By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 10:43 am
BARRE — Richard DeCarlo is the winner of a very close race for Barre town justice.
DeCarlo, the Republican, saw his Election Day vote edge narrow from nine to six votes after the absentees were counted today. But he still prevailed over Rick Root, 213-207.
DeCarlo gained 8 absentees and Root, the Democrat, picked up 11. Sean Pogue, a Conservative, also gained 5 absentees for a final tally of 122.
“We had three quality candidates and we all worked very hard,” DeCarlo said. “We just went out and presented ourselves. There was no mudslinging.”
DeCarlo works as a project superintendent for Wegmans in the company’s construction division. He will replace Al Jones, who is retiring.
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” DeCarlo said. “I never try to rush to judgement or prejudge people. As a judge, I know I can make a difference in somebody’s life.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Absentee ballots were counted this morning to determine the winner of last week’s election for Albion Town Supervisor. After polling finished on Nov. 5, Jake Olles was ahead of Matt Passarell by 1 vote, 476-475. There were 48 absentee ballots still to be opened to determine the winner.
Twenty-eight of the absentee ballots went to Passarell and 19 to Olles. The final count stands at Matt Passarell with 503 votes; Jake Olles with 495 votes.
Both candidates are town councilmen who were vying to replace Dennis Stirk, who did not seek another two-year term. Stirk backed Deputy Town Supervisor Jake Olles, who was endorsed by the Democratic Party. Olles also ran under the independent “No Bull” party. Town Councilman Matt Passarell, campaigned with endorsements from the Republican and Conservative parties.
Passarell will take over as town supervisor on Jan. 1. Olles will be on the board as a Town Councilman. The two are on the town board together and often cast opposing votes. Passarell says he hopes the two can work together to do good for the town and its taxpayers.
“I’ll extend the olive branch out there and go from there,” Passarell said after the final votes were counted. “We’ll always be professional.”
Passarell, at 34, will be the youngest Town Supervisor in the county by about two decades. An Iraq War veteran, Passarell works in the quality department for Baxter International in Medina.
Olles is a sergeant at Attica Correctional Facility.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County elections officials at right begin a three-hour process this morning in counting absentee ballots in four close races in Albion, Barre, Carlton and Ridgeway. Many of the candidates crowded into a room next to the Board of Elections office to observe the count.
Orleans County Election Commissioners Janice Grabowski, left, and Dennis Piedimonte count an absentee ballot earlier today in one of four tight races. Ed Morgan, the Orleans County GOP chairman, is in the foreground.
ALBION – Long-time political observers in Orleans County called it unprecedented, the four local elections that came down to the absentee ballots today.
In some elections, there might be one race like that. Four years ago, Dan Gaesser had a 16-vote lead over Jack Gillman for Kendall town supervisor on election night. After the absentees were counted, Gaesser won by seven votes, 413-406.
That’s the closest race I can remember during a November election. The all-time closest, in my memory, came during a village election in March 2006. Mike Hadick beat incumbent Ed Salvatore, 440-438, for Albion mayor.
In that election, a paperwork snafu kept Salvatore off the Republican line. Hadick was at the top of the ballot as a Democrat while Salvatore was listed far below on an independent line. Hadick’s victory may be the most shocking upset I’ll ever see. To Hadick’s credit, he was a tenacious campaigner and got out the vote.
Most of our local elections don’t have opposition. If a Republican has a challenger, the Republican generally wins 2 to 1.
This time was different. Two of the four super-close races involved highway superintendents. Both Dave Krull of Carlton and Mark Goheen of Ridgeway are finishing their first terms. With about four years on the job, their names are not yet ingrained in the public from multiple terms in the position.
They both faced challengers from their own party. Paul Snook managed to capture the GOP line from Krull in the Republican primary. Goheen held off Ray Wendling in the primary, but Wendling kept campaigning on two other lines, Conservative and the Ridgeway Peoples Party.
