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Historic recognition sought for Barge Canal

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Lift bridges, guard gates, waste weirs would get elevated historical status

Photos by Tom Rivers – The Eagle Harbor lift bridge is one of seven in Orleans County and one of 17 that remain from the canal’s widening from 1905 to 1918.

The Erie Canal gets a lot of attention from preservationists and heritage-minded New Yorkers. But the Barge Canal, which opened in 1918 as an enlarged and deeper Erie Canal, may soon get some recognition.

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor wants the Barge Canal to be recognized on the state and national registers of historic places. The New York State Board for Historic Preservation is scheduled to vote on the Barge Canal application on June 12.

“We want to elevate its importance,” said Jean Mackay, director of communications and outreach for the Corridor. “This would be another layer of recognition.”

The guard gates on the canal are 55 feet wide. This photo shows the gates in Albion, just east of the Gaines Basin Road bridge. These gates were built in 1913.

Congress in 2000 declared the canal as a National Heritage Corridor, one of 49 such areas in the country.

When the 363-mile-long waterway opened in 1825, it transformed Upstate New York into an economic powerhouse, raising the fortunes of canal towns such as Medina, Albion and Holley.

When railroads started to threaten the canal in the mid- to late-1800s, state officials moved to widen and deepen the canal. In 1918, after 13 years of construction, the Barge Canal was born, and many of the structures from that upgrade – lift bridges, single-truss bridges, guard gates, terminals and waste weirs – remain along the system today.

“There are a tremendous number of really interesting and historical sites along the canal corridor,” Mackay said.

This waste weir was constructed in 1910. It is used to drain water from the canal. The waste weir is located off State Street behind Community Action, west of Brown Street in Albion.

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor’s application is 267 pages long. It identifies 566 contributing structures along the canal that add to the historic significance of the barge system.

In Orleans County, the contributing structures include:

Murray – Bennetts Corners Road bridge from 1911; Holley Waste Weir built in 1914; Holley Embankment (the tallest on the system, rising 76 feet above the valley of the East Branch of Sandy Creek); East Avenue Lift Bridge constructed in 1911; Holley Terminal, constructed in 1915 as a 16-foot by 30-foot wood frame freight house;

Guard Gate that is west of North Main Street and constructed 1914; Telegraph Road Bridge built in 1911; Groth Road Bridge built in 1911; Hulberton Road Lift Bridge constructed 1913; Brockville Waste Weir east of Fancher Road Bridge, constructed 1911; Hindsburg Road Bridge constructed 1911; and Transit Road Bridge constructed 1911.

Albion – Densmore Road Bridge constructed in 1911; Keitel Road Bridge built in 1912; Butts Road Bridge constructed 1912; Brown Street Bridge from 1912 (includes a sidewalk); Albion Waste Weir off State Street behind Community Action, constructed in 1910; Ingersoll Street Lift Bridge from 1911; Main Street Lift Bridge from 1914;

Albion terminal and shops for Canal Corporation, built in 1917; Lattins Farm Road bridge from 1911; Guard Gates from 1913; Gaines Basin Road bridge from 1912; Eagle Harbor Waste Weir that includes three drain gates, built in 1912; Eagle Harbor Lift Bridge, built in 1910 with a wood frame tower; Allens Bridge Road Bridge built in 1909; and Presbyterian Road Bridge from 1909.

The Allens Bridge Road canal bridge was built in 1909 and is nearly 200 feet long.

Ridgeway – Knowlesville Lift Bridge from 1910 (During a 1975 rehabilitation, the tower was replaced by one-story brick control building on east side at south end of bridge.); Knowlesville Terminal, west of Knowlesville lift bridge, and built in 1910; Culvert Road (This is the only place where a road passes under a branch of the New York State Canal System. There has been a road culvert under the canal here 1823. Stone portals at either end of the enlarged Erie Canal culvert were dismantled and re-erected when it was extended to its current 200-foot length as part of Barge Canal construction, according to the Barge Canal application to the state.);

Beals Road Bridge from 1909; Bates Road Bridge constructed in 1914; Guard Gate, west of Bates Road bridge, and constructed in 1914; Pleasant Street/Horan Avenue Bridge built in 1914; Oak Orchard Creek Aqueduct, constructed in 1914. (The Oak Orchard Creek span is the only true aqueduct on the Barge Canal system. The structure consists of a concrete arch over Oak Orchard Creek at the head of Medina Falls with concrete walls on either side of the channel.)

