KENDALL – A Rochester man escaped serious injury last night after crashing the all-terrain vehicle he was operating in the Town of Kendall.
The incident was reported to Orleans County 9-1-1 shortly after 7 p.m. Philip J. McLaren, 24, had been operating the ATV across open land east of the 1800 block of Kendall Road (State Route 237).
McLaren, who was not familiar with the area, came upon a drainage ditch and made a sharp turn to avoid it. In doing so he lost control of the ATV, which then overturned. He was ejected.
McLaren was not wearing a protective helmet at the time of the incident. He was flown by MercyFlight helicopter to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he was treated and later discharged.
The incident was investigated by Deputy J.J. Cole. Kendall Fire and EMS personnel also assisted at the scene.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
RIDGEWAY – The Moon is bright tonight and seems to be dancing in the sky.
I was driving back to Albion from the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery on Ridge Road in Medina when I pulled over by the Bates Road Cemetery in Ridgeway to get a few photos.
We have three nice sunny days coming up with a high forecast at 56 degrees on Friday, followed by a high of 54 on Saturday and 59 on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Charlie Nesbitt, the honorary chairman for the United Way fund drive, announces a $325,000 goal with Marsha Rivers, executive director for the United Way. Penny Nice, president of Orleans County Adult Learning Services, is pictured at right. OCALS receives funding through United Way.
MEDINA – At a downtown center in Holley, Community Action runs an after-school program that wouldn’t happen without support from the United Way.
Community Action also uses United Way dollars to help run the Main Street Store in Albion, which provides job training and skills to many local residents.
The United Way funding is steady each year, bringing stability to an agency that also relies on grants and other government funding that often varies each year, said Ed Fancher, executive director of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.
“The grants are hit or miss,” Fancher said. “If we don’t have them we flex the size of the program to meet the resources we have.”
Community Action is one of about 20 agencies that receive funding through the United Way of Orleans County. The United Way kicked off its annual fund-raising campaign this evening and set a goal of $325,000.
The Boy Scouts (Iroquois Trail Council) is one of the funded agencies through United Way. Jim McMullen, the Scout executive, said the United Way dollars help keep down the costs of the Scouting program.
“Unlike other sources, it’s consistent,” he said about the United Way dollars. “We can rely on it every year. It provides programs for families in need. Without it, everything would be higher.”
File photo by Tom Rivers – Boy Scouts and their families are on a fishing expedition at a former quarry on Keitel Road, now owned by the Albion Sportsmen’s Association.
The Iroquois Trail Council serves Scouts in five counties. McMullen said each of those counties contribute funding through the United Way.
He would welcome more money so the Council could expand Scouting programs and push to attract more youths into the program.
“With even another $1,000 you’d have more opportunities to recruit kids in the community,” McMullen said.
Several agency leaders attended the kickoff celebration at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina. Marsha Rivers started as United Way executive director last month. She said the campaign “is all about building stronger communities.”
Before joining the United Way, she worked for Hospice of Orleans, which provides palliative care for people with advanced illness. Prior to that she worked with younger families through the Care Net Center of Greater Orleans, which offers ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and other resources for families.
She thanked a dedicated United Way board of directors for giving its time to support the United Way mission, and the many residents and businesses for contributing money to the campaign. Those funds will help the agencies provides services to residents.
“Everybody here is a giver, whether you’re giving money or time,” said Charlie Nesbitt, the honorary campaign chairman and former state assemblyman. “It’s about individuals and their needs. That’s why we will make a meaningful commitment to those that need us.”
Jodi Gaines, president and CEO of Claims Recovery Financial Services in Albion, serves on the United Way board. She has been pushing the United Way campaign for more than 20 years.
“It’s about helping the community,” Gaines said. “I know these agencies are top notch and well run.”
Some of the funded United Way agencies include 4-H and Cornell Cooperative Extension, Camp Rainbow through the Arc of Orleans, Meals on Wheels, Boy Scouts, Community Action’s Main Street store and after-school program, Community Kitchen at Christ Episcopal Church in Albion, GCASA and Students United for Positive Action, Girl Scouts and Hospice of Orleans.
