By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Ridge Road Improvement Association put up this monument to George Washington and local Revolutionary War soldiers in 1932.
Photo by Tom Rivers
MURRAY – I noticed the big stone with the bronze marker for the first time yesterday on the way to the Kendall Firemen’s Carnival.
I had no idea we had a monument in honor of George Washington in Orleans County. But there it stands along Ridge Road at the Route 237 intersection, in front of a building across from the Murray Superette.
The marker was put up by the Ridge Road Improvement Association in 1932: “To honor and commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington and the men who fought in the American Revolution and sleep in the town of Murray.”
The marker list the names of Murray revolutionaries:
Robinson Smith, “Life Guard of Washington”
Asa Clark, “The Courier who carried the news to Washington of the attack on Throgs Neck.”
Captain Timothy Ruggles
William Jennings
Amos Frink
Captain Aaron Warren, “who built the first grist mill in the town of Murray”
The marker also notes that New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton stayed in a primitive log cabin near the spot during “an eventful horseback trip through Western New York in1810.” Clinton was the force behind getting the Erie Canal built.
There are several markers along Ridge Road. I’ll try to find out more about them.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies work their magic during tonight’s parade in Kendall.
These youngsters show off some exceptional facial hair.
Kendall Highway Superintendent Warren Kruger promotes a classic car show from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Vietnam Veterans led off the parade.
KENDALL – The annual Firemen’s Carnival has returned to Kendall with an hour-long parade the highlight of tonight’s festivities. It was quite a spectacle with youngsters dressed as hippies, tractors pulling floats, fire trucks from three counties and the Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies.
The parade was led by a group of Vietnam veterans from Rochester and ended with a line of fire trucks.
The three-day carnival continues Saturday, wrapping up with fireworks at 10:20 p.m.
“Coastie” is part of public relations campaign about boater safety through the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Hamlin.
Carrie Milano of Hamlin holds her 2-month-old son Nick during tonight’s parade in Kendall.
Riders in with Lone Oak Stables in Kendall were among the parade participants.
Lone Oak Stables had a cleanup crew behind the horses on Kendall Road during the parade.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Orleans County officials say many residents and businesses in the rural outlying areas are at a competitive disadvantage because many areas lack access to high-speed Internet.
That makes it harder for students to complete homework, residents to fill out job applications and businesses to reach customers – tasks that increasingly require high-speed Internet.
The county has tried to coax Time Warner the past three years to extend services in the rural areas, but the cable provider has balked unless it was paid $10,000 a mile to run the infrastructure. The county believes wireless Internet may be the best solution to increasing access at an affordable cost.
The county and three local towns are starting a “mini-study” that could expand to the rest of Orleans and even Niagara counties.
The study will first focus on the towns of Shelby, Ridgeway and Yates, where highway superintendents have been trained to survey their towns to catalog assets that could be used to expand broadband Internet access.
The Niagara Orleans Regional Alliance – led by Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson and Niagara County Legislator Dave Godfrey – has been spearheading an initiative with the goal of attracting last-mile broadband Internet to rural businesses and residents without access.
“The approach is to market the region to a number of Internet service providers and work with them to find a solution that is both profitable to them and have zero long-term costs to local taxpayers while providing affordable broadband services to residents,” said Evhen Tupis, principal at BPGreene and Associates, a rural broadband consulting firm.
To do so, un-served addresses are being cataloged, potential “build on” structures – such as existing communication towers, water towers and other tall structures – are being identified and positioned as assets with potential ISP’s.
There is a focus on Wireless ISP’s because of the inherently lower build-out costs, though cable-line providers are certainly not excluded.
BPGreene and Associates trained the highway superintendents to document the needed information. Tupis of Clarendon is now in the process of repackaging their results into a Request for Comment (RFC). Through it, potential providers will be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the completeness of the information and voice their desire to participate in a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to actually Internet services.
Legislature Chairman Dave Callard, R-Medina, plans to use the result of the RFC to decide if this approach would warrant more towns in Orleans County.