Both Snook and Wendling have jobs with highway departments, which gave them credibility in their campaigns. In the end, both Krull and Goheen held on to their jobs.
I think they will be even harder to beat four years from now if they run again. Both will be much more established in their jobs.
The only time I’ve seen a challenger unseat a veteran highway superintendent was four years ago when Krull defeated Steve Jones, who had been the highway superintendent in Carlton for 12 years. Krull was able to win the general election this time with only the Independence Party line. The man has proven he can overcome long odds in an election.
Albion had a close race for town supervisor. Neither of the candidates was the incumbent in the position. That presented an opportunity for a close race because generally the incumbents are so difficult to beat.
Both Jake Olles and Matt Passarell had a major party line and a secondary line. The second line proved critical in this race and in the highway battles. (If Krull didn’t have the Independence line, the race would have been over at the primary.)
Passarell ultimately defeated Olles on the strength of the Republican Party’s big advantage in enrolled voters. But without the Conservative line for Passarell, Olles would have taken the election, which is hard to do running as a Democrat.
Potential candidates should take notice: get a second line, and if you’re going to run against an incumbent, you should strike before the candidate has more than a term in office.
I recall another close election six years ago for county legislator. Gary Kent defeated Don Allport that election after Allport had been in office one term or two years.
Allport won the following election in 2009 and has now beat Kent the last three elections for a county-wide legislator position. It’s difficult for a Democrat to win a town race in Orleans County. I think it’s a major challenge for a Democrat to pull it off across the county. Kent has been close, but Allport won the latest election by about 500 votes, 3,419 to 2,917.
Now that Allport is established in the position, I’m not sure he can be beat, even if John F. Kennedy or Daniel Patrick Moynihan was living here and in his prime. Kent deserves a lot of credit for keeping the race so close.
The town justice race in Barre was interesting, and we don’t get to see too many races like this one. A long-time sitting judge, Al Jones, is retiring. That opened the door for a new candidate. Three people wanted the job, including Republican Richard DeCarlo, Democrat Rick Root and Conservative Sean Pogue.
Normally, the Republican would win big. But Pogue siphoned off some of the DeCarlo’s votes. Root is from a well-known family in Barre, plus Root had been on the Town Board. DeCarlo, a former Gaines resident, also is new to Barre. He moved to the town about 1 ½ years ago.
If I were a betting man I would have guessed the dynamics were in Root’s favor and the Democrat would have won in the Republican town. (However, Barre has a recent history, more than any other Orleans town, of electing Democrats.)
DeCarlo was unrelenting in going door to door and that may have been the difference in his 213-207 victory. (Pogue got 122 votes.)
So that’s another lesson for local candidates: don’t forget to get out there and press flesh and meet people. The personal touch is often the deciding factor.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
One week after a very close election in four town races, we will find out who won this morning.
The Board of Elections will open absentee ballots, beginning at 9 a.m. at the elections office.
Of the four races, the Albion town supervisor contest is the closest. Jake Olles is ahead of Matt Passarell by 1 vote, 476-475. Both candidates are town councilmen vying to replace Dennis Stirk, who didn’t seek re-election.
In Barre, it was also close in the race to succeed Alan Jones as town justice. Richard DeCarlo Jr. has a nine-vote lead over Rick Root, 205 to 196.
Two races for highway superintendent are very close. In Carlton, incumbent David Krull is ahead of Paul Snook, 403 to 394.
In Ridgeway, Ray Wendling has an eight-vote lead, 570 to 562, over incumbent Mark Goheen.
Orleans Hub will post the results later this morning.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
RIDGEWAY – Mark Goheen didn’t go to the Board of Elections today when elections officials spent three hours opening and counting absentee ballots in four close races in Orleans County.
Goheen, the Ridgeway highway superintendent, preferred to spend the morning working on projects as highway superintendent. Goheen started the day eights votes behind Ray Wendling, 570 to 562.