Medina Terminal, a 24- by 70-foot frame freight house constructed in 1916; Eagle Street/Glenwood Avenue Bridge, constructed 1914; Prospect Avenue/ Route 63 Lift Bridge, built in 1914; Marshall Road Bridge from 1909; and a Guard Gate near Middleport, from 1913.

In this photo from Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin, crews work on the retaining walls at the Canal Basin in Medina on April 3, 1914.

Barre voters resoundingly reject new fire hall

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Referendum to borrow $1.4M goes down, 249-114

Photo by Tom Rivers – Barre firefighters wait after 9 tonight at the Barre fire hall for the results of today’s referendum, seeking permission to borrow up to $1.4 million for a new fire hall.

BARRE – Town residents overwhelming voted down a proposition today that would have authorized the Barre Fire District to borrow up to $1.4 million towards a new fire hall.

The proposal was soundly rejected, 249 to 114.

“That number scared people,” Barry Flansburg, the Fire District treasurer, said about the $1.4 million.

Barre firefighters took the vote in stride.

“I was expecting it to be a lot closer, but we’re still going to be here,” said Nic Elliott, 21. “We’ll still get on the trucks and we’ll have guys who will risk their lives for the town.”

The Fire District wants to leave the existing hall, which was built as an addition in 1961 to a schoolhouse. The building’s truck bays and space are small, forcing some fire trucks to be specially built at a higher cost, fire officials said.

Elliott, a firefighter the past three years, said firefighters don’t have adequate space to train. One of the fire vehicles, a pickup brush truck, is parked out back in an unheated pole barn.

Flansburg said firefighters need to work harder at educating the public about the shortcomings of the existing building, and the financial implications of staying in the current site that needs a new roof and other repairs.

“This vote was to build a new building or fix an old dilapidated one,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t about building a Taj Mahal. It was about making something functional for the firefighters.”

The building is owned by the Barre Fire Company. President Karl Driesel said the board will soon meet to discuss the existing building and what needs to be done in the short-term.

The fire commissioners for the Fire District will meet Tuesday to discuss their next steps.

The Fire District already budgeted a $50,000 increase for 2014. Flansburg said misinformation may have swayed the vote about borrowing the money for a new fire hall. He heard from people who thought there was another tax increase, when that money was already set aside for 2014 and wouldn’t go up again as part of a 30-year loan.

“I think it’s great that we had this many people turn out,” Flansburg said. “We can do it again, but maybe next time we need to do a better job of letting people know the facts.”

Students plant squash that will be donated to food kitchens

Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Provided photos – Albion FFA member Elizabeth Bentley works with students in Mrs. Perry’s third grade class to plant their squash seeds on Monday at the school’s Land Lab along Clarendon Road.

By Sara Millspaugh, Albion FFA president

ALBION – FFA members and all of the third grade classes went out to the Land Lab to plant the squash. This was a great opportunity to get some of the younger kids of the school district involved in bettering the community.

Each class came out one by one to plant their squash on Monday afternoon. Each student planted two squash seeds per hole and got to put seeds in two different holes, totaling four seeds per student.

While they were out in the field they learned all about the process of germination and the care of plants. This was a new experience for some of the students who had never planted before. Everyone was very excited to be involved.

Now we just have to wait for fall, when we will bring the fourth graders, which are the current third graders, out to harvest the squash they planted.

We will then take the squash and donate it to local food kitchens in Orleans County. The students are only in third grade and are already taking actions to better our community. Imagine what they will be able to do when they get to high school.

2 get jail for crimes in Orleans

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

ALBION – A Medina resident was sentenced to a year in jail for driving while intoxicated and a Bronx man will spend 30 days in jail for marijuana possession.

Both were sentenced on Monday by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch.

Richard Klaver, 53, of Catherine Street in Medina pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and violation of Probation. He was sentenced to a year in jail. Klaver faced a maximum of up to four years in state prison.