“As an added benefit, it is quite possible that this initiative may introduce competition in presently-served areas as well,” Tupis said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Cole London, 10, of Albion tries to toss a bean bag through a target as part of a Children’s Carnival today at Bullard Park. The event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., was coordinated by the Village of Albion Parks Program and Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.
Bri Hursh, 9, of Hamlin holds still while Pam Hage, a family advocate at Community Action, paints a flower on Bri’s cheek. Face-painting and many other games and activities were part of a Children’s Carnival today at Bullard Park.
MEDINA – This picture taken in 1913 shows, in the foreground, the top of the aqueduct in the bottom of the canal in which the Oak Orchard Creek flows through. This is just before the water tumbles over Medina Falls.
This photo is looking west into the Erie Canal Basin at Medina when the last enlargement to this historic waterway was under construction. The building with a smoke stack in the middle ground in the A.L. Swett Electric Light and Power Co. Behind the stack is the tower of the Bancroft House. It was a hotel and is now the NAPA store. In the distance to the left appears the steeple of the First Baptist Church.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The state Department of Labor halted demolition work in April on this sandstone building in Albion.
The DOL said the work is suspended until an asbestos removal permit is secured.
ALBION – Dan Dunn in mid-April started tearing down a hulking sandstone building along the Erie Canal. The 5,000-square-foot site didn’t have a roof, a tree was growing in the middle and had been declared an unsafe structure by the village.
Dunn took out most of one wall before the work was halted by the state Department of Labor. The agency said Dunn failed to secure a proper asbestos removal permit.
Nothing has happened at the site since then and Dunn told the Village Board on Wednesday he intends to file an Article 78 court action against the DOL, contending the agency was wrong to stop the work on the building.
“It’s needed to come down for a long time,” Dunn told the Village Board. “I’ve been prepared to take it down.”
The DOL insists Dunn needs to hire a certified asbestos removal contractor. But Dunn, who works in the salvaging business, thinks he can do the work himself even though he isn’t a licensed asbestos removal contractor.
Dunn said the law allows the owner of a building that is classified as residential to remove asbestos without a certified contractor. He wants to wrap the pieces of non-friable asbestos in plastic and then have it hauled off to a landfill.
Although the building was classified as residential by the assessor, it was never used for housing and hasn’t been used in about a half century, village officials said. The building is one of the oldest commercial Medina sandstone buildings along the canal. It was once the home for a carriage-making business and later a furniture warehouse.
But the roof and floors have collapsed in the building years ago. The village wants it to come down. The Albion Historic Preservation Commission approved the site’s demolition.
Dunn said the Article 78 should force the DOL to make a decision on how the matter will proceed. He doesn’t want to hire a certified asbestos contractor and also an engineer for a job that he can do himself.
“I feel they are being unreasonable and will make it very costly,” Dunn said about the DOL.
The Village Board has been pressing Dunn to address the site. The board agreed to wait another 30 days to see if there is a court decision or other resolution from the DOL.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – The Village will submit an application to state to upgrade Bullard Park and also is working on an proposal to replace sanitary sewers on three village streets.
The grants are due next month. The board voted Wednesday to seek a $500,000 request from the state for Bullard Park, a project that wasn’t approved last year. Mayor Dean Theodorakos believes Albion has a better chance this funding round.
The village spent $20,000 last year upgrading playground equipment at the Pee Wee Park section of Bullard and also has $50,000 in a capitol reserve that could be spent at Bullard. He thinks that shows the village is willing to put some of its own money into the park, and not just rely on state funding.
The community also completed a comprehensive plan since the last grant application. That plan guides land use and identifies priorities in Albion, including the Bullard improvements.
The project is largely changed from a year ago when Albion sought state funding for two reseeded ball fields, new playground equipment and a 6,400-foot-long hiking trail carved through the park.
The grant wasn’t approved as part of the Consolidated Funding Application process, which places an emphasis on projects with a regional significance. The village is paying LaBella Associates of Rochester $1,000 to resubmit the grant.
The village also wants a $600,000 state grant to replace sewers on portions of Crimson Drive, Caroline Street, and East State Street between Platt Street and just past Ingersoll Street.