Other funded agencies include Just Friends, Medina Youth Commission, Ministry of Concern, Habitat for Humanity, Orleans County Adult Learning Service, PathStone Domestic Violence Shelter, Regional Action Phone, Senior Citizens of WNY, and the Orleans County YMCA.
MEDINA – The Buffalo law firm of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP is issuing the following statement on behalf of its client, Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital, in response to recent media reports addressing its decision to apply for status as a Critical Access Hospital.
Dolores Horvath, President and Chief Executive Officer, Orleans Community Health Medina Memorial Hospital:
On the reports that the hospital is downsizing:
Medina Memorial Hospital was certified, on paper, for more beds than it actually needed or used to treat the patients of Orleans County, and this paper surplus of beds was preventing us from accessing important state and federal grants, incentives, and other funding.
Changing to Critical Access status will enable the hospital to receive additional significant sources of revenue, funding that will be crucial as we move forward with the goal of better serving the residents of Orleans County and the surrounding region.
Additionally, our hospital was recently designated a “safety net hospital” by the New York Department of Health, a move that signals the state’s belief that Medina Memorial is a vital community resource that provides necessary medical care – including life-saving emergency care – in Orleans County and beyond.
Addressing reports that there is uncertainty as to whether or not hospital staff will be impacted by a potential change in status:
There have been no discussions of any reduction in hospital staff as part of the Critical Access designation. This isn’t about reducing costs through staffing cuts, it is about updating the status of the hospital to best reflect its current level of service and to open the door to new federal and state funding opportunities. It is incredibly difficult in the current market to operate an independent rural hospital, and this classification will help to provide the funding Medina Memorial needs to ensure that we are able to provide high quality health care that meets the growing needs of our community for many years to come.
Responding to the assertion that the hospital is cutting services:
We are not cutting services. Reports that we are seeking to decertify beds in our pediatric department, for example, don’t account for the fact that we have not had a pediatrician on the hospital staff for several years. In reality, the conversion of those beds is a regulatory paperwork issue, not a cut in services.
As the Federal Rural Assistance Center has explained, “Conversion to Critical Access Hospital status does not mean losing services. In some instances, hospitals that have converted to CAH status may choose to expand their range of services to better meet their community’s needs.” That is certainly true for our facility. Under our current plan, we will be able to add cardiology and expanded orthopedic services, two specialty areas that we did not effectively cover, but will be especially critical to serving a rapidly aging population in the years ahead.
On the reports that Critical Access status is reserved for hospitals in “financial distress”:
That is simply not true. The ability to apply for Critical Access status is something reserved for rural hospitals, to promote access to necessary care. A hospital’s financial condition is not part of the evaluation under Federal law.
Statement from Bruce Krenning, Chairman of the Orleans Community Health Board of Directors:
The board of directors has been working diligently for more than a year to evaluate the ongoing status of Medina Memorial Hospital and to develop a long-term strategy that will best serve the residents of this community. Our foremost goal is always providing the highest level of care to our patients, and applying for Critical Access status is an important step in ensuring that the residents of Orleans County and the surrounding region have a hospital that is capable of meeting their medical needs well into the future.
LYNDONVLLE – This is the interior of John G. Peters Harness Shop shortly after it opened in 1909.
It was located on Maple Avenue in Lyndonville, behind the bank. The Peters family lived on the second floor above the business.
After Mr. Peters died in 1963, his son Fred donated many tools and other artifacts from this shop to the Cobblestone Museum. They are currently housed in a small building at the Cobblestone Museum in Childs known as the J. G. Peters Harness Shop.
The building in Lyndonville was later torn down leaving this site for bank parking. The horse in our photo was a dummy for the display of harness.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2014 at 8:42 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Ridgeway firefighters head into Brunner International, where a fire in the exhaust system was reported at 7:09 p.m.
Firefighters quickly had the small fire under control. A department was evacuated at Brunner, a manufacturing plant on Bates Road. The company has nearly 400 employees in Medina that makes brakes for tractor trailer trucks.
Firefighters responded from Ridgeway, Shelby and Medina fire departments. A full moon just happens to out tonight.
Elizabeth Carpenter took this picture of the “blood moon” at 7:06 a.m. in Lyndonville today.
