By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin shared photos of people dressed in Halloween costumes, with some pictures dating back a nearly century, during a presentation Saturday at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.
The top photo shows a group of Albion residents dressed as hobos in 1943 and includes, from left: Sanford B. Church, Albert Mason, Ruth Mason and Dr. John Jackson.
About 100 people attended “Halloween is Going to Hell: From Saints to Spooks.” The event, which traced Halloween’s sacred roots to its modern day pagan holiday, was a fundraiser for the restoration efforts at the Pullman Church, 10 East Bank St.
Lattin is working on a book to be released for Halloween 2015 that will include photos of people in costume as well as stories of pranks. He is seeking photos and stories from before 2000. Proceeds from that book will go to the church restoration.
Father George Heyman also spoke at the event. He is pictured with some of the 19th Century prints on display of saints. Lattin is sharing the Victorian images for an exhibit that will be on display inside the church until Valentine’s Day.
Heyman has been a priest in the Diocese of Rochester for 33 years. He was an associate professor of Biblical studies at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Pittsford. He was recently named new president of St. Bernard’s School.
The event also included Rich Della Costa playing the piano, Harriette Greaser on the Johnson pipe organ and Al Capurso and his son Dan playing their guitars.
Two of the attendees at the event look over some of the prints of saints.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
FANCHER – Tonight is the time when we turn our clocks back an hour. That means an extra hour of sleep. It also means it will be dark out sooner in late afternoon beginning on Sunday.
Officially, the clock change comes at 2 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters say tonight is a good time to make sure the batteries are fresh in smoke alarms.
The photo above shows the clock on the “Fancher Curve” along Route 31 between Albion and Holley.
In August 1949, the Fancher community gathered to dedicate a monument on the triangle along the Route 31. The memorial honors 10 soldiers from the Fancher community who died in World War II.
The monument includes a plaque noting the ultimate sacrifice by John Christopher, Joseph Christopher, Cosmo Coccitti, John Kettle, Jr., Leonard Licursi, Martin Licursi, Richard Merritt, Camille Nenni, Floyd Valentine and Richard Vendetta.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2014 at 12:00 am
Students learn skills to use with Common Core tests
Photos by Tom Rivers – Students have questions for High School Principal Dan Monacelli, who portrayed “Forgetful Frank” in Friday’s mystery where students tried to determine who robbed the Pig E. Bank.
ALBION – Middle school students are told, over and over again, to gather evidence when they are in class. They will need facts to support their arguments when they take tests.
They need to observe, have deductive reasoning and make a compelling case in their writing.
On Friday, students in sixth through eighth grade put those skills to the test. They needed to solve a robbery at Pig E. Bank, a middle school mystery that had students moving throughout the school, interviewing suspects and witnesses.
Middle school staff left clues throughout the building that either pointed to certain suspects or exonerated them from the crime.
“We’re teaching them to reach in and find evidence and clues,” said High School Principal Dan Monacelli. He also portrayed “Forgetful Frank,” one of the suspects in the crime. (He couldn’t remember where he was at the time of the robbery.)
The exercise on Friday began with a video that introduced students to the seven suspects in the crime, Monacelli and six teachers.
Kami Feder, the middle school art teacher, portrays “Talking Tessa” in Friday’s exercise where students gathered clues to solve a mystery at school, an exercise to teach students to gather evidence and use deductive reasoning in their writing assignments. Talking Tessa enjoys talking and texting people, and also likes to share tons of useless trivia.
Students were given clues about the suspect after they solved problems. For example, they were given a formula that said length of a person’s foot is approximately 15 percent of his or her height.
They were given a foot size of the suspect and they could calculate the person was about 60 inches or five feet tall. They discovered symbols and matched them with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Those symbols suggested the word, “Pretty.”
Students carried notebooks and made stops through the hallways. They asked questions, trying to get information from the suspects and witnesses about the crime.
“We’re trying to get them to have fun while using their head,” Monacelli said. “The whole idea is citing evidence in the text when writing.”
Eighth-grader Kate Krieger, center, portrays “Miss Uh-huh,” a witness to the robbery.
Friday’s exercise was intended to help students learn the tactics needed to perform well on the Common Core tests. Monacelli believes having students get out and physically hunt for clues and build evidence will help them when they are taking the tests at a desk.
“It’s just like taking the ELA test,” said Liz Marquette, a science teacher and new teacher mentor coordinator. “You need to support your findings with evidence.”
Students used clues to narrow the list of suspects. Ultimately, the evidence pointed to “Pretty Penelope,” who is math teacher Jennifer Rowe.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 November 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Albion Village Board members are sounding an alarm about the village’s financial picture. The village’s reserves are down to $226,000 after the board applied $300,000 to the 2014-15 budget.
