Press release, National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter
HOLLEY – The National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter has named Elissa Rowley of Holley this year’s recipient of the “Young Person On the Move” award.
In 2012, Rowley interned for four months with the National MS Society. As an intern, she was able form a support group in Canandaigua for people living with MS and their caregivers. She sought to learn more about multiple sclerosis while also making a difference in the community.
“When I was offered the internship position, I felt like it happened for a reason,” explains Rowley. “My father-in-law, John, lived with Primary Progressive MS for more than six years, but this disease was still a mystery to me, and the internship provided me the opportunity to learn about the disease while impacting the lives of people affected by MS.”
Today, Rowley continues to play an active role as an advocate for MS Awareness. She has led an MS Service Day team for the past two years, and she plans to continue volunteering with the Upstate New York Chapter.
Rowley will be honored at the chapter’s fourth annual On the Move Luncheon at noon on March 7 at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford. The networking luncheon, held during MS Awareness Week, shines a spotlight on some of the area’s MS movement luminaries – people who are on the move to create a world free of multiple sclerosis, a disabling disease of the central nervous system that affects more than 2,800 people in the Greater Rochester area and more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
Rowley is one of eleven award recipients to be honored in six categories. For more information on National MS Society Upstate New York Chapter, click here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Theresa Nichols
ALBION – An Albion woman was sentenced to 3½ years in state prison today for selling hydrocodone and other prescription narcotics. She and her two sons were arrested on Oct. 1 and accused of selling drugs in Albion.
Theresa S. Nichols, 51, of 209 North Main St. apologized in court before she was sentenced.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” she told County Judge James Punch. “I know I was wrong.”
Nichols on Dec. 9 pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. She faced up to four years in state prison.
Her attorney, Michael O’Keefe of Medina, asked for probation for Nichols. He said she has been taken AA classes in jail and has a place to live on Countyline Road with her fiance.
Punch said Nichols has been on probation before and it didn’t stop her from committing crimes. He insisted on state prison.
“You’ve been profiting from the sale of this poison in our community,” Punch said.
Nichols has a prior criminal history. She was on social services and disability. She was selling prescription narcotics to supplement her income, O’Keefe said in a previous court appearance.
She has been in county jail for about six months on $25,000 bail.
Her two sons also face numerous counts of criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. The sons, along with their mother, were allegedly selling hydrocodone and tramadol pills, which were prescribed to the mother.
David Nichols, 28, was sentenced to three years in state prison on Feb. 10. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.
Joshua Nichols, 26, also faces charges of selling prescription narcotics. His case is pending in court.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 February 2014 at 12:00 am
“It’s what we all want and dream of, to have 60 years of committed love.” – TV producer for German television station
Photos by Tom Rivers – Ed and Floreen Hale’s son Ricky Hale and Floreen’s sister Marleen DeCarlo of Albion hold a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Hale on their 50th anniversary.
It’s been a whirlwind week for the family of Ed and Floreen Hale. News media from around the world have published articles and photos about the Hales’ 60-year marriage and their death a day apart.
This afternoon a television crew interviewed them in Batavia. That story will be published in Germany and several European countries.
The couple’s daughter Renee Hirsch says it is a privilege to share the story about her parents. But Hirsch and her family didn’t expect an article that first appeared in the Orleans Hub a week ago to become a world-wide phenomenon.
“We’ve been blown away by it,” she said this afternoon during a filming break.
Producers for RTL, a German television station, interview Renee Hirsch today in her parents’ home. Hirsch, the daughter of Ed and Floreen Hale of Batavia, holds some of her mother’s collectibles. Mrs. Hale loved the color red.
After appearing on the Orleans Hub, the article was on The Batavian. On Monday, WGRZ in Buffalo did a story. It quickly caught on with The Daily Mail in London doing a story that had 61,000 shares on the site, and more than 500 comments.
“This has been a big story in the UK,” said the TV producer for the German news organization RTL. “It resonates beyond religion and countries. It goes beyond culture. It’s what we all wish and dream for, to have 60 years of committed love and to die together naturally.”
The TV producer asked not to give her name, saying she preferred to be in the background for her features.
“Women dream of men who will love and cherish us, who will clean the car off for us,” she said. “This is very much a global story.”