But when 40 absentees were tabulated late in the morning, Goheen ended up the victor, 591-581. He received 29 of the absentees to 11 for Wendling.
“It’s been awful the past week,” Goheen said about the very tight race and the prospect of being out a job. “It’s nerve-wracking, and it’s been hard on my family and the people I work with.”
Goheen topped Wendling, an employee in the Medina Department of Public Works, in the Republican Primary. But Wendling kept up a vigorous campaign, running on the Conservative line and the independent Ridgeway Peoples Party.
“I’m extremely disappointed, but I’m extremely proud that I ran a positive campaign and ran with integrity,” Wendling said after the results were announced at about noon. “I just want to thank the Ridgeway and Medina voters for their support.”
Goheen is finishing his first term as highway chief. When he was contacted by phone this afternoon, he was on Rutherford Road, helping a resident with a water issue.
Goheen said he is thankful he can keep a job that allows him to work with the public.
“You get to do something different every day,” he said. “You’re helping people out with their roads, ditches and water. I want to thank my family and friends for getting behind me.”
Photos by Tom Rivers – A former carriage barn was in a pile of rubble today after a fire Monday at the site on the Walsh Alley off Prospect Street.
Press release, Medina Fire Department
MEDINA – A fire on Monday at a former carriage house behind 228 Park Avenue has been deemed a total loss. Officials from the Medina Fire Department and Police Department are investigating, and no cause has been ruled out at this point.
The Medina Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 6:08 p.m. along with one engine from Shelby and a FAST crew from Lyndonville.
Initially the call was for a structure fire behind the old Maplecrest restaurant. But the fire proved to be at an old barn behind Park Avenue. The structure was a carriage house in the alley behind the property, known as Walsh Alley.
On arrival, Engine 11 encountered heavy fire blowing out the doors and windows of the structure. Two sides of the fire building had exposures close by, one being a garage to the west and the house to the south side.
Firefighters douse the blaze with water. Several fire companies responded to the scene.
A second alarm was struck by command and that brought Ridgeway to the scene with an engine and manpower. The firehouse was covered with a crew and a rescue truck from East Shelby, one engine and crew from Middleport, a FAST crew from Albion and an ambulance from COVA in Albion.
Medina Truck 40 established an aerial water stream for extinguishment as well as exposure protection. Shortly after that there was a collapse of the building, which was planned for by firefighters. Albion’s FAST crew then moved up to the scene to stand by with Lyndonville’s FAST crew.
A personnel accountability report was called for by command and all crews were accounted for without any injuries. The bulk of the fire was knocked down shortly thereafter and contained to the carriage house.
To ensure all smoldering piles of the structure were extinguished, the Village DPW crews brought in heavy equipment. This allowed fire crews to have better access to some areas still burning. All crews were clear of the scene at about 11 p.m.
Walsh Alley was a lane for residents to bring their horse and carriages to their barns in an era before the automobile. One hitching post remains in the alley.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Provided photo – Elizabeth McCarthy, 9, for the third time has donated some of her hair to Locks of Love. She holds the donated hair on Saturday after getting it cut.
MEDINA – Every two years since she was 5, Elizabeth McCarthy has had her long hair cut so she could donate her tresses to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs to children suffering hair loss from cancer and other illnesses.
Elizabeth, 9, had 10 inches cut from her hair on Saturday. Gretchen Carr of Sheer Elegance in Medina cut the hair. She put the hair in special bags to be sent to Locks of Love.
“She feels like she is helping kids who are going through something very difficult,” said Stacy McCarthy, Elizabeth’s mother.
Elizabeth first had her hair cut for Locks of Love when she was 5. It took her two years to grow her hair long again. Then she told her mother she wanted to have it cut for Locks of Love.
She did it again on Saturday.
“I’m very proud of her,” Elizabeth’s mother said. “She doesn’t just want her hair cut. She has the presence of mind to want her hair donated. It makes me proud.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Orleans County residents woke up this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground. The snow seems out of place with all the colorful leaves that still blanket some lawns or are piled along the streets.