Calvin Bennett, 37, of the Bronx was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years Probation when he is released. Bennett was charged with first-degree criminal possession of marijuana in February. He was stopped in Clarendon and allegedly possessed 450 pounds of marijuana with Roderick Johnson, 29, of Rochester.

Bennett was reportedly a “small player” in the marijuana possession, but Punch said Bennett is still culpable. The judge allowed Bennett to keep his driver’s license because he works as a taxi cab driver in New York City.

In other cases in County Court:

A Medina man rejected a plea offer and will face a trial beginning Aug. 20. Stacy Bryan, 23, of West Avenue has been charged with three counts of both criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, as well as third-degree welfare fraud.

Bryan allegedly sold dextroamphetamine on three occasions. He profited from the sales and didn’t report the income while collecting welfare benefits, the district attorney’s office said.

An Albion man pleaded guilty to criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree. The charge against Samuel Remley, 20, will be dismissed if he can complete Drug Court.

Remley was charged in February with one count of criminal sale of marijuana in the third degree and one count of criminal possession of a marijuana in the fifth degree. Remley didn’t actually sell marijuana, but drove a friend to McDonalds in Albion, where the friend made the sale. Remley didn’t receive any of that money, but he was charged because he assisted in the transaction by driving his friend.

If Remley cannot complete Drug Court, he could face up to a year in jail.

A 19-year-old Albion man pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in the third degree and could face up to four years in state prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 11.

Hayden K. Ettinger of East Academy Street admitted he broke into Robinson’s Redemption Center in Albion on Aug. 21.

The sentence for the Albion crime will be concurrent or at the same time as the sentence Ettinger receives in Genesee County Court. Ettinger has been charged with an October burglary in Oakfield on Lockport Road. In that case he was charged with third-degree burglary and unlawful possession of marijuana.

DA adds charges against pastor accused of sex abuse against children

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

ALBION – The district attorney added new charges Monday against a pastor who used to lead a Lyndonville congregation.

Roy Harriger, 70, already faced three counts of incest and coarse sexual conduct. District Attorney Joe Cardone added three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Harriger was arraigned on Monday afternoon in Orleans County Court by Judge James Punch.

The new charges won’t increase the maximum sentence for Harriger. He appeared in court with his attorney Larry Koss. Harriger pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The new indictment with the additional charges resets the court calendar for Harriger. He is scheduled to next appear in court on June 23 for a conference with motions to be filed by July 7 and then argued in court on July 21.

Harriger, the pastor of the Community Fellowship Church in the town of Hartland, was charged in November with three counts of coarse sexual contact in the first degree and three counts of incest. He faces a maximum of 25 years in state prison.

In the arraignment on Monday, Judge Punch kept the same conditions on Harriger, ordering him to stay away from church and any other locations where there are children 18 or younger. Harriger also remains free on $250,000 bail.

The alleged crimes by Harriger occurred against three family members between September 2000 and September 2001, when he was pastor of the Ashwood Wesleyan Church in Lyndonville.

Orchard Manor workers say management delaying union

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – Nine months after employees approved unionization at Orchard Manor, the union has yet to be recognized and workers say the 160-bed facility continues to be short-staffed without needed investments in equipment.

Orchard Manor management has filed challenges with the National Labor Relations Board, contesting the union’s election.

The NLRB thus far has sided with employees with Orchard Manor’s challenges. The site’s owner, OMOP LLC from New York City, was ordered to give back pay after one worker was suspended and OMOP was required to give back pay and reinstate the jobs for two employees who were terminated during the push to unionize last year.

Two current employees say the latest NLRB challenges are a “stall tactic.”

Employees want a union so it has bargaining power to push for updated equipment, and adequate staff and supplies for resident care, said Chris Penna, a licensed practical nurse.

She said OMOP “is trying to bust our union.” She wants the company to withdraw its NLRB objections so the union will be certified and given a say in the 160-bed nursing home’s operation.

“We want to work as a team with management,” Penna said. “We want to work with them for the residents.”

Orchard Manor administrator Dave Denny did not respond to a phone call seeking a comment.