This morning there was a total lunar eclipse when the Earth was positioned between the sun and the moon. That full lunar eclipse has been called a “blood moon” because of the reddish glow.
Photo by Tom Rivers
About 12 hours later, the moon was a bright white. This picture was taken with the flag in the foreground outside Brunner International in Medina.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2014 at 12:00 am
6 new bridges tops the infrastructure list
Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County officials want to see fewer road closed signs in the county. This sign is out while the Village of Medina rebuilds a section of Horan Road.
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature approved an $8 million bond today so the county can get to work on replacing bridges, culverts, roofs and other infrastructure work.
The bond will provide $4,963,000 to replace six bridges from 2015 to 2017. The county is moving forward with the projects after getting little state and federal dollars for bridges. Another state and federal funding cycle doesn’t come up until 2017.
If the county waits until they to again seek funding, some of the bridges may be closed. The bridge funds tend to go to projects with high-volume counts, making it unlikely the rural county could rely on state and federal money for its infrastructure needs.
“Failure to act on our part will result in further deterioration of our infrastructure assets and unnecessary closures of county-owned roads and bridges,” said Legislature Chairman David Callard.
The county has identified six bridges for replacement, starting with two in 2015: a bridge from 1934 over Beardsley Creek on Waterport-Carlton Road in Carlton, and a bridge from 1968 in Barre over Manning Muckland Creek on Oak Orchard Road.
Other bridges to follow include one from 1959 in Kendall on Carton Road over Sandy Creek, a bridge from 1936 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on East Scott Road, one from 1928 in Ridgeway over Fish Creek on Culvert Road, and a bridge from 1956 in Kendall over Sandy Creek on Norway Road.
Callard said that plan could be altered if a different bridge is “red flagged” by the state and closed.
The county also plans to replace six culverts for $1,500,000. Those culverts are identified as two on Knowlesville Road in Ridgeway, two on Platten Road in Yates, and two on South Holley Road in Clarendon.
The infrastructure investment plan also includes $1,540,000 in work at county buildings, including two new pole barns. Those 60-by-150 foot barns are estimated to cost $230,000 each. One would be used by the highway department and the other by emergency management.
The county also wants to replace the roofs on the County Administration Building and the Public Safety Building, with each at an estimated $510,000.
The remaining project includes a generator for the mental health building for $60,000. That generator will service a new hub for county information technology infrastructure, Callard said.
The bond is expected to cost the county a little over $400,000 annually for the next 20 years. The borrowing terms will be worked out in the coming months. Interest rates have been at about 2 percent, noted Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer.
“That’s another factor: the money is so cheap right now,” he said.
The county doesn’t anticipate higher taxes because of the bond because it will be done paying off the debt for the Public Safety Building’s original construction next year, the final $160,000 payment. The county also is to receive $268,000 annually as part of a state gambling compact. The first partial payment arrived this year.
The gambling funds and the relief from the Public Safety Building debt should cover the new borrowing costs for the projects, making the work cost neutral on the county budget, Nesbitt said.
The 1911 Orleans County Directory lists the Hippodrome Theatre at 33 East Bank St. in Albion.
It was established by Louis Smith in 1906 as the first motion theater in Albion. Note his name on the top of the building in the upper left corner of the photo.
Smith is also listed as living over 29 East Bank St. at the time. The 1911 directory also lists Martin Britton as running a saloon at 35 East Bank St. His name appears on the window of the adjacent storefront. A sign in that window advertises: “American Brew Co Vienna Cabinet on Draught Here.”
Admission to the movie was 5 cents and I expect a draft beer was the same.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – The leaves are starting to change near the Holley Waterfalls, making one of the area’s nicest natural attractions even more appealing.
I would highly recommend a visit during October. You can reach the waterfalls by turning onto Frisbee Terrace off Route 31 in the Public Square. Follow Frisbee Terrace past Save-A-Lot and the village’s DPW garage.
The waterfalls seem to burst out of a hill in a wooded area. The east branch of Sandy Creek flows under the canal and then tumbles down the falls in this spot.
The site includes a pedestrian bridge over the creek leading to a picnic area.