The top picture is at the Orleans County Courthouse lawn with the County Clerks’ Building in back.
The bottom photo shows frozen flowers and the memorial to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That memorial is set on a walkway leading to the courthouse and Clerks’ Building.
Temperatures are forecast to hover near freezing most of today.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 November 2013 at 12:00 am
CARLTON – There were 49 absentee ballots counted this morning to determine the winner of the race for highway superintendent in Carlton.
Krull lost the Republican primary to Snook, 215-155. Krull, the incumbent, still had the Independence Party line and would be in the Nov. 5 ballot. But it would be a long shot for a minor-party candidate to win against a Republican backed candidate.
Krull refused to give up. He acknowledged he didn’t campaign much in the primary. When he wasn’t working, he was racing to get a roof project done on his home.
The past seven weeks he was out door to door. Many residents also stepped out for him, taking out ads and rallying support.
He won 434-421, widening his lead with the absentee ballots.
Krull said he has tackled many road projects the past four years. He thinks it will take four more years to get caught up on the road infrastructure.
“I’ve worked awfully hard for the people of Carlton,” Krull said after the final results were announced today. “I feel I stand up for the little guy.”
Snook is one of four motor equipment operators in Carlton. Krull said there has been division in the highway department during the campaign. Now that the election is over, he hopes the group rallies to work together for the good of the town.
“Hopefully this can all be put behind us,” Krull said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2013 at 8:45 pm
MEDINA – Firefighters are battling a fire in an old carriage barn on Walsh Alley, off Prospect Street in Medina. The fire has been contained to one building. We will have more information soon.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Kent couple sees Orleans as part of growing wine region
Photos by Tom Rivers – Paul Schwenk is pictured with two employees in an 8-acre vineyard next to Schwenk Wine Cellars on Bills Road in Kent.
Cathy Schwenk manages the wine-tasting room at Schwenk’s. The winery has won many awards since it opened in 1992.
KENT – Paul and Cathy Schwenk opened a winery in Kent in 1992 and added a tasting room at their Bills Road location in 2007.
They opened the business while working full-time in other careers. Mr. Schwenk was the buildings and grounds director for 17 years at Kendall Central School. His wife was a teacher at Albion Central School for 33 years.
Both retired in recent months from those careers. Now they are devoting more time and energy to Schwenk Wine Cellars.
The couple, which has been married for 32 years, is expanding the tasting room at 1456 Bills Road. They are excited about the extension of the Niagara Wine Trail, which will run across Orleans County to near Rochester, connecting Niagara, Orleans and eastern Monroe counties.
Mr. Schwenk’s grandfather Maxmillan Franz Schwenk moved from Austria to Hilton, and was a dairy farmer with a vineyard. He enjoyed making wine.
The family farm burned down in 1963. Maxmillan’s son Andreas Maxmillan Schwenk switched to growing fruit. He taught his son Paul the art of making wine. They would make it in their basement and sell it to collectors.
Paul in 1992 made Schwenk Wine Cellars official. The winery won competitions and Paul and Cathy soon were selling their product to New York City restaurants.
They grow grapes at 8 acres in Kent, 32 acres in Dunkirk and 30 acres in Penn Yann. During the fall harvest season it can be exhausting, crisscrossing to the three sites.
Cathy manages the tasting room and many of the special events. Paul grows the grapes and makes the wine.
Paul, 58, and Cathy, 57, talked about the wine business with Hub editor Tom Rivers during a recent interview at their home and winery.
These vidal grapes hang on the vines next to Schwenk Wine Cellars in Kent.
Q: Why grow grapes rather than some other fruit or dairy?
A (Paul): I’ve been in the business for 45 or 46 years. We were in peaches and cherries, but there are people I know in Niagara County that have that.