The village shouldn’t take more from its reserves so it has a cushion in case of an emergency expense, Trustee Eileen Banker said.
Without $300,000 to use from reserve funds the next budget, the village needs to cut expenses or find new revenues – or a combination of both – to stave off a big tax increase next spring.
The Village Board typically starts the budget process in January with the spending plan getting approved in late April. The village fiscal year runs from June 1 to May 31.
But the difficult financial situation is prompting an earlier start.
Village trustees met this morning and didn’t see any easy options for maintaining services and the tax rate.
“We’re at the 11th hour,” Trustee Banker told fellow board members.
The village’s 2014-15 budget totaled $6.5 million. The village takes in about $2.5 million in property taxes. The board trimmed the tax levy by $10,283 in the current budget. But the village’s overall taxable value dropped by $2.7 million. The loss in tax base resulted in the tax rate increasing from $16.86 to $17.48 per $1,000 of assessed property.
Trustees this morning spoke of the despair in trimming the tax levy, but still seeing the tax rate rise. The next budget the village won’t have a big reserve to use to help knock down taxes.
Trustee Pete Sidari would like to push for more state aid. He noted the disparity in aid compared to villages and cities, a sharp contrast highlighting several times by Orleans Hub. Banker, who works as chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley, said it could take years to get the state to address that disparity, which won’t help the village in the short-term.
She thinks Gov. Cuomo is depriving the villages of aid to force them to dissolve.
“He is trying to drive the villages out of business,” she said.
The village could also seek an increase in the county sales tax formula. The county has frozen the overall share to towns and villages at 2001 levels – $1,366,671 to be shared among four villages and 10 towns. The county keeps about $13 million in sales tax. (The four villages’ share has dropped with the towns getting more because of the falling assessments in the villages.)
Trustee Gary Katsanis wants to see the village pursue more sales tax and state aid, and also find ways to reduce the village costs.
“Everything should be on the table,” Sidari said.
However, he doesn’t want to reduce public safety.
Trustee Stan Farone said the unions should be brought to the table and employees should be willing to make concessions in benefits to help the village stave off a big tax increase.
Sidari bemoaned how many costs seemed to be passed down to villages from other governments. Those governments are largely leaving the village to provide many services – police, streets, cemetery, water and sewer – while providing little to no aid for the services.
“They need to see that we’re all in the same life boat, and if we sink, everybody could sink,” Sidari said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by David Rotoli
ALBION – A black bear created a stir on Route 31 on Thursday afternoon when it crossed the road heading north, about a half mile east of Riches Corners Road.
David Rotoli and his wife Shari just happened to be driving by at about 5:30. They and other motorists pulled over to take pictures.
“It meandered across the road,” Mrs. Rotoli said. “It was awesome.”
There have been numerous bear sightings in the county this year, but this may be the closest to the village.
People should be cautious if they see the bear. A bear isn’t expected to attack, but if it feels cornered or threatened, it could be aggressive, said Tom Roster, manager of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.
ALBION – Orleans Hub put a call out for photos of workplaces dressed up for Halloween. Claims Recovery Financial Services in Albion sent in these two.
In the top photo, this group is dressed up in characters from Toy Story, including Jennifer Farrington as Jessie the Cowgirl, Linda Coots as Woody, Jasmine Mosele as Buzz Lightyear, and Amanda Clemons as Mrs. Potato Head.
In this picture, Corina DeFilipps is Garth Algar, Candace Hackenberg is Wayne Campbell, Barb Wroblewski is a nerd, and Hannah Kneeppel is Abby Scuito.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Becky Karls, director for Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home, presents a check for $1,100 today to Patty Leight, an administrative assistant for Hospice of Orleans.
Karls organized a car show on Sept. 28 with classic cars, food and raffle tickets. The event topped the $1,000 raised a year ago in the debut car show.
“Next year we’ll shoot for even more,” Karls said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The 10 painted benches on Albion’s Main Street have moved inside for the cold weather months. They will be back out in the spring with two new benches.
The benches have been moved indoors at Five Star Bank, Hoag Library and the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce.
The photo above at Five Star shows a cobblestone themed bench by Arthur Barnes and one of Grace Bedell and Abraham Lincoln by Peter Loran. Bedell is the Albion girl who wrote a letter to Lincoln, urging him to grow a beard. He took her advice.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Village adds $50 out-of-district surcharge
MEDINA – It will cost more to be transported in Medina ambulance and calls outside western Orleans County will soon be assessed a $50 out-of-district surcharge.
The Village Board approved raising the mileage rate for ambulance transports from $20 to $30. Medina had been on the low end for mileage rates and is now in the middle of the pack, Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich told the Village Board.
“We’re still at a respectable level,” he said.
