Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Hundreds of pairs of shoes from walkers and runners took a toll on the towpath this morning in Medina.
About 300 people joined for a walk/run in memory of Dennis Heil, who passed away on Dec. 2, leaving behind a wife and seven children.
The “Miles for Heils – In Memory of Dennis” included walkers and runners who went down and back on the towpath between the lift bridge and Marshall Road.
Photo by Tom Rivers
Photo by Tom Rivers – Presbyterian Road in Albion is lined with trees near the Ridgeway town line. The National Weather Service warns that freezing rain tonight could make roads hazardous and stress trees. This photo was taken at about noon today.
An ice storm warning is in effect for Orleans County today until about noon on Sunday, the National Weather Service has advised.
Orleans, Genesee, Niagara, Monroe and northern Erie are all included in the warning. Those areas could get a half inch to an inch of ice, making driving dangerous. The buildup of ice may bring down tree limbs and knock out power.
“Roads will become very slick in some locations tonight, especially on bridges,” the NWS advised.
The Weather Service recommended postponing any travel.
“If you lose power and plan on running a generator, make sure that the generator is located outdoors and is properly ventilated,” NWS said.
Orleans also remains under a flood warning until 9 p.m. today.
The area was again blanketed by fog today. This photo shows a farm on Knowlesville Road in the town of Ridgeway.
The big grain facility at the corner of Knowlesville Road and Route 31, normally very hard to miss, was covered in fog earlier today.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted this 6-foot-long bench into a mural featuring a tugboat at sunrise. There will be at least 11 benches painted with local scenes or historical themes in Albion. They will be installed on Main Street and East bank Street in the spring.
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The plain backs and seats for a 6-foot-long benches are being turned into works of art.
Christine Versteeg of Kendall painted a bench into a mural of a tugboat. It’s one of at least 11 planned for downtown Albion.
The benches and the artwork are a portion of a $50,000 streetscape grant awarded for the downtown about two years ago. The Albion Main Street Alliance has shepherded this project through all the local and state government agencies.
It’s been a long journey and I was thrilled to see the first bench today. Other artists are working on their benches.
The grant will also fund potted trees, flowers, bike racks, a memorial, two interpretive panels about Albion history and other improvements.
I’ve been helping come up with a plan for how to spend the grant. I think the benches will draw people to the downtown. The benches will highlight our local history and showcase one of the county’s assets: the artists.
The benches should be out on the sidewalk and at Waterman Park in the spring.
I’m hoping we can work out an arrangement to have the benches stored inside at local businesses during the winter months so they can be enjoyed year-round.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Wendy Wilson, president of the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, is pictured at the indoor courtyard of the Martin-Linsin Residence at Hospice of Orleans.
Hospice of Orleans Executive Director Mary Anne Fischer, left, is pictured Hospice Director of Development Marsha Rivers, Lake Shore Savings VP Nancy LaTulip and Wendy Wilson.
MEDINA – Business First honored 25 “Women of Influence” recently and the Buffalo publication picked the president of a local winery as one of the honorees.
Wendy Wilson is president of the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery. She is treasurer of the Niagara Wine Trail. She won an entrepreneurial award from Business First, which honored 25 people for their roles in business and community service.
She has helped to diversify LynOaken Farms into a multifaceted business with a winery, retail store, U-Pick operation and heirloom orchard. LynOaken also packs its own apples and delivers them to 80 stores.
Ten years ago, Wilson left a career in Miami, working in the import-export business to join her family at LynOaken Farms. She runs the winery and spearheads the marketing and customer contacts for the wine and store delivery businesses.
She was nominated for the Business First award by Margot Bittner, owner of the Winery at Marjim Manor in Appleton.
Each of the honorees was awarded $1,000 to be donated to an organization of their choice by by Lake Shore Savings.
Wilson picked Hospice of Orleans. Nancy LaTulip, vice president for the bank, was in Albion this week to present the check.
“I like the work that they do,” Wilson said about Hospice. “They take care of some of the most important times of people’s lives.”
Leonard Oakes also sells Blanc d’Orleans. The winery gives $1 of each sale to Hospice. Wilson presented the agency with a check for $1,111, the proceeds for Hospice from the wine sales.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Jonathan Higgins, an active local firefighter for 25 years, is a new captain with the Medina Fire Department.
MEDINA – The Medina Fire Department has promoted a veteran local firefighter to captain, the department’s second in command.