Q: Aren’t you kind of a grape pioneer in Orleans County?
A (Cathy): Orleans County isn’t really known for grapes. But grapes work out here. The lake effects it. We have nice warm falls because of the lake. You get the chilly spring with the late frost, which isn’t good. But the longer fall helps out.
Q: My understanding of the wineries in the Finger Lakes is they helped to rejuvenate many of the farms out there. The grapes and wineries have been part of that area’s resurgence.
A (Paul): My grandfather, when I was growing up, was friends with the winemakers in the Finger Lakes. California and Oregon people are buying up the land over there to have more wineries.
Q: They have a lot of wineries in the Finger Lakes – more than a hundred. Do you think you need a lot of them in an area to make an attraction?
A (Paul): Do you need a lot of them? That’s the thing. In my opinion, in New York State we have 532 wineries. That’s a lot of wineries, probably too many.
A (Cathy): Some of them will make it and some of them won’t. It’s about establishing your name and keeping it going. Some of the younger wineries I don’t know if they will make it. If you totally have to depend on the tourists, there are not a lot of tourists in New York State between January and April to May.
Paul Schwenk checks over the vidal grapes that will be pressed into wine. He uses a 1960 Oliver tractor in the orchard.
Q: With our county, we have two wineries open right now. (Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina is the other one and more are in the works.) Could we brand this county as a wine county?
A (Paul): It’s slowly getting there but I bet it’s years and years down the road.
Q: Will the extended wine trail help get tourists here in Orleans County?
A (Cathy): Yes. The Wine Trail will be along 104, but signs from 104 will point people down to Route 18. We have to get signs up on 104 pointing people to where we want them to come down to 18.
This summer we’ve had a lot of tourists. In the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of fishermen. They will come in and say they caught a salmon and want to know what they can serve with it. They’re bringing their wives or they come in and say their wives said not to come home without buying some local wine.
Q: How to you make a connection to the fishermen?
A (Cathy): Sharon Narburgh over at Narby’s, she knows about us and she sends them over. The people at the Black North will send them over to us. It’s a matter of getting your name out to everyone local. We have a huge clientele of locals. Our locals keep us going. They are our major clientele. The tourists are great, but the locals are our major clientele. During the winter and the spring, they don’t want to travel to the Finger Lakes.
Kim Martilotta Muscarella painted this palette with a grape and winery theme as part of the recent Palettes of Orleans art project. It will be displayed in the Schwenk’s expanded wine-tastng room.
Q: What about liquor stores as an outlet for you?
A (Cathy): They’re not a major percentage but we are in many of them.
Q: What is the benefit for you to be in a liquor store?
A (Cathy): More people see your name out there. The liquor stores are open more often than the tasting room. We’re open Wednesday through Sunday right now from noon to 5 until New Year’s. After New Year’s we go on our winter hours which is basically weekends through April or May.
Q: Did opening a wine-tasting room make a big difference for you?
A (Cathy): That is making a big difference. We’re able to fit in more groups. We had a few limos here this summer.
Q: Limos here on Bills Road.
A (Paul): Yes, right down here on Bills Road (laughing). We have a love for this area. The big lake is right down front. There’s Point Breeze, Lyndonville, Kendall. We wanted to stay here because this county is hurting. We need more employment opportunities for people. We gambled and we stayed.
Q: It’s nice in a way that you’re a little a bit of a drive from any of the other attractions because you get people moving about the county. You’re not right at Point Breeze.
A (Cathy): Yes. And also during the summer every Friday I’ve been going to the Genesee County Farmers Market at the Batavia Downs parking lot. That’s another avenue to get the name out there. People have been asking where are you located because they want to get wine after the farmers market closes.
I tell them we’re 30 minutes north of Batavia. Take a drive out. We want people to come out more.
Q: I suppose you have to hustle and market and go after very sale.
A (Cathy): You do. We do a lot of events to get the name out there.
