An Albion native has been picked for a key post in the White House, Rep. Louise Slaughter announced.
Don Sisson, 35, has worked for Slaughter the past 10 years. Slaughter is the ranking member of the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives. Sisson has worked for the Rules Committee since 2004 for both the Democratic and Republican sides, and most recently served as the committee’s Democratic deputy staff director.
In his new job he will be Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs.
Sisson hails from Albion. After graduating from SUNY Brockport, which is located in Congresswoman Slaughter’s congressional district, Sisson worked as a clerk for the Rules Committee and moved up in the ranks to chief clerk, director of legislative operations, legislative director, and now the deputy staff director.
He has been responsible for overseeing all the functions of the Rules Committee, including managing committee meetings for Democrats, coordinating vote recommendations for the congresswoman, and serving as the Democratic Floor Director.
“As someone who could always be counted on as a friend, as someone with extraordinarily gifted intelligence, as being able to work his way through the most dangerous Gordian knot, Don Sisson is a man for all seasons,” Rep. Slaughter said on the House Floor. “I wish him the very best of everything, but say to you without a doubt that the loss for our side, for our office, for our friends, is profound. But nonetheless, he’s going to go. I just want the White House to understand what a jewel they are getting.”
Provided photo – Rick Wartinger, manager of the Tops in Albion, agreed to have the store donate a fully prepared Thanksgiving dinner to residents at the Hospice of Orleans Martin-Linsen Residence.
Press Release, Hospice of Orleans
ALBION – Tops ran out of their 49-cents-a-pound sale turkeys this past week due to the storm closing the NYS Thruway, but that didn’t stop Rick Wartinger, manager of the Albion store, from committing a Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner to terminally ill patients at the Hospice of Orleans Martin-Linsen Residence.
For the second year in a row, Tops will donate a complete Thanksgiving Dinner so that residents at the Martin-Linsen Residence can celebrate Thanksgiving dinner in their “home away from home.”
Last year’s Thanksgiving dinner at the Residence was such a success that Hospice decided to once again ask Tops to contribute a heat-and-eat Thanksgiving Dinner. While patients enjoy nutritious meals prepared daily at the nearby Villages of Orleans Health & Rehabilitation Center, the meals are not cooked on site but warmed before serving.
Last year residents reported that the smell of freshly cooked turkey made it seem like a real traditional Thanksgiving even though they weren’t at home. When approached with the idea of providing that same Thanksgiving Day experience to current residents, Wartinger was enthusiastic in his support.
The fresh turkey dinner features a fully cooked Butterball bird, herb stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry orange relish and, of course, a pumpkin pie.
Hospice personnel will pick up the complimentary meal, valued at $74.99, around 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, warm it up for the recommended two hours, and serve the grateful residents. The smell of roasted turkey warming in the oven is sure to bring back happy memories and brighten the day of the residents and staff alike.
Thank you to Tops for making Thanksgiving possible for patients at the Martin-Linsen Residence so that they and their families can “live” Thanksgiving and not just “cook” it.
By Nola Goodrich-Kresse, Public Health Educator for the Orleans County Health Department
The Orleans County Health Department today is asking residents to give special thanks to their state and local “public health heroes” who protect the nation’s health throughout the year.
The Health Department is joining Research!America and its partners, which include the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the Society for Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Cancer Society and others for “Public Health Thank You Day 2014.”
The day honors all those unsung heroes whose duties although vastly spread in focus, have the same overarching goal of protecting the health of the public. Public health is all around us. Take the time to appreciate some examples including the clean water you drink, the street signs, signals and lights, access to health care, emergency response, and recycling and trash removal services.
These unsung heroes who protect the nation’s health throughout the year include our health inspectors, environmental health scientists, public health researchers, sanitation workers, medical investigators, outreach workers, doctors, nurses, emergency responders, public health administration and support staff and many, many more.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Sanitation workers are unsung heroes who help protect the community’s health.
Recent outbreaks have shown us that in spite of the challenges and risks, public health professionals continue to dedicate their time and energy to combat disease and maintain a healthy environment for Americans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and various institutions within our public health infrastructure have come together to address recent outbreaks, and public health professionals are tackling these threats head-on as they do with other health challenges on a daily basis.
