MEDINA – The Village Board opened its meeting on Monday by observing a moment of silence for Marcia Tuohey, a former village mayor who died on Thursday at age 84.

“She was a longstanding mayor and county legislator,” Mayor Andrew Meier said at the meeting. “She was a real trailblazer in our county and village.”

Tuohey joined the Village Board in 1979 after a successful career as general manager and part owner of Lakewood Village Mobile Home Park. She was once part-owner of the Orchard Manor Nursing Home and also co-owned residential housing and commercial properties.

“Our prayers go out to her family in this time of loss,” Meier said.

Calling hours will be Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bates & Tuttle Funeral Home, 226 Pearl St. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity Parish/St. Mary’s R.C. Church.

Editorial:

Marcia Tuohey

I saw two empty chairs next to Marcia Tuohey. It was July 28 and a good-sized crowd had turned out to watch a joint session of the Medina Village Board and the Ridgeway and Shelby town boards. The elected officials were there to discuss shared services and perhaps other ways to bring down the costs of local government.

Tuohey, a former Medina mayor and County Legislature chairwoman, had claimed a seat in the front row. She has attended many sessions over the past 18 months as the Village Board weighed the future of the community. She has shared her views at meetings, suggesting the Village Board trim more from its budget and also be “hard-nosed” with the two towns in negotiations, particularly seeking money for the ambulance service.

At that meeting two weeks ago, I started to sit down next to Tuohey but she told me not to. “Don’t sit next to me.” She flashed a little smile. I sat two seats away instead. That seemed good enough for her.

I’ve spent more time as an adult with Tuohey than with my own mother. I’ve always liked Marcia, even when she was telling me off. She didn’t hold back. She also could be nice. Sometimes during a break in the action at a Legislature meeting, she would come over and shoot the breeze with me. I’ve been to her house. Her late husband Carl joked he spent his retirement as his wife’s personal secretary. They kept up one of Medina’s grandest houses before downsizing a few years ago.

She liked the banter on boards and enjoyed behind-the-scenes politicking. I was impressed with her commanding presence as chairwoman. She knew the issues.

Tuohey died on Thursday at age 84. Some people might have known her as “The Hat Lady.” She was much more than a stylish dresser. When she represented the county with state officials and at regional events, the hats and her classy outfits stood out. But through her strength and determination, she made sure the county wasn’t forgotten. She wasn’t afraid of anybody.

She attended a three-hour Village Planning Board meeting two days before her death. Tuohey served on the board in an unpaid position. She’s the only former legislator I know of who returned to a village or town government role after serving in a county position. The Planning Board is about as thankless as it gets. She was happy to be a role player. She didn’t always need to be in charge.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Marcia Tuohey attended a July 17 retirement party for Paul Wagner. She appointed him as emergency management director 14 years ago.

Tuohey also represented the county on the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. She joined that board in 2006.

Richard Siebert remembers when Tuohey started on the WROTB board. Siebert represents Genesee County on the board. When Tuohey was Legislature chairwoman, she was outspoken against WROTB and the directors’ decision to buy the Batavia Downs race track in 1998. “Have they lost their minds?” Siebert recalled Tuohey being quoted in the newspapers.

The track has proved a big money-maker for OTB. The race track has about 800 video lottery terminals that resemble slot machines. The VLTs are carrying the corporation, more than making up for a downturn at the OTB parlors and losses with live racing.

At her first meeting on the board, Tuohey admitted she was wrong about the track in 1998.

“She told us we were right and it has been a great deal for everybody,” Siebert said.

Tuohey quickly earned the respect of the 17-member board, which included representatives from 15 counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo. Despite being from one of the smallest counties, she was elected by her peers on the board to be vice chairman of the board.

There was infighting on the board at times, and Tuohey didn’t back down.

“She would get in someone’s face if she didn’t agree with you,” Siebert said. “Everyone respected her. When she got done, you knew where she was coming from.”

Tuohey ran several business ventures before running for Medina Village Board in 1979. She was the co-owner and operator of a nursing home, motel and restaurant, mobile home park, and rental properties.

She ran for village trustee because she didn’t want Medina to spend $10 million for a new sewer plant. She was elected and Medina did a $3 million upgrade instead.

She was the first woman to serve as Medina mayor (from 1982 to 1990) and was the first woman elected to the County Legislature in 1990. She was chairwoman for 10 years, the longest tenure of any county leader.

She battled colorectal cancer about a decade ago but still pushed through big projects at the county, including renovations and an expansion of the county nursing home.

She set an example for all of us, a full life with family, business and public service. She didn’t let any obstacle – sickness, age, gender bias or the status quo – get in her way.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – The Medina Business Association and Village of Medina dedicated a new bike rack on Saturday at the Canal Basin.