OMOP purchased Orchard Manor from Medina Memorial Hospital last year. The new owner plans renovations and a marketing push for the site on Bates Road, Penna said.

She would like to see OMOP also invest in its 110 employees, as well as needed equipment and supplies.

“Our main goal is we want resident care to be first,” said Pam Frasier, a certified nursing assistant. “These residents are like our family. They deserve to have a full staff there.”

The two employees said the workforce has been trimmed under the new owner.

“We want to attract good employees, and a fair contract would attract good employees,” Frasier said.

Couple, in Victorian style, expresses grief in 19th Century

Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

The couple in this picture from around 1870 are dressed in full mourning attire. They are dressed in black, the woman most noticeably because of the mourning veil and huge black ribbon under her chin.

On the back of this photo is found: “P.J. Mathewson, Photographer, Marble Front, Medina, N.Y. – Duplicates may be had at any time without further sitting.” Marble Front was a block to the east side of Main Street.

No doubt a close relative of this couple died for whom they were expressing their grief in true Victorian style. It could have been a parent, sibling or perhaps a child.

Some new signs in Albion business district

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Claims Recovery Financial Services put up this new monument sign today by Route 31. CRFS moved into the former JP Morgan Chase site in January and has more than 600 employees working out of the site.

The Uptown Browsery opened in downtown Albion on Feb. 15. The business includes many vendors selling collectibles, vintage gifts, antiques and other items.

Last month the storefront got this new sign at 118 North Main St.

Albion woman loses 100-plus pounds with lifestyle change

Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Sue Cook – Sheila Lemcke and her dog, Molly, go to the canal for a jog.

By Sue Cook, Staff Reporter

ALBION – In October 2010, Sheila Lemcke decided it was time to make a change in her life.

Her daughter Keira had been born in April that year and had been diagnosed with hypotonia, which is low muscle tone. Lemcke decided that caring for her child meant improving herself as well.

Lemcke started her journey at 228 pounds, her heaviest weight. She began Weight Watchers with a coworker and tracked all of her food intake.

“Even if it was just an M&M, I wrote it down just so I had an idea of what I was eating,” Lemcke said.

Working with her husband Kevin, she measured food out to always know exactly how much she was putting in her body.

“Through all of that, I actually didn’t cut anything out,” said Lemcke. “It’s just that it was all in moderation.”

“We worked through it and made up our own meals plans and just stuck to it,” said Kevin.

Provided photo – Sheila Lemcke in May 2010 holding her 1-month-old daughter, Keira.

After five months, Lemcke decided she was comfortable enough to stop tracking what she ate and still continued to lose weight. On August 25, 2012, she reached a 100-pound loss. Later, she lost another 14. She currently maintains her weight in the range of 114 to 118 pounds.

“Along with the change in my diet and stuff like that, I started doing Leslie Sansone At Home walking discs. She does walking videos and the beat of the music will send you for a mile or two miles. It really works all of the muscle groups. I started off just doing a mile. That was tough at times, but I kept going.”

When she reached the 5-mile walking videos, the program offered something called “boosted walking,” which is similar to running in place.

Lemcke commented, “I’m like, well this is interesting, I kind of like this. I laughed at myself because I always said that I will never be a runner. I will never run. Here I am doing this video saying I kind of like this.”

A week before the 2012 Strawberry Festival, Lemcke decided she wanted to be a runner after all. Her husband supported her fully and encouraged her to do it. Lemcke decided to run for Keira because of her hypotonia and Kevin because he is a brain-cancer survivor.

Lemcke called ahead for approval to bring her dog Molly, an American bulldog, since she is a frequent running companion. Together, they finished the 5-kilometer race in 31 minutes, 23 seconds.

Lemcke ran three more 5k races that year. In 2013, she finished eight more races including a 10k. That year she placed in the top 3 in six of those races. She finished the Strawberry Festival race that year as 1st-place woman in her age group. In April 2014, she ran her first half-marathon and finished in 1 hour, 59 minutes.

“It’s amazing,” her husband said. “She did a lot of hard work. It paid off. I’m very proud of her. She worked really hard.”

Provided photo – Lemcke completes her first half-marathon.