We also want to take the time to wish you and your families a very healthy and Happy Thanksgiving season. We appreciate all the good things you do for our community.
The Orleans County Health Department will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and on Friday, Nov. 28. We will re-open on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, at 8 am. Have a great holiday!
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A Batavia man with a heroin addiction was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison today.
Jason Lang, 33, of Liberty Street in Batavia pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in the third degree during an August court appearance. He faced a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison. Orleans County Court Judge James Punch gave Lang 1 to 3 years.
Lang admitted to stealing two coffee machines and a blender from the Albion store on Nov. 20, 2013. Because he was banned from Wal-Mart, he was charged with burglary.
His attorney, Nathan Pace, said Lang was a law-abiding citizen with only a misdemeanor until he became addicted to heroin in 2012. Since then he has been arrested 19 times.
“Obviously for the future of his life he has to get this dealt with,” Pace said about the heroin addiction.
Lang faces additional charges in Genesee County. Judge Punch didn’t give him the maximum sentence because he said Lang is not a second felony offender.
The judge urged Lang to battle the drug addiction.
“You have to get a backbone and fight this or else you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail,” Punch said.
In other cases:
Freddie Taylor, 45, of Mount Read Boulevard in Rochester was sentenced to 1 ½ years in state prison, with a chance for attending the Willard Drug Treatment Center in Romulus. That center is a specialized state prison in Seneca County that treats drug-addicted convicts.
Taylor pleaded guilty to criminal possession of controlled substance in the fifth degree. He was arrested on April 1 on several drug charges. He admitted he had cocaine in Albion on Feb. 3.
Taylor has been receiving mental health and drug addiction services.
“You’ve been in a lot of programs but nothing has really worked to keep you from this stuff,” Punch said. “I hope you can get this straightened out because I think you have some potential.”
An Albion man pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and could be sentenced to up to a year in the county jail on March 2.
James J. Bartosik, 46, of Albion was charged with felony DWI on Sept. 12 in the village. He has a prior DWI.
A high wind warning is in effect from 1 to 4 p.m. this afternoon for Orleans and other counties, including Niagara, Monroe, Genesee, Wyoming and northern Erie.
The National Weather Service says there will be southwest winds from 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 mph.
“Winds of this magnitude could bring down some trees and power lines, resulting in scattered power outages,” the Weather Service said.
The melting snow in the Buffalo area has saturated the ground, making easier for trees to topple, the Weather Service said.
A power outage in areas with heavy snow melts could result in flooded basements because sump pumps wouldn’t otherwise work unless there is an emergency generator power supply.
LYNDONVILLE – The sun came out at about 4 p.m. after a rain and a giant double rainbow soon followed.
Several Orleans Hub readers sent us photos of the rainbow, including the top photo by Jason Smith, Lyndonville Central School superintendent. That picture shows the flag pole by the school district.
Smith also took this photo of the rainbow stretched high over the community, including the church steeples.
Ralph Smith was by the Lake Ontario shoreline in Yates when he took this picture of the double rainbow at about 4:10 p.m.
Dena Bradshaw-Scribner sent in this photo of the rainbow, arcing over the DPW garage in Lyndonville.
Village Clerk Teri Woodworth sent in this photo taken outside the Village Hall.
George Snell was out in the country in Waterport and took this photo of a rainbow over a fruit orchard.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Our Sandstone Heritage
Photos by Tom Rivers
The Richmond Memorial Library opened in April 1889 on Ross Street in Batavia. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The building features outstanding stone carvings, including this face.
BATAVIA – The initial design for the Richmond Memorial Library wasn’t good enough for Mary Richmond, wife of the late Dean Richmond. In 1887, she announced a plan to pay for a new public library in Batavia as a memorial to her son, Dean Richmond Jr.
She offered to pay $9,000 for the project. After seeing the design, she wanted more for the community and upped the contribution to $24,000. The new library opened in April 1889. Richmond spared no expense in what many consider one of Batavia’s finest public buildings.
The site utilizes gray Medina sandstone and red sandstone from Albion. It was built in a Richardson Romanesque style, with rounded windows and arches.