A (Paul): I’m on the radio once in a while on WHAM with Jim Salmon. You try to promote the business.
Q: How many types of wine do you have?
A (Cathy): 21. Everything is grape-based, but we do have an apple (One Eyed Jack) and cherry (Crazy Fox Red).
Q: What is fun about this business?
A (Cathy): The different people you get to meet – Amherst, Akron, Canada, Montana, Maryland. We have people from all over the United States.
A (Paul) A lot of people have cottages along the lake, or they are renting cottages.
A (Cathy) They get wine for while they are here and before they close up their cottage and leave, they come and get wine to take home.
The variety of the people is huge.
Paul and Cathy Schwenk have been married for 32 years. They both recently retired from other full-time jobs and now can devote more time to the wine business.
Q: Has this been a fun adventure for the two of you?
A (Cathy): Yes, as a couple we go places and we visit other wineries.
A (Paul): We’re all over the place for conferences. Wineries like to get together. Last year we were in Richmond. A couple years ago we were in Napa, Oregon and Seattle.
A (Cathy): I like to see the other wineries. I like to see how they handle bus tours, how they handle 40 or 50 people coming off a bus. I like to see how their tasting rooms are set up.
Right now we have an opportunity to change our tasting room. We’re doing an expansion.
Q: How will that help you?
A (Paul): We’ll bebetter able to take a bus tour and do other events.
We want people to know how to smell a glass of red wine and taste the bouquet. We’re looking to do that a couple Saturdays a summer. We want to let people know what to serve with a red wine. We want to help change the mindset.
Q: What do you think will happen in Orleans County with the wine trail expansion?
A (Cathy): I’m hoping it will bring more people from Rochester out here, bring them to the west side. We’ve done Rochester events and there are people who say they don’t travel west outside of Monroe County. We need to get them to come over to Orleans County. If it means get them to Orleans so they can go to Niagara County, fine. At least we’re getting them to Orleans County.
We did a tasting at the New York State Fair on a Tuesday this year. Over 2,000 people that day. Ninety percent of the people had no idea where Orleans County was.
Paul Schwenk says the tempering effects of Lake Ontario, plus good soils, make northern Orleans County good for growing grapes.
Q: This is the cold hard truth.
A: Yes, this is the cold hard truth. We tell them Orleans County is partway between Rochester and Buffalo. We’re by Lake Ontario. We have farm markets, we got wineries. We did a lot of that explanation that day. We handed out a lot of brochures. We decided the next time we would bring a New York State map and say this is where Orleans County is.
Q: Can you piggyback on other local attractions?
A (Cathy): We piggyback it on other attractions. Usually if you say Lake Ontario and Point Breeze people have heard about it. They haven’t necessarily been here but they’ve heard of it.
We mention the farm markets, the quilt trail in Kendall, the cobblestones, and that 18 is the Seaway Trail.
Q: You have to go out and educate.
A (Cathy): Absolutely. Being at the State Fair really brought that home that people don’t come out past Rochester. And Buffalo people don’t come east.
Q: It does feel like we’re a little too far away, however, Brown’s Berry Patch draws a lot of people from outside the county.
A: I use Brown’s Berry Patch when we’re at Batavia. They’ve heard of it and I tell them we’re 3 miles past them down on Route 18. It depends on where we are for what location I’ll try to piggyback on.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – An old carriage barn burned to the ground tonight in a blaze that firefighters feared could have spread to neighboring structures because of the close setbacks on Walsh Alley.
Firefighters were on scene a little before 6 p.m. and discovered the barn was already fully engulfed. Firefighters focused on saving the neighboring structures at the alley off Prospect Street.
At about 8 p.m., when most of the barn had collapsed, an excavator was brought in to knock down the remaining pieces of the building that were still standing. Firefighters didn’t want those pieces to fall on a neighboring garage, causing another fire.
The carriage barn was used at the former Houseman Funeral Home at 228 Park Ave. The property had been vacant about two years and firefighters thought the site was in foreclosure.