Her advice for anyone trying make a similar weight-loss journey is that it definitely has to be something you want to do for yourself.

“It was for my daughter because I knew I needed to change myself so that I could be here for her and be a strong role model for her. To show her that no matter what difficulties she was going to face, that it can be done,” she said.

“I guess I just want to tell people, that it can be done and to not get frustrated if the scale does go up a little bit, but is has to be something that you want to do for yourself. It really has to be something that you want to do in the long term,” she added.

Lemcke has been part of a group in the Run for God program at the Albion Free Methodist Church. The group starts 12 weeks before the Strawberry Festival. They begin easier with a walk-run program and work up to harder runs and faster times. The group offers devotionals, as well as running advice and tips.

“A lot of it comes from my faith in the Lord. In 2013, was my first time doing the Run for God program and I am doing it this year also,” Lemcke added. “I don’t think if I didn’t have my faith in the Lord and my husband that I would have gotten through it. It would have been so easy to just go back to my old eating habits.”

Lemcke has been training for this year’s Strawberry Festival race as well, but thinks her time will be slower because of training for the half-marathon. She was training for the endurance of a long run instead of speed.

To run (or walk) in the Strawberry Festival on June 14, check the race website by clicking here.

Grandmother in Ridgeway escapes serious injury when ATV flips over

Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Press release, Orleans Count Sheriff Scott Hess

RIDGEWAY – A 57-year-old old woman escaped serious injury and her 3-year-old grandson was not injured following an ATV accident Sunday night in the town of Ridgeway.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. on private property in the 10300 block of Mill Road.

Debra R. Miller, 57, was operating the all-terrain vehicle on her own property. Her grandson was also on board when she rode up an incline near the residence and the machine flipped over backwards. The child was thrown clear while Miller was pinned underneath. Neither was wearing a helmet at the time.

Miller was flown by Mercy Flight helicopter to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, where she was treated and released.

The incident was investigated by Deputy J.W. Halstead. Ridgeway firefighters and Medina Fire Department ambulance personnel also assisted at the scene.

Stairway to Heaven gets a repair

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The sandstone steps in front of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church were pulled out last week and base for the steps is being re-established and cleaned by Morris Masonry in Buffalo.

Keith Trimmer of Morris Masonry puts mortar on the steps earlier today. The steps shifted over the years and were deteriorating. They are being reset. Trimmer said it looked like they were last reset about 40 years ago. One sandstone step is being replaced with another long block of sandstone.

Morris Masonry specializes on historical projects. St. Joe’s Church was built in 1896 and is included on the National Register of Historic Places.

The project with the steps should be complete next week, Trimmer said.

Albion health care site opens today for Urgent Care

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A healthcare site that opened in November 2012 is now an Urgent Care center. Orleans Community Health’s Albion location at the corner of Butts Road and Route 31 has its first day today as an Urgent Care location.

With the shift to Urgent Care, the healthcare site will be open seven days a week with later weekday hours. Staff will provide non life-threatening care such as X-rays, stitches, lab services for blood and urine, bandages and some other treatments, including care for strep throat and lacerations.

The site is now open on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The urgent care services will ease the demands at hospital emergency departments and provide quicker care for the Albion and eastern Orleans community, said Bill Gajewski, the site administrator.

Knowlesville used to have its own high school

Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

KNOWLESVILLE – In this post card from around 1910 we see the Knowlesville High School.

This two-story building with a four-story tower was built in 1887. It was used for educational purposes until 1956 when it was centralized into the Medina system.

However, years prior to this high school students were either shifted to Albion or Medina. This brick structure remains today for residential uses.

Albion honors teachers and staff

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 June 2014 at 12:00 am

CSE chairwoman named ‘Educator of the Year’

Photos by Tom Rivers – Margy Brown, president of the Albion Board of Education, congratulates Paula Shipe, left, on her retirement after 22 years as secretary in the middle school.

ALBION – The school district honored teachers and staff for milestone anniversaries, impending retirements and for attaining tenure during a reception before the Board of Education meeting this evening.

The district also named its “Educator of the Year” and the honor this year goes to Jessica Beal.