Dean Richmond made a fortune in the railroad industry. When he died his estate was valued at $1.5 million. His wife, known for her charity and business acumen, expanded the value of the Richmond estate to $6 million.
Her husband was an advocate for the public education system. The new library was donated to the school district and utilized leading architects and the finest building materials around.
The stone workers created this elaborate and ornamental sign out of stone. The library name is entwined in a leafy vine.
Henry H. Richardson designed several libraries in the Boston area. The Batavia library emulates the style of many of the Richardson libraries. Richardson also was a big fan of Medina sandstone, using it in the State Capitol building in Albany and the Richardson Olmsted Complex, originally the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
For more on the history of the Batavia library, click here.
The faces carved in stone have endured 125 years since the library opened in 1889.
Orleans Hub in June featured another public library made of Medina sandstone. The James Prendergast Library has been an iconic structure in the city of Jamestown since it opened in 1891, two years after the Richmond Memorial Library in Batavia.
Here is a picture of the Jamestown library, which also has many Romanesque features with arches and rounded windows.
Photos by Tom Rivers
Fierce winds are whipping across Orleans County and Western New York, including by the Orleans County Courthouse and County Clerks Building (pictured above). The National Weather Service said WNY can expect strong winds between 5 and 8 p.m.
“As winds increase the potential for damage will also increase with some trees and powerlines likely coming down,” the Weather Service said in a statement at 4:53 p.m. “Power outages may result in slow travel through this evening as traffic signals are knocked out.”
The Weather Service said motorists should treat traffic signals that are not functioning as a 4-way stop. That is the law, the Weather Service said.
This photo is looking from the courthouse lawn in Albion towards Christ Episcopal Church, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the First Baptist Church.
MEDINA – Julie Fenton, center, is again hosting her Between the Vines Home Show. She has organized the event for 17 years, including the past 10 years on Porter Road.
She is pictured with helpers, her son Lawson Fenton and Ally Uberty, in the new cash-out center added this year. There are more than 40 vendors at this year’s show and each one also arranges to work a day at the show.
Julie Fenton’s garage on Porter Road is transformed each year for the Between the Vines Home Show. The event continues today from noon to 4 p.m. Fenton also added Monday to the schedule from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Due to the snowstorm keeping some of her regular out-of-area customers away (some from as far away as Pennsylvania), Fenton said she is staying open the additional day.
Holiday decor items are for sale at Between the Vines.
Abigail Wilkinson, front, is pictured with her mom Jennifer Wilkinson (who is also a vendor) in back from Attica. They are joined by Laura Witkowski and baby Ryan of Batavia and Kimberly Fasano of Elba.
Lots of holiday decor is available at the show.
When these ladies came through the door of the cash-out area, they said, “It’s like coming off a ride at Disney” because there were many more items for sale to look through. “It just goes on and on,” they laughed. Pictured are Stacey Pollack, left, and Kim Miller from Newfane.
You can even purchase reindeer antlers (handmade , of course!).
After December 25, we hope!
Between the Vines is also supporting “Boxes for Troops.” Donations of personal items or cash towards shipping the boxes are being accepted at the home show. All donations are entered into a drawing for a light up wooden reindeer. Names and addresses of soldiers are requested. Please message Julie on her Facebook page (click here).
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Holley site gets new life with extensive renovations
Photos by Tom Rivers – This building used to have a wooden exterior when it was Tagg’s Tavern. The wood was removed to reveal cast iron columns in front. Dan and Monica Seeler needed to rebuild walls, paint them and make numerous other improvements for one of the most prominent buildings in Holley. The site will have an awning when it is expected to open as a restaurant and bar in the spring.
The Holley Falls Bar and Grill is awaiting cosmetic work inside. Otherwise, the extensive remodeling is mostly complete. The restaurant will have room to seat 60 people with another 20 spots in the bar.
HOLLEY – Dan and Monica Seeler have been asked if they are crazy for taking on perhaps the most ambitious renovation and transformation project in Holley’s recent history.
The couple moved from Hamlin to Holley seven years ago. They see a lot of potential in Holley, a close-knit small town with a collection of historic commercial and public buildings around the Public Square.