The fire is under investigation. The western battalion – Medina, East Shelby, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Shelby fire companies – all responded to fire. Some of the firefighters were expected to be on scene most of the night.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Honor Guard does a gun salute during a Veterans day service today in Albion.
County Legislator Lynne Johnson spoke at the service, saying Veterans Day gives Americans a chance to express their appreciation to veterans.
ALBION – Today on Veterans Day, Orleans County residents, especially the younger generations, were urged to learn more about the sacrifices made by American soldiers.
Speakers at a Veterans Day ceremony said Americans have been defending the country for more than two centuries, pressing on despite starvation in the Revolutionary War to patrolling a current battlefield in the mountains of Afghanistan.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley said Americans owe a debt of gratitude to veterans, past and present.
“Our country’s freedom and way of life is guaranteed by the sacrifices of those who pledged to defend our Constitution, with the price of their lives if necessary,” Hawley said.
On Memorial Day, Americans honor service members who lost their lives in war. On Veterans Day, Hawley said, the country remembers the sacrifices of veterans who returned from conflict, “but still carry the wounds of battle, both internal and external.”
County Legislator Don Allport urged veterans to share their stories so others can better appreciate their sacrifices.
County Legislators Don Allport and Lynne Johnson both spoke at the service outside the Veterans Service Agency on Route 31. They praised veterans for heeding a call to protect the country, regardless of the location on the globe or the danger at hand.
“This is a day we can remember and honor the veterans,” Johnson said.
She said some families have borne a high cost of that service as many Americans have been killed in the line of duty.
Allport urged veterans in the county to tell their stories so Americans can appreciate the sacrifices for their rights to bear arms, worship in religion, speak out and other freedoms.
“Let young people know what you went through for America,” Allport said.
He told the crowd he worries about the United States.
“Our country is headed down a dark and evil path,” he said.
Veterans, including Emerson “Tinker” Young in front, attend a Veterans Day service in Albion outside the Veterans Service Agency.
Paul Fulcomer, the Veterans Service Agency director, works with veterans on a daily basis, helping them to access benefits they have earned.
“I’m very fortunate every day in my job I get to say thank you to the veterans,” Fulcomer said. “I encourage you all to thank a veteran today.”
Tim Lindsay, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Albion, has three sons who enlisted in the Marines. One son Michael remains in active duty and completed a deployment to Afghanistan.
Lindsay led the service today in opening and closing prayers, asking God to bless the United States.
Adam Tabelski, communications director for state Sen. George Maziarz, also spoke at the service. Tabelski also completed an overseas deployment as a soldier.
He welcomed peace for the world, and urged Americans to help veterans when they return from war to adjust to the next chapter in their lives.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 November 2013 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – It was Columbus Day weekend and Mike and Jaime Beach were out for a walk along the towpath in Medina when they heard some yelling.
The Albion couple was walking along the towpath last month, trying to find a spot to see the Medina Waterfalls. They on a stroll a little west of the Horan Road bridge on the towpath. Then they saw a group of kayakers emerge from a tunnel that allows the Oak Orchard Creek to flow under the canal.
The kayakers had nowhere to go but over the falls. The Beaches watched the group plunge 40 feet over the falls. One of them landed upside down in the water. He was able to right-size and the group kept paddling down the creek.
“I was nervous for them and in disbelief,” Mr. Beach said today.
He took a video of the kayakers with his iPhone and shared it with the Orleans Hub after seeing Friday’s article about the Medina Falls. (Click here to see it.)The Beaches used to live in Medina. That’s when they discovered the waterfalls.
They like to stop back to go see it. They often go for a walk ner the falls and they have also seen it while kayaking the Oak Orchard, using the boat launch at Glenwood Lake.
“It’s a really cool spot,” Beach said today.
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Medina Waterfalls is north of the canal near the Horan Road bridge.