She was joined in Batavia by Srdjan Stojiljkovic, a videographer. He said Mr. Hale’s devotion to his wife, including in their final days, has touched many hearts around the world.
“It’s beautiful,” Stojiljkovic said.
Orleans Hub has shared photos of the Hales with The Daily Mail, The New York Daily News, and other news organizations in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Germany and Brazil. Most organizations that published the story used the photos without asking permission.
Traffic from the story crashed our server on Friday. We made an upgrade after being offline for a several hours.
The articles have detailed the Batavia couple’s 60 years of marriage and their death a day apart of natural causes while in the same hospital home. The couple had two children, Renee Hirsch and Ricky Hale of East Bethany.
Mrs. Hale loved to have family over in her Batavia home designed by her husband, who was an engineer. Mrs. Hale decorated many of the rooms in red, her favorite color. She had a lot of spunk, said her sister Marleen DeCarlo of Albion.
“We witnessed every day the love they had for each other,” DeCarlo said today.
Provided photo – Floreen and Edward Hale married in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Albion on May 12, 1953.
“When you walked into their house you didn’t want to leave because of the warmth inside.”
Mr. Hale delighted in bringing his wife gifts and treats. He made sure the car was warmed up and brushed off during the winter. He never had an angry response, said the couple’s son, Ricky Hale.
“He was mild mannered with a lot of patience,” Hale said today. He is stunned by the world-wide intrigue in his parents.
Mr. Hale, 83, was at a different hospital 35 miles away in Rochester before his health rebounded enough for him to travel by ambulance to join his wife in Batavia at United Memorial Medical Center on Feb. 6. He was at Unity Hospital so he could get his dialysis treatments.
Mrs. Hale, an Albion native, lost her first husband in a car accident after they were married for only three months. She told Mr. Hale he could not leave her, ever. She didn’t want to live without him.
Mr. Hale was near death at Unity Hospital in early February. He had been mumbling and seemed incoherent. But at 4 in the morning on Feb. 6 he declared he needed to see his wife. His family, officials from the two hospitals and two hospice organizations, all worked to get Mr. Hale to see his wife, who was also clinging to life in Batavia at United Memorial Medical Center. He was cleared for the trip and was taken by Monroe Ambulance.
He joined his wife in the hospital room where 20 to 30 family members surrounded them. It was a blessing for the family to be together, and not splitting time at two bedside vigils.
Provided photo – Ed Hale and his wife Floreen comfort each other after being reunited at United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia on Feb. 6.
The couple held hands while they lay dying. The family shared a picture of the Mr. and Mrs. Hale in the hospital room. The picture has brought many people to tears around the world, according to comments posted on the news sites.
“They died holding hands,” DeCarlo said. “Everyone says that they have been touched by the story.”
The family initially reached out to the Orleans Hub, wanting to publicly thank the hospitals, two hospice organizations, an ambulance squad and a social worker who helped the Hales to be together in the their final days.
But the story became much more than that.
“We knew it was a magical moment and we wanted to share it,” said DeCarlo’s daughter Lisa Giattino of Albion.
The family recalled words by Mr. Hale on Feb. 2, the day of the Super Bowl. Mr. Hale had been incoherent and heavily medicated. At one point he told his family, “I’m going to be in headlines.”
Provided photos – Medina’s Varsity Guard performs “Dance of the Dolls” on Saturday during a competition at Medina.
Press release, Medina Marching Band
MEDINA – The Medina Mustang Band and its Boosters on Saturday hosted the Winterguard Colorburst 2014 show, the first time Medina has hosted a Winterguard show since 2008.
Medina’s Pony Guard performs “Roar” during a Winterguard show on Saturday at Medina.
The event involved 15 colorguard units from Western NY and Canada performing in exhibition or competition.
Medina’s Pony Guard performed their show “Roar” in exhibition. This year’s group consists of 34 students in grades 5 and 6 who will hopefully serve as training and recruiting for the varsity guard.
Medina’s Varsity Guard was the only competitor in the Scholastic A (SA) class and scored 72.82. Their show, “Dance of the Dolls,” highlights the gymnastic abilities of the girls.
The 1st place winners in each of the classes are:
GCP (Gates Chili Patriots) in Cadet class, 57.45; Ventures in RA (Regional A), 73.48; Gates in A1, 62.59; Lakeside in SR, 51.97; Medina in Scholastic A (scholastic A), 72.82; and Ventures in 1A, 78.58. Webster’s Drumline completed the show with an unscored performance.
