LYNDONVILLE – The playground from the now-closed elementary school on Main Street will be moved today and reinstalled by the school playground on Housel Avenue on Saturday.
The school district, re-established Lyndonville PTA and other community members will dissemble the playground beginning at 8:30 a.m. today. The volunteers expect they will be reassemble the playground from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Lyndonville is working with Parkitects, Inc. on the project. The project manager for that company is Ben Frasier, a Lyndonville graduate. The Lyndonville Area Foundation provided $7,500 for the project.
Construction materials were donated by local businesses, including Orleans Construction Company (geo-textile fabric), Shelby Crushed Stone (stone), Evan’s Ace Hardware (concrete) and Medina Hardware and Lumber (concrete). The Village of Lyndonville and Town of Yates also will provide manpower and equipment.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 August 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
YATES – I’ve been on the lookout for dirt roads in Orleans County and noticed Hall Road in the town of Yates. This one isn’t too far from the village of Lyndonville. It’s a north-south road about a mile east of Route 63. It cuts across Route 18.
By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian
ALBION – The Albion High School football team had this picture taken in 1924.
The player seated on the floor is unidentified. In the front row, from left: the first two are unidentified followed by Pete Costello, Abel Brown, S. McNaughton, and John Donovan.
Second row: S. Reed, H. Sands, Chas. Barcelona, Chauncy Miller, Rexford Briggs, and unidentified.
Third row: The first two players are unidentified, followed by Don Higley, and another unidentified player.
Back row: D. Sprague, J. Simpson, G. Sprague, M.W. Cole, and Dell Fisher, coach.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 August 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Two members of the First Baptist Church in Medina changed the message board for the historic church at 203 West Center St.
Cheryl Wengrzycki in white and Hope Washburn took care of the task on Tuesday evening. The church is a landmark made of local Medina sandstone.
ALBION – In this photo from around 1912 we see 10 unidentified men by a wrecked auto on Orchard Street in Albion.
The touring car shown here obviously had a head-on collision with bent fenders and a broken radiator.
Two other autos with tops show behind the men along signage. In the distance a sign states “Jake Forman,” who was a junk dealer.
All the buildings here are gone except the one with the Michelin tire sign, which is now the back end of the Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub at 170 North Main St.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 August 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARKER – Kayakers spent Wednesday evening out on Lake Ontario in Barker by Lighthouse Christian Camp. Lighthouse is next to Golden Hill State Park near the Orleans County line.
After lots of rain earlier this week, today is forecast to be sunny with a high of 74, followed by more sunny days with highs at about 80 degrees through Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 August 2014 at 12:00 am
She was first woman to serve as Medina mayor, County Legislature chairwoman
File photo – In this photo from May 2013, Marcia Tuohey is pictured in Albany with State Sen. George Maziarz when she was recognized as a “Woman of Distinction” by the State Senate.
MEDINA – Marcia Tuohey, the first woman to serve as Medina’s mayor and also as chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, died earlier today when she was found home by family.
Tuohey has been a prominent local leader for about four decades. She retired from the Legislature on Dec. 31, 2005, but didn’t stay idle. She represented the county on the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and was picked by her fellow board members to serve as their vice chairman.
She also has served on Medina’s Planning Board, and was vocal during the board’s meeting on Tuesday, which lasted nearly three hours.
“She was genuinely concerned about Orleans County,” said David Callard, the current Legislature chairman. “She was a true leader.”
Mrs. Tuohey served with style. She was known for her fashionable hats and outfits, and also for taking charge of a meeting.
“Even when she retired, she worked hard, often behind the scenes,” Callard said. “She had a very active life.”
While Legislature chairwoman, she pushed through a new fire training tower, a public safety building, renovations to the courthouse and Clerk’s Building, and upgrades to the Orleans County Marine Park. Mrs. Tuohey also was a cancer survivor, beating colorectal cancer about a decade ago.
In May 2013, she was invited to the state capitol to be recognized as a “Women of Distinction.”
“Marcia has been a mainstay in business and government in Orleans County for many years,” State Sen. George Maziarz said when Tuohey was recognized. “More that than though, she’s been a trailblazer for women who want to take an active role in improving their communities. She has worn many hats – literally and figuratively – but today our hats are off to her.”
Tuohey was first elected to the Medina Village Board in 1979. Prior to that she enjoyed an active business career in Medina for 30 years as the co-owner and operator of a nursing home, motel and restaurant, mobile home park, and rental properties. Her success can be attributed to a great aptitude for recognizing and meeting the needs of the community, and possessing a strong work ethic, Maziarz said.