Jonathan Higgins has been an active local firefighter for 25 years, since he joined the Carlton Fire Company when he was 20. Higgins became a paramedic when he was 25, and he served as paramedic at Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance in Albion for 17 years.
He also worked as a paramedic in Batavia for United Memorial Medical Center and then the city of Batavia for 14 years altogether. Seven years ago he joined the Medina Fire Department as a paid firefighter.
That proved to be good timing because a year later the city of Batavia got out of the ambulance business and laid off many firefighters.
Medina at that time had a grant to add staff while it took over western Orleans ambulance coverage from Rural Metro. Higgins has a been a leader for the department from day one, Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich said.
Higgins has the respect of his fellow firefighters and the community, the chief said.
Higgins has represented Medina and Orleans County at local, regional and state EMS councils. He took the lead locally in getting a helipad paved for the Medina Memorial Hospital, and also in the design and dedication of a firefighters’ memorial outside city hall in Medina.
Higgins helps douse the flames at a carriage barn fire in Medina last month. He has extensive experience fighting fires and responding to ambulance calls.
The department has 13 paid firefighters, including the chief and two captains. It has been without a second captain for about two years since R.J. Morgan retired.
The Village Board held off on the promotion but agreed to fill the spot after the firefighters’ union agreed to cost-saving concessions. The biggest savings will come from a new policy that only one of the 13 firefighters can be on vacation on a any given day. The previous policy allowed for two people to claim vacation the same day. The new policy with only one person off will reduce overtime costs, Zinkievich said.
Higgins will lead a platoon with five other firefighters while Mike Maak, the other captain, leads a group with five firefighters. Maak will also focus on the EMS for the department while Higgins leads firefighting efforts. Higgins not only has firefighting experience, but he brings an extensive paramedic background to the captain’s position.
“He’s going to be a super leader,” Zinkievich said.
Higgins and Zinkievich said staffing is a challenge, given the rising number of calls. The department has applied for a federal grant to add two paid firefighters.
When Zinkievich pitched the ambulance plan to the Village Board in 2007, he anticipated running anywhere from 1,500 to 1,700 ambulance calls. Immediately, the department exceeded that, pushing 1,800 to 1,900 calls in its first year. The department so far in 2013 is well ahead of the pace for the record 2,209 calls last year.
Altogether, with fire and ambulance calls, the department will respond to about 2,700 calls this year, the most ever.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Fog has descended on the Canal Basin in Medina, nearly obscuring the Glenwood Avenue canal bridge.
MEDINA – I drove from Medina to Albion at around 12:30 this afternoon and many prominent landmarks seemed to have vanished from the landscape.
Big grain facilities and barns are shrouded by the fog that has rolled in. Canal bridges are hard to see, including the Horan Road bridge in Medina.
The Canal Basin trees seem to pop out more with all the white in the sky.
The canal has been drained, and an unfortunate sight at the bottom is often orphaned bicycles and shopping carts.
Photo by Tom Rivers – United Memorial Medical Center withdrew its plan to turn a former gas station and food mart on Route 31A into a women’s health center after the property was tested for environmental concerns.
smartDesign Architecture of Batavia made this rendering of the United Memorial Medical Center project, which included an addition of about 800 square feet as well as a canopy and brick for the front of the facade.
MEDINA – A plan to turn a former gas station on Maple Ridge Road into a women’s health center has been withdrawn after environmental auditing at the property.
United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia eyed the former K & K at 11360 Maple Ridge Rd. for obstetrics, gynecological care and other health services. UMMC currently provides those services out of space on Ohio Street. UMMC leases from Orleans Community Health.
The Batavia hospital wants more space for doctors and patients. It will look for another site in the Medina area after withdrawing from the Maple Ridge property.
That application was due to be reviewed by the Orleans County Planning Board on Thursday but was taken off the agenda just before the meeting.
Medina Memorial Hospital closed its birthing unit on July 1, 2011. The Batavia hospital now delivers about 100 babies to Orleans County women.
The former K & K site is owned by Reid Petroleum. Chad LaCivita was in the process of acquiring it, with the plan to then lease it to UMMC. The site would have been renovated, and expanded with a new brick exterior on the front and wrapping around the front sides.
GAINES – A Holley woman who has developed her own line of shampoo and conditioners has purchased a Ridge Road building that she intends to turn into a co-op for other vendors.
Kim Rowe plans to turn the former “Buy American” mercantile into a co-op with arts, crafts and antique vendors.