She worked as a special education teacher for 11 years for Albion before being promoted to chairwoman of the Committee on Special Education this school year.

She assists about 200 students in grades K through 12, working with teachers, parents and students to identify students’ needs to attain academic success.

“A lot of people can see when a kid isn’t getting it, but the question is why aren’t they getting it?” said Michael Bonnewell, the district’s superintendent. “She is very good at diagnosing a child’s needs and then designing supports to help them succeed.”

Jessica Beal, chairwoman of the district’s Committee on Special Education, was named the district’s ‘Educator of the Year.’

Beal praised a supportive district that she said is very student-focused. Some students may only need short-term assistance, perhaps for speech. Others may need an out-of-district placement, although Albion tries to keep students within the district when possible, school officials said.

Beal was nominated by several of her teaching colleagues for the educator award.

“Jessica is always thoroughly prepared, organized, sensitive and effective in addressing the multiple needs of students, parents, programs and our district,” one teacher said in nominating Beal.

Margy Brown, the BOE president, said Beal has earned a reputation for being professional, articulate and passionate. Albion students have a strong advocate in Beal, Brown said.

The district also recognized the following retiring teachers and staff: Debbie Karas after 32 years as a teacher in the elementary, Sally Grimm after 22 years as a math teacher in the middle school, Patrick Holman after 33 ½ years as middle school science teacher, Paula Shipe after 22 years year as secretary in the middle school, and Maura Pierce after 28 years with the district as an English teacher and in several administrative roles.

The district also recognized Kevin Doherty for his 12 years of volunteer service on the Board of Education.

The following were recognized for attaining tenure: Greta Bohn, a speech pathologist in the elementary school; and Della Morales, a media specialist in the high school.

The following were recognized for 10 years of service: Janie Bentley, Patrick Brawn, Kelli Ciliberto, Kathryn Fischer, Duncan Hughes, Jay Kovaleski, Kim Nesbitt, Chad Owen, Val Pettit, Kristin Roche and Margaret Swan.

Sally Grimm, a middle school math teacher, receives a book that will be put in the library in her name. Middle School Principal Dan Monacelli, right, said Grimm has been a distinguished teacher, devoted to her students.

The following were honored for 15 years of service: Keith Akers, Jennifer Ashbery, Bonnie Baldwin, Carmen Rose Brittan, Lisa Burlison, Theresa Christopher, Deborah Jones, Lizabeth Krenning, Peggy Lemcke, Jeremy Petrus, David Plewinski, Jeff Radder, Debbie Schomske and Gloria Short.

Four people were honored for 20 years of service: Kelly Kovaleski, Kym Metz, Greg Martillotta and Paula Shipe.

Two teachers reached the 25-year milestone: Judy Azzolino and Janet Husung.

Four teachers were recognized for 30 years of service: Annette Pearl, Mark VanDerKarr, Nancy Wickman and Debra Wood.

82nd Airborne says Medina native was “extraordinary” paratrooper

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 June 2014 at 12:00 am

Schmigel

FORT BRAGG, N.C. The 82nd Airborne in Fort Bragg has issued a news release about the death of Medina native Sgt. Shaina B. Schmigel, a paratrooper who died during a T-11 airborne training exercise at Holland Drop Zone on Friday.

The cause of death is currently under investigation, the 82^nd Division said today.

“All of the Paratroopers in the brigade are deeply saddened by the loss of an extraordinary and much-respected member of our team,” said Lt. Col. Albert Paquin, commander of the 2nd BCT. “Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this time of great loss. Our chaplains and our health care professionals are available to help comfort and support all of her fellow Paratroopers affected by this tragedy.”

Schmigel joined the Army in Aug. 2010. She completed Basic Training at Fort Jackson, S.C., Advanced Individual Training at Fort Huachuca, Az. and Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga., according to the news release. She reported to the 82nd Airborne Division where she was assigned to 2nd BCT in June 2011.

Schmigel is a 2010 Medina High School graduate. She moved from Batavia to Medina about six years ago. She was a cheerleader at Medina.

As a paratrooper in the Army, she deployed to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn from July to November 2011.

Her awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Parachutist Badge.

The Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel in Batavia will be handling funeral arrangements.