The village needs to do an income survey of residents in the project area to see if the majority of residents are low- to moderate-income. That would make Albion eligible for the state grant. LaBella has sent 83 surveys to residents, but only eight have returned them. The village needs at least 53 for the application.
Village Board members said they would go door-to-door to residents in the target area, explaining the grant and need for the surveys. Board members may be out knocking on doors on Saturday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Democrats decry passage without nutrition programs
WASHINGTON – A Farm Bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives today with the backing of Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.
The legislation was criticized by another area Congressional representative. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, noted the Farm Bill didn’t include funding for nutrition programs for the first time since 1973.
She rebuked the Republican-majority on the House floor and continued to criticize them on Twitter, saying the Republican-led approval of the Farm Bill today was “shameful and a new low for the GOP.”
Collins, in a statement, said the nutrition programs will be taken up on a later date. He serves on the House Agriculture Committee.
“Today’s passage of a House Farm Bill is a critical step forward for the hardworking men and women of our agricultural community,” he said in a statement this afternoon. “This legislation provides farmers with needed regulatory reform and cost-effective programs while saving taxpayers money by ending duplicative and overlapping programs.”
Collins said the legislation will direct more research funding to land-grant universities, including Cornell, “which provide critical support to our local farms and growers.”
The food stamp program accounted for 80 percent of a Senate version of the Farm Bill.
Dean Norton of Elba, president of New York Farm Bureau, said the legislation should have been a great victory for the farm community, but it continues the uncertainty over the country’s ag policy.
“While many of the provisions in this House Farm bill are good for New York and we fought hard for their inclusion, we opposed splitting the agriculture and nutrition portions into separate bills that break apart the urban-rural collaboration that has been critical for decades in advancing farm and food policy in this country,” Norton said in a statement.
The House vote brings “unknown long-term ramifications,” Norton said.
“New York Farm Bureau will continue to work with the entire Congressional delegation for successful completion of a Farm Bill that serves the needs of farmers, our communities and our neighbors in need,” he said.
Provided photo – Orleans County Legislators David Callard, left, and Ken Rush, right, stand outside the Dwight “Buzz” Hill Education Center at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville with CCE Interim Director Paul Lehman.
Press release
CCE of Orleans County
KNOWLESVILLE – Residents, business owners and public officials in Orleans County will be happy to know that their generous donations and volunteer help have paid off with the completion of the mortgage payments for the “Buzz” Hill Education Center at the 4-H fairgrounds.
The Extension will burn the mortgage during a 5:45 p.m. presentation on opening day at the 4-H Fair on July 22. An event for donors is being planned for September.
“We decided to try to burn the mortgage at the 4-H Fair,” said Ed Neal, chairman of the Extension Board of Directors. “A final push in May brought dozens of checks from this generous community.”
Much the same as a homeowner celebrates the retirement of a home mortgage after years of sacrifice, residents can feel as though they have a piece of ownership in what Extension officials say is one of the finest education centers in the state.
The effort to build an improved facility to replace the older center on Main Street in Albion began in 2000 when the Extension Board of Directors established a goal of creating a permanent facility at the fairgrounds. Originally scheduled to be paid off in 2014, at least $2,000 in interest is expected to be saved with this final push.
While many area residents see the facility at the fairgrounds and know about the 4-H organization, they may not realize that this center of non-formal education is much more than a youth organization and a fair.
One hundred years ago, Cooperative Extension had its founding in Broome County, New York. Then known as Farm Bureau, the organization, early on was totally focused on rural farm improvement. The addition of “home economics” sought to improve domestic life.
In January 1917, Orleans County came on board with the establishment of the first Farm Bureau Office in the Waterman Building in Albion. Nine months later, the “Home Economics Commission” was established to serve homemakers. 4-H Clubs of Orleans County officially were organized in 1938.
Today, agricultural educational needs are much more sophisticated. Orleans shares with other counties a portion of budgets for specialists in tree fruit, vegetables, dairy, livestock and field crops. Two of 19 specialists that Orleans has access to are housed in the Orleans office.
While the organization has experienced some turnover in local staff, the organization is recruiting a full-time program director who will also be a youth issues leader.