Overall the guard show was a success with approximately 350 people attending. Medina is dedicating its 2014 season to Lisa Marie Husung who passed away at age 23 on Jan. 2, 2014 following a hard fought battle with Lupus. Lisa graduated from Medina in 2008 and had participated in Winterguard and Colorguard for five years.
Provided photos – The Fredonia Trombone Choir performs Saturday in Medina at a concert attended by about 200 people.
Press release, Orleans Renaissance Group
MEDINA – Under the direction of retired BPO principal trombonist, Carl Mazzio, the 24-horn SUNY Fredonia Trombone Choir wowed a crowd Saturday evening in St. Mary’s Church.
Concert-goers were thrilled with the performance and offered an extended standing ovation at the concert’s end.
The trombone choir performed several classical and pops pieces. The concert included Holy Trinity Music Director and Principal Organist Aaron Grabowski on the church’s Barckhoff pipe organ.
About 200 people attended the event. Director Mazzio praised the Orleans Renaissance Group for organizing the concert. Mazzio also praised the beauty of the venue and the hospitality in coming to Medina for the second time. The ensemble performed at St. Mary’s previously in 2012.
Many attendees made their first trip to Medina. They traveled from Amherst, Clarence, Elma and other suburbs.
The next concert in the ORG series features an evening of Irish music with East Rochester’s Róisín Dubh on March 8 at St. Mary’s Church.
BARRE – The melting snow and ice flooded Pine Hill Road in Barre today. Barre firefighters were on the scene pumping water so the road could be reopened.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for Orleans and several other Western New York counties. That is in effect from 9 a.m. today until 7 this evening. There will be southwest winds from 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 mph, according to the Weather Service.
Besides being windy in Orleans County, there is a lot of standing water after some of the snow and ice melted in recent days.
The photo above shows a fire hydrant along Route 98 in Albion, in front of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church.
The freezing temperatures will be back next week. The highs from Monday through Wednesday are forecast to be about 20 degrees.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Derrick Bradley, wearing a skunk costume, joins local residents as they respond to protestors who oppose the annual ‘Squirrel Slam’ fundraiser in Holley.
Edita Birnkrant, director of Friends of Animals in New York, gathers with fellow protestors at Thomas Street and Public Square in Holley.
The Orleans County chapter of SCOPE (Shooters Committee On Political Education) is also in Holley today distributing buttons.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Hunters walk towards the Holley fire hall with squirrels to be weighed as part of today’s “Squirrel Slam” hunting contest.
HOLLEY – While a small group of protestors stood outside, shivering in the cold and holding signs against a squirrel hunting contest, the Holley fire hall was filled with more than 400 hunters.
They had been out hunting earlier in the day, shooting squirrels. Individuals and teams with the heaviest squirrels won prizes. It’s a tradition Friends of Animals wants to see outlawed.
Friends for the second year targeted the Holley event, questioning why a fire department, with a mission of saving lives, would organize a fundraiser that welcomed participants 12 and older to kill squirrels.
There were fewer than a dozen protestors against the Squirrel Slam at Public Square during a 4:30 to 6 p.m. protest. Edita Birnkrant, director of Friends of Animals in New York, made the trip from New York City. Her organization is against all hunting, but is speficially pushing legislation that would ban wildlife killing contests.
There were fewer than a dozen protestors from Friends of Animals in Holley today for the Squirrel Slam. They group is trying to raise public awareness about its efforts to make wildlife hunting contests illegal as fund-raisers. The group had a designated spot in front of the Holley Hotel where they stood with signs.
Jeanne O’Dell of Pavilion stood with the Friends of Animals, holding a sign. She said it was her first protest.
“Some people might say it’s only squirrels, but it’s still violence,” said O’Dell, 54.
O’Dell said she is an animal advocate. Two years ago she adopted a rescued pit bull. She doesn’t like the Squirrel Slam, partly because it welcomes children to shoot guns.
Holley resident Kerri Neale talked with the protestors while he walked around with a boot, seeking donations for the Holley Fire Department. Neale went out hunting squirrels with a friend earlier in the day. Neale said he shot three. He thinks the push by Friends and some downstate legislators shows a culture clash between upstate and New York City.