The Orleans County Planning Board supported the project during its meeting on Thursday. Planners said the project fits in nicely with the historic flavor of Ridge Road and the nearby Cobblestone Society Museum.
Rowe, owner and developer of U Make Scents, is working to open Cobble-Ridge Co-op.
In addition to the vendors, Rowe would like to use the site for an outdoor flea market in the spring and fall. Eventually she would like to sell food products inside and outside at the location.
ALBION – We’ve had a nice response to people wanting to buy the 2014 Orleans Hub calendar that features 26 images from Orleans County. The calendars are $10 each.
We’ve been selling the calendars at the Lake Country Pennysaver, 170 North Main St. in Albion and added two other locations: Bindings Bookstore at 28 West Bank St., Albion and Della’s Chocolates at 512 North Main St., Medina.
For more information on those stores’ hours, click here for Bindings and click here for Della’s. Editor’s note: The Bindings Bookstore link has been intentionally removed, as it is no longer in service.
It’s been a dreary day in Orleans County with the area blanketed by fog. In a few months the tulips will pop out. This photo shows the flowers in front of the First United Methodist Church in Albion. It’s the dominant photo for April in the Hub calendar.
KENDALL – Kludt Brothers, a past state champ in an annual corn contest, was close to the title this year, but didn’t have enough bushels to top Henry Everman, a Dansville farmer.
The National Corn Growers Association earlier today announced the state and national winners in the 49th annual corn contest.
Kludt won the state title in 2009 and 2010, and finished fourth in the country in 2009 with 295.9 bushel yield. The farm based in Kendall didn’t reach the leaderboard for 2013.
In the state contest, Henry Everman of Dansville won the New York title for non-irrigated land with a 293.98 bushel per acre yield. Everman was followed by JA-RY Properties of Pavilion at 293.48 bushels and Swede Farms of Pavilion at 289.59.
Kludt Brothers came in eighth out of 15 NY entrants with a yield of 261.86 bushels.
In the no-till/non-irrigated category, Gary Swede Farms of Pavilion took the top three spots with yields of 322.14, 295.93 and 286.27 bushels per acre.
Kludt came in seventh out of the 11 NY entries with a 261.19 yield in the category.
Kevin Kalb of Dubois, Ind., had the top yield in the country for non-irrigated land with a 374.62 yield. David Hula of Charles City, Va., had the biggest yield of all entries – 454.98 bushels per acre – in the no till/irrigated category.
That 454.98 yield is a new all-time record. The national average for corn in 2013 is projected to be 160.4 bushels per acre.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Hoag Library in Albion in April honored three local historians for leading programs at the library for many years. The group includes, from left, Gaines historian Dee Robinson, Albion historian Neil Johnson and Bill Lattin, the Orleans County historian.
ALBION – Just when it looked like Hoag Library would have to shelve its local history lecture series due to budget constraints, donors have stepped forward in the past day to keep two local historians as regularly scheduled speakers at the library.
An anonymous donor has committed to paying Dee Robinson, the Gaines town historian, to prepare 10 lectures as part of a “Tea with Dee” series the first Tuesdays each month at noon.
Robinson, a reference librarian at Hoag, is a past president of a state association of historians. She often speaks about trail-blazing women in the community from more than a century ago. That includes Jennie Curtis of Albion, the first woman spy for the Union during the Civil War.
Robinson has researched women who worked as lawyers, doctors and nurses in the community in the 1800s. She has compiled many of those stories in a book, “Historical Amnesia,” about women’s role in local history.
The donor will cover the $650 expense for 10 presentations. Robinson and Neil Johnson, who also gives 10 lectures about local history each year, take the summers off when the library is busy with a summer reading program.
Johnson, the Albion village historian since 1982, will stay on the library schedule thanks to Debbie and Scott Dragon who are sponsors of Johnson’s “Take a Bite Out Of History” talks for 2014.
Johnson gives his talks on the third Wednesday of each month from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., except in July and August.
Both Johnson and Robinson have developed a loyal following in recent years with the history discussions. The two historians, along with County Historian Bill Lattin, were honored by the library in April for leading many programs over the years.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Village Historian Neil Johnson gives a talk on Nov. 20 about the iron fireman that once was on top of the Hose Fire Company in Albion for three years before a Rochester Fire Company took it in 1890. Several fire companies stole the Iron Fireman from each other before it found a permanent home in Honeoye Falls.