“We have serious budgetary constraints from narrowing federal and state dollars and know we must pull ourselves up with our own bootstraps by generating grant income and business income from use of the grounds,” said Interim Director Paul Lehman. “We appreciate the considerable support from the County Legislature.”
The word “cooperative” in Cooperative Extension means cooperation between federal, state and local governments and by memorandum of agreement to, as the organization’s mission states: put knowledge to work in pursuit of economic vitality, ecological sustainability and social well-being. It brings local experience and research based solutions together, helping New York State families and communities thrive in our rapidly changing world.
The board of directors of Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension hopes that the organization will continue to serve residents for another 100 years.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Deborah Brundage, director of the Cobblestone Society Museum, holds one of 21 historic photos from the Erie Canal that are part of a new exhibit at the museum, 14393 Ridge Rd., just east of Route 98.
GAINES – The photos show laborers in the bottom of the canal, working to deepen and widen the waterway back in 1913.
The state moved to upgrade the canal, which was in decline 100 years ago. It was a massive effort to excavate and widen. The Orleans County History Department has many photographs of the work from a century ago.
They have been enlarged and professionally displayed in a new exhibit at the Cobblestone Society Museum. The 21 pictures will be displayed after this summer at Hoag Library in Albion.
“The canal is part of our local history,” said Deborah Brundage, director of the Cobblestone Society Museum. “The canal opened up the region for development and let farmers sell their crops more easily.”
The historic images show construction on the canal, boats using the waterway, and residents enjoying life in a canal town.
One of the historic images shows a family crossing a pedestrian bridge over the canal in Medina.
One picture shows a group trying to cross a pedestrian bridge in Medina. Another picture shows a woman standing in front of the Canal Culvert in Ridgeway.
Albion eighth-graders researched the images and wrote the labels that will describe the images. The museum will have a reception for the exhibit at 3 p.m. on July 20.
The Erie Canalway Corridor provided a $7,000 grant to create the display, and offer programming about the canal.
The Cobblestone Church will host four free lectures about local canal history. Those events are at 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The lectures include the following:
Jeff Donahue, director of the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia, on Saturday will discuss “Joseph Ellicott and the Holland Land Office Purchase.”
Gretchen Murray Sepik on July 20 will portray Erie Canal Sal and sign copies of her book about the theatrical character, a cook on a canal boat.
Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin will give an overview of the canal and its impact locally on Aug. 3.
Gaines Town Historian Dee Robinson will discuss life on a canal boat, “from a female perspective” during an Aug. 10 lecture.
Hoag Library Director Susan Rudnicky, who is also president of the Cobblestone Museum board, wrote the grant for the canal exhibit and programs.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Baseball star runs clinic before talk tonight at Grace Baptist
Photos by Tom Rivers
Bernie Carbo ran a hitting clinic for about 40 kids this afternoon at Butts Park in Medina.
MEDINA – Bernie Carbo and Pastor Dickson Beam didn’t know what to expect when they arrived at Butts Park in Medina this afternoon for a baseball clinic.
Carbo, a retired Major League Baseball player, has led hitting clinics in communities before. He typically has about 10 to 20 kids show up.
Today, about 40 kids came to the clinic and most were joined by their parents and grandparents. Carbo needed three fields to run the clinic.
“The pastor did a great job,” Carbo said about Beam, the leader of Grace Baptist Church on Park Avenue. “I’m delighted to see so many parents and grandparents out here working with the kids.”
Carbo, a star of the 1975 World Series with the Red Sox, spent two hours in the hot sun with the kids, telling them to keep their front shoulder down and front arm in when they get ready to swing. He warned against keeping the elbows up too high, something players are taught when they are kids. Carbo thinks that makes it harder to hit, and messes with a player’s balance.
Carbo said it’s more important to keep the hands loose, holding the bat with the fingers and not in the palms of the hand.
“Step and pivot,” he called to the kids, some as young as 5.
Carbo wraps up the clinic by addressing the players, urging them to be positive on the field and not worry about making outs.
Bernie Carbo, a former Major League Baseball star, signed bats, gloves and books for children and their parents after today’s hitting clinic.