“Our cultures are different,” he said. “I can’t tell them want to do with their culture.”
The Holley Police Department designated spots for protestors. Supporters of the Friends of Animals were by the Holley Hotel at left while hunting enthusiasts were across the street at right in back. Another group holding SCOPE (Shooters Committee On Political Education) also protested at right by the former Tagg’s Tavern. That group opposes the SAFE Act, a gun control measure approved by the governor and State Legislature in January 2013.
Neale and Birnkrant exchanged words. Neale told her some Holley residents hunt to supplement their groceries. He noted it is a poor area, something he told Birnkrant well-to-do people in New York City may not realize.
Birnkrant acknowledged there is a disconnect between NYC and upstate. She told Neale she questions why people would want to put guns in the hands of children, which she said desensitizes them to violence and killing.
“Your culture sickens me,” she told Neale.
She complained to him for coming in the protestors’ designated space by the Holley Hotel, saying things to provoke the group. She told him none of the Friends of Animals walked across the street to provoke demonstrators in support of hunting, the Second Amendment and the Holley Fire Department.
Neale said he supports the right to protest, including by the Friends of Animals, although he said the group’s mission is “misguided.”
He said the Squirrel Slam embraced “skillful hunting, not torturing animals.”
Kerri Neale, a Holley resident who hunted squirrels on Saturday, talks with Edita Birnkrant, director of Friends of Animals in New York, during Saturday’s demonstration. Neale, right, solicited donations for the Holley Fire Department. He said he collected about $100 for the Fire Department, including individual cash donations from some of the Friends of Animals representatives.
In talking with Birnkrant, he stressed she and many of the Friends supporters were from New York City.
Birnkrant said the city pays more than its share in taxes, keeping the state going.
“Without New York City, Western New York would fall into Lake Ontario,” Birnkrant told Neale.
She had another exchange with Dan Shuler of Barre. Shuler walked towards her and told her squirrels are just like rats, which are common in NYC.
While they talked, hunters walked by with squirrels on a string. One shouted to Birnkrant that squirrels are “yummy.”
Shuler encouraged Birnkrant to go back to New York City. In front of a Holley police officer, she told Shuler, “I’m a New Yorker. We provide all the funds for your [expletive] little town.”
She turned around and walked away. Shuler was standing there with a young boy. Shuler asked if others heard what he heard. He was surprised Birnkrant would swear in front of a kid, a police officer (and a reporter).
Birnkrant earlier in the day presented Police Chief William Murphy with names from 5,500 people around the world in an online petition, calling on Holley to cease the Squirrel Slam.
Animal rights advocates were also in Brockport earlier in the day, protesting the slam.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Department says it receives overwhelming support for event
Photos by Tom Rivers – A big crowd of hunters and supporters of the Holley Fire Department gathered for food, a raffle and the results of today’s Squirrel Slam fund-raiser, a hunting contest with prizes for the heaviest squirrels shot.
HOLLEY – The Squirrel Slam will likely continue next year, but it may have a new name: “The Squirrel Hunt.”
Holley Fire Department officials said the name for the hunting contest – Squirrel Slam – may feed some of the controversy and protests for the event.
“We might change the name,” said Fran Gaylord, Holley FD president. “That might help with the PR.”
Gaylord said the department feels much more support for holding the hunting contest than criticism. The participation level jumped from about 250 two years ago to 950 last year, when the event was first targeted by protestors from Friends of Animals.
The crowd was too big to fit in the fire hall last year for a post-hunt meal, raffles and prizes. This year the department capped it at 650 and it quickly sold out without any advertisement.
“There has been some backlash, but we’ve had a lot of members of our community who are very supportive,” said Fire Chief Peter Hendrickson.
A year ago Holley Fire Department leaders didn’t know what to expect after the Squirrel Slam was put in the bull’s eye of protestors. The department was told 3,000 protestors could be in town for the Squirrel Slam.
Hendrickson received 4,500 emails urging him to cancel the squirrel hunting contest. He received many anonymous threats, he said.
The contest became a media spectacle, drawing national and international attention. Friends of Animals did show, about 20 of them a year ago.
Gaylord said the department isn’t ruffled by all the media attention or the protestors.
“We work well under stress,” he said.
He walked out of the fire hall to size up the protestors, and shrugged his shoulders.