The Fire Department has seen its calls increase outside its contract area – the Village of Medina and towns of Shelby, Yates and Ridgeway. Zinkievich said the Medina ambulance responds to calls in Albion and central Orleans, and Genesee and Niagara counties. Some ambulance squads will include surcharges for up to $100 for out-of-district work.
Zinkievich said $100 may be too high to start with. He suggested $50 and the Village Board agreed.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Editorial
Courtesy of Joseph Cardone – This rendering shows how the Medina Theatre and a neighboring warehouse could be transformed into a hotel and conference center on Main Street next to the railroad tracks.
MEDINA – A report from a consultant says a hotel could make money and be sustainable in Medina. That’s the good news for our county, which loses out on longer stays from visitors. Orleans County actually ranks dead last among the 62 counties in the state for visitor spending.
Many of our visitors are day-trippers, who make a drive out and then head back, often choosing to stay in hotels in Batavia. That deprives Orleans County and our businesses of the full economic impact of these guests.
The Orleans Economic Development Agency has been working to see if a hotel is sustainable in the county. The EDA hired Interim Hospitality Consultants to do a feasibility study for a new hotel in Medina. The firm, led by Edward Xanders, concluded a small hotel with 41 to 49 rooms would be profitable with at least an average daily occupancy rate of 60 percent.
That’s the good news.
The EDA has warmed up to a new chain, Cobblestone Inn and Suites, for the project that will need local investors. The EDA has land on Route 31A across from GCC in an industrial park. That spot would be prime for the project, EDA officials said during a board meeting on Oct. 10.
A chain motel might be an ideal fit for a community with not much of an entity, or for a Thruway stop. But it seems a poor choice for a place like Medina, which is seeing a rebound in its historic business district because it feels anti-chain with a distinctive collection of buildings and merchants. Visitors like Medina’s sense of place. It feels like a Norman Rockwell painting.
I think the chain model on the edge of town is the worst choice for the project and I hope local investors will steer the hotel to the downtown area. If investors go with the chain model it could find a home in the historic district, so more businesses could benefit from the visitors who would no doubt like to go for a walk in the downtown and along the canal, rather than by cornfields on 31A.
If the investors decide to follow the Cobblestone chain model, it seems to me the large parking lot across from the Post Office and next to the R.H. Newell building would work for the project, putting it right in the heart of the downtown.
If that spot isn’t quite right, the Snappy manufacturing site on Commercial Street along the canal might be the best choice. The investors could acquire the property, which is for sale, demolish it and put up the chain hotel. The visitors would be next to the historic Erie Canal, a lift bridge and lots of independent merchants.
I thought those might be the best options for a downtown location, but then Joe Cardone met with the Medina Business Association and presented renderings of hotel and conference center on Main Street. The Cardone family has owned the historic Medina theatre for decades and upgraded the site last year, opening it for events.
Photo by Tom Rivers – This warehouse could be converted into a hotel, giving Medina a distinctive place for visitors to stay in a historic district.
It is part of a block of big Medina sandstone buildings, including a giant warehouse along the railroad tracks. Cardone said the site is beyond shovel ready. It’s “hammer ready,” he told the Business Association.
Cardone envisions a shared entryway between the two buildings. He believes the conference center and hotel would drive traffic for each other, and other downtown businesses.
“They would be demand generators,” he said. “The conference center would help with the success and occupancy of the hotel.”
Those dominant Medina sandstone buildings would give the community a one-of-a-kind hotel and conference center that is sure to make a stronger impression on visitors than a cookie-cutter chain hotel. Cardone said the warehouse, owned by the Fuller family, is a 20,000-square-foot four-story site that could be carved up into hotel rooms.
“I have a keen interest in what’s best for the village and this would be a wonderful asset,” Cardone told the Orleans Hub. “There would be a big ripple effect for businesses. It merits looking into.”
There is an existing large parking lot behind the buildings and there is also room to expand.
The sandstone buildings happen to be in a state and national historic district, making renovations eligible for 40 percent in tax credits. Developers have used those credits to push through renovations of hotels at historic sites in Buffalo.
A project at the Cardone and Fuller buildings would use existing structures, solid buildings that can’t be duplicated by today’s build-it-in-a-hurry chain stores. And the 40 percent in tax credits is a major financial incentive.
Let’s say it cost $4 million to turn the Cardone and Fuller sites into a first-class hotel and conference center (I don’t think there are any cost estimates yet), the tax credits would turn that into a $2.4 million project. If it’s a $5 million project, the tax credits would make it $3 million. An $8 million project would be $4.8 million.
A chain hotel isn’t eligible for those tax benefits.
The reduced costs through tax credits is a major reason why the developers have been renovating some of the grand old buildings in Buffalo. And those projects have been a big part of the renaissance in Buffalo. It could do the same for Medina.
