson, Myrtle Maxon Heise, George Whipple, Earl Laskey.
Middle row: Otis Cook, Frank Ritz, Daisy Andrews, Genie Eggers, May Cook Johnson, Mabel Maxon Greenache, Carrie Eggers Eular, Nellie Chugg.
Front row: Eddie Eggers, Harvey Whipple, Clark Maxon, Guy Pridmore, Howard Cook.
Adah Laskey Russell is the great-great-grandmother of Ballard.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Wendy Jacobson, interim president and chief executive officer for Orleans Community Health, speaks to the Albion Rotary Club on Thursday.
MEDINA – Medina Memorial Hospital may be a small hospital but it ranks high in the region for providing quality care, said the interim president and chief executive officer for Orleans Community Health.
Wendy Jacobson said Medina Memorial tops the national benchmark for providing care for surgical, chest pain, pneumonia, acute myocardial infarct and many other conditions.
“We really provide quality care close to home,” Jacobson told the Albion Rotary Club on Thursday. “We are held to same standards as the larger hospitals.”
Jacobson has been leading the hospital and its parent organization, Orleans Community Health, since Dolores Horvath resigned in February. Jacobson said she intends to apply for the position on a permanent basis.
She sees positives for the organization, especially with the impending announcement that it will be a “critical access hospital.” That status from the state Department of Health is expected to be retroactive, going back to January.
That status will give Medina Memorial higher reimbursement rates through Medicaid and will strengthen Medina’s bottom line, Jacobson said.
The designation as “critical access hospital” also will help Orleans Community Health attract doctors to work in Medina and at the healthcare site in Albion at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31, which would be considered a rural clinic. Doctors that work at those sites will get a break on paying back their student loans for medical school, Jacobson said.
Orleans Community Health has an affiliation with Catholic Health Systems. That organization is helping to bring primary care doctors and other specialists to Orleans Community Health, said Jacobson, who also addressed the Orleans County Legislature last week.
The hospital on April 9 will celebrate the renovation of the North Wing Long-Term Residential Home. That celebration, including tours, will be from 5 to 7 p.m.
File photos by Tom Rivers – Bill Lattin, Orleans County historian, talks about the Christ the Consoler window in the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church during a stained glass window tour in December 2013. The church in 1895 wanted a window with outstretched arms of Christ to fit the denomination’s welcoming tradition.
ALBION – The Albion Merchants Association sees the seven historic churches in Albion’s Courthouse Square as a community asset, and their artwork and architecture will be celebrated on April 18 during a stained glass window tour.
Bill Lattin, the recently retired Orleans County historian, will lead the tour beginning at 11 a.m. at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church. That church has more than 40 windows from the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, perhaps the most famed stained glass artist.
The Merchants Association is organizing the event and many of the businesses will have spring sales that day. The Merchants are suggesting a donation of $5 per person for the window tour.
A crowd views the stained glass window at the First United Methodist Church during a tour of windows in December 2013. The Good Shepherd window was a gift to the congregation by the church’s pastor in 1914, the Rev. Henry Clay Woods.
This may be the last chance to see the windows at the United Methodist Church. That church is having at farewell service today at a 7 p.m. ecumenical Good Friday service.
The church has some structural problems with its roof. The congregation will start holding services on Sunday at Christ Episcopal Church.
The fate of the United Methodist church building is uncertain.
The seven churches are part of a district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lattin will discuss styles and designers of the windows, the symbolism and Biblical stories in the scenes, and some background on the people memorialized with some of the windows.
The Albion churches have examples of windows from the 1860s to 1960s. Lattin wrote a book about Orleans County’s stained glass windows: “Luminaries in the Firmament.”
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A crew cut down a cluster of pine trees by the tennis courts this week at Albion Central School. The trees were shedding needles and dropping debris on the tennis courts.
The trees were planted about 30 years ago as a memorial to John Moyer, who died in a car accident on Ridge Road on April 6, 1985. Bruce Wright, one of Moyer’s friends, helped plant the trees and was upset to see them cut down.