The Holley Fire Department sells tickets for a gun and other prizes inside the fire hall this evening.
“What is there, 8 or 9 protestors?” he said.
Friends of Animals made a late push to attend today’s Squirrel Slam. The group wasn’t sure it was even happening. The Fire Department didn’t advertise it on its web site, with flyers or advertisements. Instead, it spread by word of mouth and was a sell-out with 650 tickets.
“We didn’t want to engage with them this year,” Hendrickson said about the protestors. “We appreciate their position and their protest. It’s their right.”
The department also doesn’t have a problem with supporting a hunting contest as a fund-raiser. Friends of Animals wants to make wildlife killing contests illegal in the state.
“We’re not trying to obstinate, or to (tick) anybody off,” Gaylord said. “We’re not trying to say we’re better than anybody. People have a right to hunt.”
About 200 of the ticket buyers for the Squirrel Slam didn’t participate in the hunting contest today, choosing to buy tickets in support of the department.
Last year, the department’s phone rang off the hook for a week leading up to the Squirrel Slam. Gaylord and Hendrickson said the department might have got 10 calls about the event in the past week.
The fire hall was filled with about 400 hunters after the contest. The event generates about $6,500 in revenue for the department, which clears about $4,000 after it pays for prizes, food and helps with the security costs for the event.
“We have no plans not to do it again next year,” Gaylord said. “Other fire departments have thanked us for standing our ground. Other departments have gun raffles.”
ALBION – In this photo circa 1900 we see John H. Howard’s coal yard, which was located on North Clinton Street and the Erie Canal in Albion.
Pictured at left is a hack which would have taken people from the R.R. Depot to various places in town. This taxi service was a sideline business for John Howard.
Another team of horses is hitched to a coal wagon just coming out of the scale house. Coal was delivered to this site from boats plying the canal.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Matt Ballard and Sarah Karas will share workload
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Cobblestone Society Museum includes several buildings on Route 104 and Route 98 in the Childs hamlet, including this Universalist Church that was built in 1834, the oldest cobblestone church in North America.
GAINES – Two Albion residents with a love for history have been hired as co-directors of the Cobblestone Society Museum, a National Historic Landmark in the Gaines hamlet of Childs.
Matthew Ballard and Sarah Karas will share the workload in managing the museum, which opens on Mother’s Day and closes on Columbus Day weekend.
The museum director job is high demand in the spring, summer and fall with the activity slowing during the winter.
Ballard and Karas both work as librarians. Ballard is library supervisor for Hilbert College in Hamburg. Karas works as a reference librarian at Genesee Community College. Both Ballard and Karas impressed museum board members during the interview process, said Susan Rudnicky, president of the museum board of directors.
“Both have their strengths – and their strengths are not the same as each other’s,” Rudnicky said. “We wanted so many skills to run the museum that it would probably have been impossible to get them all in one person. By selecting Matt and Sarah both, we are getting a larger selection of those skills than by just taking one of them.”
Karas brings a teaching background to the museum while Ballard has been focused on research and history.
By sharing the workload, the two can both keep their other jobs, Rudnicky said. They both started at the museum last week.
“They will be responsible for deciding who does which parts of the job, and ultimately their job titles will reflect those differences,” she said.
Karas graduated from the University at Buffalo in May 2012 with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Oneonta State College in May 2010 in Adolescent English Education. She has a state teaching certificate in English for grades 7-12 and in School Library for grades K-12.
She has volunteered at the museum for the past three years giving tours, organizing the book sale, cataloging historic books, and completing other tasks.
Ballard received a Bachelor of Science in History from Brockport State College in 2010, studying Colonial American and New York State history. In 2012, Ballard graduated from the University at Buffalo with a Master of Library Science. He focused on archival and records management.
For the past eight years, he has been active in the study of local history. He has served on the board of the Orleans County Genealogical Society and has contributed time with Orleans County Historical Association, the Cobblestone Society Museum, and with local preservation efforts.
He teaches genealogical research and has spoken at numerous events and programs throughout the tri-county area on local history subjects. He has developed a web site, www.albionpolonia.com, about the Polish-American community in Albion.
Rudnicky and the Cobblestone board believe the new directors will bring the museum to a new generation of users. The site is the only National Historic Landmark in Orleans County.