Carbo runs a baseball camp near Mobile, Ala. During the summer he travels, teaching baseball fundamentals and preaching, sharing his personal story of overcoming drug and alcohol addiction after he became a Christian 20 years ago.
Carbo praised the Medina community for the turnout at the clinic.
“There were fathers and mothers here working with their kids,” he said. “There were grandparents here. We want to build those relationships.”
He told them to “edify and build up” the children. He warned against yelling at players.
“If you’re going to say something, tell them that you love them,” he said. “Tell them it’s OK to make outs.”
Carbo, 65, will speak at Grace Baptist Church on Park Avenue at 7 p.m. today.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The former railroad depot, now used as senior citizen center in Medina, is an example of Medina Sandstone’s use for commercial structures during the region’s booming industrial era in the early 1900s.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Canandaigua is one of many fine examples of well-maintained and massive church buildings made from Medina Sandstone.
MEDINA – The Medina Sandstone Society, which is working to establish a Hall of Fame to celebrate sandstone structures, welcomes the public’s help in picking buildings for the site. The Hall of Fame committee will take nominees until July 20.
The first group in the Medina Sandstone Hall of Fame needs to “be a special class,” stunning examples of buildings made from the local stone, said Jim Hancock, a member of the committee working to establish the HOF.
The committee welcomes nominees from all over the state, and even beyond NY’s borders. Hancock said the committee, which also includes David Miller and John Slack, wants a list of nominees. The group will then go make site visits.
He is hopeful the first class will be inducted with a ceremony in October. The Hall of Fame will likely be in a temporary location for its infancy. Hancock would like to see the site move to a more permanent site at some point. Neither a temporary or long-term site has been picked.
The Sandstone Society is looking for structures that fall into four classes: churches, homes, public buildings or ornamental (architectural). The criteria by which these nominees will be judged by the selection committee includes age, beauty, architectural uniqueness and longevity.
“We can consider nominees from Medina and from out of the area because Medina Sandstone has been used world-wide,” Hancock said.
Hancock expects there to be four to six inductees in the first class. Each member of the Class of 2013 will receive a plaque from the Sandstone Society signifying its acceptance into the Hall of Fame. Another plaque with a picture will be placed in the local Hall of Fame. The Sandstone Society wants to make this an annual event.
Nominations, with a brief description, should be sent to Jim Hancock at hancock_jim@verizon.net. He will share them to the Selection Committee. Nominators should include their contact information.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 July 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – I’ve heard people joke about it before, some of the distinctively unique street signs we have in Orleans County, signs that show you’re clearly in a rural community.
Woodchuck Alley in Kendall tops the list. But I also like Johnny Cake Lane in Barre, Zig Zag Road in Gaines and Beaver Alley in Albion.
People get a kick out of these signs, and I’ve thought people would buy replicas. Call me crazy, but I’ve been brainstorming possible merchandise that promotes the area and makes a little money for some of the business owners.
I’m the chairman for the street-scape subcommittee in Albion. We’ve been tasked with coming up with a plan for spending a $50,000 NY Main Street grant.
One the projects calls for replacing the green street signs in the historic district. We don’t have a final design approved by the state DOT or the historic preservation officials yet, but we’d like the signs to be blue and white, with “Historic Albion” in a box above the street name. We thought this would help “brand” the historic district, make it stand out from the other streets.
I also thought we could have replicas made of these street signs and they might sell at the local stores, especially if we create a more inviting and interesting downtown.
I talked about this during several Village Board meeting last fall and winter. I mentioned I thought the Beaver Alley sign would be a hot-seller. Apparently I chuckled when I said this, and some folks in the audience at one of meetings thought I was making a perverse joke.
This was brought up at the Village Board meeting two weeks ago by residents Mark and Rhonda Parker. They chastised the board for laughing at what the Parkers took as sexual innuendo. Last night Trustee Eileen Banker told the Parkers she was “appalled” by their accusations. Banker asked me during the meeting what my intentions were in wanting to promote Beaver Alley.
I told her and the board I wasn’t making a sexual reference, that I thought the sign, given the street’s oddball name, could actually be a popular piece of merchandise.