ALBION – Village Historian Neil Johnson will continue to give local history talks at the Hoag Library after a donor stepped up to fund the program.
The library planned to cut Johnson from the programming budget after 2013 due to budget constraints. Debbie and Scott Dragon agreed to sponsor Johnson’s “Take a Bite Out Of History” talks for 2014.
Johnson gives 10 of the talks a year on the third Wednesday of each month from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. He takes July and August off.
Johnson has given the talks for the past seven years and he draws a loyal following.
Johnson, an archaeologist with a doctoral degree, has been the village historian for about 30 years. He is paid $65 for each presentation at the library.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Tom Hubert has turned his front yard into a festival of lights at 1894 Oak Orchard River Rd. Hubert’s display switches to different strands of lights, so the colors change and different elements are lighted up during his 17-minute show.
WATERPORT – The cars start lining up the day after Thanksgiving, when Tom Hubert’s front yard turns into a festival of lights.
For the past five years, Hubert has set up an elaborate display at 1894 Oak Orchard River Rd. He uses 13 controllers and more than 40,000 lights as part of the display. He also has an FM radio transmitter so people can tune into 87.9 to hear a 17-minute music show that is timed with the lights.
“I don’t know who likes it more, the people stopping by or me putting in together,” Hubert said. “People ask, ‘Why?’ and I say, ‘Why not?’”
Hubert welcomes to cars to line up on the side of the road. He runs the show from 5 to 9 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays and 5 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.The lights will be up until New Year’s Eve.
Hubert has been adding new elements to the display since he started it with 10,000 lights.
These pictures show the same trees and elements with different strands of lights lit up. Hubert uses controllers to alternate strands of lights. “I don’t want it to be stagnant.”
“I’ve always had a fascination with Christmas lights,” he said.
At first he decorated his house with some static light displays. Then he researched elaborate light displays on the Internet and learned how to program controllers.
He starts setting up the light display in October, but his work on the computer starts in the summer, so the lights go off in a sequence set to music. Hubert said the lights aren’t too big of a hit on his electric bill because they are off most of the time because of the controllers. He said he may pay $75 in added electricity when the display is on for about six weeks.
Hubert works for the Rochester Housing Authority. He enjoys the open spaces in the country. Christmas lights are a fun hobby, he said, and so are animals. He breeds and sells Nigerian Dwarf Goats at River View Farm.
Hubert’s lighting display is just north of the Route 279 bridge over Lake Alice. After crossing the bridge, turn left and Hubert’s is maybe 50 yards away. You can’t miss it.
Photos by Tom Rivers – Sandy Creek in Albion already is starting to look swollen in this photo from Butts Road.
The foot or more of snow in most of Western New York and Orleans County has already started melting with today’s 40-degree weather.
More upcoming days in the 40s, as well as rain on Saturday, could overwhelm local creeks and streams. That has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch for western and central New York from Saturday afternoon until Sunday evening.
Orleans is one of 17 counties under the flood watch. The NWS warned that snowmelt and potential ice jams could lead to localized flooding of creeks and streams as well as low-lying and poorly drained areas.
The ice is starting to melt in Sandy Creek in this photo taken from the Brown Street bridge.
ALBION – Orleans County is tapping its contingency account to distribute $11,500 to five organizations in the county.
The Legislature did not give the agencies an increase in funding in the 2014 budget. But with the year nearly over county officials said there is money in the contingency account to give some of the agencies a little boost.
The Legislature agreed to give $4,000 to the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, $2,500 to Cornell Cooperative Extension, $2,000 for Soil and Water Conservation District, $2,000 to the Sportmen’s Federation and $1,000 to the Cobblestone Society Museum.
This is the second straight year the county has used contingency funds to give agencies a year-end financial boost. Last year the Legislature approved $14,500 for three groups.
Legislature Chairman David Callard said the agencies submitted funding requests as part of the county’s annual budget process. The agencies sought increases in funding, but the Legislature did not raise the budgeted amounts.
The county was comfortable, with the year nearly over, that it could direct some of its contingency funds to the agencies. All are currently in the county budget except the Cobblestone Museum, which was taken out a few years ago.
Here are the funded agencies and how much they will receive from the county in the 2014 budget: Cornell Cooperative Extension, $219,150; Orleans Economic Development Agency, $150,000; Soil and Water, $57,750; Libraries, $10,000; Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, $1,000; and the Sportsman’s Federation, $500.