“Their combined skills will enable the museum to continue our mission into the future, and expand how we share museum treasures with the local and wider community,” Rudnicky said.
Photos by Sue Cook – Sixth-grader Layna Violario wows the crowd during a karaoke contest Friday night at Medina Lanes. She received an honorable mention at the end of the show by taking fourth place.
By Sue Cook, staff reporter
MEDINA – The seats were full for Friday night’s WNY Idol Karaoke Contest at Medina Lanes bowling alley. Contestants preregistered for the event for an opportunity to win cash prizes.
The DJ and judging for the contest were provided by Block Head 59 Music Entertainment. The first round included many eager singers putting their heart and soul into their singing.
Ron Lemke stands before the crowd singing an original song he wrote called “Always Remember I Love You” that he dedicated to Kamie Marcin who sat among the audience.
Once the first round was complete, eight contestants were selected for the second round based on criteria such as overall vocal talent and an ability to remember the words, as no screen was used and song lyrics were recalled from memory.
The final round was narrowed down to four singers. The grand prize of $300 was awarded to Rich Nolan with an energetic performance of Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl.”
Rich Nolan impresses the judges with his country-music singing.
All four contestants were praised by the judges who suggested that they each pursue their singing. The judges offered to help connect the singers with bands in the region.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Company is adding 35-40 jobs to Medina site
Photo by Tom Rivers – Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, discusses a plan for a 48,000-square-foot addition at Brunner with Town of Ridgeway Planning Board members, from left: Charles Pettit, Tom Fenton (chairman) and Richard Swan. The board will review the site plan again on March 5.
MEDINA – A company that has committed to a $15 million expansion in Medina wants to have the project ready for production of truck axles by Jan. 1, 2015.
Brunner International already employs 360 people at the corner of Bates Road and Route 31. The company will add 35 to 40 jobs as part of a 48,000-square-foot expansion to the south side of its current complex. The new building will go next to a 41,250-square-foot expansion about five years ago that added 50 jobs in Medina.
Brunner looked at Kentucky for the latest expansion, but picked Medina for the project. Gabrielle Barone, vice president of business development for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, said one of the selling points for Orleans County was the support of the local governments.
She asked the Ridgeway Town Planning Board to work hard to expediently approve the site plan.
“We want to make this as efficient as possible for them and give them more room,” Barone told the Town Planning Board on Wednesday.
Brunner and EDA will need to re-establish a wetland as part of the project. The company and EDA are working with the Army Corps of Engineers on that issue. A new access road will also be built and Barone said local governments will assist with that project.
Brad MacDoanld, Brunner vice president, told the Ridgeway Planning Board that the company expects to soon submit a formal site plan to the town.
“We’re making a significant investment in equipment and automation,” MacDonald told the Ridgeway planners. “We’re excited about it.”
The board will meet again at 7 p.m. on March 5 to discuss the site plan.
Planning Board member Charles Pettit praised MacDonald and the Brunner leaders for picking Medina for the expansion.
“It’s great to see cars in the parking lot and tractor trailers coming in and out of there,” Pettit said.
Brunner is based in Canada. The company is expanding the production of machined axle forgings that are sold to large, heavy-duty truck and trailer suppliers. It will utilize automation and add jobs as part of the expansion.
“It will put more people to work in the community,” said Planning Board Chairman Tom Fenton.
New York Power Authority in December announced it approved 2.4 megawatts of low-cost electricity for the project. The state also said it would provide a $750,000 incentive package under Empire State Development’s Excelsior Jobs Program.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 February 2014 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – New York Revolution, a group that formed about a year ago to promote Second Amendment rights, will not be demonstrating Saturday against the protestors of the Squirrel Slam fund-raiser for the Holley Fire Department, said Gia Arnold, a state-wide coordinator for the group.
NY Revolution instead will be holding a voter registration drive at the firehall, said Arnold, a Holley resident.
She issued this statement today after an Orleans Hub article on Wednesday said the group would be in Holley on Saturday.
“New York Revolution will not be demonstrating at the Holley Squirrel Slam,” Arnold said. “The Constitutional organization fully supports the protesters’ right to protest, as well as the fire department’s and hunters’ right to participate in the Squirrel Slam. The organization does plan on running a voter registration table inside of the Slam to promote the importance of voting to the local community as they have done in the past at other events.”