I laughed during the meeting a few months ago because I knew there was a chance some people would find the idea of people buying replica street signs a little bizarre. I was nervous the Village Board wouldn’t take the idea seriously. But I do think some people would buy “Beaver Alley” because it’s an unusual name that is uniquely Albion.
The Parkers have attended the past two Village Board meetings, urging the board to take action against Village Code Enforcement Officer Ron Vendetti for what they claim is selective enforcement of the codes.
They have started a “Fix Albion” Facebook page and presented a list of recommendations to Mayor Dean Theodorakos for improving Vendetti’s job performance. Theodorakos told the Parkers he supports Vendetti.
Photo courtesy of Lyndonville Central School – Lyndonville Central School Superintendent Jason Smith, left, meets with students and staff of the Brockport Migrant Education Program, which is using Lyndonville’s elementary school for a summer program serving 120 students.
Press release
Lyndonville Central School
LYNDONVILLE – When the doors shut on Lyndonville Elementary School about a year ago due to decreased enrollment, it seemed unlikely that the building would hear again hear the sounds of children learning, playing and expressing their artistic abilities.
But for six weeks over the course of the summer, the school will come to life again as migrant children from kindergarten to grade eight have found a place to continue their education.
A teacher from the Brockport Migrant Education Program approached Lyndonville about leasing the site for six weeks this summer. Lyndonville agreed, and will be paid $10,000 for use of the space. That will cover the district’s utilities and other costs in maintaining the site for the whole school year.
“After talking with them we thought it would be a good fit for the property,” said Jason Smith, the district superintendent. “We had been researching options for the use of the building, since we prefer it is not vacant.”
The school is run by Principal Darlene Senco and has 120 students for the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program that includes academics, art and gym.
“They chose us because we are a central location for Niagara, Orleans, Genesee and Monroe counties,” Smith said. “We have agreed to a one year lease to see how it goes for both of us.”
The program is operated with a grant through Brockport College and run by Program Director Donna Spencer. It has been in operation for nine years.
“It is a very big program and it usually works as a tutoring program throughout the school year and then we have our summer program where we focus on math and literature,” Spencer said. “Our goal is to help every student get a high school diploma and possibly go on to higher learning.”
She likes the site in Lyndonville and said school staff have been accommodating to the program.
“We are really hoping to continue building a partnership with Lyndonville,” she said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 July 2013 at 12:00 am
Bernie Carbo will lead a free hitting clinic at Butts Park
Photos courtesy of BernieCarbo.com – Bernie Carbo is best remembered for hitting a game-tying pinch hit home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
MEDINA – Bernie Carbo remains a legend to Boston Red Sox fans nearly four decades after hitting a dramatic home run to tie Game 6 of World Series.
He crushed a pinch-hit home run to tie the game against the Cincinnati Reds in 1975. Carlton Fisk would win the game for the Red Sox with a home run a few innings later.
Carbo was 28 when he hit that famous three-run home run. He also was a drug addict.
Twenty years ago he said he turned his life around, finally giving up drugs when he became a Christian. Carbo will share his Christian testimony, and also offer some hitting tips during a visit in Medina tomorrow.
“I’m hoping to reach the kids, teach some basic fundamentals of hitting and invite some into church,” Carbo said by phone today.
He will run a free hitting clinic from 3 to 5 p.m. at Butts Park on South Main Street. He will then speak at Grace Baptist Church at 7 p.m. The church is located at 120 Park Ave.
He also will be signing his book, Saving Bernie Carbo. The book will be for sale for $20.
Bernie Carbo leads hitting clinics and shares a Christian message as part of his ministry.
Dickson Beam is pastor of Grace Baptist. He also grew up in New England and remains “a diehard Red Sox fan.” He said Carbo brings a powerful message about overcoming addictions through the power of Jesus Christ.
“My journey has been a rough one,” Carbo said. “But I want to share hope, that in whatever circumstances life can change.”
Carbo played in the Major Leagues for 12 years and was Rookie of the Year in 1970 for the Cincinnati Reds. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.
He runs Diamond Club Ministry, traveling the country to speak at churches, prisons, youth detention facilities and camps.
“We’re just spreading the news and sharing the love of Jesus,” he said.