The school district is exploring options for “a suitable replacement landscape,” said Margy Brown, president of the Board of Education.
Wright said he would like to see a memorial continue for Moyer on school grounds.
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Steve Cavers, right, and Paul Wengrzycki, members of the First Baptist Church in Medina, carry the cross in the Medina Canal Basin as part of a Good Friday walk in the Medina downtown today.
About 40 people from Medina area churches were part of the “Pilgramage to Golgotha.” Christians took turns carrying the cross, while local pastors read Scriptures and the group sang hymns.
Cavers and Wengrzycki walk with the cross across Main Street.
DeAnn Diermyer, a member of the Lyndonville United Methodist Church, carried the cross at one point with Judy Hipes of the Medina United Methodist Church.
“It was awesome, awesome,” Diermyer said. “There aren’t enough words to describe it.”
Cavers and Wengrzycki carry the cross on West Avenue, headed to the Medina Historical Society.
Lang Lilley, in Bills jacket, hands the cross to Judy Hipes in front of the First Baptist Church. Hipes has been to Israel fives times, tracing the steps of Jesus when he carried the cross to Golgotha.
Hipes is married to Tony Hipes, pastor of the Medina United Methodist Church. Today was her first time carrying the cross, and she said it was a powerful experience, helping her to imagine Jesus carrying the cross after being brutally beaten.
“He was beaten nearly to death and he still had to carry it,” Mrs. Hipes said. “The fact that someone would do this for you is a very personal thing. That’s why Easter comes off as an amazing day.”
The Rev. Alfreda Morse, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, speaks in front of the Presbyterian Church on Main Street. Judy Hipes, center, and DeAnn Diermyer are holding the cross.
There will be Good Friday services this evening at 7:30 at the Medina United Methodist Church and 7:30 at the Knowlesville United Methodist Church.
On Easter, there will be a sunrise service at Boxwood Cemetery at 6:30 a.m. and at 7 a.m. at the Millville Cemetery.
ALBION – The state Department of Labor is offering more resources to Orleans County, which is among the 10 counties in New York with the highest unemployment rates.
Those 10 counties are part of an “Unemployment Strikeforce” that will offer more job training assistance and tax credits for businesses that add employees. Those incentives helped bring down unemployment in the Bronx, and that success has prompted Gov. Cuomo and the state to expand the program to 10 counties.
Orleans is the only one in the Finger Lakes Region. Other “Strikeforce” counties include the Bronx, Jefferson, Lewis, Kings, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Montgomery, Franklin and Steuben.
“Our department is focused like a laser on Orleans County,” Joe Hamm, DOL regional director, told the Orleans County Legislature. “The focus will be to connect people to work and drive down the (unemployment) rate.”
Eligible businesses could receive tax credits for up to $7,900 per employee they hire, with a cap of $100,000 in incentives per business.
Hamm said there will be funding for classroom and apprenticeship training for residents looking to improve their job skills.
The state has made $5.4 million available to help businesses in the 10 counties with training so they are hire formerly unemployed individuals.
“Access to a well-trained workforce is critical for the private sector to grow and create jobs,” Governor Cuomo said in February, when he announced the expanded program for the 10 counties. “With this funding, we’re encouraging businesses in some of the most economically distressed parts of the state to invest in their workforce and help formerly unemployed New Yorkers get back to work. This is another way that we’re working to increase employment and bring new opportunities to communities across New York State.”
This $5.4 million is available to businesses looking to expand their workforce and can be used for On-the-Job, Apprenticeship or Customized training, depending on the individual needs of the employer. The Governor’s Unemployment Strikeforce has staff who will work with all interested parties to develop programs best suited to their business and secure all funding and other incentives for which that business is eligible.
Orleans County’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in February, above the state average of 6.4 percent and the national average of 5.8 percent.
For more information on the “Strikeforce,” visit labor.ny.gov.