The former Tagg’s Tavern had been vacant for several years when the Seelers bought it four years ago. They envisioned the Holley Falls Bar and Grill in the tavern, with high-end apartments upstairs and in a neighboring site, a former barbershop. (The Holley Falls are located down Frisbee Terrace, a short walk from the restaurant.)
The restaurant gives a view of the Public Square, including a former church that is now a residential site. “We have given it new life,” Dan Seeler said about the building.
It would take a major transformation to pull off the transformation. The Seelers have three of the apartments ready with two more to go. The bar and grill is down to the cosmetics. That business should open in the spring.
The Seelers have won the respect from many in the community for their commitment to excellence, and for what people see as a draw to the community, a business that could pull in customers for other merchants.
“It will be an asset to the village,” said Jonathan Ross, owner of Jonathan’s Pastry at 23 Public Square, two storefronts down from the Seelers. “It will build up the value of Holley.”
Dan Seeler stands in one of the apartments above the Holley Falls Bar and Grill. There are three apartments, ranging from 900 to 1,100 square feet, above the restaurant.
Ross said the village has benefitted from another recent major remodel: the Save-A-Lot in the former Jubilee. The Seelers’ project adds to that movement in the business district.
“It’s all about the traffic flow,” Ross said about the business district. “(The new restaurant) should bring other people from outside Holley.”
The Seelers have been working on the transformation at Tagg’s for three years. It hasn’t been easy. They were approved for $130,000 in matching grant through the NY Main Street program. They won’t get that money until the project is done.
They actually were approved for two grants with $80,000 towards the former Tagg’s and $50,000 for the extensive remodeling of the former barbershop building. They needed to wait for state approvals before doing most of the work.
The Seelers put up this new building, which includes their office, two apartments and the kitchen for the restaurant. The previous structure collapsed following the brutal winter.
Last winter’s punishing cold proved the final blow for the barbershop building. When the Seelers prepared to work on the site early this summer, the building collapsed.
They removed the debris and have built a new structure. However, instead of $50,000 in grant money for the project they will only get $17,000 because the historic building is gone. They had intended to just do interior renovations of the building, not construct a new site.
The Seelers were out $33,000 in grant funds and also had to spend more on the project with a new building. Mr. Seeler was sad to see the old structure go. He prides himself in bringing back sites that have been long neglected. But the building proved too far gone.
Dan Seeler heads into one of the new apartments above the future Holley Falls Bar and Grill. The entrance to the apartments is in an elevated courtyard.
Tagg’s was nearly at the point of no return, he said.
“This building was on its last legs,” he said.
He has repaired masonry walls, replaced floors and strengthened the structure. When he took off the wooden exterior, he discovered the orginal cast iron columns for the façade. They have been spiffed up and now are proudly part of the building’s look.
Seeler, 57, has worked in the commercial construction business for 40 years. A carpenter by trade, he has led the renovation effort at the Tagg’s site with help from his two sons, Jesse and Sean. Mrs. Seeler will run the steak and seafood restaurant.
The Seelers have worked on four other projects in the community in addition to the Tagg’s transformation.
“We like the small-town atmosphere here,” Seeler said. “We could have a mini Brockport here.”
The Seelers are grateful to be in the home stretch of the project. Three of the apartments should be available next month. Seeler created a courtyard for the three upper apartments. Tagg’s and the barbershop building used to have roofs that touched. But Seeler left some room between the roofs, allowing for the courtyard up high as well as the entrances to the apartments.
The interior of the Seeler apartments features lots of woodwork and existing light.
Seeler put in many windows to utilize natural light. The apartments give a birds eye view of the Public Square. Seeler has been spending his Saturday mornings giving tours of the apartments and restaurant space to interested community members. He loves their reaction to the apartments.
“Everybody I talk to has the hubbubs about it,” Seeler said. “People are excited.”
Most Holley residents remember the site as a notorious bar and rooming house. Now, Seeler believes the site has a urban apartment feel with a bar and grill that will be a major positive for Holley and Orleans County.
“I’ve tried to use my knowledge from the years and years of building with this project,” Seeler said. “We’ve given it new life.”
Seeler has two more apartments under construction, including this one which will be 1,300 square feet on the second floor. “It has a great view and a personality of its own.”