In 1982, she was elected Medina mayor. She served in the high-profile post for eight years until being elected to the County Legislature in 1990, the first woman elected to the county board. After six years, she was picked by her peers on the seven-member body to serve as chairman of the Legislature from 1996. She stayed in the position for 10 years, the longest tenure of any Legislature chairman in county history.
Tuohey attended several of the recent Village Board meetings, giving her opinion about the possible dissolution of the village government. Tuohey suggested the Village Board make more cuts in the village budget to cut taxes.
Photo by Tom Rivers – Former Medina Mayor Marcia Tuohey attended a Village Board meeting in June and said village taxes could be reduced with more cuts in the village budget.
When Tuohey retired in December 2005 from the County Legislature, she was interviewed by The Daily News of Batavia.
She said she became involved in village government in 1979 when she was concerned about a proposed $10 million new sewer plant in Medina. She believed that was too much money. She helped the Village Board instead pursue a rehabilitation plan that upgraded the existing plant for $3 million.
She said she has tried to keep the taxpayers her focus in her 26 years of elected office, including as chairwoman of the Legislature.
She was asked in the interview what has been most rewarding about being an elected official.
“From my perspective, seeing things get done and accomplished, whether its programs or a new building or being involved with the development of an industrial park,” she told the newspaper. “My first loyalty has always been to the taxpayers. I believed in keeping taxes down. Take for instance last year (in 2005) they were lowered, even though the easiest thing would be to raise them. When no one shows up (at a hearing) you shouldn’t assume they are happy. We have a budget and programs should be funded, but not overfunded.”
Orleans Hub will have more on Marcia Tuohey in the coming days.
ALBION – The trustees of the Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association have announced the selection of Jeffrey Davignon as the sixth Library Director. The appointment was made at a special meeting of the trustees this morning. Davignon is currently the Director of the Walworth-Seely Public Library in Wayne County, and will begin his tenure in Albion at the end of August. He had previously been the Childrens’ Director at the Seymour Library in Brockport.
According to Library Board President Kevin Doherty, “We had a number of excellent candidates respond to the posting. A nine-member search committee, which included sitting trustees, the Interim Library Administrator, two current employees, a retired school librarian and a retired trustee, interviewed nine of the 20 candidates and recommended three for a final interview with the full board. Each of the finalists was well-qualified, but Jeff was the unanimous choice because his vision and professional vitality met the goal of upgrading the library’s services and programming to match the spectacular new building that our community has built.”
Jeffrey Davignon and his family live in Brockport. He holds degrees from Canisius College and the University at Buffalo. The Walworth Library has a service area which includes about 8,800 people and an annual budget of about $310,000. The Hoag Library service area includes about 16,000 and has an annual budget of slightly over $685,000.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 August 2014 at 12:00 am
Opinion sought from State Historic Preservation Office
MEDINA – The owners of one of the historic downtown buildings in Medina wants to give the first floor façade a modern look with six reflective glass panels.
An image of how the façade looked in the late 1800s would be affixed to the reflective glass.
“It makes it functional and durable,” Bob Sanderson, one of the building owners, told the Village Planning Board.
Sanderson and Tim Hungerford own the site at 414 Main St. They said there are structural issues that make it difficult for the façade to have a recessed doorway like some of the other sites on Main Street.
Making the façade with a completely flat front would make the site more sturdy. They have proposed the façade look black with the reflecting panels with the image from the 1800s.
“This screams too modern to me,” said Marcia Tuohey, a Planning Board member.
Todd Benlsey, another Planning Board member, said the current façade “is definitely an eyesore.” The site is vacant and was last used by Fast Fitness, which has moved to a former hardware store across from the library on West Avenue.
But Bensley has reservations about the proposal, and wonders if Sanderson and Hungerford could make it look more traditional.
“We’re trying to keep a 19th Century, 20th Century flavor,” Bensley said.
Planning Board Chairman Chris Busch said the project shouldn’t be voted down just because it utilizes new technology and materials.
The board tabled its decision, wanting input first from the State Historic Preservation Office. Sanderson and Hungerford said they would seek the office’s opinion.
The façade would be split into two storefronts. Hungerford said there are prospective tenants for the building.
Edward Kowalski of Scottsville is the new leader of the Orleans County Fishing Derby after catching a 26-pound, 1-ounce Chinook. If that fish stays in the lead until the derby is over on Aug. 17, Kowalski will win the $4,000 grand prize.
Ryan Deal of New castle, Pa., leads the salmon division with a 24-pound, 14-ounce fish. Other leaders include Destiny Bickel of Burt with an 18-pound, 11-ounce brown trout; Mike Schaeffer of Sligo, Pa., with a 14-pound, 1-ounce rainbow trout; and April Johnson of Rochester with a 16-pound, 4-ounce lake trout.
The Albion Rotary Club will give away about $8,800 in prizes with the derby, which continues until Aug. 17.