This is the third apple-themed bike rack added to the downtown business district. The other two are on Main Street and have a different design.

This bike rack on Main Street was added late last month.

The Medina Business Association paid for new bike racks that were manufactured by students in the Orleans-Niagara BOCES welding class. F & H Metal Finishing in Medina painted the bike racks. The Medina Department of Public Works installed the bike racks that are designed to celebrate local heritage and give cyclists a place to tie up their bikes.

BOCES students created a stem and leaf for the top of the new apple-themed bike rack.

Photos by Sue Cook – Jena Hemphill gives out cheesecake samples at Celebrity Day Spa.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – The Medina Business Association began Sweets in Summer to offer a family-friendly option during summer to attract people to downtown Medina.

Many of the businesses served up sweets on Saturday and other organizations planned activities, including concerts, a history walk and other events.

“We’d been looking at some sort of summer event and making it family-friendly so people could bring their kids,” said Cindy Robinson, president of the MBA.

“People won’t even have to leave Medina today.”

The Medina Sandstone Society planned a tour in the afternoon focused on the interpretive panels throughout downtown Medina.

ellen j goods served up mini cupcakes.

Interesting and unexpected desserts were also offered at some locations. Apple Blossom Florist chose to offer cream puffs with edible flowers.

The Bread Basket co-owners Lori Brien and Lissa Stewart chose to serve handmade banana chocolate chip ice cream bread and birthday cake ice cream bread (pictured above).

In the evening, the canal basin hosted The Dave Viterna Group and the Creek Bend Band while The Park Grille served up hot dogs and sausages among other non-sweet items to give people a break from the sugar they’d eaten all day.

“We wanted to make it like a whole day event. You could spend the whole day here and shop, too,” said Robinson.

“We wanted to do something different other than Wine About Winter and Ale in Autumn, but it’s the same concept,” said Mary Lewis, owner of Creekside Floral.

“Instead of alcohol, we wanted to something more kid friendly. We sat down and just came up with a lot of ideas of what we could do.”

Lewis was one of the event organizers and also led the prize drawing for a basket of a dozen gift cards and items at local shops.

Event tickets could be shared. The ticket allowed for 24 tastings, but could be split between multiple people.

Multiple tastings of the same food could also be done at the same location allowing people to pick and choose which desserts they wanted to skip and which ones they wanted more of.

Businesses provided dessert tastings during the event, but also hoped to draw shoppers as well. They were allowed to choose what desserts they gave out which included cookies, ice cream, cakes and more.

Eighteen businesses participated including RG Lama Studios, The English Rose Tea Shoppe, The Bread Basket, Nice Farms, Meggie Moo’s, Ashlee’s Place, East Center Street Stop ‘n Shop, Case-Nic Cookies, ellen j goods, Creekside Floral, Celebrity Day Spa, Shirt Factory Cafe, My Cowboy Transportation, Della’s Chocolates, Rosenkrans, Apple Blossom Florist, ATB Staffing and Double Dips.

“It was a suggestion from one of our friends. She had found this recipe she wanted us to try because it seemed fun and easy,” Stewart said.

“We’re hoping with it being on a nice day and this is kind of a family activity, we’re hoping this turns out to be a good family activity. The concept is nice and inviting,” she added.

Dan Fuller punches tickets at Della’s Chocolates which offered peanut butter cups, milk chocolate minis and a new dark chocolate treat with a peanut caramel coconut center. The new treat is considered being added to the store based on positive response.

Susan Fuller, owner of Della’s Chocolates, was invited by the MBA to be one of the shops serving sweets.

Fuller had a hard time choosing which desserts to serve, so she chose to offer three options instead of just one.

“The MBA wondered what I thought of it because they’re trying to bring more activities to the town to bring more people in. I thought it sounded fun,” she said.

The Medina FFA students offered children a chance to play games in Rotary Park.

The games were designed by the students. A teacher helped to cut the shapes out of wood and then the students painted the designs on them.

The Medina FFA gave kids extra fun during the day. Michael Carson helps Faith Baker-Austin to score big in the chicken coop game.

To get the right shape, the students used a projector on the piece of wood and traced the outlines. They were first designed for use at a convention in May.

The students estimated they’d seen about 40 kids by the halfway point of the event.

Games included Black-Eyed Billy’s Crazy Eye Shootout, Milk Splat Madness, a chicken coop toss game and cornhole. Leis, sunglasses and pencils were given as prizes.

The final ticket sales for Sweets in Summer have not been calculated, but the estimate is between 100 to 200 were sold for the event.

“Our goal was 100 and we had tickets online at the MBA site, here at the English Rose Tea Shoppe and at Creekside Floral,” said Robinson.

The money went back to repaying the vendors for the cost of the desserts and any leftover money will be used toward future MBA endeavors, such as more bike racks and future events.